College House Primary School
Homework Policy
Last reviewed
Review Cycle
September 2016
2 Years
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College House Primary School
Homework Policy 2016 – 17
At College House, we define homework as ‘any activity set by the school that pupils undertake
outside of school lesson time, either on their own or with the support of family members’. We have
a strong commitment to parental involvement and see homework as one way of developing this
partnership.
Why give homework?
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It can inform parents about work going on in class.
It can further stimulate enthusiasm for learning.
It takes advantage of the home environment and resources, and the opportunity for some
one-to-one adult time.
It can be a great source for gathering topic information to share with other children.
It is a good opportunity to rehearse key skills such as times tables, spellings, handwriting and
other facts.
It helps to foster good habits of organisation and self-discipline in preparation for the
demands of secondary school.
Homework at College House
Whilst we support all of the above principles, College House is not a school at which homework
dominates home and school life. We accept that not every activity will capture children and
parents’ imagination and that homes are busy places. We believe that homework should be
enjoyable and manageable for all concerned and that if it becomes a chore, burden or source of
conflict it ceases to be a constructive aspect of learning. We do not specify amounts of time that
must be spent on a task, preferring individual children and families to set their own routines.
We hope that the children are motivated by positive incentives and by the tasks themselves.
Children are not punished if they fail to complete the work, however in years 5 and 6 children may
be asked to catch up and complete homework in their own time if they consistently fail to hand any
in. Discreet homework registers are kept and if a child consistently fails to complete and return
tasks then a discussion will take place with the child and parents.
Our routines and expectations
All classes will give out weekly homework although the day may differ. A table explaining what will
be handed out is detailed below.
The work will always have been explained and discussed in class before coming home. We do not
intend to send work home that a child cannot do; parents are not expected to teach new skills.
There should be a clear explanation from the teacher of what is expected.
The tasks set will not always be something the children can hand in. Some homework may be
verbal research that can be shared with the teacher and class in a discussion. Where appropriate,
homework will be acknowledged and marked with a brief comment to aid teaching and learning.
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Year group
Reading
Reception
Read with an adult a
minimum of four times
per week.
Read with an adult a
minimum of four times
per week.
Year 3
Writing
Spellings
Maths
Research/creative
project
Show and tell/Big
talk bags (on a
rota)
Manga High or times Set periodically
tables
according to topic
Year4
Read with an adult a
minimum of four times
per week.
Spellings
Manga High or times Set periodically
tables
according to topic
Year 5
Read a minimum of
four times per week.
(Once a week with an
adult)
Read a minimum of
four times per week.
(Once a week with an
adult)
Spellings
Manga High or times Set periodically
tables
according to topic
Spellings
Manga High or times Set periodically
tables
according to topic
Year 6
In the weeks prior to the SATs tests (Standard assessment tests), Year 6 will be given additional
revision homework. This comes in the form of revision books and a meeting will be held for parents
after Christmas to explain the process involved. There may also be some homework set by booster
group teachers.
Reading – It is vital that children read regularly at home to an adult. Parents write in the diary when
they have read with their child and the teacher will check the diary regularly and reward the efforts
that children make. This really is the most important thing parents can do to support children's
learning. We encourage children to read every day, where possible, and expect to read at least four
times per week. Little and often is best!
Spellings – A bookmark will be issued on which are listed the words that your child is required to
learn to spell by the end of the academic year. These are from two required lists supplied by the DfE
(Year 3 & 4/ Years 5 & 6). The bookmarks will be sent home termly and then activities will be sent
home for the children to do to enable them to practice their spellings at home. (See Appendix 1)
Assessment will take place termly to measure progress but we will also be monitoring the
application of the spellings in your child’s work in class.
Most children learn to spell developmentally learning the workings of English spellings over time,
through direct teaching and practice. There are some children for whom spelling presents a more
considerable challenge. They need more specific support and additional strategies when learning
how to spell. Whilst they will be given a bookmark alongside their peers, we know that they will find
the spellings listed on the bookmark a stretch. We will adapt our expectations accordingly.
If a child finds spelling particularly difficult this may be due to dyslexia, developmental delay or
other learning needs. Our expectations - whilst remaining high - are not the same as they are for
those children without specific spelling difficulties. Some children will carry out differentiated tasks
to support their spelling. Additionally, children may be provided with other activities to do at home
- ones that are designed to help them individually, for example, learning to spell particular common
words.
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Manga High – This is a computer based maths programme and is used to encourage children to
practice the maths skills that they have been learning in class. The children are given a log in and a
task to complete (sometimes against a timer!) Manga High homework will be set as and when the
teacher feels is appropriate.
