The School's Homework Policy

The purpose of homework is:

• To consolidate and reinforce skills and understanding, extend school learning, encourage pupils to devote time to particular demands.
• To encourage pupils to develop confidence and self-discipline.
• To provide opportunities for practising life skills.
• To encourage pupils to manage their own time and develop their independence.
• To prepare pupils for the demands of GCSEs, BTECs, NCFE and Entry Level Qualifications.
• To foster a partnership between home and school and encourage parents to take an active role in their child’s learning.
• To enable parents to be involved and informed about the type of work being undertaken in class.

Homework can be used for:

• Reinforcing of class work.
• Researching topics and investigations.
• Preparation for class work.
• Reviewing, redrafting or summarising a piece of work.
• Learning key vocabulary.
• Revising for tests.
• Supporting KS4 coursework.
• Extension tasks and projects.

All homework should:

• Be fully explained by staff and clear to pupils.
• Be given appropriate lesson time to ensure understanding, e.g. not be set in the last few minutes of the lesson.
• Be recorded in pupil planners, with a deadline and any instructions that may be relevant.
• Be set with an appropriate timeframe for completion, e.g. 1 week.
• Be titled clearly, using Subject and Topic information.
• Be set in a predictable manner to enable pupils to plan their homework pattern.
• Be formatted in a familiar/standardised manner throughout, including use of the school’s colour schemes.
• Be written using the school’s standardised terminology, e.g. All, Most and Some, with language that is dyslexia friendly and accessible to all.
• Cover a range of activities and skills.
• Be manageable for pupils at all levels. Where an individual pupil requires more personalised/differentiated homework, this should be provided individually.
• Be accessible, (and easily understood) for the benefit of all staff who support through Homework Club.

Frequency and duration of homework:

• All core and foundation subjects should set at least one piece of homework a week.
• There is some flexibility for larger projects that are designed to be completed over a number of weeks.
• In general, tasks should take approximately 15 minutes for a pupil to complete, rising to 30+ minutes for GCSE tasks in KS4.
• KS3 pupils are expected to read at home at least 3 times a week.
• KS4 pupils are expected to review and revise content on recommended websites for exams and qualifications regularly as part of their homework schedule.
• KS3 and KS4 pupils will have the opportunity to participate in home-school partnership activities, such as Mathletics and Spellodrome.