Home Learning
“It takes a village to raise a child” is an old proverb that we think rings true here at Sunny Bank Primary! School and home partnerships are critical in not only a child’s academic education, but their personal development also.
In educational research there are many studies which show formalised homework at primary age adds little value to a child’s progress, and in some instances have a negative effect in learning.
Our Home Learning Offer
Our offer is linked to a ‘Block of Learning’ in each half-term of the academic year. It allows children and families a range of additional learning and enrichment opportunities.
Early Years Foundation Stage
The start of a pupil’s journey begins in Reception. We aim to instil a love of learning through the implementation of Learning Logs: here the children are given the opportunity to engage in a range of learning experiences at home, linking to their half-termly topic. For example, pupils may be set a freezing and melting challenge or creating a collage using a range of materials, when learning about the Polar Regions.
In addition to this, Sunny Bank have recently set up ‘Growing Bags’, where pupils can begin to explore the ‘World of Work’ through play. The bags contain resources, question and sentence STEMS and an outline of how best to use the resource. For example, a ‘Growing Construction Worker’ bag will come equipped with a helmet, wooden blocks and a builder’s toolkit with challenges for the child to complete. The bags can be taken home – for a week - for the child and adults to explore before being returned to school for another child to take home.
Early Reading
At Sunny Bank we really value the importance of early reading. Reading to your child, as well as listening to them read, has been proven to expand a child’s vocabulary, improve reading fluency, build confidence, and helps to develop a love of reading. Children at Sunny Bank are encouraged to read a range of books, both from school and from home. Books sent home from school are matched to your child’s current reading ability and should be read with increasing fluency to aid comprehension.
Learning Logs – Key Stages One and Two
These provide families with the opportunity to get involved in each Block of Learning through a variety of tasks and activities – and are not simply focused on reading, writing or mathematics. Children and families can simply select the activities that interest them. All pupil produced work and items are then brought into school and celebrated over the half-term period. Simple!
CENTURY Learning – Key Stage Two
This is an online learning platform currently utilised in Key Stage Two (Years 3-6) in two main ways:
- As a diagnostic, individual learning journey
- Steered by the class teacher who signposts and sets specific ‘nuggets’ of learning based on their classroom’s weekly learning
A short introductory video of the system can be found here.
Accelerated Reader and TTRS (‘TimeTables RockStars’) - Key Stages One and Two (when appropriate for Key Stage One)
Accelerated Reader is an online programme uses diagnostic quizzes to assess children’s reading proficiency and provides children with a range of book choices in their ‘stretch zone’. All books in our School Library are included on this system. Children in Key Stage One access this learning when they are ready to do so.
And, as it is a vast system, there is a good probability books at home are also on the system so children can read and quiz at home. You can do this by clicking here.
TTRS is also an online programme that allows children to rehearse their number facts, predominantly in multiplication and its inverse, division. Children in Key Stage One access this learning when they are ready to do so. Children can log in here.
Additionally, we have the ability to provide home learning in individual circumstances through Showbie and Microsoft Teams. Learn more about Showbie here. Or see the Microsoft Teams video below.