Homework Information
Hayes Homework Menu
At Hayes Primary School we feel it is important for children to be set engaging homework that gives them opportunities to practice and consolidate the learning that has taken place at school (across a range of subjects). Research indicates that pupils prefer interesting, challenging and varied tasks that have adequate deadlines. Therefore, we use termly homework menus for each year group.
The menus offer a choice of homework tasks that can be completed in any order. Children receive a new menu at the beginning of each term. The menu outlines 10 homework tasks that are linked to the learning that will take place over the course of the term (including 2 Maths and 2 English tasks). Tasks are to be completed in the children’s homework books. Children will hand their homework books in to their class teacher on a Wednesday, regardless of whether they have completed a task or not. These will be marked and returned by Friday.
By the end of each term, the children will be expected to have completed a minimum of 5 homework tasks of their choosing - this must include 1 English task and 1 Maths task. Children have the opportunity to complete more tasks if they would like! Some tasks will have an optional challenge that the children can complete to extend their learning further. The children will receive certificates, based on the amount of tasks they complete in a term, to celebrate their efforts:
- Bronze award = 5 tasks completed
- Silver award = 8 tasks completed
- Gold award = 10 tasks completed
- Platinum award = 10 tasks completed + a minimum of 2 challenges
Spellings
The children receive weekly spelling tests and will, therefore, be required to learn 5 words containing a particular spelling pattern (and any additional, high frequency bonus words). These will be sent out, with the date of each test, alongside the homework menu at the beginning of the term. In order to ensure that these words are being understood by the children and used in their writing, we encourage that they be included in the written tasks that children complete for homework (where appropriate).
You still have access to Mymaths. Tasks will be set by your child’s maths teacher at the beginning of each half term. These can be completed as one of the Maths menu tasks. Mymaths can still be used at home, if you wish to, for any additional support you want to give your children.
Presentation
At Hayes Primary, we encourage the children to take pride in all of their work. Therefore, the children’s homework should be completed to the same high standards that we expect in school. In order to meet our expectations for learning and presentation the children should
- write the date and title before starting a piece of work – both of these should be underlined with a ruler.
- take care over their handwriting, making sure they are forming their letters correctly and joining where appropriate.
- write in either pencil or a blue handwriting style pen.
- write using full sentences and paragraphs when completing a piece of writing.
- start their writing against the margin and aim to fill each line with an appropriate number of words, leaving an acceptable gap between each word.