Ditton Primary

Reading books are provided for all children as well as a Reading Record Book. Children's reading books are matched to each child's current reading ability. We monitor reading during the week and encourage children to change their books regularly.

Reading aloud at home should be done at least 5 times per week, even if you only have time to read one or two pages.  Please ensure that you make a note in your child’s Reading Record Book to let us know how your child is reading. We value any comment you add. Reading Record Books should be returned to school each day.

Weekly spellings will be sent home each Friday. The number and difficulty may vary from year group to year group and teachers sometimes have several groups of spellings depending on their children's ability. 

Children will be tested on their ability to spell these words each Tuesday. Try using the LOOK SAY COVER WRITE CHECK method to learn these words. We recommend learning these over several days, returning regularly to the ones children continue to find difficult to spell. 

This is usually a piece of maths and English work that should be completed in your child's blue homework book. At times this could include a topic related activity. Homework books are normally sent home on a Friday and should be returned to school by the following Wednesday morning. Any changes to this routine will be shown on specific class pages of our website. 

We will continue to set a half termly task sheet. These tasks give the children the opportunity to apply taught skills as well as develop new ones. The tasks also allow those children who excel in subjects other than Maths and English to demonstrate their ability in the other curriculum subjects.  
 
We expect all children to complete a minimum of 1 of these tasks per half term. On the last Tuesday of each half term, children will be asked to bring in and share their completed task or tasks with their class. This is an opportunity for the children to become confident when presenting to a group. 

We have provided all children from years 2 to 6 with a log-in account for Times Table Rock Stars.  This website allows children time to practice their times table facts. We would ask that children log-in and complete the online activities each week.

For those children who do not have access to the internet at home, we offer our homework club which takes place after school on a Tuesday. . Children can come along and use the school computers to log-in to their account or simply get help from one of our staff in completing their homework tasks. Alternatively,  please complete a times table actvivity on paper and send this into school by Wednesday.  Your child's teacher can advise you on which muliplication tables your child needs to work on. 

The shortcut below will take you to the log-in page for Times Table Rock Stars.

https://play.ttrockstars.com/login/22287

We are aware that, for many families ensuring that homework tasks are completed can be difficult at times especially when we are juggling work life and home life.  We want our parents to feel as confident as our pupils about what is expected for each class. With this in mind, we have put together some pointers for parents:

1. Please don’t feel ‘burdened’ by homework! By the time children are in KS1, pupils confidently adopt classroom routines and take on greater responsibility. Our teachers are promoting independence for all year groups, but they will still remind children about reading books and homework.

2. Pupils know what to do if they get stuck. Part of the classroom discussion about homework includes strategies for overcoming common problems. For example, Who should you see if you are stuck? The Teacher. When should you see the teacher? Before the day it’s due in!

3. Pupils succeed when it’s fresh in their minds. As you might expect, most children find homework more manageable if they attempt it as soon as it is set, rather than waiting until the night before it is due to be handed in.

4. Helping a little helps a lot! We are delighted to have such supportive parents, who find the time to share in their children’s school activities. We would like to thank you for your input and reassure you that there is no such thing as getting it wrong! 

5. Homework club is available on a Tuesday after school but must be booked by the end of Monday each week to ensure we have adequate staff available.

6. Help is out there. For parents of older children, you may find that it’s a struggle to develop a homework routine that is manageable; you might even dread it!

As a school, we don’t endorse any specific websites, but you may find articles, such as:  http://www.theschoolrun.com/simple-strategies-end-homework-wars  useful, so we thought we’d share it with you. Let us know if you find useful articles to share with other parents. 

Can we remind parents and children that the presentation of their work is important, as is spending the appropriate amount of time on homework tasks?