In Reception and Year One, the emphasis is on reading activities shared with the family. It is important that children discuss the illustrations and the text to ensure comprehension and knowledge about the structure of books.

Guidance on home activities and warnings about exerting undue pressure is forwarded to all parents. It is possible that after having a busy day at school, young children may be tired in the evening and parents will need to use discretion as to whether to become involved in these activities.

Written homework is available, if appropriate, during Year 1, but begins formally in Year 2.

Children in Year 3 are set a maximum of thirty minutes per night. There is written or practical work on four nights each week, but supervised reading is expected to be ongoing each night. This again should include discussion around the materials read to ensure comprehension, questions and projections about the unfolding story.

One main objective in the early years is to establish the routines of taking work home, accepting responsibility for completing it to the best of their ability and handing it in on the next day.

Parent co-operation is needed to ensure conducive working conditions, to monitor that children apply themselves appropriately to the set task and that it is completed to an acceptable standard.

By Year 6, a maximum of forty-five minutes work is set on four nights a week, so there is still time at the weekend for the extra activities that are crucial to developing children.

All homework will have been previously taught at school before tasks are sent home. Homework is usually revision and reinforcement. Occasionally children in all age groups need help with homework. We instruct children to ask their parents to set them on the right lines. If help is needed, or your child is unsure, please write a short note in the homework diary and the class teacher will supply further teaching.

Our policy is that all homework will be purposeful and appropriate to the needs of the individual child.

NOTES

Parents are asked to check homework diaries to confirm homework and to monitor communications from the class teacher.

If for any reason homework can not be completed on the designated night, parents are asked to write to the teacher.

As we consider homework to be an integral part of our academic programme, the class teacher will communicate immediately with the parents of any pupil who fails to return homework on two occasions. Parents will then be asked to monitor the completion of homework activities.