Aims

We aim to provide rich and varied contexts for pupils to acquire, practice, develop and apply knowledge, skills and understanding. We aim to foster independence to enable them to think creatively and critically, to solve problems and make a difference for the better.

We believe our homework system will support the development of children’s independent learning skills as well as providing parents and other family members with opportunities to take part in their children’s education.

Objectives

We aim to develop these skills through the homework system:

• organisation

• making suitable choices

• independence

• working to timescales

• selecting and applying skills learnt in school

• opportunities to present their knowledge and understanding

• self-esteem

• enthusiasm and self motivation for life long learning

• research skills

• recognising and applying own preferred learning styles

• a variety of ways to present their knowledge and understanding

• reflection and self-assessment/evaluation

Organisation

Our aims will be met through planned homework activities which offer opportunities to reinforce and apply skills recently learnt within school. Weekly homework will consist of online activities and tasks to support their development in Reading, Spelling and Maths.

Reading:

In Lower Foundation Phase, pupils will be given the opportunities to engage in pre-reading skills, such as finding letters and sounds in their environment, picture books and phonics games. In order to develop early reading skills and an early love of reading, pupils will engage with reading scheme books.This will be progressive to ensure it meets the needs of the learner. Reading scheme books will be sent home at an appropriate level, when learners are ready to do so i.e. blending and are developing knowledge of age appropriate high frequency words.

As they progress, pupils will be able to independently select books from our school library. Dialogue between home and school is recorded in the pupil’s LPS Reading Record, and we encourage pupils to change their reading books once completed.

In addition to reading scheme books, our older learners will receive weekly reading tasks which are set using an online reading library (Reading Eggspress). These tasks will support the development of higher order reading skills such as inference and deduction.

Spelling:

Weekly spelling lessons and activities will introduce and investigate spelling patterns. The children will continue to explore these patterns at home in preparation for a spelling test, the following week. Spelling test scores are to support teaching planning only, therefore will not be communicated home, as this can generate unhealthy competition.

Mathematics:

In Lower Foundation Phase, age appropriate activities are displayed on class webpages in order for parents and children to work together to reinforce skills while developing an enjoyment of maths. Across the Foundation Phase, opportunities will be shared that encourage our younger pupils to engage with number within their environment and real-life contexts.

An online platform, Mathseeds is offered to our Foundation Phase pupils to support and reinforce the learning that has taken place in class. MyMaths will be introduced in Key Stage 2 which will provide opportunities for pupils to reinforce and extend skills learnt during the week by completing weekly tasks set by the class teacher.

Extended Independent Learning:

Class Topics are displayed on class pages to extend learning at home in order to share with parents and other family members. Pupils are also encouraged to undertake age appropriate independent research which could be in the form of:

• Bringing in items from home

• Pictures/photos

• Art work

• Oral presentation

• Holiday Diary

• Research reports

• PowerPoint Presentations

Electronic work could be shared via the children’s Office 365 account on Hwb.

LPS Virtual Home Learning:

(LPS Virtual Learning Policy & Strategies during School Closure: see detailed explanation here)

At LPS we have devised a robust and sustainable approach to our home learning system for all learners to continue their academic development and support for their wellbeing. Our home learning system includes:

• MyMaths: see more detailed explanation here

  • Class teachers will set 1 full unit per week.

  • Accompanied by an online marked activity to complete.  

  • Teachers will feedback via the MyMaths system.

  • Pupil are able to self-evaluate their progress via the MyMaths system.

• Reading Eggs/MathsSeeds: see more detailed explanation here 

  • Class teachers will set focused lesson per week.

  • Accompanied by a series of challenges (within the online activity).

  • Once these tasks have been completed, children will also be able to select their free choice virtual reading books.

  • Pupils will also be able to play numerous games, quizzes and competitions with children from around the world. 

• Topic Work:

  • Class teachers will set these activities via their LPS Class Page.

  • This will be focused on research, questions, links to websites or ideas for the use of Office 365 & J2E.

