For children at primary school current minimum guidance (based on 5 days) for homework:
Reading is an essential skill for the children accessing any aspect of the curriculum. This skill needs to be practised daily across all year groups. For younger year groups (years 1, 2 and 3), this will involve children focusing on learning how to comfortably decode unknown words (speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words).
For older children, daily reading is also essential. Reading a wide range of texts not only increases pupils’ linguistic knowledge (vocabulary and spelling) but also develops their knowledge of themselves and the world they live in.
The national curriculum outlines the spellings your children must learn by the end of the year (these lists are statutory in KS2). For KS1 pupils the development of their phonic knowledge underpins spelling lessons but as the children enter KS2 they are expected to utilise this knowledge, learning longer words and how to add prefixes and suffixes.
A full list of the spelling words can be found at the bottom of this page.
Your child’s class teacher will introduce a sound (vowels, diagraphs and trigraphs) or a spelling pattern each week. Pupils must practise these on a daily basis using a range of strategies to ensure they not only learn the sound/pattern but also they are able to recall it. Children should work on learning their spellings throughout the week using small tasks such as Copy it, Copy it… Recall it, Break it down, Acrostic poems and writing the word in a sentence.
Year Group |
*National Curriculum expectations |
1 |
Number bonds to 10 and 20 |
2 |
2, 5 and 10 multiplication facts |
3 |
3, 4 and 8 multiplication facts |
4 |
6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 multiplication facts |
5 |
All multiplication facts |
6 |
All multiplication facts |
*please note this is the minimum requirement
Being able to quickly recall number facts (including times tables) is crucial for most Maths concepts and children who don’t know their multiplication facts will fall behind in Maths. Pupils across all years must practise reciting number facts on a daily basis.
Children should learn their times tables in order, out of order and learn the division facts for that times table.
As it is the expectation that by the end of Yr4 all pupils know and can recall their times tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table, Yrs 5 and 6 should work on speed/fluency and division facts revision of all times tables, choosing a few times tables at a time.
Children will use TT Rockstars to practise their times tables. This is a fun and interactive online programme which the pupils can securely log into in school and at home and practise rapid recall of their multiplication facts.
Children can log on TT Rockstars from here.
All the pupils’ activity on this programme is collated and shared with the class teacher and they will use this as part of their overall Teacher Assessment.