Homework
Homework is important for developing the independence needed to prepare for examinations and to complete coursework. Also, crucially, homework helps students to learn and become fluent in the key knowledge required to master their subjects. The Educational Endowment Foundation suggests students can make 5 months additional progress with regular purposeful homework and we achieve this by practicing what is taught.
All homework for both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 is recorded on Arbor and is available to both parents and students via the Arbor App.
Key Stage 3 Homework
Within Key Stage 3, the homework may vary in tasks being set for each subject. Students should spend around 30-45 minutes per subject completing their homework. The knowledge from homework will be used within lessons and will be used to enhance learning within the classroom, alongside consolidating and retrieving knowledge. Some of this homework is set via external websites such as Sparx. Students will be required to log into Sparx to complete their Sparx Maths and Sparx Reader homework.
Key Stage 4 Homework
Key Stage 4 students should expect greater variety in their homework tasks than Key Stage 3 (for example, completing online tasks for coursework, reading and comprehension questions, self-quizzing, exam practice and so on). Homework is used to consolidate, support and extend knowledge learnt within the classroom. As students move towards Year 11, it is also used as an important revision tool using exam questions and countdown plans.
How can I help my child complete their homework?
Thank you for reading this guide – if you understand the homework system, you can check your child has done it to the high standards we all expect. The most helpful things for parents/carers to do are:
To provide a good, quiet space for your child to do their homework
Check they’ve completed and ticked off their homework tasks (you can use the Arbor App to support you).
Encourage, praise and reward reading. The more reading, the better!
Test them on the facts in their knowledge organisers, knowledge builders and homework booklets.
Does my child need a computer?
No. Most of their homework is done offline, with teachers providing booklets, worksheets and knowledge organisers. Internet access is required for your child to complete their Sparx Maths and Sparx Reader homework. Both are fully compatible with mobile devices.
How is Sparx homework completed?
Your child should use Sparx Maths every week. Their maths teacher will show them how. It is an intelligent system that adapts to your child’s strengths and weaknesses in maths, while setting them questions on which they can get 100% correct.
They should also use Sparx Reader every week. This uses the same log in information as Sparx Maths. This system adapts the books that your child will read based on their reading comprehension levels.
How should my child use knowledge organisers/ knowledge builders as part of their homework?
In some subjects, students are given homework based upon their knowledge organisers/ knowledge builders. These are useful tools which provide the key information on topics being studied within different terms and year groups, for example key terms or diagrams.
To successfully learn the content of the knowledge organisers, your child needs to either self-quiz or use look-cover-say-write-check. Their subject teachers will recommend which method to use. The quiz they write or their attempts to write out what they’ve read from memory should go in your child’s homework book.