Primary Homework & Project Policy

The Fundamentals - Homework Policy

At EIC, we are keen to encourage excellent home/school links and our approach to homework highlights our values and beliefs as a primary school. Homework is part of a continuous learning process and should be considered to be anything that is done outside of the normal school day. It should embrace and encompass a wide variety of activities, which are a response to the learning that has taken part during lessons.

We place a very strong emphasis on the Fundamentals of Learning. The areas of: Reading, Spellings, Times tables and Mental Agility will be expected to have regular time spent on them at home. We will follow this up at school and use the Reading Logbook, weekly spelling test and maths lessons to ensure that progress is consistent. As a minimum, we would expect children in Foundation Stage to have been heard read by an adult 2 times a week, and children in Key Stages 1 and 2 to have been heard a minimum of 3 times. This reading is expected to be signed and commented upon in the Reading Logbook.

Firefly is our educational platform that teachers use and add to regularly with suggested tasks, activities, quizzes, challenges and discussions. This year, we have also added Primary Subject pages, initially for English, Maths and Science, but with a vision to extend this to other subjects. These pages will host opportunities for wider reading, ideas for home learning including experiments and activities that could be done as a family and a focus on a poet/author and scientist of the month.

The grid below gives you clear insight into the home learning goals of each year group as they move up through the school. These are our expectations and we hope they are useful for families to understand the relationship between home and school.

In addition to this, children are also asked to complete a project based on either a Humanities or Science topic. Children are given clear guidance on how to approach these personal projects, and encouraged to take them in their own direction, reflecting their preferred learning style. It is well-known that good study habits established at an early age have a positive impact on preparing pupils for their lives as students at secondary school, in further or higher education and life beyond. We are excited to foster these independent learning skills and support children in creating something personal, unique and inspiring. Projects begin in Year 1 and run through to Year 6. Each student works on one project per academic year and has the opportunity to present their work at our Primary Project Exhibitions.

We value the support of parents/carers and we believe that this policy will be successful if there is a strong partnership between home and school. We recognise and acknowledge that all children need leisure time and hope that our policy reflects a balance, so that children can extend and consolidate their learning with parental support, while still allowing ‘free time’. To our parents, we ask that you encourage your child to make full use of the opportunities and experiences that are so readily available to them outside of school, so that they maximise their talents and skills.

Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and Year 2)

• Introduced in the Summer Term so that children have a more solid grasp of the curriculum objectives, have settled into year groups and teachers can identify areas of strength/weakness which may affect project success.
• Launch lesson - parents are invited in to a lesson* . They work alongside the children with a carousel of activities to engage them and get them talking about the subject matter. This has been particularly helpful for EAL families.
• *Dependent on COVID-19 regulations. We may offer a live launch lesson and weekend activity for families to do together in preparation.
• 8 weeks approx from launch of project to exhibition.
• Children all complete some work in class to showcase at exhibition too. This is their non-negotiable section of the project.
• Project grid shared with activities - specialist teachers contribute too.
• Booklet given to children to help them plan their project with initial ideas and what they would like to achieve by the end.
• Skills: Setting a goal (end product), Igniting Engagement and Passion (following an idea through) Collaborative Learning (with parents and teachers helping to guide.) Initial presentation skills (at exhibition of interaction with others about their learning.)
• Project is always based around a topic they are working on in class so that the knowledge/understanding is developed alongside the skills.

Lower Key Stage (Year 3 and Year 4)

• Introduced in the Spring or Summer Term so that children have transitioned from KS2 in first term and become accustomed to new teaching styles etc (Yr 3). French is introduced in Year 4, so this allows a term for the children to become more familiar with a wider curriculum.

• Launch lesson - parents are invited in to a lesson*. They work alongside the children, usually to complete a challenge before the project title is revealed. By the end of the session, they have to guess what the project is about. Builds on from what they have started in KS1.

• *Dependent on COVID-19 regulations. We may offer a live launch lesson and weekend activity for families to do together in preparation.
• 8 weeks approx from launch of project to exhibition.
• Non-negotiable box on project grid is matched to an objective that the teacher feels suits the cohort.
• Project grid shared with activities - specialist teachers contribute too.
• Skills: Manage activity/time management (bi-weekly meetings and page on FF diary/blog). Acting upon advice (engage & coach), Scaffold Learning (at school with learning from home), Sustain the Project (maintain the pace) and Public Product (exhibition).

Upper Key Stage 2 (Year 5 and Year 6)

• Introduced in the Spring Term to allow for transition activities in later terms, and act as project pioneers for the lower years each academic year. Ignites the passion for the year of learning.
• Can stem from the topics in the curriculum but start to manipulate and be more creative with titles. Consider the “Year of…” within school (Year 6). Other examples: Year 5 curriculum project Victorian Britain and The Great Exhibition, channelled into a project title “Incredible Inventions”. Year 6 curriculum project South Africa based on literature studied in English, channelled into a project title “ A Country Close Up.”
• Launch lesson - without parent input so that students begin to take ownership of the learning from the offset. This allows them to investigate the skill of responding to titles/challenges/questions.
• Project grid - Year 5 with a suggestion of activities. No project grid Year 6 - project shaped to their learning styles/needs (Student voice/choice)
• 8 weeks approx from launch of project to exhibition.
• Non-negotiable box on project grid is matched to a L.O that the teacher feels suits the cohort.
• Skills: Authenticity (producing a project that is unique to the student), Critique and Revision (bi-weekly feedback meetings with teacher and through FF blog page), Reflection (what went well? What needs to be changed? How can I adapt my original plan?) Public Product (exhibition and a presentation to the class about knowledge learnt and skills developed).