Homework at Bourton Meadow Academy
Education has undergone radical changes in the last few years with the implementation of a
new National Curriculum and Assessment system without levels.
At Bourton Meadow we are proud to be an outstanding leader of Education and always come
back to what is right for the children in our Academy.
With this is mind, Homework has been updated to reflect the changes to curriculum and
assessment. Children in Years 1 – 4 will now develop and extend their class learning by
completing a project based homework over two weeks that will enable them to take
ownership of their learning. At first, it may be necessary for parents and carers to facilitate
ideas and possible learning opportunities but we feel this will be reduced as children learn
how to undertake this new approach to homework.
This approach suits the new Curriculum which promotes the need for children to be given the
opportunity to take part in sustained thinking and develop lines of enquiry that they then
explore. At the academy, we are already teaching children these skills in our weekly
Philosophy lessons which encourage children to develop a line of enquiry from a set stimulus.
Furthermore, in order to make progress through assessment bands children need to be able to
demonstrate that their understanding has grown in depth rather than coverage. This
approach will enable us to evidence this as it will take a learning objective that has been
covered in class but will enable the children to apply it to many new contexts.
Lastly, we want children to enjoy their homework and collaborate with parents, carers,
siblings and peers. Discussion is one of the richest forms of support and extends children’s
thinking and understanding immensely. No longer should homework be thought of as a chore
that is monotonous in task. Instead we want children to embrace it as an opportunity to learn
how the world around us is a pool of endless facts.
As always, the teachers and staff are here to support children, parents and carers in the
facilitation of this homework approach. If you would ever like a few suggestions on how to set
about or extend a task, please do not hesitate to contact us. With every task, Teachers will
always include a few hints on where you could start.
Below we have detailed how you could begin each homework task:
Start by brainstorming everything your child knows about the learning objective, task or
subject area. Next, develop different questions or areas your child would like to investigate to
move their learning of the objective, task or subject on to offer depth of understanding. Choose
one to start with. Decide how you are going to present your findings – remember to find a
balance between writing, drawing, photographs, notes, power point, publisher etc. Different
tasks will obviously lend themselves to different presentation styles.
Overleaf we would like to set out an example of how to develop a task with your child using a
current piece of homework.
Guess The Sound!
This half term in Science, we have been learning lots about our topic, ‘Sound’. We would like you
to use the scientific vocabulary you have learnt so far in this topic (hint: spellings!) to help us play
a sound game in class.
1) Stand in 8 -10 different locations (different rooms in the house, the park, supermarket –
wherever you like)
2) Listen carefully to the sounds around you – what can you hear?
3) Write down each location and describe the sounds you hear in your learning log
4) We will play ‘Guess the Sound’ in class where you will read your descriptions and we
have to guess what the sound is!
Example
Location: The park
Sound: low buzzing sound getting louder and quieter quickly
What is the sound? A bee flying around my head!
Possible areas of development
Science: Investigate how sounds differ indoors and outdoors, in the day or at night, in open or
closed spaces, echoes and how they are created.
English: Write a poem to detail all the sounds
Design Technology: Which location would be best to build a school, nursing home,
supermarket etc.?
PSHEE: What location and sound do you prefer, why?
Music: Use the different sounds to create a piece of music
Philosophy: If sounds created pictures, what would they look like?
Art: Create a picture (paint, chalk, pastels, collage) of one of the locations.
Maths: How could you present the data (different sounds) from each location? What does it
tell you?
In Years 5 and 6, our homework approach will develop and exploit additional methods in
order to assist our upper KS2 children with their transition to secondary school. Alongside a
separate piece of Maths and English Homework, the children will be asked periodically to
complete project based homework to provide evidence of independent learning and the
ability to develop and research a line of enquiry.
We hope you have found this homework document useful and it has helped to explain why we
have updated our homework approach. Please do not hesitate to contact your class teacher or
Mrs Handley if you require any further clarification.