What are Thinking Hats
Thinking Hats are a system of learning that was put together by Educationalist Edward De Bono. Essentially he believed that the human brain processes information in 6 different ways and that each of these areas deals and processes a different skill. In traditional education some of the skills have always been given a higher importance than others and so the parts of the brain that are not used as much become less effective. Studies have proven that if we encourage all of the areas of the brain to work together then our children will be more creative, think in a more fluid way, gain confidence and be able to solve problems and investigate issues in a more quickly. At Burnt Oak we believe that these are skills will stay with our children and will be vital as they go on to Secondary school and out into the big wide world beyond.
What is Mathletics?
Mathletics is an international maths program that encourages children to practise and consolidate their maths skills in a fun and competitive way if they wish to. Every child in our school has access to the website through their own user name and password. Their Teacher can set homework tasks online to complete before they go on to any of the games – this also allows the Teacher to assess gaps in learning and plan for future lessons in class. Activities can be set to the individual child’s ability and in groups, it can also be narrowed done to only include specific areas that are being worked on in class. Two of our classes have been working on this as a pilot this term and the children love it!
Home Reading
Our home reading system will continue as this has been very successful in the past. It is expected that you (Or a suitable person) will share a book or read with your child at least 3 times a week. We would also ask that you complete your child’s contact book when this has been done as the children earn rewards for completing their reading.
What does this mean for my child?
Every child from years 1-6 will get the same question to explore, investigate and answer on a Friday. This question will be due back in the following Thursday, marked and returned on Friday with a new question in the child’s homework book. We are also expecting that this will encourage lots of team work and cooperation at home over the dinner table as every child will be working on the same question. Your child will have weekly maths homework set through the Mathletics website and reading 3 times a week. As a school we have been introducing and working on this for the last term and as a result the children are very confident in the new homework system… they also enjoy it much more as it includes many of the ideas they wanted!
We have had several parents meetings on all of the changes to our homework system and I know that the parents who attended found them very useful, however if you weren’t able to attend please feel free to come and discuss the new arrangements with any of our Teachers and we will be more than happy to help. | 
