Praise, encouragement and a display of interest in your child’s school day and homework can go a long way.

Try and establish a regular time and routine for completing homework. It’s good to have outside interests but make sure the homework is seen as a priority.

Visit the school whenever the opportunity arises and talk with teachers about your child’s work.

Try to encourage your child to put greater effort into the subjects they find less interesting, perhaps by establishing a link to something they enjoy doing or the subjects that have more appeal.

Look out for any changes in behaviour or attitudes towards a subject that might indicate a problem.

Help your child to progress according to individual ability, rather than age. Listen to your child. They will soon tell you if they are bored or not being challenged enough.

Children develop at different rates, but National Curriculum levels can give you an idea of how your child’s progress compares to what is typical for their age. For example, by the end of Key Stage 1 (5-7), most children will have reached level 2, and by the end of Key Stage 2 (7-11) most will be at level 4.

We keep repeating ..... but reading stories with your child, if only for 10 minutes a day, really does help build important communication and development skills as well as capturing your child's interest in books. Books are a rich source of information for your child as they contain words you might not use in everyday conversations. From their earliest days babies enjoy listening to stories and looking at books. Make it fun by choosing books you both enjoy. Talk about pictures and characters and make up stories using text and jigsaw puzzles (another great aid for parent/child discussion).

Please contact us for further support and information.