Times tables – It is crucial that children learn their times tables as these will aid them in their
mental maths work and arithmetic paper in Year 6. The Government expectation is that all children
are able to recall their times tables - up to 12 x 12 - by the end of year 4. It is important that
multiplication knowledge is at the children’s finger tips and therefore easy for them to apply
helpfully to problems. Times table practice is a weekly expectation. Again, a little practice - often - is
best.
Some activities for learning tables are included in Appendix 2.
We expect children to maintain the same standards of presentation as we set in the classroom.
Where possible the research and/or creative task will be related to the current or forthcoming
topic. These will be set as and when is appropriate to the topic.
Increasingly teachers are asking the children to use the internet for homework. This may be
directing children to conduct topic research or to a particular website, for example the Manga High
maths website. Most children now have access to the internet at home but where this is not
possible the school will create an opportunity for the children to use the school computers. The
College House website www.collegehouse.notts.sch.uk is also used by staff to provide additional
information and links that may be useful for homework. In the ‘Learning Zone’ there are maths
activities and books and links to useful websites.
If the homework is proving to be inappropriate or to be causing problems, then parents are advised
to talk with the class teacher to see if a resolution can be found. If the concerns cannot be resolved
then the support of the Head teacher may be required. A homework club is run during some parts
of the year to enable children to get support with their homework and to give them a quiet space to
work if this is a problem at home.
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Appendix 1
Creative Spelling Homework
Here are some activities for you to try to help with your spelling homework.
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Silly Sentences - Write 10 sentences, with at least one of this week’s spelling words in each sentence.
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Picture Words - Draw a picture and write your spelling words in the picture.
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Definitions - Write each of your spelling words and their definitions
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Word Roots - Find word roots in your spelling words. What other words can you make with
the root words?
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Practice Makes Perfect – Write all of your spelling words neatly 3 times each in any pattern
you choose.
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Type Your Words - Use a computer to repeat-type your spelling words (no cutting and
pasting, please) .
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Rainbow Spelling – Copy your spelling words 3 times each using different colours.
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Draw Your Words - Draw a picture of each of your spelling words.
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Colourful Words – Write your spelling words using one colour for vowels and another colour
for consonants.
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Cursive Spelling – Write each spelling word two times neatly in joined handwriting.
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Target Words - Write all of your spelling words and go over the tricky parts of each word
with a pen or marker.
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Syllable Words - Divide all of your spelling words into syllables (e.g. excitement =
ex/cite/ment)
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Find as many words-within-words as you can . Set them out carefully.
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Wordle - Go to www.wordle.net to create a word cloud using all your spelling words.
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Crossword Puzzle- Create a crossword puzzle using at least 10 of your spelling words. Have a
friend solve the puzzle.
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Word Search - Create a word search using all of your spelling words. Have a friend solve the
puzzle.
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Story Words - Write a story (maybe a silly story) using all your spelling words.
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Newspaper Words – Write your spelling words by cutting out letters in a newspaper or a
magazine and glue them on paper.
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30 Second Words - Write a TV commercial using this week’s spelling words. You may just
give in the script. Or can you perform the script in class?
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Newspaper Words - Write a newspaper article using at least 10 of this week’s spelling words.
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Caption Words - Cut out a picture from a newspaper or a magazine and use spelling words to
write a story about the picture.
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Parts of Speech Words – Classify your words by parts of speech (e.g. noun, verb, adjective,
adverb, etc.)
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Letter Words – Write a letter to a friend using all of your spelling words.
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Synonym and Antonym Words – Write a synonym and antonym for each of your spelling
words (e.g. If the spelling word is “difficult”, I could write “hard” for a synonym and “easy”
for an antonym).
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Cartoon Words – Create a comic strip with illustrations using at least 8 of your spelling
words.
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Poem Spelling - Write a poem using your spelling words.
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Scribble Spellings - We've practised these at school.
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Tricky Words – Write down tricks you use to remember how to spell each of your spelling
words.
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Mnemonics - Create funny ways of remembering tricky spellings, e.g.
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Appendix 2
Practise your times tables by completing one of these activities
1. Dice
Play with a partner. Take it in turns to roll two dice. Multiply the numbers together. Add you scores
as you go along. Who has the biggest total after 10 rolls each?
2. Cards
Cards can be used in lots of different ways to practise times tables. Work with a partner. Shuffle the
cards. Pick two. Multiply them. If the answer is higher than 20 you can keep the cards, if not they
go back into the pack. Who has the most cards at the end?
3. Posters
Make posters to go on your bedroom wall. A good way to do this is to draw a giant
number and write all the multiples in the middle of it.
4. Fortune teller
Make a times tables fortune teller. You have to calculate the multiplication fact and
move the fortune teller a certain number of times to reveal their future.
5. Websites
There are thousands of online games you can play. Go to our school website and click on ‘learning
zone’. Here you will find different links to times tables games.
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