We are curious, unique and together

Supporting Your Child At Home

Keeping your child safe online

Government Advice

Information from the Government on how to keep your child safe online can be found by clicking on this icon.

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Supporting your child at home

Here are a few ideas to help you keep the children busy and support them in their learning whilst at home.

Reading


At Whiteshill we ask that you read with your child at home as often as possible! It really makes a difference and it is something that we simply cannot do with every child in school daily, so we rely on your support. We recommend that you read with your child at least 4 times a week. The more they read, the more progress they will make - it is as simple as that.

Please find below information sheets about how you can support your children with reading at home and explaining the books we have in school:

Spellings

Your child's year group spellings can be found below. These can be practiced simply through look, cover, write, check or by playing games as suggested by another school which I found here: http://www.hazelgrove-pri.stockport.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Practising-spellings-at-home-HGPS.pdf

There is also a free spelling programme available online here which may be of interest: https://dyslexiagold.co.uk/SupportForSchools

Writing

Your child can practise their handwriting daily. Using lined paper is best, but if not any paper will do! If your child is in Willow or Elm class they will write each letter individually, once they get in to Maple they will begin to join their letters and children in Oak class will be expected to join. Your children can write about anything they wish, as long as they have a starting point or something to get them interested. There are a whole host of text types you could try including: newspaper reports, instructions, recipes, leaflets, information posters, discussion texts and arguments, explanations of how something works, diary entries, letters, short stories including mystery, adventure, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, myths and legends and historical fiction.
There are a few ideas below for starting points for writing but you may also like to use a picture book, video or picture to inspire them.


Younger children might like to:

Try activities to develop their fine motor skills e.g. cutting with scissors, using tweezers, playdough modelling, using pegs, tracing over pictures with their fingers.
Write secret notes and messages to family members
Make labels for things around the house
Write a shopping list, real or imaginary, or any other kind of list
Practice forming letters with using paint, sand, playdough or pastry.
Write with magnetic letters and leave messages on the fridge
Write invitations or posters for their toys to read to events in their bedroom e.g. teddy's birthday picnic or a show they are putting on.

Older children might like to:

Email a family member or friend
Write recipes or instructions for baking or write a menu for a meal
Write a diary of what they have been up to during the day
Make a scrapbook with labels and captions
Write stories involving the adventures of their favourite toys or characters
Write an information text about a subject they are passionate about e.g. animals, their favourite hobbies, films, current events, history, anything that they are interested in.
Write a letter to their favourite author, sports star or famous person
Invent and write rules for the house, bedroom etc. and put them on a poster
Draw, label and explain their own silly invention to solve a problem
Write lyrics for their own song or poem
Write instructions for a more mature member of the family for a piece of modern technology they might not be able to get to grips with!
Write their own comic or story book - they could even do the front cover, illustrations and blurb
Compile a family history or short biography of everyone in the household

Maths

Children in Maple and Oak class should continue to practise their times tables daily. They can use the Hit the Button game online here: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button or if your child is in year 4 and preparing for the multiplication check at the end of the year, they can have a go at a check online here: https://www.timestables.co.uk/multiplication-tables-check/

Other maths websites which will help your child practise basic skills are:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting
https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/category/22/most-popular
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/kids-activities/fun-maths-games-and-activities/
http://www.maths-games.org/
https://www.familymathstoolkit.org.uk/activities-for-children

If you prefer to work offline with your children there are some ideas here for games etc. to support them in their learning and keep them busy:
https://www.bracklaprimary.co.uk/maths-activities-to-support-your-child-at-home-1/

Homework at Whiteshill

Reading

From Reception to Year 6, all children are encouraged to read at home as often as possible.  Reading is an incredibly important skill which leads to increased learning outcomes in all areas.  It has a positive effect on progress in not just reading but writing, spelling, maths and their comprehension of the whole curriculum.

At Whiteshill, all children are expected to read at least 4 times a week at home.  This can be recorded in your child’s reading record which is sent home each day.  The more your child reads at home, the more progress they will make.  As they get older, from Maple Class upwards, they may enjoy reading to themselves and this should be encouraged as it will help them learn to love books.  However, it is still important for them to read out loud to an adult on occasion as reading aloud is a very different skill.  It helps your child to practise slowing down and focussing on every word as well as thinking about the expression with which a sentence has been written.  It also allows you to keep track of how they are progressing.  Please ensure your child gets a balance of both at home as they get older and feel free to record both in their reading record.

Your child will come home with a reading book in line with their current reading level.  It is important that they read this book regularly in order to make continued progress.  However, please do also encourage them to read books for pleasure either from home, the school library or any other source.  Please feel free to record this reading in your child’s reading record as well so that we get a good picture of the reading they are doing outside of school and to keep them interested and excited about books.

In school, reading is taught through daily phonics lessons in Willow and Elm classes up to the end of Year 1.  From Year 2 upwards, it is taught through our reading curriculum, which you can find out more about on our curriculum pages.  These sessions involve reading and enjoying a text together, asking and answering questions and learning new vocabulary.  A love of reading is also encouraged through teachers reading a class book at the end of the school day and through our teaching of writing which is often based on stories the class have read together.  The children are also encouraged to read quietly to themselves in school from Year 1 upwards to get them into good reading habits and so that the staff have chance to hear them one-to-one to assess their progress and move them on to the next reading level when necessary.

Phonics and Spelling

In reception and year 1, the children have a daily phonics lesson where they learn the sounds they need to successfully read and spell.  These sounds will be sent home to you so that you can support your child when they are reading or writing at home.

From year 2 upwards, the children complete a spelling unit each week during English lessons.  They learn spelling rules and words in line with the National Curriculum.  They are then encouraged to use these words in their writing and apply the rules they have learnt independently.  They are given dictionaries, word lists and key vocabulary prompts when writing to encourage them to spell independently and edit their work to make corrections.  A list of spelling words and rules from the National Curriculum will be sent home to you at the start of each term so that you are aware of the expectation for your child’s year group.  As well as teaching these new rules and patterns each year, your child will revise previous learning and work on any patterns which the teacher has identified as not being applied during writing.  Children’s spelling will not be tested weekly.  The most important skill with spelling is applying it when writing and this is where our emphasis will lie in school.

Maths

In Willow and Elm Classes, the key objectives for Maths will be sent home to you during parents’ evening so that you are aware of the expectation for your child’s year group and where their gaps lie. 

In Maple Class, your child will learn their times tables daily.  It is in Years 3 and 4 that this important skill is developed and by the end of Year 4 all children are expected to know their times tables up to 12 x 12.  Although there will be no formal Maths homework on a weekly basis, there will be suggestions of games that you can play to support your child’s developing times tables knowledge – see above.

In Oak Class, there will be formal Maths homework.  It will be collected in and marked on a weekly basis.  This is in order to prepare the children for secondary school where they will need to manage their time at home in order to complete a larger range of homework for different subjects.  The homework has been designed to help them practise their calculation skills in preparation for the SATs arithmetic test at the end of Year 6.  The format will consist of boxes with a range of calculations which will increase over the year as they are taught new techniques.  If your child is unable to complete a calculation independently, or is unsure of the method, please leave it blank so that the teacher is aware and can support them with the calculation method taught in school.