1. The Purpose of Homework

Homework enables students to develop high-quality independent learning skills, which are vital to success at GCSE level and beyond. We want our young people to have a strong and disciplined work ethic and to feel confident in their readiness for life after education. Our homework tasks will be carefully designed so that they support the development of these skills, without causing our students and/or their families’ unnecessary stress.

 

2. Relevant Policies and Publications to Inform our Approach to Homework

Evidence shows:​

- the impact of homework on an average secondary student, is five months' additional progress ​

- homework is most effective when it is short and focused ​

- homework is most effective when it is an integral part of learning, rather than an add-on​

- it is important that students are provided with high quality feedback on their work ​

(Homework Toolkit, Education Endowment Foundation, August 2021, https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/homework)

 

We understand that for students to make strong memories, they need to regularly practise retrieving information. This allows students to strengthen the connections to their long-term memory and to retain more information over time. 

(P. Agarwal, https://www.retrievalpractice.org/)

 

Teachers will regularly set students retrieval tasks and ask them to undertake no-stakes quizzes and self-testing to support the development of their memories.  This could come in the form of:

- asking students to learn sections of Knowledge Organisers followed by a quiz in class

- setting students relevant sections from the Seneca Learning website

- providing key sets of flashcards on Quizlet

- requiring students to complete specific assignments on MathsWatch

- completing short retrieval quizzes on Microsoft Forms

 

Students should complete their homework at a high intensity, with no distractions and their phone on airplane setting. They should aim to work in 25-minute bursts, with short breaks (minimum 5-minutes, maximum 25-minutes) in between.

(The GCSE Mindset: 40 Activities for Transforming Commitment, Motivation and Productivity, Martin Griffin and Steve Oakes, 2018)

 

3. Homework Expectations for each Year Group

 

Year 9

Weekly homework: English, Maths, Science

Fortnightly homework: Art, Geography, History, Hospitality, ICT, Music, Personal Development, Spanish

Monthly homework: Technology

 

Year 10 and Year 11

Weekly homework: English, Maths, Science

Fortnightly homework: All option subjects

 

Sixth Form

Weekly homework: At least one formal piece of homework per subject

There is also an expectation that students work independently on additional tasks such as: going over notes, wider reading, research, practising exam questions, etc.

 

Homework tasks in all year groups will be a mixture of:

- independently practising skills taught in lessons

- introducing content for future lessons

- retrieving knowledge previously taught in lessons

- learning/revising key knowledge

- reading

 

4. Recording and Quality Assurance of Homework

 

All class teachers will record homework assignments in Class Charts so they are visible to students and parents.

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            You can access our homework timetable here.