Home Learning
Following feedback from parents and carers that told us homework was becoming repetitive and, in some cases a struggle to get children to complete, we introduced a new approach in September. We call this home learning, rather than homework, which ties in with our LEARN curriculum drivers:
L learn for life
E explore new things
A ask good questions
R reflect and improve
N never give up
Home learning is now presented as a half-termly grid, or menu, with some elements that children need to address each week across the half term (reading, spelling, life skills, some maths) and others that children can select. The “choice” activities are themed into creative, speaking/listening/writing, family and research, with children asked to complete at least one of each of these over the half term.
You can see an example of the grid here.
Following the introduction of the first half term’s grids, we canvassed the opinion of parents, staff and pupils. The response was incredible – 198 responses, with over half of these the first weekend!
The response was overwhelmingly positive, with children reporting that the new grids made home learning more interesting and parents saying that it was more varied and suited better to a busy family lifestyle – you can see the full results here.
Taking on board the feedback, we made some adjustments for the second half term, including more specific weekly maths activities and the introduction of a family activity that is common to all year groups, so that parents with more than one child in school can choose that option for all the family if they wish. We have also tried to reduce what needs printing and have ensured there are some hard copies available for families without access to a printer.
DOODLE LEARNING
We have invested in Doodle learning to support the children's home learning activities. There are maths, spelling, tables and English activities for the children to complete at home. Every child's learning is matched to their current ability and there is also an amount of challenge. Please see the leaflets attached for more information watch the videos from this link.
https://doodlelearning.com/parent-webinars
For tablet, phones and ipads the apps need to be downloaded free from your app store. There is an app for each of the 4 areas of Doodle