HOMEWORK & REPORTING

REPORTING TO PARENTS

In accordance with the School Act, three written reports and two informal reports will be issued throughout the year. The informal reports may take many forms including conferences, interviews (at school or over the phone), three way conferences, open houses, or Agenda communications.Parents are welcome to arrange conferences with their child’s teacher during the school year to discuss progress. Staff will contact parents when there is a need for consultation. It is important to contact the school via agendas or phone to make appointments for an interview.

PRIMARY REPORTS

Primary Reports are structured written comments. They do not compare one youngster to another, but rather report on the child’s strengths, areas to develop and ways to support learning. They reflect the widely held expectations for children in a similar age range

INTERMEDIATE REPORTS

Intermediate Reports have Achievement grades that show the pupil’s progress in comparison to predefined criteria for the subject/course/grade/level at which the pupil is working. Reports combine grades with structured written comments which include: strengths, areas in need of development and ways to support learning. An important part of the report card is the section which indicates effort and work habits, as well.

HOMEWORK POLICY

Homework in the Primary grades, including Kindergarten, is generally more informal.  It can include the following:

Discussing the child’s school day

Sharing the agenda

Children and parents reading together and/or to each other

Practicing skills or studying for special events (ie. weekly Spelling lists, sight words, Math tests, writing stories)

Kindergarten – Phonics program, Animated Alphabet

Family oriented projects  (ie. Math problem of the week, Science experiments, research projects)

Homework in the Intermediate grades can be used for the following purposes

To complete unfinished tasks started in school time

To reinforce, extend, broaden school activities

To provide parents with an opportunity to become involved in the child’s learning

To promote/foster regular study habits in children

General Time AllotmentsThe following guidelines have been established as general time allotments per school night for homework tasks:

Kindergarten and Grade 1   10 to 20 minutes
Grade 2 and Grade 3 15 to 30 minutes
Grade 4 and Grade 5   20 to 40 minutes
Grade 6 and Grade 7   30 to 60 minutes

The daily amount of time for homework will vary but should generally follow a ‘5 to 10 minute times grade level’ schedule.  These allotments are based on school nights (Monday to Thursday) with weekends being used only when necessary.  Also, these time guidelines are based on an assumption that students use class time effectively.