Homework Expectations
Reading
At Newland St. John’s, reading is at the core of all we do. We would encourage you to read to your children as much as possible and to hear them read to you.
Read Write Inc is central to our early reading programme. Each child will read their RWI book in class three times: firstly for accuracy, secondly for fluency and a third time to practise ‘voice choice’ (reading with expression). Once they have read the book three times in class, it is sent home. At this time, another carefully matched RWI book, which has not been previously explored in class, will be sent home. This book is thoughtfully selected to align with the child’s phonetic skills, characters, or theme familiarity. Children should practise reading it 5 times a week at home.
Oxford Owl (log in details provided in the front cover of their Home Reading Journal) also provides an electronic platform for accessing and reading these RWI books, complemented by associated quizzes that enable children to develop their reading comprehension and phonics proficiency. Oxford Owl books are updated after each half term. Anytime your child reads, please write it down in their Home Reading Journal so we can celebrate their reading success in class.
Finally, children on the RWI programme will have the opportunity to change their school library book twice a week. This is a book to be shared at home. This should be read to the child to develop a love of reading. We would encourage the children to try and re-read the story in their own words, if they cannot read the book.
Reading Plus is part of the next step in our reading programme. We know that it can have an enormous impact on children’s fluency, reading speed and comprehension. The texts that are used are carefully matched to the children’s abilities. We ask that the children complete at least 3 reads a week at home on Reading Plus.
We would also encourage children to supplement their reading with high quality texts. Books can be borrowed from our class libraries and from a central library. Our teachers are more than happy to give recommendations. It could be that you read to your child, that they read to you or that they read independently and you discuss the books with them.
All the reads that the children complete should be recorded in the Reading Journal and this will be monitored by the classroom teacher once a week.
Spelling
All children have spellings to learn, once they graduate from the RWI programme. These are shared with parents and carers weekly in our weekly class email. The spellings are also set on Spelling Shed and are sent home on a look, say cover, write sheet. The children may want to bring this sheet in to show the class teacher. The children can choose how they would like to learn their spellings- some may work on
Spelling Shed, others may choose to use the look say cover write sheet and others may use some of the strategies that are taught at school (Rainbow Spellings/ Identifying patterns…). As parents and carers, you can choose the way that works most effectively with your child. The children are tested every Friday so we have a clear picture of how the children are progressing. Class teachers are always happy to offer support and suggestions.
Number Facts
Details of number facts that the children need to learn will be sent in the weekly class email.
If you are concerned about the expectations or need further guidance, please speak to the class teacher who will be more than happy to help.
