Sciennes Primary School 1

HOMEWORK POLICY Why Have Homework? It is generally accepted that Homework can make positive contributions to the learning of individual pupils: • it allows further practice and consolidation of work done in class. • it provides parents with information about the work being done in class and involves them directly in the child's learning. • it trains pupils in planning and organising their work, developing self-discipline and good habits that will support them in future education and beyond. How Much Homework Should Be Given? When asking how much work, we tend to mean how much time should the set tasks take to complete. This is difficult in that some children work at a faster pace than others, so our answer must be based on what the teacher could reasonably expect of most children. We would also expect that the amount of time spent on Homework should increase as the child moves through the school and it would be assumed that this pattern would continue into Secondary Education. The figures that we have settled on are based on our own experience of parental expectations, but are also consistent with local and national guidance. P1 - 1 hour per week P2 - 1 hour per week P3 - 1 1/2 hours per week P4 - 1 1/2 hours per week P5 - 2 hours per week P6 - 2 1/2 hours per week P7 - 2 1/2 hours per week Primary 1 & 2 Reading Consolidation on Oxford Reading Tree. Parents will be given guidelines as to how they can support their child with reading at the Primary 1 Induction Meeting. Primary 3-7 Formal Homework sheets are issued. Homework tasks will include: Reading - consolidation and preparation of work from Group or Personal Novels Spelling - preparation of words and sentences. A selection from the following areas: Number Maths Work consolidating work done in class Problem Solving activities Research Tasks based on the Class Project for the term. During the year children will be asked to research for prepared talks.

Sciennes Primary School 2

When Should Homework Be Given/Returned? Homework should be a consistent feature of school life. Issuing of the first homework will take place in the second week of each new term. No homework will be issued during the last week of every term. When homework is issued during the week will be determined by the age group of the class, with younger children needing more frequent issues. The pattern for giving and returning work will be: P1 Given and returned daily. P2 Continue to give and return daily. Towards the end of P2, work will be given 2-3 times per week in preparation for the change of pattern in P3. P3-7 Weekly homework is issued on a Tuesday for return the following Monday. The pattern of issuing work on a Tuesday for return the following Monday gives children and parents the opportunity of working together over a weekend. This may be particularly helpful to families where work commitments of adults and club activities for children make it difficult to find time from Monday - Friday. The day between receiving completed work and issuing new work also gives teaching staff time to correct completed tasks. When a teacher is absent from school for a short period, the pattern of homework may be interrupted. However, children should be issued normal homework by a replacement teacher in the event of a class teacher absence of more than one week. How Will Work Be Presented? P1/2 Tasks will be written into the child's homework jotter. On completion of the task, parents should sign the jotter and may make any appropriate comments. P3/7 A pre-printed homework sheet will be issued to each child detailing the tasks for the week. These will generally be completed in the child's homework jotter unless the nature of the task dictates otherwise, e.g. designing a poster as part of a project. On completion, parents should sign the homework and make any appropriate comments. Will All Homework Be the Same for Every Child in the Class? Children work in ability groups in class and the homework should reflect the work of their particular group. In P1 and P2, all homework tasks will be allocated on ability groups. In P3-P7, differentiated work will be given in spelling and mathematics, while reading will normally, but not always, be differentiated.

Sciennes Primary School 3

Will Children Who Receive Support for Learning and English as an Additional Language Support Have Class Homework and SfL or EAL Homework? Some children receive extra Support for Learning and English as an Additional Language Support in school and some may spend some time at a Reading Unit away from school. It is important that these children are not overloaded with homework and the key must be liaison between class teachers and Support for Learning teachers. The Support for Learning (SfL) Team, English as an Additional Language or Reading Unit teachers may set homework, but always in consultation with the class teacher. On some occasions, this could lead to a child missing out on a homework task that would be especially important. This problem may be solved by having the Support for Learning or English as an Additional Language Support teacher work on the homework task with the child in school time. What is Expected of Teachers, Parents and Children? Teachers should: set and correct homework in terms of the school policy. Children should: • complete homework tasks as specified on time. • give the same level of effort and presentation as would be expected of class work. Parents should: • support children in completing tasks on time. • be active in supporting their child's learning. • inform the school if there are reasons why work can't be completed. • ensure that children adhere to instructions about homework. In particular, children should not read ahead in a reading book or novel if they have been specifically asked not to do so. They may be compromising planned language work for the next day, such as prediction exercises where they must use information already gained from the story to forecast what will happen next. • sign completed work. How Much Help Should Parents Give Children? In general, parents should support their children in allowing them to complete their homework tasks so that work produced is the child's own. Many parents are often unsure about whether or not to correct homework, especially sums and spelling. Parents should look over completed work and encourage children to check the quality of presentation and to look for any mistakes. Hopefully the child will find and correct any errors, though if parents feel that a child has seriously misunderstood a task, then it would be best to contact the school.

Sciennes Primary School 4

Is Unfinished Class Work in Addition to Normal Homework? Occasionally children may be unable to complete tasks in class for a variety of reasons and it could be that unfinished work is sent home for completion. This should not happen regularly and as a matter of school policy, if this becomes a persistent problem, one of the Senior Staff will be consulted and may contact parents. In such circumstances, work would be in addition to normal homework, but we would seek to address any problems before they become regular occurrences. Parental Support We seek to work in partnership with parents. Homework cannot be compulsory and some parents do not wish their children to have any. If parents wish to withdraw their child from Homework Activities they should inform their child's class teacher of this fact, in writing. Contact your child's class teacher in the first instance with any queries or comments and to advise of any circumstances which might affect completion of particular items of Homework.