Home learning in the Early Years is designed to be simple, purposeful and supportive. Our aim is to give children small, regular opportunities to practise key skills while keeping learning enjoyable and manageable for families.
We do not place emphasis on traditional "homework" at this stage. Instead, we build strong foundations in reading, writing and maths through short daily practice and regular book sharing. Optional activities are provided to extend learning at home, but these are never compulsory.
Topic-related home activities are suggested each term to link learning at school with life at home. These are optional and can be enjoyed in whichever way suits your family best.
Children bring home one or two free-choice books each week to share with their family.
Alongside this, they take home a Read Write Inc (RWI) ditty or reading book to practise phonics. As the year progresses, the number of RWI books increases to reflect children’s growing confidence.
A weekly homework pack is provided. In the autumn term, this focuses on sounds, and later develops into one writing and one maths task per week.
Autumn Term: Free-choice books, RWI ditty/wordless book, sound activities.
Spring Term: Free-choice books, RWI ditty/reading book, one writing task and one maths task weekly.
Summer Term: Free-choice books, 2 RWI books weekly, one writing and one maths task weekly.
Home activities are not about arduous tasks or lengthy projects. In Ruby, the essentials we ask families to support are:
Recognising and writing their name
Practising letter and number formation
Building up to words, captions and simple sentences
Completing basic maths activities
By the end of Reception, these skills prepare children for the challenges of Year 1, giving them independence and confidence.
Other activities that require more parent involvement (for example art projects, creative crafts or larger topic-based tasks) are always optional. While we love to celebrate these, we know every family life looks different, and we do not want to place pressure on parents to complete them.
The single most important support you can give your child at home is daily practice with phonics and reading. Sharing stories, sounding out words and talking about books makes a huge difference to your child’s progress and helps build a lifelong love of reading.
Home learning in Reception builds gradually across the year, giving children the chance to develop the routines and independence they will need in Year 1. With consistent support from school and home, every child can succeed.