  • Teachers will provide personalised feedback via email to celebrate achievements and create a dialogue between the class teacher, learner and parents/carers.

  • Work is celebrated and uploaded to the class pages. This also develops a sense of community amongst the learners and their class teacher.

LPS Virtual & Home Learning Links:

(HWB - The Curriculum for Wales and free educational tools and materials: https://hwb.gov.wales)

At LPS, most of our online learning happens here, the resources are outstanding.

Each pupil has online access to:

• Office 365 - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, OneNote, Sway and more

• Google Education 

• Just2Easy

• Flipgrid

• Encyclopaedia Britannica

• Playlists

• Adobe Spark

• J2Blast: Learning tables and spelling through fun games

LPS Subscriptions:

• MyMaths and Mathseeds: MyMaths offers interactive lessons and assignable homework, along with a wealth of resources that will help support confidence and fluency in maths.

• Reading Eggs: Reading Eggs makes learning to read interesting and engaging for kids, with great online reading games and activities. And it really works! Children love the games, songs, golden eggs and other rewards which, along with feeling proud of their reading, really motivate children to keep exploring and learning.

• LPS Kids Zone: Learn about all areas of the curriculum through fun online games on our website.

LPS Additional Online Resources:

• Oak National Academy: Online Classroom - Supporting every teacher to support every pupil.

• Phonics Play: Here you will find lots of information for parents about phonics including; what exactly phonics is, how it is taught in UK schools and suggestions for helping pre-schoolers prepare for learning phonics. You will also find lots of games and ideas to explore with children at home.

• Oxford Owl: Free eBooks for home learning.

• World eBooks: World eBooks have made many of their online books available for free!

• Scratch: With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century.

• MakeCode: BBC Microbit support and ready-made projects to help you develop Coding skills.

• BBC Bitesize - Foundation Phase :Foundation Phase is the statutory curriculum for primary school pupils aged 3 to 7 in Wales.

• BBC Bitesize - Key Stage 2: Key Stage 2 is a phase of primary education for pupils aged 7 to 11 in England and Wales.

• Swansea Library Online: Our libraries may be closed but our services are still open! Find the latest news about reading downloads, our online resources and activities.

• 100 Home Activities: These are fun and creative craft and game ideas for children of all ages.

• Twinkle Parent Hub: Support your child at home with even more free resources.

• BBC iPlayer Lockdown Learning: Curriculum based programmes for all ages.

Monitoring:

SLT will review homework systems and their impact on learning during LPS Review Weeks and at appropriate times when required.

Role of Class Teacher:

• Plan and provide activities to support homework tasks

• Ensure that each task is appropriate for age and level of challenge

• Set weekly tasks on their class page

• Set weekly MyMaths and Giglets tasks

• Engage with parents on reading progress via the LPS Reading Records

• Provide appropriate feedback to pupils

• Assess and record to inform planning and next steps in learning

Assessment and Marking:

Teachers will assess and mark homework in the following ways:

• Verbal acknowledgement will be given for non-electronic tasks

• Marking the homework via online platforms

Additional Learning Needs:

All activities will be differentiated to provide support and challenge for all groups of learners.

Children with severe and complex needs receive more specific, tailored learning plans including personal asynchronous video support. More frequent communication between the class teacher, ALN leader, parents/carers and outside agencies (where required) to feedback, evaluate and plan next steps of their learning.

Cwricwlwm Cymreig:

Opportunities for learning, studying and researching the welsh dimension and culture related to the various class topics planned.

Equal opportunities, Inclusion and Access:

All pupils will be treated fairly and equally regardless of their race, colour, national or ethnic origin, gender, disability, religion or belief (including non belief), and sexual orientation.

The curriculum is planned to be inclusive and meet the needs and interests of a full range of learners. Activities and resources will be differentiated, and adult support used to ensure that children assess the curriculum and make the best possible progress.

This policy will be reviewed when required.