Stanningley Primary School

Learning at  Home  (HOMEWORK)

Learning at home and a strong relationship between home and school is an essential part of a good education. Regular homework is important, as it gives pupils the opportunity to practise and extend at home the learning that has taken place in class, and helps pupils work towards improving important basic skills. It also helps children to become organised, confident and independent in their learning, which will help them throughout their time at school, and in adult life.
 

Phonics & Early Reading 

At Stanningley Primary School, we believe that all our children can become fluent readers and writers. This is why we teach reading through Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, which is a systematic and synthetic phonics programme. We start teaching phonics in Nursery/Reception and follow the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised progression, which ensures children build on their growing knowledge of the alphabetic code, mastering phonics to read and spell as they move through school. As a result, all our children are able to tackle any unfamiliar words as they read. At Stanningley Primary School we also model the application of the alphabetic code through phonics in shared reading and writing, both inside and outside of the phonics lesson and across the curriculum. We have a strong focus on language development for our children because we know that speaking and listening are crucial skills for reading and writing in all subjects.

If you are a parent/carer and would like to find out more about Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised, please click here.
 

Mathematics

                                                   

At Stanningley Primary School, we believe that Mathematics is a tool for everyday life. Mathematics is an integral part of every child’s education and so needs to meet the needs of every individual child. It is a whole network of concepts and relationships, which provide a way of viewing and making sense of the world.  Using the Programmes of Study from the National Curriculum for Mathematics (2014), alongside White Rose Power Maths (version two) scheme of learning, we aim to develop:

• An enjoyment and curiosity of mathematics, and for children to feel confident to become successful;
• Fluency in the fundamentals of mathematics;
• Children’s logical thinking, reasoning (understanding of) and ability to problem solve as transferable life skills;
• The children’s ability to recall mental facts rapidly and accurately and to also use effective written calculation methods;
• Children’s abilities to use and apply mathematics to solve problems frequently in both the classroom and in ‘real life’ contexts;
• A confidence to communicate ideas in written form and orally;
• Independent and collaborative ways of working, encouraging children to share ideas and solve problems together;
• A wide range of mathematical vocabulary to be modelled and used in the classroom environment in order to justify, prove and develop an argument.

In order to achieve this, our Key Stage One and Two scheme of work, is a working document and comprises of the National Curriculum for Mathematics (2014) and White Rose Power Maths.  Within Early Years Foundation Stage, mathematics is supported by the EYFS Framework Early Learning Goals (mathematics) and Development Matters (2021), alongside the White Rose Maths (2023) scheme of learning. 

White Rose Power Maths (version two) scheme of learning provides a detailed, structured curriculum which is mapped out across all phases, ensuring continuity, and supporting transition. Power Maths is whole-class mastery programme created in partnership with White Rose Maths. It is designed to spark curiosity and excitement and help educators to nurture confidence in mathematics. Class teachers are encouraged to use the White Rose Power Maths scheme to suit the needs of their pupils’. At times, it may be vital to move away from the scheme to allow for more fluency practise of certain concepts that children may be struggling to grasp. Similarly, children may grasp a concept very quickly and need additional tasks to deepen their problem solving and reasoning skills within this. 

If you are a parent/carer and would like to find out more about White Rose Power Maths (verson two),  please click here. https://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/primary/subjects/mathematics/power-maths

Physical Education (BURSTS)                                                  
                                         

Reception, Class 1 and Class 2, we are delighted to announce that BURSTS is now available for you and your child as part of our school’s vision for creating active and healthy children.

BURSTS is a fun and simple to use Physical Education app that offers exciting, meaningful, personalised physical activities for your child to improve their physical literacy through play.

As with phonics in English or numbers in Maths, focusing on physical literacy helps children to develop critical building blocks and start to create a positive relationship with being active. This provides a foundation for them to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to engage successfully in Physical Education, physical activity and sport. BURSTS supports this journey by providing opportunities for EVERY child to develop essential Fundamental Movement Skills, often referred to as ABCs (agility, balance and coordination), in an age and stage appropriate, fun way.

As the name suggests, BURSTS provides ideas for children to engage in short bursts of activity, so it might be that you only play for a short period each time. Just 10 minutes a day will make a massive difference! The adventures, challenges and games are designed to allow the child choice – just like a computer game does.

Recognition of the amount of play and key milestones of activity and progress will be celebrated both on the app and in the classroom. 
Click here to see more information about how BURSTS works and a resource area for further support.

