Your child will bring home work each week which may include reading, spellings, writing, maths and topic work. Your interest in this will increase their motivation and satisfaction. It should not take a great deal of time and it is important that you see the work is completed and returned to school. If you have any concerns about your child's progress or learning, you should speak to your child's teacher in the first instance.

Although homework can be completed by children independently, we suggest parents and carers are actively involved in supporting their children’s homework as this will make it most meaningful.

I Spread the homework over several days rather than trying to complete it in one long session

I Make sure your child has a quiet place to work with no distractions

I Talk through the activity with your child before they start

I Encourage and praise them when they have completed the activities

I Listen to them as they read and show you what they have done

I Help test their spellings and check that they remember the meanings of the words

I Help them to learn their times tables and to increase their speed

I Visit the library and get books out on topics they may be studying in science, history and

other subjects

I Extend the activities where appropriate

Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using technology. Whether on social media sites, through a mobile phone, or gaming sites, the effects can be devastating for the young person involved. There are ways to help prevent a child from being cyberbullied and to help them cope and stop the bullying if it does happen.

This advice is for parents and carers about cyberbullying. It provides advice and information about how they can protect their child from cyberbullying and how to tackle it if it happens.

Children learn about reading by listening to stories, by making up a story as they turn the pages of a book and by reading print of all kinds. Reading with your child is one of the best ways to help your child learn to read. If reading is fun, your child will want to read with you.

I Children should read for 10 to 15 minutes each day

I Find a relaxing and comfortable place to read together away from distractions

I Choose a time when you both want to read. If your child is too tired, then choose an earlier time

I Let your child choose which book to read. It is important for them to feel engaged with the book. Children will often choose favourite stories which they know by heart. This is fine and a normal part of learning to read

I Before starting to read the story, talk about the cover, the title and the author and what the book may be about

I Do not always read the book straight through to the end. As you read, pause to talk about the pictures, discuss what has happened and what may happen next

I Try to engage your child in the text as well as the pictures. Even at an early stage, encourage them to read some of the words in the text

I Have your child look closely at words by finding those that look the same,

rhyme or start with the same letter

I Encourage your child to: use the pictures to guess what would make sense, guess what might come next, use the sounds of the first letter to help them

I Always praise your child, particularly when they have corrected themselves. This helps build up confidence and makes reading pleasurable

I After finishing the book, talk about it together. Try asking:

- Were you right about what you thought was going to happen in the book?

- Have you read any other books like this?

- Have you read any other books by the same author?

- If the story carried on, what might happen?

- Which character did you like best / least?

As your child becomes a more confident reader, encourage them to read by themselves a little each day. This should be in addition to them reading with you. For more hints and tips please click on the link below

Phonics are a key part of early reading. There are so many easy things you can do to help support your child’s phonics learning. Here are a few ideas:

1. Talk, talk, talk!

As a parent, you are the model of good speaking and listening. Regularly introduce new words (vocabulary). For example, for the word big you could also introduce large, huge, or enormous. Encourage them to say the word too. This is not about reading the words but about your child hearing and saying them.

2. Read to and with your child

This models good reading skills and promotes reading enjoyment. Have a special book box or bag where your child can keep the stories and any other texts, such as comics or non-fiction books, you’ve read together recently. Re-read these so that over time your child builds up their stock of stories and texts they know well.

Ebooks are another lovely way to share a story or non-fiction book together. Just make sure eBook reading is balanced with reading hard copy books so your child experiences all the different skills required for reading from a page and reading from a screen. Oxford Owl has a free eBook library where you can read together online.

3. Sing!

Teach nursery rhymes and songs and make lots of opportunities to sing and recite them.

4. Pronounce words and sounds clearly

In all games and activities make sure you pronounce the speech sounds clearly and as short as possible. Do not make them too long. For example, the letter ‘m’ has a short /m/ sound not a continuous /mmmmmmm/ sound. Try not to add an extra sound onto the speech sound too. For example, the sound is /m/ NOT /m-uh/.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCI2mu7URBc

We want children to learn the letter names and sounds but what's the difference? Letter names are what we say when we recite the alphabet or when we spell a word for someone. It's important children learn these and we start to teach them the alphabet from Reception.

What's more useful is the letter sounds. When you know the letter sounds you can begin to sound out and blend (put together to read) words. The most important thing is to say the sound quickly without adding an ‘uh’ sound after them.

Here is a short video explaining how to say the letter sounds correctly and why we start with s, a, t, p, i, n.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaxdlrgaFu8

Of course, letters make different sounds in different words. Take the letter 'a' for example. Look at the different sounds this letter makes in the following words:

cat fast pizza

We teach children that letters usually make a certain sound but that there are always exceptions. This way when they come across something that doesn't work they know they can try other sounds.

