We are a research informed school for Curriculum Development. The evidence shows that the impact of home learning, on average, is five months’ additional progress. Some studies indicate that there may be an optimum amount of homework between one and two hours per school day (slightly longer for older students), with effects diminishing as the time that students spend on homework increases. To this end, home learning will be set for all Year Groups to support the learning in school.
There are never enough hours in the day or minutes in the lessons, so it is important to make sure that we make the most of our home learning programme as possible. It is also important that we build good habits of learning at home in our students, so that they take these routines forward, learn well, independently, resiliently and purposefully.
Once a half term there will be a week devoted to ‘home learning’ in our Pastoral Curriculum, making sure that students are completing their home learning to the best of their ability. This will be supported with assemblies and Form Tutor activities. The expectation is that curriculum areas will also focus on the quality of the home learning in that week to support our students learning journey and progress in all subjects. All home learning will be set on Arbor, to aid support at home. However, all ‘learning’ materials will be on the Google Classroom for students, to support the learning as effectively as possible, in and out of class. If the learning for topics are all indexed in one place, this makes it easier for us all to keep track.
There is a homework calendar accessible on Arbor. Here parents and students can filter tasks by year, subject or teacher to access the full instructions and deadlines for homework. We recommend viewing through your personalised App.
Home learning will be through Key Knowledge work and independent study.
The Key Knowledge books that students use must be used outside of class, so that teachers can check (not mark) the Key Knowledge home learning has been completed. Students will be taught how to use Key Knowledge sheets to reuse effectively and build a revision culture. Key Knowledge work is led by the Key Knowledge sheets that are shared by the teacher in their lessons and on the Google Classroom.
In lessons, instructions will be given on how and what to learn. For instance, the learning may be to prepare a mind map, develop an understanding of a key term with a Frayer model, or to complete a retrieval quiz. For many subjects Key Knowledge homework will be set via an online platform, e.g. Seneca or My Maths. The completion of this will be monitored by teachers. The main purpose of independent study is to allow students to consolidate learning that takes place in the classroom, supporting long term memory. This is essential preparation for examinations to reduce cognitive load. Teachers will use low stakes testing too ensure students complete home learning.
Students may not have the subject on that day - the purpose of this timetable is to:
In Years 10 and 11, students are preparing for examination subjects so home learning will take a different approach. The home learning can continue to be Key Knowledge learning, but it also might take the form of Seneca, examination practice questions, research, preparation for an in class assessment, retrieval or preparation for coursework.
There is time set on this ‘timetable’ for two subjects a night. As a guide, each subject should be setting no more than 45 minutes learning and students will be given seven days to complete any home learning set.
