Home Learning

At Newington Green, home learning plays an important role in strengthening pupils’ progress. It provides meaningful opportunities for children to practise and apply what they have learnt in school, helps build fluency in key skills, and nurtures positive learning habits such as independence, perseverance and responsibility.

Our approach has four core strands:

1. Reading

Reading is central to every child’s success and we expect all pupils from Reception to Year 6 to read for 15 – 20 minutes each day with an adult.

• Reception and Year 1 (and older children still on the phonics programme):
  Children take home a phonetically decodable book, carefully matched to the GPCs taught through Essential Letters and Sounds (ELS). This book should be read several times across the week to build decoding, fluency and confidence.
  They also take home a ‘book to share’, chosen for enjoyment and quality discussion.
• Year 2 – Year 6:
  Pupils take home a banded book matched to their reading level and a free-choice book from the school library, to further encourage reading for pleasure.

Parents record daily reading in their child’s reading record, which should be brought to school as directed by the class teacher. After reading, we encourage discussion using prompts such as:
“What has happened so far?”, “Why do you think the author chose that word?”, “Does this book remind you of anything else you’ve read?”.

 

2. Maths Practice

Maths home learning is designed to be short, regular and purposeful.

• Year 1:
  Daily practice of number bonds to 10 and 20 using objects, pictures, games or number bond cards.
• Years 1–6:
  Daily practice using the DoodleMaths app.
• Years 2–6:
  Daily practice of times tables using chanting, singing, writing them out or playing online games such as Hit the Button or BBC Times Table Grid Games.

We recommend spending around ten minutes each day on these apps to build fluency and confidence in number skills.

 

3. Spellings

In Years 1–6, children receive weekly spellings linked to current classroom learning. These may come from:

• our phonics programme
• the spelling requirements of the National Curriculum
• or topic-specific vocabulary being used across the curriculum

Children should practise these spellings at home throughout the week, before completing a spelling test to check their learning.

 

4. Independent Project Learning

To enrich learning and build independence, pupils in KS1 & KS2 complete a curriculum-linked home learning project once each half term, recorded in their home learning scrapbook.

Home projects may include:

• A 3D model e.g. of a landmark, habitat, volcano or historical setting
• A fact booklet or mini-report created by the child
• A hand-drawn poster or infographic explaining key knowledge
• A short video presentation or digital slideshow
• A timeline, map or labelled diagram created by the child

 

Talk and Real-World Learning Beyond School

At Newington Green, we value the important role that talk and real-world experiences play in children’s development. Families are encouraged to:

• discuss learning daily (e.g., “What did you enjoy most today?”)
• make the most of free cultural opportunities in London
• engage children in hobbies, clubs, sports and creative activities

These experiences enrich children’s vocabulary, curiosity and understanding of the world, greatly supporting their classroom learning.

 

If you have any questions about home learning or how best to support your child, please speak to your child’s class teacher.