St Benedict's Primary School Edgeworth
PDF Details

Newsletter QR Code

839 Main Road
Edgeworth NSW 2285
Subscribe: https://sbpsedgeworth.schoolzineplus.com/subscribe

Email: admin@edgeworth.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 02 4958 1858
Fax: 02 4958 4069

Teaching and Curriculum Update

Homework at St Benedict’s

Late last term, we distributed a survey to parents to gain an insight and input into the development of a set of agreed practices for our teaching staff around homework. After looking at the responses from parents, developing an understanding of the research around homework and primary school students as well as teacher perspectives, we have developed the following agreements.

Over the next few weeks, you may notice some changes around homework. In order to foster a balanced learning environment, homework will not be mandatory at St Benedict’s and students will not be penalised for not completing any recommended tasks.

Key Recommendations for Homework:

At St Benedict’s, we recognise the significant benefits of regular reading practice. We recommend that students read between 3 to 5 times per week outside of school. Additionally, we encourage parents to read to their children. Even in the primary years, having children read aloud can greatly enhance their fluency.

Timing Recommendations:

  • Kindergarten: 5 – 10 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week
  • Year 1: 10 – 15 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week
  • Year 2: 10 – 15 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week
  • Year 3: 15 – 20 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week
  • Year 4: 15 – 20 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week
  • Year 5: 20 – 30 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week
  • Year 6: 20 – 30 minutes, 3 to 5 times per week

Occasionally, teachers may suggest additional activities to develop skills in English, such as speaking, listening, or writing. However, students will not be penalised if these activities are not completed at home.

Extra Homework and Holidays:

During holidays, we encourage our students to continue reading regularly and to write a journal of their daily activities or create a presentation to share their experiences with their peers. Teachers will not provide printouts of worksheets that require prior teaching or feedback.

If parents wish to provide further activities to support their child's learning outside of school hours, they are welcome to purchase resources from stores such as news agencies that are aligned with the Australian Curriculum. We will also offer a range of activities that students can engage in to further support their education outside of school hours.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership in your child's education.

Activities to further support student learning and development 

Sorting and Classifying: Engage children in sorting activities like sorting laundry by colour, sorting buttons, or even sorting leaves collected on a walk. 

Counting: Count steps, plates, or objects during daily activities, like counting steps on the stairs or plates on the table. 

Shape Recognition: Use everyday objects with different shapes (like blocks or stacking rings) and have children match shapes or fit them into corresponding spaces. 

Patterns: Introduce simple patterns, like alternating red and blue blocks or clapping in a rhythm. 

Grocery Shopping: Involve children in grocery shopping, counting items on the shelf, and practicing simple math concepts like adding the cost of different items. 

Noticing mathematics in the real world: Some examples are telling the time, how long it will take to …, how far, heavy or tall is …?, counting stairs or cars, discussing patterns in tiles or spiderwebs, cutting fruit or sandwiches in half, estimating how many biscuits are in the packet. 

Board games: Play board games that involve strategies that involve dice and numbers.  

Kitchen Experiments: Engage in simple cooking activities like baking or making smoothies, discussing the ingredients and how they change during the process. 

Gardening: Plant seeds, observe plants growing, and discuss the life cycle of plants. 

Nature Walks: Collect leaves, stones, or other natural items, and sort them by size, color, or shape. Have conversations about flora and fauna.  

Arts and Crafts: Engage in creative activities like colouring, painting, or making collages. 

Building and Construction: Play with blocks, building kits, or other construction toys. 

Outdoor Games: Any games or activities which involve running, jumping, throwing, kicking, catching, climbing, dodging etc.  

Age-appropriate chores: Cleaning up after play, making the bed, folding clothes, packing lunches, personal grooming / hygiene, washing clothes and dishes, garden cores etc. This will help build independence, responsibility and accountability.