Key Points
Research has shown that working at home with your child can have a very positive impact on their progress at school. Of course, it is not easy to find the time to do this or indeed to know what to do for best – especially in maths which can seem alien and new! (Does anyone else remember exchanging tens in column addition by ‘putting a milk bottle on the doorstep’?)
- Fluent, effective handwriting is key to developing creative writing so download our school handwriting style and some exercises to help practise handwriting letters and patterns at home.
- Accurate, fast recall of spellings is also key to developing creative writing so download 40 different ways that you can help your child practise their spellings at home. Remember that you don’t have to try all of them – just keep doing the ones that work.
- Of course, there is no substitute for reading with your child on a daily basis – even if only for 10-15 minutes a day. This is why we send home a set of colour coded Reading Behaviour Sheets (see below) that detail the kind of skills and behaviours that the children should develop relevant to the book band that they are reading.
- Termly targets in reading, writing and mathematics are also sent home that show children’s progress relevant to their current levels, and suggested online activities are given to practise these.
Reading Behaviour Booklet
These are the pages of the “Reading Behaviour Sheets” booklet for Parents:
Coversheet . Band 1 . Band 2 . Band 3 . Band 4 . Band 5 . Band 6 . Band 7 . Band 8 . Band 9
Band 10 . Band 11 . Band 12 (1) . Band 12 (2) . Band 12 (3) . Band 13 (1) . Band 13 (2)
Band 14 (1) . Band 14 (2) . Band 14 (3) . Band 15
Practising spellings at home
It is really important that parents and carers are involved in helping children to learn their spellings. Confidence in spelling allows children to write more freely and imaginatively. You should practise your spellings for about 10 minutes EVERY day.
We have a ‘Practising Spellings‘ leaflet with some games or ideas you could use. Why not try a different one each night to keep it fun and interesting?
Remember everyone learns by: doing it, seeing it, saying it, writing/drawing it, listening to it – so making sure you have variety of games and tasks is a great way to ensure the learning sticks!
Year Group expectations
These are the powerpoints from our Year Group meetings in September on “What are the expectations in my child’s new year group and how can I help them to succeed?”.
