Our view on homework is that it should stimulate curiosity and encourage students to explore learning independently. We want students to learn more, know more and remember more. To embed the learning that takes place within the classroom, homework is set by teachers to support our student’s learning journey in each subject. Homework allows teachers to ascertain where student understanding needs further consolidation.
Educational research shows that retrieval-based practice helps to minimise the forgetting curve and to such an extent, our homework will be interleaved and re-visit previously taught topics over time.
Recommended hours for Homework
The academy does not have a fixed homework schedule for different subjects on
different evenings. Students will need to manage their time so that they do some
homework each evening.
The amount of time spent on each homework task is flexible, but within the following
guidelines:
| Year Group | Per Subject | Per Evening |
|---|---|---|
| Year 7 | 15-30 minutes | 45 – 90 minutes |
| Year 8 | 15-30 minutes | 45 – 90 minutes |
| Year 9 | 40-50 minutes | 90 – 120 minutes |
| Year 10 | 40-50 minutes | 90 – 120 minutes |
| Year 11 | 40-50 minutes | 90 – 120 minutes |
Subject teachers will set homework for their class on the same day each week and will typically last 30 minutes. Students will have a week, to complete the work. Some subjects, particularly practical and coursework based subjects may set homework less frequently and it may take students longer to complete.
Advice for Parents
Students will receive most homework via online packages that can be accessed via a computer, tablet or mobile device. At both KS3 and KS4, online packages include but are not limited to: Reading Plus, Sparx Maths, Educake, GCSE Pod and Seneca Learning. Some homework will be paper-based and at Key Stage 4 will include practice exam questions.
We do not always believe that homework should contain a deadline and a consequence if not done, however, we recognise that occasionally there is a need for this approach across subjects.
Our expectation is that all students engage with and complete all homework set for them and we ask for your support to reinforce this message. We will never issue a sanction to a student that finds the homework difficult, however the onus is on the student to seek support from their subject teacher prior to the day of the deadline. We are keen for students to develop independence, ownership of their learning and good study habits that will last with them beyond their school experience.
If your child is struggling with access to Class charts it is their responsibility to inform their Head of Year during form time. Alternative arrangements can be made for those students facing barriers to access online packages- this will be addressed on an individual need basis by their Head of Year.
One of the many benefits of using this system is that as a Parent/Carer, you are able to see exactly what deadlines your child has each week for homework. This will enable your child to organise their week accordingly around existing commitments, using their time more efficiently.
If you need help or support in accessing homework on a digital device, please speak to a member of staff.
- Step 1: Go to login.readingplus.com
- Step 2: Press the Student Login button.
- Step 3: Enter Site Code: rparena1
- Step 4: Type in your username
- Step 5: Type in your password
If you are unsure of your email and password please get in touch with the school at [email protected]
Microsoft have published a helpful guide to logging into Teams as student here.
Your log in details are your school email address and password. If you have log in issues, please see your Head of Year.
Teams is also available on many SMART TV’s, PlayStation Consoles, and XBox consoles, by selecting the internet browser from the available applications in the Apps available on the device and navigating to Microsoft Teams in the browser application. The log in process is then the same as shown above.
Recommended Revision Platforms
- One website, 3 apps and over 6000 Pods (short videos with accompanying questions).
- Content is specifically designed to squeeze the content required for students to know into short 3-5 minutes chunks. It helps with learning, homework and revision.
- Seneca is a free online learning platform that students can use to help them study a wide range of subjects.
- The courses are linked to the exam boards used by the subjects they study and Seneca can learn the strengths and weaknesses of students and use this in the questions that it asks.
- This website can be used to help with your homework, revision and learning. You can find educational videos, step-by-step guides, activities and quizzes by level and subject.
- Curriculum aligned activities, games, simulations and puzzles are created with a focus on learning through fun.
- Python programming fundamentals and task available
- Extensive resources for all year groups that develop vocabulary, speaking and listening skills, etc.
- Students can self-quiz with the questions based on KS3 and GCSE Science exam questions. They can set themselves questions from specific topics they have found challenging in the past or help to get a head start on upcoming topics.
- Revision notes available
- For Secondary schools, Sparx Maths delivers personalised intelligent maths practice, that is proven to boost grades.
- Students can access exam papers, exam questions, GCSE revison, KS3 revsion, videos and walk throughs on topics.
- Students can access Online maths lessons, activities and homework. Tasks are marked, graded where student receive instant feedback.
- Students can access all topics, predicted exam papers, exam style questions.
- The resources from 1st Class Maths are very high quality. Click ‘Revision’ to access videos, questions and answers for all Maths topics. You can also access all the exam papers for Maths on this website, click ‘Exam papers’.
- There are 100’s of videos and resources you can use on Corbett Maths. Click here for a 100 day countdown, with a different video shown every day on a different Maths topic.
- This website contains topic-based compilations of questions from past GCSE papers. Sign up is FREE and takes 2 minutes.
- All GCSE Maths Past Paper questions by topic with answers including every question from Edexcel, AQA and OCR from June 2017 to Nov 2022: Home | Gcsemathsquestions
- Students in Year 7-9 all need to complete Reading Plus tasks every week. They need to read 5 books and complete their vocabulary skills test. The more students read; the more they will progress with their literacy skills and move on to higher level books.
- Youtube Videos
- On-line Science lessons covering the KS3 and GCSE topics
- Students can self-quiz with the questions based on KS3 and GCSE Science exam questions. They can set themselves questions from specific topics they have found challenging in the past or help to get a head start on upcoming topics.
- Use Quizlet for GCSE Sciences to learn about everything from culturing microbes to atomic structures. Discover curriculum-aligned study sets and learning activities for all subjects.
- Spaced repetition learning based exam questions.
- Increase your exam confidence with these GCSE science past papers. By practicing with past papers, you’ll get more familiar the exam structure and types of questions.
- Flashcards on all topics can be found here Topics