I have been listening to comments and suggestions about Learning Log homework and I completely understand that life moves quickly-especially when you have little ones and all sorts of clubs and hobbies outside of school and on weekends. The last thing we would want is you to feel any concern about home learning tasks so we have something new and exciting to tell you about-a complete overhaul!

Pick and Mix with our topic Menu-your half termly treat!

Dear Parents,

Welcome to our new style of homework-The ‘Pick and Mix’ Learning Log!

We want your children to delight in personalised learning and we want to channel home learning opportunities to extend interests. Your child will have a pick and mix menu full of ideas linked to the topic of the half term. Home learning activities will not be given every week, as previously with your Learning Log, but we will ask that children bring their Pick and Mix Learning Log books in in the last week of every half term to celebrate and show to their friends and staff in school. We will have a class walk round to share each other’s logs and celebrate and praise the learning that your child has completed at home. You will not find worksheets in these as activity ideas link to the topic for all areas of the curriculum and are to be enjoyed practically and with children taking the learning further and in their own way.

You will see Music ideas, Art, DT and all of your child’s favourite subjects in equal measure. If your child prefers creative arts, then they can feel free to enjoy and complete some (or all) of the challenges. Class messages will be on the Seesaw APP and you can always contact school if you need to speak to us.

Each half term, your child will have a topic map stuck in their Learning Log book to inform you of all the things your child will be learning over the half term for all areas of the curriculum. This is for your information only and it will give you complete insight, alongside our Seesaw APP and class pages on our NEW website, as to what you child is learning about in school. Below are some examples but we are creating new templates with chillies to replace the stars-as they activities/tasks your child may choose will have varied degrees of challenge! Don’t worry-there will be enough activities provided for those of you who love weekly home learning tasks and you can still choose to do the home learning tasks weekly, if you wish, but the logs will only be  brought in on the final week of a half term to share and as the half termly topic comes to a close in class.

You will also see a spelling selection of fun activities to choose from to do at home and you can choose to do these wherever and whenever. They are fun activities for your child to complete and most of them are practical for your child to do when you are out and about. These are not marked and you can do as little or as many as your child wants. Spellings for the week will be stuck in your child’s reading diary and we, of course, want you to continue to read with your child every night and keep those stickers coming!

Your child can choose from a variety of fun activities and these will range from mild to hot on the Chilli Challenge scale-will your child choose a mild, medium or spicy activity!? This is also a great way to differentiate between the level of challenge as we have our mixed year groups. Look for the chillies on the menu and you can have a go at any or all tasks. Let’s get those glitter pens, envelopes, twigs and all things creative and fun. Children can also take resources from school to help them-eg. music stave paper to write their own songs and jingles.

With my many thanks for your wonderful support as always,