Hackney New Primary School

Rationale
At Hackney New Primary School it is recognised that family time and shared experiences within each family is vital to support children’s development and wellbeing. After a long day at school it is important that children can join in with their families’ normal routines and activities. Homework is therefore designed to be flexible to fit around the different needs of each family, while also enabling children to extend their learning, helping them to build confidence, motivation and a sense of achievement. 

Home learning should build on knowledge and skills taught in school, providing opportunity for consolidation and extension, but not be onerous and demotivate children.  At Hackney New Primary we aim to make homework engaging and so enthuse children. 

Reading 
Sharing great books gives children the opportunity to encounter new languages and new ideas, broadening their horizons and helping them to think about something in a different way. Books can transport children to new places and different times, allowing them to see through the eyes of others. Great texts give children a model for expressing themselves clearly in speech and writing, building an understanding of how language can be shaped for a particular purpose or audience. 
Sometimes the effect of sharing a book is immediate. Perhaps a child takes an idea and it changes the way they see the world. Perhaps a word or phrase is borrowed and appears in a child’s next piece of writing. Perhaps a book prompts a child to go and read another similar book, setting a chain of reading in motion. When this happens, it is wonderful. 
Teaching English by the Book - James Clements

Teaching children to be confident and independent readers is one of  the most important skills a child can learn. This enables them to access learning in all subject areas and to further develop many important human qualities such as empathy and understanding. 
 
Reading is a principle  homework activity a parent can carry out with their child. Not only does it support literacy skills of reading with fluency and comprehension it also supports ‘together time’ contributing to positive relationships. 

Reading at least 4 times a week with your child can greatly support literacy skills. 

Consolidating and Building Confidence with Key Skills
Aside from reading there are key skills that can be developed at school and home to provide children with automacy which will support them in various tasks. 
These include key arithmetic skills (such as number bonds and times tables) and spelling. 
These are both skills that support children's higher level of thinking. For example when carrying out a creative writing task, if a child can spell with confidence they will be able to focus on the composition of their writing and not become stuck with trying to determine how to spell a word and then lose track of what they are writing about. 

Similarly in maths, if a child can quickly retrieve a times table fact they will be able to spend more time exploring how to use their logical thinking to solve a problem or explain a mathematical pattern. 

Teachers will set KIRFs (key instant recall facts for maths) and spelling tasks that can be supported at home. These can be carried out in a range of formats. Children will have access to TTRockstars (for maths) and Spellings will be sent home for weekly spelling practice, however it is understood that some parents will want to reduce screen time for their children. Teachers will be able to suggest a range of games that can support these skills which children can engage in with members of their families. 

Home Learning Menu
Children will all have their ‘favourite’ subjects and areas of interest they are keen to explore. It is our aim to foster and develop these areas of interest, through providing families with a menu of activities that children can choose from. Home Learning Menus also provide families with a more flexible approach to home learning. It is understood that families have varying commitments and schedules that make it difficult for one model to fit all. 
Some families may prefer the routine of carrying out weekly tasks and some families may prefer to support their child carry out one larger piece of homework that may involve a visit to a museum and the child creating a model or report based on what they found out during their visit. 

At the beginning of each term, teachers will send home a learning menu. These will consist of weekly tasks and longer project tasks that children can select from. Tasks will relate to topics taught in class and give children the opportunity to consolidate and extend their learning. If your child is a keen historian they may want to research a particular period in history and create a presentation to share with their class or if they are a keen creative writer then may want to keep a journal, written from the viewpoint of a favourite character.

Home Learning Menus will also include a variety of activities that enable children to talk about what they are doing and practise skills for life. Below are some examples of such activities that support discussion and collaboration:
Cooking 
Visits to libraries, museums or exhibitions
Sports activities
Playing board games or card games
Gardening, growing plants
Researching a topic together
Writing letters to friend or family members

Please click on the links below to see the home learning menu for Autumn 1 for your child.