How Can I Help My Child at Home?
At Godinton Primary School, we value the partnership between home and school and therefore encourage parents to help support their child’s learning in many different ways. This may be practising and developing skills they have learnt at school, visiting local museums to explore their Learning Adventures further or pursuing additional reading or research about a topic they are enthused by.
On this page you will find information on how you can support your child at home.
Year Group Welcome Letters
Each year group produces a welcome letter at the start of the academic year which will hopefully answer any queries which parents might have about the work their child will be doing in class this year. Please click on the links below to view the relevant year group letter.
Welcome Letters 2025-26
Homework Trails
At the start of each term, the year group will be set a ‘Homework Trail’ which will last for the duration of each term. This trail includes weekly ‘Base Camp’ tasks, a menu of ‘Trail’ tasks which are all linked to the Learning Adventure topic, and an ‘Extra Mile’ Challenge. The choice of homework tasks all relate to work being taught in class and provide further practice and reinforcement of our Learning Adventure themes. Children are strongly encouraged to complete the tasks set but homework is not compulsory.
Regular reading, spelling and the retention of number facts and multiplication / division facts are essential in the development of English and Maths skills as they underpin many concepts. These tasks will form the ‘Base Camp’ activities which children are expected to complete on a weekly basis. ‘Trail’ tasks are a set of 9 tasks that the children can choose from, ensuring that the centre task has been completed—they cover a broad range of subjects and interests. The minimum expectation is that 3 tasks will be completed over a term in the children’s homework books. Our new homework system will replace ‘creative homework’ that has operated in the school in previous years.
‘Extra Mile’ task – Children who ‘go the extra mile’ and complete 6 squares will receive an ‘Extra Mile Sticker’. Any children who complete 3 ‘Extra Mile challenges’ during terms 1-5 will take part in an end of term treat.
At the start of each new term, each class will hold a ‘Trail End Showcase’ where children can share their homework from the previous term and celebrate their hard work. Children only need to bring their homework books back into school on Trail End day.
Homework Trails 2025-26
Year R Homework Trail - Term 1
Year 1 Homework Trail - Term 1
Year 2 Homework Trail - Term 1
Year 3 Homework Trail - Term 1
Year 4 Homework Trail - Term 1
Year 5 Homework Trail - Term 1
Year 6 Homework Trail - Term 1
Maths Calculation Policies
The methods used to teach maths have changed over time and can vary slightly in different schools. At Godinton, we have created a maths calculation policy to show how we teach mathematical methods. Click on the links below to view these policies.
Progression in Maths Calculations
Maths Visual Calculation Policy
Recall of Multiplication and Division Facts
| Multiplication A | Multiplication B | ||
| Division A | Division B | ||
| Complete Mixed A | Complete Mixed B | Complete Mixed C | Complete Mixed D |
The ability to recall multiplication and division facts at speed is vital. These facts are regularly applied to many areas of maths and therefore they can never be practised too much. There are lots of online times table games which children can play.
In order to support the external practising of times tables, Godinton offers our pupils the online resource of Times Tables Rock Stars. This is a fun and exciting way to secure times tables knowledge.
Children are also able to access additional 'Live Mathletics' via our Maths Homework Portal. You can find out more about Mathletics by clicking here.
Reading
We want to encourage all our children to read as often as possible in order to develop a life-long love of reading. It is our observation that children who read regularly at home, and read a wider range of texts, tend to demonstrate greater progress not only in their reading but also in their writing and spelling.
Click on the the link below to view some brilliant recommended reads for different year groups. Why not see if these are available at your local library.
Reading independently but also sharing books with adults is vital to improving reading progress. When you read with your child, it is important not only to support their decoding skills but also their comprehension skills. Decoding skills are the ability to translate written symbols into sounds and spoken words, essentially "sounding out" unfamiliar words by applying knowledge of letter-sound relationships (phonics). This process involves segmenting a word into individual sounds and then blending those sounds together to form a pronounceable word. Reading comprehension is the ability to process written text, understand its meaning, and connect it with prior knowledge. These skills involve active, intentional reading to analyse, interpret, and make sense of written material, understanding the literal meaning, inferring deeper messages, and critically evaluating the text.
The two documents below (one for Years R, 1 and 2 and one for Years 3 to 6) contain a bank of useful questions that can be asked when reading with your child to explore their understanding of what they have read.
KS1 (Years R, 1 and 2) Reading Prompts for Parents
KS2 (Years 3, 4, 5 and 6) Reading Prompts for Parents
Ten Top Tips for Parents to Help Support your Child's Reading
Spelling
For details of how Phonics is taught at Godinton Primary School, please refer to the separate phonics page where details of our Little Wandle Scheme can be found along with video clips illustrating the correct pronunciation of each sound.
For children in years 3,4, 5 and 6 spelling is taught daily building upon the phonics knowledge acquired in Key Stage 1. The children learn key spellings each week which all contain the same phonetic sound. Weekly spelling tests do not take place however, there is a weekly dictation task where the children use the spellings in the correct context. Spellings lists are made available to the children if they wish to take them home to undertake further practice.
To support your child with spelling at home, we have included links to The National Curriculum statutory word lists. The spelling lists contain a mixture of both words pupils frequently use in their writing and which they often misspell. When practising spellings are home, it is also important that children understand the meaning of the word they are learning to spell and the context in which it can be used.
Handwriting
It is important that children learn how to form letters correctly and as they move up the school, how these letters are joined together to form clear and legible words. Developing good handwriting, starts with ensuring that children develop strong fine motor skills from an early age. Below you will find a document containing useful ideas for how your child's fine motor skills can be supported
When it comes to handwriting, children start by learning how to print letters, both lower case and upper case and then move onto 'pre-cursive' formation. Once this has been mastered, the children learn how to join letters together to form words. the document below provides an overview of the progression of handwriting skills.
Godinton Primary School
The registered office is at Lockholt Close, Ashford, Kent. TN23 3JR