All activities parents do with their child at home are important in supporting their learning and development, and have a really long lasting effect on the child’s learning as they progress through school.

In Nursery we send home library books daily, story sacks, travelling bears and wow moments to encourage home/school links.

In Reception we send homework books home weekly with activities to do related to what the children are learning in school at the time. We also send home reading books so that this can be supported and you can see the development in your child’s phonic skills. A home achievement book is provided for parents to record any observations they see their child doing at home that is an achievement for them, however small, and these experiences all help with the overall assessment of your child’s learning.

Even when your child is very young and is not yet able to talk, talking to them helps them to learn and understand new words and ideas. If you make the time every day to do some of the following things with your child it will make a real difference to your child’s confidence as a young learner.

• Sing and tell nursery rhymes.
• Talk about the numbers, colours, words and letters you see when you are out and about.
• Allow your child to cut out and stick pictures from magazines.
• Cook / bake together.
• Plant seeds or bulbs in a pot or garden patch.
• Use the weather – shadows, rain puddles, snow, wind, mist and sun – to extend your child’s vocabulary.
• Explore the park at a different time of the year – go off the beaten track.
• Share a book.
• Talk to your child at every opportunity – e.g. what you are doing that day.
• On a trip to the supermarket, talk about all the different packaging shapes.