The Home-School Link

Authors Barry Corrigan, Millennium Integrated Primary School, Saintfield, Co Down

To strengthen the home-school link and extend the learning of pupils and give support to parents.Objectives

Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, Learning NI environment, Internet Explorer, Encarta Encyclopedia, Adobe Reader,

ACTIVprimary.

Software

Description Pupils access materials used in the classroom to support their learning. The resources are placed on their individual space

in the Learning NI environment and they are then supported as they complete homework. There is email support from the

class teacher as well as online discussion forums for the children to participate in.

Learning Areas Homework – Numeracy and Literacy

Class Primary 7

Online Learning Environment; Virtual Learning; E-Learning; e-mail; discussion boards; Interactive whiteboards; Homework

support; Home-school link

Keywords

Project Overview

The Home-School Link

Teacher Planning and Management

Click the documents below to help you understand the context of this exemplary learning project:

Background & Planning: I had become increasingly concerned regarding the homework issue for children. I

wanted to ensure that it was useful and beneficial to the children in my class. I also wanted them to understand

that homework didn’t have to be something to dread and that it supported their learning in the classroom. I was

also aware of how prevalent ICT was becoming in the homes of the children and I wanted to harness that

enthusiasm and turn it to my, and their, advantage.

Classroom Images: The Classroom Images document will hopefully give you an overview of how the link between

school and home continues to be developed.

DocumentsBackground and

PlanningClassroom Images

The Home-School Link

Teaching Resources

Student Project Overview: The homework resources are contained in the course folders for the children.

Sometime the discussions are stand-alone and not included in the course.

I have created a link to some of the courses the pupils have used in the past.

Click on the graphic below to navigate to the LNI login screen.

Username: st1-4066644

Password: password

The Home-School Link

Assessment and Standards

Click the documents below to see the assessment rubrics and standards cover in this learning project:

Assessment and Pupil Tracking: Some samples of how the children’s participation is tracked in the LNI environment.

Teacher Evaluation: My own personal reflections on the success or otherwise of the online homework element

Pupil Evaluation: Some of the children’s own thoughts and ideas about completing homework in this way.

Documents Assessment and Pupil Tracking

Teacher Evaluation

Pupil Evaluation

The Home-School LinkBarry Corrigan

Millennium Integrated Primary School

Millennium Integrated Primary School opened in Septmber 200 with just 10 pupils in a house in Newtownbreda Park, Belfast. Five years

later it opened its building on the present site on the Belfast Road, Saintfield. The school now has 226 pupils, including a Nursery Unit

which opened in September 2008.

The school has had three Primary 7 classes who have left to go to Post-Primary education. In that time we have sent a large proportion

of our children on to Integrated Post-Primary schools as well as local Grammar and Secondary schools.

We like to feel that we develop independent, creative and interested pupils.

I am the Vice-Principal in the school as well as being the Primary 7 teacher and ICT co-ordinator. I have taught in Integrated primary

schools for twelve years, having come to Millennium in 2005 from Kircubbin Integrated Primary School. I do not have any formal

qualifications in ICT, having followed a degree in Education with English Literature, so all my knowledge is self-taught through

personal interest. I have a keen interest in gaming and have ambitions of having this medium accepted more into mainstream interest

through the use of ’Wiis’ for Dyspraxic children; incorporation of Nintendo DS into maths classes and future use of Sony’s PS3 and

game ’Little Big Planet’ for collaborative game design.