John Harrison Church of England Primary School

Home School Learning - 'Brain Builders'

Why do we promote Home school learning?

We have a unique approach to homework which is designed to be family friendly, engaging, easy to manage but with a purpose, as it focuses on life skills and developing a love of learning. Each child in from Year 2 upwards has a Brain Builder into which the children will be given open-ended, creative tasks to complete. The tasks can be done independently or with support from someone in the family. A variety of topics and tasks are used and, depending on the task, we encourage the children to use photographs, research or draw pictures to illustrate their findings. Very often there is a choice of activities or ways of presenting what they find out and all we ask is that they put their best effort into the task. The more effort they put into each task, the more they will gain. 

Children will be given two weeks to complete a Brain Builder task which should then be returned to school to be shared and celebrated with the class. There will then be a week’s break before the next Brain Builder is given out. Each class also has a Brain Builder club for any child who needs support.

In the Foundation Stage and Year 1, the children have more practical Home School activities to complete which complement the things they are learning.

Please ask us for help or advice at any time but most of all enjoy the tasks!

Reading

We expect the children to read at home at least three times a week and to have their Reading Diary signed. This should predominately be from their school book but reading from other books can also be completed - all reading is good reading! Please write in your child’s Reading Diary when your child has read so we can be sure they are reading at home. Children who read at least three times a week at home will receive a sticker on their reading bookmark.

Maths

Depending on the age and ability of your child there are many things that you can practise with them that can make a huge difference to their mathematical development. Practising key facts such as times tables can be done on the walk to school or for a few minutes before tea, but this can have a big impact on your child’s learning. You can also support your child with real life aspects of Maths, for example, by helping them to know the days of the week, tell the time or use money when you go shopping together.

Using Computers to Support Learning

There are many websites that can be used to support a child’s learning at home. At John Harrison, all children in Years 1-6 have access to www.educationcity.com on which they can play games to support their learning in Maths, English, Science and Computing. Children in Key Stage Two also have access to www.mathletics.co.uk which helps them to develop their mathematical ability whilst also having fun.

Other sites that can be useful include:

https://www.spellzone.com/word_lists/index.cfm

https://www.phonicsplay.co.uk/freeIndex.htm

http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/

https://www.bbc.com/education/levels/zvbc87h

Please note that these are external websites and the school cannot be held responsible for their contents. If you think that they are not working or see anything inappropriate