Your data and privacy is important to us and as such BURSTS is ad free, child safe, with no data shared with third parties. You will be receiving an email from BURSTS (info@burstsapp.co.uk) asking you to download BURSTS to your smartphone and set up your child’s profile using a unique join code. Once complete, you can start exploring and playing!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

KS2 Chess in Schools and Communities 

Chess in Schools and Communities have launched a programme to offer free Gold Membership* of ChessKid to KS2 children.
ChessKid is a website and app that gives children access to interactive lessons, instructional videos, thousands of puzzles, and a safe environment in which to play chess against others from around the world.  Click on the link below and then search Chess Kid to access the free membership. 

https://www.chessinschools.co.uk/?mc_cid=271cd949fb&mc_eid=aed53564f0

 

Use your child’s Core5 level as a guide and build reading skills through these at­home activities!
 

Level 1	Play games to practice rhyming and categorizing! Say a word, like log, and see if your  child can come up with words that rhyme, like dog and hog. Or, give him a category,  such as animals, and see how many he can think of.
Level 2	Play games to build sound awareness and vocabulary as you look for objects around  you. Say a sound, like /m/, and see if your child can find something that starts with  that sound. Or, tell her where an object is (I see something tiny beside the plant) and  see if she can guess what it is!
Level 3	Continue to build sound awareness and vocabulary as you play at home. Count the  sounds of objects around you (/d/­/i/­/sh/ has 3 sounds!), look for common sight  words in books, and describe objects with interesting adjectives, like “I want an  enormous cupcake!”
Level 4	Go on a sound treasure hunt. Pick a sound, like /p/, and see how many things your  child can find that begin or end with that sound. Afterwards, have him describe these  objects with adjectives, like “I found a shiny and flat pan!”
Level 5	Read together! Find consonant­vowel­consonant (CVC) words, like lap and hat, and  common sight words, like said and come, for her to try reading on her own. If she  gets stuck on a CVC word, help by sounding it out, one sound at a time. When you  finish reading, have your child tell you what the story was about!
Level 6	Practice spelling consonant­vowel­consonant (CVC) words, like hop and run. Then,  have your child tell you how the words are related (Hop and run are both actions!) or  have him make a sentence with the words (It is fun to hop and run!).
Level 7	Write silly sentences together using new words and patterns. Try using word families,  like ­ack, and contractions (Don’t pack a tack with my snack!). Have her read them back to you. Choose the best ones to act out or illustrate!
Level 8	Share notes with each other so that your child can practice reading and writing  compound words (pancake) and words with vowel teams (boat, treat). Leave  messages for him throughout the day, like “Pack the sunscreen!” or “Sweet dreams!”
Level 9	Practice as you cook! Choose a recipe and read it together. Have your child write and  categorize the ingredients (dairy, grains, fruit). When you are done, have her tell  someone else the steps of the recipe using sequence words, like first, then, and finally.
Level 10	Read long words together! If your child gets stuck, look for small word parts. For  some words, like basket, read one syllable at a time (bas­ket). For other words, like  jumping, look for the suffix (­ing) and base word (jump).
Level 11	Practice asking and answering questions as you talk about your day using words like  who, what, where, when, why and how. Ask your child questions, such as, “What did you eat for lunch?” and have her answer with complete sentences.
Level 12	Look and listen for similes (as fast as lightning) and metaphors (she is sunshine) in  books or movies, on television, and during conversations. Try to use them to  describe things around you, like “The water on the pond sparkled like diamonds!”
Level 13	Help your child figure out the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary by looking for clues  in the surrounding words. Also, help him use clues to figure out the actual meaning  of idioms, like “It’s raining cats and dogs.” It definitely doesn’t mean cats and dogs  are raining from the sky!
Level 14	Practice analogies by talking about how words are related. Say a word and see how  many related words your child can think of. For example, words related to grass include green, living, soft, and outside. These words all go with grass but in  different ways!
Level 15	Use sentence clues to understand multiple meaning words, like light and pitcher.  You can also give your child clues to understand words with Latin roots and  prefixes. For example, if pre­ means before and view means to see, then preview must mean to see before.
Level 16	Practice comparing and contrasting by talking about how two things are the same  and different. You can do this with two books, two movies, or two pictures, or even  with places you have visited or people you know.
Level 17	Look for words with Greek origins as you read with your child, especially in books  about math, science, and history. Words like astro naut, poly gon, and tele gram are  all made up of Greek word parts. See how many you can find!
Level 18	Continue to build your child’s reading skills after they complete Core5! Find time to  read together and talk about what you have read. Continuing to practice strategies  will make your child an even stronger reader!