A - Z Parent Guide
Homework Guidelines
Homework is an opportunity for parents or carers to participate in their child’s education. Homework complements and reinforces classroom learning, and fosters good lifelong study habits.
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At Beaumaris North Primary School, students and teachers are encouraged to demonstrate academic honesty, showing respect for their own and others’ work. Methods for citing references, listing resources and recognising the work of others are introduced as part of the inquiry process. Academic honesty is central to the expectations of the IB where students are encouraged to become lifelong learners presenting work that they value as their own.
Prep, Years 1 and 2
- Teachers model best practice in academic honesty.
- Students are encouraged to present their own work and contribute their ideas in group and whole class lessons.
Years 3 and 4
- Teachers model best practice in academic honesty.
- Introduce students to skills for citing references.
- Students are given the opportunity to develop an understanding of their personal responsibility to show integrity in all of their work.
Years 5 and 6
- Teachers model best practice in academic honesty.
- Introduce students to skills for citing references.
- Students are encouraged to respect others’ work by developing an understanding of the system for recognising the work of others and supporting inquiry with evidence.
- Students are given the opportunity to develop an understanding of their personal responsibility to show integrity in all their work.
Students are given the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge, understanding, reasoning and interpretation.
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Prep
During the first term, Prep students will receive a Take Home Reader. Details of the reading program will be explained during the Prep Parent Information Evening.
Other Year Levels
We expect that children develop a regular pattern of reading at home. We encourage that regardless of the children’s ability, they all read orally at some regular time so that their voice clarity and expression can be monitored. Parents are encouraged to occasionally question and discuss the content of their children’s books.
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A common question arising from Parent Teacher Interviews is ‘how can we assist our child in Maths at home?’
Here are some helpful hints and suggestions titled ‘Numeracy: Families working it out together, the opportunities are everywhere’. They are ideas/suggestions for families to reinforce mathematical concepts and understandings together, for Early Years (Prep to Year 2), Middle Years (Year 3 and 4) and and Later Primary Years (Year 5 and 6).
Prep to Year 2
Numeracy: Families working it out together_Early Primary
Year 3 & 4
Numeracy: Families working it out together_Middle Primary
Year 5 & 6
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At the beginning of each year, co-ordinators and teachers will decide the homework expectations for their year levels in accordance with the Department of Education & Training (DET) homework guidelines. Parents will be notified in writing of these expectations.
If difficulty is encountered by any student with any work set, parents are encouraged to share this information with the teacher (see Contacting Teachers). Homework can include projects, story writing, book reviews, going to the Library, reading a book, a newspaper or magazine article, making a collection, learning, spelling, oral and written research, learning number facts, creating art work, plays or songs – the possibilities are endless.
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Parents can help children by:
- Encouraging a regular daily session to examine and complete homework.
- Discussing key questions or suggesting resources to help with homework.
- Helping to balance the amount of time spent between homework and recreational activities such as watching television or playing computer games.
- Asking how homework and class work is progressing, and acknowledging success.
- Attending school events, productions or displays their child is involved in.
- Talking to teachers to discuss problems with homework.
- For upper primary and secondary students, checking whether homework has been set and ensuring that their child keeps a homework diary.
- Reading texts set by teachers.
- Discussing their child’s responses to set texts and asking to see work they complete in relation to these texts.
- Discussing homework with their child in their first language, if English is not the main language spoken at home, and linking it to previous experiences.