Rigourous research data and statistics challenge our preconceived ideas and view about homework and that more homework is better.
As a school we expect teachers to spend time marking children’s recorded learning in books because this seems to have high impact on children’s progress and attainment. This takes between 1½ and 2 hours an evening. Marking homework is an ineffective use of time – because it seems that homework doesn’t help raise the children’s standards in literacy and numeracy.
What we do at Avanti Court
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1. Home Learning projects are given out each half term. These include a variety of engaging activities including research, number, writing, reading, model making, designing, being creative, asking questions and exploring.
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2. Home Learning is about the whole family coming together to be part of the learning experience. It should be enjoyable because the learning is meaningful – it is not done TO the children but WITH them.
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3. It is all children’s learning – the criteria is (a) children’s writing and mark making, (b) families help children but do not ‘do it for them’ (c) be presented in a creative and well thought out way
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4. Site words and phonics repetition activities daily
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5. Maths facts to be learnt daily (e.g. timestables and number bonds etc)
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6. Reciting and memorising poetry and quotes to inspire
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Home Learning Project Brief
Parents have stated that their children are more engaged with these types of projects (Click the image to see an example from Avanti Court on the topic of ‘Journeys’) – that they enjoy doing this together as a family. Shivom’s parents said that “he was interviewing his Grandparents to find out when they came to India and were actually discussing what it was like…he’s never done this before”.
Learning should be difficult and challenge children. But it should inspire and engage children to see themselves as constant researchers in a world in which knowledge and information is growing exponentially – a world in which the problems and challenges they will face have not yet been invented!
