Homework is a necessary activity and will help to develop pupils' organisational skills and prepare them for life in secondary school. It should:
- should be set according to the motto, "little and often";
- should not be set just for the sake of it;
- should help to reinforce and recap previous teaching, not cover new territory.
Therefore, you should expect your child to carry out the following homework activities each week.
Reading
Pupils should read every evening. Most pupils are now independent readers which means they may often read to themselves. Adults can help to support by talking about the books that the children are reading - asking them about things such as the story plot and characters. Reading may include fiction, non-fiction, Internet research, eBooks etc.
Spelling
By the end of the year pupils will be expected to spell most of the words in the national curriculum lists independently. There will be two types of spellings sent home
- Year 6 word list - a list of words within the national curriculum which reflect the expectations of the type of vocabulary which should be used (and spelt correctly) in the writing of a Year 6 pupil working at the expected level. Rather than send home the entire list, I have split this into much smaller chunks.
- Spelling patterns/rules - a weekly spelling pattern or rule which can be applied to a range of words.
Monday: 3 spellings from the Year 6 word list will be sent home. During the week, pupils will be encouraged to use these words in their writing and explore the correct spelling of them. Return the homework book on Thursday. These words will be tested on the Thursday.
Wednesday: The weekly spelling pattern will have been introduced and a short activity sent home to reinforce this pattern with example words. Homework activity to be returned to school by the following Monday. Sample words from the spelling pattern will be tested on Monday.
Thursday: 3 spellings from the Year 6 word list will be sent home. As per the Monday words, these will be focus words within class. Return the homework book on Monday. These words will be tested on the following Monday.
The spelling lists for the term can be seen by clicking on the document below.
Maths
This year we will be developing the speed of the instant recall of mathematical facts and multiplication tables, using the Club 99 challenge. This consists of an increasing number of questions to be answered in 10 minutes.
Monday: Pupils will bring home their test from the previous week (in order to see which questions they were struggling with) along with a blank test if they move up a level to rehearse during the week.
Friday: Pupils will take the test to try and score 100% and move onto the next level.
In addition, Daily Maths Questions (DMQs) will be sent home (Tue-Thu). Designed to encourage pupils to rehearse previously taught work, these are quick fire questions and will not take a significant amount of time. Sometimes they will be multiple choice with a space to record the reasoning as to why the answer is either A,B,C or D. At other times there may be a space provided to give the answer. Rather than being done in a book, these will be given as a slip within a plastic wallet - the sheets should be returned the next day.
Other Homework
On occasions, when relevant, work may be sent home to continue from lessons, along with activities to increase confidence and pace. Pupils are always encouraged to pursue their own interests by carrying out additional topic work research or preparation for class presentations.
