Finaghy Primary School

Homework

This document is intended to provide parents with an overview of the homework policy in Finaghy Primary School.

For a number of reasons, homework is a very important feature of children's learning experiences at this school:

• Homework reinforces work being done in school.
• Homework gives you, the parents, an opportunity to be directly involved in your child's education. This helps you to gain an impression of what is being learned at school and how your child is progressing.
• By helping your child to learn spellings and tables, by listening to their reading and supervising written assignments, you are sending your child a very important message about the importance of schoolwork.
• Homework requires self-discipline and some independent learning on the part of children. If these habits are learned at an early age, they will be of enormous benefit for the rest of their lives.
• Over the years we have consistently found that our most successful pupils are those who have attended to their 'learning' homeworks (spellings, tables, number facts etc), have been helped at home with their reading and have had supervision during written homework assignments.

We greatly value the tradition of strong parental support at Finaghy Primary School. As has been said before, it is one of the main 'secrets of our success'. We hope that you find the following guidance useful in maintaining such an excellent partnership.

A Mackay
Principal

Please note that all of the guidance given refers to an 'average' child. All children learn at different rates and will have individual needs. If your child's homework varies from the guidance given, the class teacher will explain the particular circumstances.

Primary One

Total time expected each night: 10 - 20 minutes maximum

Reading
Monday - Thursday
New words to learn.
Word sheet to complete at the end of each book.

English
Writing practice gradually introduced.
'Show and Tell' / 'News time' homeworks - bringing in objects / pictures / autumn leaves etc.
• Parents please sign homework diary.

Primary Two

Total time expected each night: 10 - 20 minutes maximum.

Reading
Monday - Thursday.
Children will be grouped and set a number of pages per night depending on ability.
New words / words not known are written out.

English
Handwriting practice.
'Show and Tell' / 'Newstime' homeworks - bringing in objects / pictures / autumn leaves etc.
• Parents please sign homework diary.

Primary Three

Total time expected each night: 30 minutes maximum

Spelling
3 - 4 spellings per night.
Tables
Four per night. Revise on Thursday.
Reading
Children will be grouped and set a number of pages per night depending on ability.
Written homeworks on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, usually alternating between English and Mathematics. (Reinforcement exercises)
Thursday night - revision for Friday tests.
• Parents please sign homework and homework diary

Primary Four

Total time expected each night: 30 - 35 minutes maximum

Spelling
Three pupil groups. 4, 6 or 8 words to learn, depending on group. Top two groups write sentences for each spelling. On Thursday, revise for Friday's test.
Tables
Number set according to ability. Revise on Thursday.
Reading
Children will be grouped and set a number of pages per night depending on ability.
Written homeworks on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, usually alternating between English and Mathematics. (Reinforcement exercises)
• Parents please sign homework and homework diary.

Primary Five

Total time expected each night: 40 - 45 minutes maximum.

Spelling
8 spellings per night, in ability sets.
Tables and Number facts
Number set according to ability. Revise on Thursday.
Reading
Children will be grouped and set a number of pages per night depending on ability.
Written homeworks on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, usually alternating between English and Mathematics. (Reinforcement exercises). Some homeworks research based (eg news reports, mini projects etc.)
Thursday night - revision for Friday tests.
• Parents please sign homework and homework diary.

Primary Six

Total time expected each night: 1 hour maximum (Depends on ability and may be affected by transfer preparation)

Spelling,Tables and Number Facts
Number set according to ability.
Reading
Children will be grouped and set a number of pages per night depending on ability.
Written homeworks Monday - Thursday. Often alternating between English and Mathematics. As the year progresses - more 'transfer-related' work.
Some homework will be 'research-based' or may involve completion of projects.
Thursday night - revision for Friday tests.
• Parents please sign homework and homework diary.

Primary Seven

Total time expected: 1 hour maximum. (Depends on ability and time of year. May be affected by transfer preparation).

Spelling,Tables and Number Facts
Number set according to ability.

Reading
Children will be grouped and set a number of pages per night depending on ability.
Written homeworks Monday - Thursday. Often alternating between English and Mathematics. Some homework will be 'research-based' or may involve completion of projects. Until November, homeworks include practice tests (including weekend tests).
Thursday night - revision for Friday tests.
• Parents please sign homework and homework diary.

General Notes

All written homework should be signed by parents.
We would ask you to check your child's work and to set high standards for presentation and accuracy.
If you find that your child is spending longer than advised on homeworks, please speak to the class teacher who can give guidance and/or make adjustments.

Please do not underestimate the importance of 'learning' or revision homeworks. Spellings, tables and number facts require constant practice. If children 'ease off' on 'learning' homeworks, major difficulties are encountered as they progress to harder levels of the curriculum.

Some useful tips

Children need a quiet place to complete homework, without distractions.
When helping your child to learn tables or number facts, ask them to write them out, go off to learn them and come back to you for testing. Repeat this process until they can answer quickly. (Be sure to ask them 'jumbled up' as well as 'in order.')
Ask your children some questions about the reading book they are using. Draw their attention to illustrations etc. Ask for their opinion of the book.

Other useful strategies can be found in the Curriculum Notes for Parents which you receive a copy of each year.