Homework is a little bit different in Year 6 as we seek to fully prepare children for the rigours of secondary school. On this page you will find details of the Essential Home Learning expectations and the Deeper Learning Tasks on offer after SATs. There is then some further detail regarding the particular requirements of Year 6.

Children in Year 6 keep a homework diary. This is good preparation for the expectations of secondary school. They record each week's tasks in their diary. The usual pattern is Monday: spelling, Wednesday: maths, Thursday: literacy and, from time to time, other tasks. Children usually have a minimum of five days to complete each task.

Your child may well be able to complete tasks alone but it'll be better if you're involved. This is a job for dads and mums. Talking about the activities will double their benefit, and we hope you'll enjoy doing them together.

If you ever need help please just ask.

How Much?

An average of about half an hour each day is about right for children in Year 6.

There'll be spellings and other writing activities. Also number facts to learn (mostly times tables) plus occasional longer tasks. Above all, there's reading, no less important in Year 6 than in earlier years.

Health Warning!

If your child experiences difficulties with a homework assignment, or it seems to be going on too long, please don't worry. Encourage your child to do what he/she can in a reasonable amount of time and then simply leave the rest. We certainly don't mean to cause strife at home.

Reading

Reading is easily the most important thing. If you regularly share books with your child you'll make a big difference to his/her success in school. Children in Year 6 need to keep up the habit of reading regularly and you can encourage this by being involved.

Reading to you will build up stamina and speed and expand your child's vocabulary. But it isn't a test! If your child gets stuck then it's probably best to simply say what the problem word is and move on. Reading the earlier part of a sentence a second time will often help a problem word make sense so this could be worth a try, but don't labour the point. Your main aim is to enjoy reading together.

Maintain an interest and talk about his/her books... think together about the plot, the characters, the facts (in information books) and swap opinions. You can do this with anything that your child reads - not just his/her 'school reading book'.

And remember, no primary school child is ever too old to enjoy being read to by you. Together, you might select books that are just a bit tricky for your child to read alone, possibly school library books, helping to keep him/her interested in the whole business of reading for pleasure.

Above all enjoy books together.

Fifteen to twenty minutes a night will be truly valuable and will certainly make a difference to your child's progress in school. But don't restrict the time if your child is keen to do more!

(Recording home reading in reading diaries is essential to allow for communication. Thank you.)

Maths

Practising number facts makes them stick for good.

Practise times tables facts. Your child will know a good few tables by now: plug the gaps and practise the trickier 6's, 7's 8's and 12's. Time how long it takes your child to recite a times table and challenge him/her to do it faster the next day... Get good at recalling random facts out of order.

From time to time we set specific challenges and investigations to develop problem-solving skills.

Please do check your child's work with him/her if you can. Do this before handing in ideally. If there are errors by all means consider them together and make corrections: it's better to spot misunderstandings sooner rather than later.

Spelling

We send spellings home with Year 6 children weekly and the lists of words are sent home in diaries. The routine we encourage is SACAWAC: See the word And Cover the word And Write the word And Check the word. It helps children to say the word as they write it.

The final check is important of course. If the word has been written incorrectly, notice the bits that are correct and then try again... Please do help your child by checking spellings with them. It's best to notice slips sooner rather than later. 

Presentation

Please encourage neatness and careful presentation in your child's homework book. In Year 6 children usually write in pen  (not biro please).