AIMS

Homework should:

• Consolidate and extend the knowledge, skills and understanding developed in the classroom.
• Provide opportunity for students to develop resilience, independence and self-discipline in their learning.
• Give parents, carers and other adults the opportunity to become more involved in the learning of their children.
• Encourage an ethos of high achievement and self-motivation towards academic progress.

Benefits of homework.

Research suggests that homework at secondary level can add on an additional 5 months’ progress onto a child’s learning (EEF, 2016). Furthermore, students who are successful at A level and GCSE are those who have highly developed independent learning skills and have the capacity to lead through their questions and ideas. A key purpose of homework is also to establish positive communication between parent and child.

Possible tasks may include:

• Consolidation of curriculum knowledge through the use of Knowledge Organisers
• Retrieval practice to inform revision for quizzes, tests and assessments (look, cover, write, check)
• Improvement of marked work (PRIDE)
• Research and reading around the subject
• Extended and creative responses
• Preparation for a lesson (forming opinions / rehearsal of spoken piece)

Time allocation

The nature of the task is to some extent more important than the time spent completing it. The expectation, however, is that homework will be consistently set and completed, providing sufficient challenge and support for all students. Please refer to the department homework policies for 
further information.

KS3 Subjects	Frequency of homework set	KS3 Subjects	Frequency of homework set
Art	A minimum of twice every half term	History	A minimum of once every two weeks
Drama	A minimum of twice every half term	ICT	A minimum of twice every half term
Music	A minimum of twice every half term	Languages	A minimum of once every two weeks
English	A minimum of once a week	Maths	A minimum of once a week
Ethics	A minimum of twice every half term	Science	A minimum of once a week
Food	A minimum of three times every half term	Technology	A minimum of three times every half term
Geography	A minimum of once every two weeks

 

	Courses	Additional Information
KS4	GCSE & BTEC subjects	A minimum of once a week where students have one lesson per week. Some BTEC courses may set homework at the end of each topic.
KS5	A Level and Level 3 courses	A minimum of five hours per week per subject, plus an additional five hours independent study

Reading

A minimum of one hour of reading per week is recommended for all students in order to compliment work in class, as well as reading for pleasure to develop and enhance literacy skills.

 
Rewards and sanctions

The expectation is that students complete their homework to the required standard. Students who demonstrate resilience, independence and self-discipline through the completion of good homework or regular self-study, will be rewarded positively with an R1. Students will be challenged on substandard homework and can be asked to re-do and improve it. Students who consistently fail to complete homework will be invited to attend homework clubs and study support clubs. Students who regularly attend these sessions will be rewarded with an R2. Data will be communicated to parents via ClassCharts.

Supporting students with homework

An appropriate learning environment for homework completion will be available in school with IT provision where required. Homework clubs and revision sessions will be advertised for all students in order to provide guidance and support.

Teachers will:

• Set detailed homework on ClassCharts.
• Introduce homework during the beginning stages of the lesson (where possible) and refer to it throughout. Details will be clearly displayed on the whiteboard.
• Ensure that homework is appropriately differentiated for all students, taking into consideration previous assessment data
• Ensure that homework tasks set are fully understood by all students, with clear expectations and deadlines set.
• Provide opportunities to allow for self and peer assessment of homework, using clear student friendly assessment criteria.
• Display ClassCharts homework during Form Time to support students where appropriate.
• Record whether homework has been submitted or not via ClassCharts- issue a H1 for non or late submission.

Students will:

• Submit all homework by the deadline set by the teacher.
• Check ClassCharts for clarification of tasks.
• Ensure that the homework task is fully understood and seek support ahead of the deadline if they are struggling with any aspect of the set homework.
• Organise out-of-school time to ensure that homework is completed to the best of their ability.
• Attend daily/weekly homework clubs to support the completion of homework tasks where necessary

Parents & Carers will:

• As well as students taking ownership of their learning, it is important that parents play an active role. This support could involve:
• Supporting the school in encouraging students to work independently. 
• Actively make use of ClassCharts to support their child with their set homework
• Check that adequate time and attention to detail is spent on homework tasks
• Contact school if there are any concerns regarding their child’s homework