Parents who engage their children in books prepare them to become committed and enthusiastic readers: they can transform their attitudes to reading.

(excerpt from the Reading Framework)

Reading:

Our expectations are very clear; reading skills need to be practised at home and parent and carer support with this plays an essential role.  We support parents to achieve this by running reading workshops for parents throughout the year, working with teachers.

One of the most important ways to support your children from home, is sharing books and reading together daily.  Here are some useful websites with tips for reading at home: The Book Trust; BBC Bitesize; Oxford Owl.

Homework: 

Children who regularly complete homework have better school outcomes than children who do not.   Homework has a number of potential benefits including consolidation of what has been learned in lessons, preparation for subsequent lessons and tests, and the development of independent learning skills.

(EEF Parental Engagement Guidance Report)

We believe homework needs to be targeted at specific knowledge and skills and be easy to administer in order to have a worthwhile impact. As such, the 3 forms of homework listed below are the only homework expected in Stepney Park. However, sometimes teachers may set extra homework (e.g. additional handwriting practice or additional maths practice in year 6) if they think children will benefit from this.

• Daily Reading. Children across the school are expected to read daily, though the specific expectations vary according to children’s year group:

  • Nursery. Children take home books from school to read with their parents. These books are changed twice a week. If children learn the first 8GPCs, they also take home decodable including these GPCs to support their phonics progression.

  • Reception. Children take home a decodable book, matched to the phonics they have learnt to support progression, and a book of their choice to share with parents. 

  • Year 1. Children take home a decodable book, matched to the phonics they have learnt to support progression, and a book of their choice to share with parents. For children who have completed the phonics programme, banded books are used. These books are changed twice a week.

  • Year 2. Children take home a banded book, which is changed twice a week, in addition to a book of their choice. For children who have not completed the phonics programme, decodable books matched to the phonics they have learnt are used to support progression. 

  • Key Stage 2 (Y3, 4, 5 and 6). Children are expected to read for at least 20 minutes per day. We use Accelerated Reader across key stage 2 to monitor children’s reading at home. Children are supported to choose books that are an appropriate level for them to read.

• Maths Homework. Maths homework is focussed on children memorising number facts that form the foundation for later learning, and practising basic skills:

  • Years 1 and 2. Children learn number bonds of a progressively complex nature. This homework is generally set on Numbots.

  • Years 3 and 4. Children learn their times tables, generally using Times Tables Rockstars. Children should practise their times tables daily, which is checked by teachers to ensure engagement is high.

  • Years 5 and 6. If children are not yet secure in their times tables (scoring 25/25 on the Soundcheck), they must continue to practise their times tables daily. For those whose times tables knowledge is secure, children have a weekly set of arithmetic questions to practise and embed basic skills to ensure accuracy. This is completed on Google forms to ensure it is manageable. To prepare children for secondary school, any children who do not complete their homework miss a lunchtime to complete it.

Our Family Homework section has a range of great ideas for developing creative learning at home. 

We encourage all parents to support their children to access their homework, talking to them about it and supporting them to complete it.  See the video below for more information on supporting at home.

Supporting at Home

Watch this short video from Louisa, one of our Assistant Headteachers.  It will offer tips and advice for supporting your children at home.

 

 

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