We believe that parents are a child’s first educator and play a vital role in supporting their child’s holistic development. A strong home-school partnership is essential in helping children thrive socially, emotionally, and academically.
Research consistently shows that when parents are actively engaged in their child’s learning, children make better progress and achieve higher outcomes. For example:
The Education Endowment Foundation (2021) reports that parental engagement is associated with an average of +4 months’ progress over the course of a year.
A Department for Education (DfE, 2010) study found that parental involvement in the early years has a more significant impact on a child’s learning than family background, parental education, or income.
According to Sylva et al. (2004) in the Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE) study, sustained parental involvement strongly influences a child’s long-term academic success and social development.
We value and encourage parental involvement at every stage of a child’s journey and work in partnership with families to support their child’s well-being, confidence, and achievement.
At Black Lane, we recognise that many families have busy routines, and we are mindful not to set homework that becomes overly burdensome or difficult to manage at home. We value the time families spend together and encourage parents and children to play, explore learning through fun and enjoyable activities outside of formal tasks such as games, meaningful conversations and shared experiences.
Instead, we ask that all parents and carers support their child’s learning by engaging regularly with reading and mental maths practice. These foundational skills are essential to your child’s progress and confidence across the curriculum.
By maintaining this simple yet consistent approach, we aim to encourage a positive home-learning routine that is manageable, meaningful, and supports your child’s ongoing development.
Supporting Reading at Home
At Black Lane, we are passionate about helping children become confident and enthusiastic readers. To support this, your child will bring home a reading book each week that is carefully matched to their level through our progressive reading scheme. These books can be changed whenever your child is confident reading and understanding the book.
Children who are following our phonics programme will also bring home a phonics book, designed to reinforce the sounds they are learning in school. These books will be sent home on Mondays and should be returned by Thursday.
To support your child’s reading development, we recommend 10 minutes of home reading every day. Even if your child can read the words independently, it is still important to read with them and discuss the text together. This helps develop vital comprehension skills such as understanding the plot, exploring vocabulary, making predictions, and talking about characters and ideas in the book.
For younger children, reading together might involve taking turns or reading to them. The key is to build reading into your daily routine—perhaps after dinner or before bed—so that it becomes a natural and enjoyable part of the day.
We also encourage families to visit the local library regularly. Letting your child choose books they enjoy helps foster a lifelong love of reading. Developing a habit of reading for pleasure is one of our key aims for all children.
Mental Maths Practice
At Black Lane, we place a strong emphasis on building quick and confident mental maths skills, particularly in learning times tables. A solid knowledge of times tables is essential for many areas of Maths, including division, fractions, problem solving, and more. It forms the foundation for success and confidence in Mathematics and Numeracy.
To help support this at home, we are encouraging all children from Years 2-6 to spend just 5 minutes a day at home on TT Rockstars. This is a fun, interactive platform that helps pupils improve their speed and accuracy with multiplication and division facts through short, engaging games.
Please note: TT Rockstars adapts the difficulty of questions based on your child’s performance. To ensure your child is working at the right level, it is very important that they answer the questions independently. If adults provide the answers, it can lead to the system setting questions that are too difficult, which may result in frustration and a negative experience.
Even a few minutes of regular daily practice can make a big difference to your child’s progress. It helps build fluency, boosts confidence, and reduces anxiety when tackling more complex Maths in class.
We kindly ask for your support in:
- Encouraging your child to access TT Rockstars daily for at least 5 minutes
- Setting up a regular daily routine that becomes part of the day
- Celebrating their progress and effort – positive reinforcement goes a long way!
Guidance on Supporting Home Learning
Routines and Environment
One of the most effective ways to help your child succeed with home learning is by establishing a consistent and positive home learning routine. Children thrive on routine. Having a regular time and quiet space for activities such as reading and practising times tables helps children stay focused, feel secure, and develop good learning habits. It is important that this space is free from distractions and has everything that your child needs to complete the learning comfortably and confidently.
If you have siblings, older children can be a great help in supporting younger ones with their learning. This can encourage cooperation and reinforce skills for both.
For activities like TT Rockstars, your child will need a reliable internet connection and a device such as a phone, tablet, or computer. If you do not have access to the necessary technology or internet at home, please contact the school office. We may be able to provide support or advice to help ensure your child can access learning resources.
Additionally, families on low incomes may be eligible to apply for the Schools Essentials Grant, which can assist with purchasing education-related resources.
Remember home learning should always be a positive experience—a chance for you to spend time with your child, celebrate, and support them as they grow in confidence. Offering encouragement and praise can make a big difference to how children feel about learning.
Simple steps you can take include:
Choosing a set time each day for learning activities
Keeping sessions short, focused, and free from distractions
Encouraging your child and celebrating their progress, no matter how small
Your support helps children feel proud of their efforts and builds resilience and independence over time. Thank you for working in partnership with us to give your child the best possible start.
Hwb
All children in Wales have access to Hwb, a secure online platform hat provides a wide range of digitial learning resources.
At Black Lane, children from Year 2-6 regularly use Hwb to enahnce their learning across the curriculum. Through Hwb, children can access useful tools such as Microsoft Office Applkcation, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel, as well as edicational platforms like J2Blast and J2Spell.
Each child has their own login details to access Hwb both in school and at home.