Rhyming games and activities

These kinds of games are fun to do and will support your child in hearing speech sounds that are the same and that are different. For example:

Into the pot: Model the phrase ‘into the pot goes’ while placing objects that rhyme into a pot/bowl (for example, a bat, a hat, a cat, a mat). Ask your child to repeat with you. Do this lots of times and then see if they can do it independently. You can then vary this; choose objects so that they have to decide which will not go in the pot e.g. a cat, a rat, a hat, a bird.

6. Play phonics games

lay simple phonics word games based on the sounds your child is learning and has learned at school. If you are unsure what sounds your child has been learning in school then do ask the teacher. They will be happy to share this with you. Schools often inform parents about the phonics programme they use and the order in which they teach the sounds.

7. Model blending

Start off using just the speech sounds and then immediately say the word. For example, At the shop I will buy a… /m/ /a/ /p/ – map, a /b/ /e/ /d/ – bed, a /d/ /u/ /ck/ – duck. Encourage your child to join in with you after you have this modelled for them. Then say the sounds and ask your child to say the whole word.

8. Wizard’s Magic River

Prepare a box/tray with small objects or pictures from around the house (for example, a peg, a bag, a cup, a pen). Say the words, ‘Wizard, Wizard can we cross your magic river?‘ Ask your child to repeat this to memorise the sentence. You are now the Wizard!

Then they say the sentence to you and you reply saying the sounds in order. For example, ‘only if you give me the…‘ /p/ /e/ /g/. Develop these games further by using word cards instead of objects so your child reads the words.

9. Play ‘Speedy Speak’

Make or buy small flashcards with the speech sounds on them. Keep a set in your bag to play while waiting for a sibling, or going to a café. Using the timer on your mobile phone, select the sounds and letters you child has been taught so far. Place them in a pile. Start the timer (set to whatever time you wish – for example, 30 seconds).

Ask your child to turn over the cards one at a time and say the sound clearly. (If they get to the end of the pile before the timer stops, they keep turning over the same cards.) Count how many times they say a sound correctly. Keep a note and next time tell them that you’re going to see if they can beat their record!

Learning to write well is an important communication skill. Children learn about writing from watching others and from the writing they see around them – things like adverts, notes, papers and letters. One of the most important ways to encourage your child to write is by providing them with a model of a writer – you!

I Always praise your child to develop their confidence as a writer. Even if their writing is not entirely recognisable

I Choose a time when your child wants to write and when you are able to help. However, if your child is reluctant, don’t insist

I Talk with your child before they begin to write. This will help them clarify their ideas

I Encourage your child to try to write for themselves, even if they make mistakes. Suggest they have a go with words that they don’t know how to spell. They need to say the word slowly and write down the sounds they hear. If they really don’t want to, just spell out the word for them

I As your child begins to write at home, do not over-emphasise neatness in their writing attempts. When children write they need to get their ideas down first. To help them with their handwriting, have them practice copying poems or stories from books

I Ask your child to read their writing to you as they write and when they have finished. This will help them understand the importance of the reader

I Children need to feel that they are writing for a purpose. This can be in the form of letters to friends, stories, shopping lists, making and writing greeting cards, plans for a party, postcards and diaries

I Children can often be encouraged to write if they have nice notebooks or mini whiteboards to use

Here are some suggestions of games you can play together with young children:

I How many? – At home or when you are out, ask your child to count the number of objects they can see. At first, they may need to be able to touch the objects to count successfully. A good technique is to ‘touch, count, move’ so they do not count the same object more than once.

I Counting up and down – Ask your child to count up e.g. from zero to twenty. Then count down from twenty to zero. Try asking them to count from a different number e.g. count up from 8 or count down from 14. 5

I Number Spotting – Often during the day, ask your child what numbers they can see. There are often many numbers at home they can read. While out, ask your children to read house numbers, telephone numbers on shop signs, bus numbers etc.

I Doubling and Halving Numbers – Give your child numbers to double. How many can they get correct in one minute?

I Number Bonds – Ask your child to say two numbers that add up to 10, 20 or 100. Can they remember all the pairs of numbers of by heart

I Board and Card Games - Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, Bingo etc

I Role play and real life experiences – shopping, menus, cooking (dividing food into fractions, doubling a recipe), reading a timetable

I Link it to the child’s interests – football league tables, tennis results, swimming lengths

I Measuring – lengths, weights, capacity using tape measures, scales and jugs

I Online Games – If you have online access, there are many good interactive games and activities to practise maths. Please remember to support your child and ensure they stay safe online.

Please do not hesitate to come and speak to a member of staff if you have any questions at all.