Home/Remote Learning

Home-learning Frequency and content

Reading with your child is essential. This could be sharing a picture book, listening to them read their schoolbook or your reading to them at bedtime. Please prioritise reading with your child above all other home learning. Creative topic challenges will be sent once or twice per half term.

Primary Phase
Reception	Year 1 and 2	Year 3 and 4	Year 5 and 6
Daily Reading Creative Topic Challenge	Daily Reading Weekly Spellings Weekly Maths Challenge Creative Topic Challenge	Daily Reading Weekly Spellings Weekly Maths Challenge Creative Topic Challenge	Reading – change as needed Weekly Comprehension Weekly Spellings Weekly Maths Creative Topic Challenge

 

How will home learning be communicated to Parents?

All home learning will be sent in your child’s book bag or via our online communication systems. Reception use Tapestry to communicate your child’s learning, set challenges and keep you up to date with events in EYFS. All other year groups use Class Chart to set learning challenges, send home learning and keep you up-to-date with your child’s learning and events.

 

How will my child be supported with their home learning?

Home learning will never introduce a new concept or new learning. The learning that we will send home will be practice to help develop fluency following teaching in school. This means that your child will already have come across the learning and will be able to complete their challenge independently. Of course, we would love for you as parents/carers to talk to your child about their learning and explore some of the creative challenges together. We also have access to online learning platforms so that your child can learn through games and in online challenges.

What will happen if my child does not complete home learning?

We would always encourage your child to take part in home learning as it helps them to share their knowledge and skills with you. By sharing they create stronger memories for the key learning and will be able to use this more effectively in future learning, therefore being more confident in all areas of the curriculum.

If home learning is not completed, we will aim to support your child in school. In Key Stage 1, additional reading will be done to ensure that they have time 1:1 with an adult. This is often followed up in afternoon sessions and your child would come out to read with a familiar adult in school to ensure that they done fall behind. In Key Stage 2, we expect children to begin to take responsibility for their home learning. By the time your child is in Y5/6, they can join the after-school club for home learning support and will be required to give up their free time to complete any learning set that is not completed. As we are a through-school, we set high standards in Key Stage 2 so that the transition into Secondary Phase is as smooth as possible.

We believe that effective home learning is key to reinforcing classroom learning and building independent study habits. To support students across Key Stage 3 (KS3) and Key Stage 4 (KS4), we provide structured resources and encourage a variety of proven study techniques. 

Our approach has been designed following close reading of education research, speaking with students and families and in careful consideration of the needs of our students. We want Home Learning to be straight forward, impactful and not a source of stress for students or families. However, it is also important that all students and families accept that Home Learning is one of the key components of future academic success and should be part of their weekly life during Secondary School. 

The Importance and Impact of Home Learning 

Home learning plays a vital role in deepening understanding, improving retention, and developing essential skills such as time management, self-motivation, and resilience. When students regularly engage with subject content outside of the classroom, they are better prepared for assessments, more confident in their knowledge, and more able to make meaningful connections between topics.  

Home learning also allows parents and carers to be actively involved in their child’s education, creating a supportive learning environment at home. 

The Education Endowment Foundation and other groups often cite that homework has a positive impact on average, particularly for secondary school pupils. According to one toolkit summary, homework can lead to about +5 months of progress over a school year. This means that students regularly engaging in high quality homework will 5 months more progress each year than a student who does not.  

When we analyse our own school data, we can see that the most successful Year 11 students each year are also the ones with the strongest homework record. This includes students with the highest grades, but also those who have made the most rapid progress compared to their peer group.  

What Will Students Do? 

Our Home Learning programme has two parts: 

Part 1: Reading Practice.  

Part 2: Mastering Progression Essential Knowledge 

You will not see “traditional” homework tasks coming home very frequently in KS3. Occasionally, teachers may set a specific activity to enhance the learning in lessons but in general this is not the case. We find that this can be challenging for students to manage around their home commitments and routines, and we do not want to disadvantage students when this is the case.  

Instead, we have set up a structure of long-term home learning tasks which are set at the start of the half term, to be completed across the whole half term. These can be built into the home routine for each family in a way that works for them. It avoids stressful periods where multiple tasks are due at the same time and helps students to practice long term planning and time management.   

In KS4, teachers will set more “ad-hoc” homework as and when it is appropriate to deepen and consolidate learning. This is always done with consideration, and students are encouraged to communicate with teachers if they need extensions or support with managing deadlines. Most often, this is the opportunity to complete whole or partial exam papers to put their learning into practice.

What will be involved in Home Learning? 

Part 1: Reading 

All students should read for 20 minutes, at least three times a week. This reading should be of a fiction or non-fiction text which is appropriate for their reading age and chronological age. There is advice and guidance here on what we would advise student to read. There is also advice and guidance there for less confident readers.  

Support is available in accessing books in our library. Please contact Miss Jackson for more information.  

Part 2: Mastering Progression Essential Knowledge 

This aspect of home learning focuses on mastering the critical knowledge taught within the curriculum. Students will be using their home learning time to revise, practice and memorise over time the knowledge they are taught in school. In some subjects this will include key words and technical vocabulary, or facts, statistics and key dates – such as the chain of events which sparked the First World War. Other subjects will include key systems or processes – for example the Rain Cycle in Geography or the Human Digestive System in Science. This powerful knowledge is the bedrock of their curriculum. Knowing it inside and out means that they can excel in academically and the more complex and challenging areas of the subject.  

Students will be taught this critical Progression Essential Knowledge in lessons first, using a range of strategies so they understand it deeply. Then, for Home Learning, they will use a range of well chosen strategies to revise, memorise and master this knowledge. This will allow them to recall it quickly and accurately, having that critical Progression Essential Knowledge at their finger tips.  

 

We hope that this style of home learning – also used by some of the most successful schools in Leeds – allows students to have a flexible approach to home learning which fits around their family life and out of school commitments. 

We advise students plan a routine for their home learning, putting aside the following time as an approximate guide: 

KS3	KS4
We advise KS3 students to complete 30 to 45 minutes per day of home learning. Students are also encouraged to independently read for 20 minutes, at least three times a week.	We advise KS4 students to complete 1.5 hours per day of home learning. This will increase at certain times of the academic year e.g., when working towards coursework deadlines and revision for timetabled exams. Students are also encouraged to independently read for 20 minutes per day.

 

Home Learning Techniques 

In order to help students in the consolidation and recall of this critical Progression Essential Knowledge, we teach a series of revision and memorisation techniques throughout the year. These are based on our research into memory and cognitive science.  

We encourage students to use the strategies which work best for them, but strongly advise the use of the following: 

• Look, Cover, Write, Check: A simple but effective method for memorising key facts and vocabulary

Students can purchase whiteboard and pens from the Student Shop to support this style of home learning.

• Flash Cards: Great for quick recall and self-testing

• Mind Maps: Useful for visual learners to connect ideas and concepts

• Knowledge Organisers: Provided termly to ensure students have accurate and up-to-date content.  

• Leitner Method (KS4): A powerful flashcard system that helps students focus on areas they find most challenging

Students are encouraged to choose the methods that work best for them and to build a regular home learning routine. 

Supporting Your Child 

Parents and carers play a vital role in supporting home learning. To help you understand the techniques and support your child effectively, we recommend exploring the following resources: 

• GCSEpod 

• BBC Bitesize – Study Support  

• Maths Watch 

• Language Nut 

• Seneca Learning – Free Revision Platform 

If you have any questions or would like further guidance, please contact your child’s subject teacher or Mrs Knipe.