Homework

In Art at KS3, students complete homework every 2-3 weeks, however, this will be flexible to be responsive to the needs of the class.  The homework will consist of answering questions about a given text or video clip, a test of key word knowledge or the research of imagery relating to their current project.  It may occasionally be a drawing from real life or a photo.  If it is a drawing task, students should take a minimum of 30 minutes, practising their observations of shape, tone and detail and building on the knowledge learnt in lessons. 

In Art and Photography at KS4, students complete homework once a week.  The task will usually be to complete work begun in lesson, so that the quality and quantity of work can be maintained and help students to keep on top of their coursework - this work will be regularly checked.  Students who take Photography are encouraged to take photos for their project ideas beyond the school, in order to develop creative and personal ideas. We would expect students to spend an hour on their homework. Homework is essential for GCSE but can be flexible for BTEC given the differing structure and assessment of the courses.

In Business at KS4, students complete one hour of homework each week. The homework is often knowledge retrieval activities which may include answering essay questions, completing an assignment on Seneca Learning or answering short-answer questions on a worksheet with an accompanying extract. Students may also be asked to revise from notes in preparation for an upcoming knowledge test 

In Computing at KS3, students will typically complete one homework per fortnight depending on the topic students are learning in lessons. The purpose of the homework is to reinforce key words and concepts and to assist with retrieval practice and revision. Students will complete tasks on a variety of platforms, including Satchel One and tasks posted to Google Classroom. Students will not be expected to complete programming tasks independently as homework.

Students in KS4 ICT will usually be assigned one homework task per week. In Year 9, homework will mostly consist of activities to support the skills students are working on in practical lessons, such as keyword retrieval. In Year 10, homework will usually consist of tasks in support of their Non-Exam Assessment project which will vary throughout the year. In Year 11, homework will consist of keyword retrieval and practice questions based on the topics being taught in lessons, to help embed concepts into students' long-term memory. The purpose of homework in KS4 is to reinforce key learning concepts or to complete necessary tasks when working to a brief.

Students in KS4 Computer Science will usually be assigned one homework task per week depending on the topic students are currently learning in lessons. The purpose is to provide opportunity for retrieval practice of previously taught topics or to provide additional opportunity for practice of key skills. Students will complete homework tasks on a variety of platforms, including Google Colab for programming and Knowitall Ninja for theory. Depending on the topic, students may be assigned revision tasks such as watching a short video or answering practice exam questions. Students will also be assigned revision tasks supported by a variety of online resources.

KS4 Dance homework will be varied from practical tasks including rehearsing phrases, dances or choreography. Theory will involve exam questions linking to all three sections of the written paper.  This will include hypothetical choreography questions, questions linked to own performance, including physical, expressive and mental skills, as well as questions analysing the six professional dance works.

At KS3 Drama, students are set one homework fortnightly. The homework will be a recall task of key terminology learnt within the Drama lessons. Homework will be quiz based and regular terminology misconceptions will be feedback in the Drama lessons.

At KS4 Drama, students will be set homework once a week linking to modules covered in lesson. Homework can be a range of activities such as extra rehearsal time, line learning, costume design or past exam questions. Students will be given the resources needed to support their homework in lesson time.

In KS3 English, students are set two homework tasks per week.  In Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, one homework will be a reading task where they will be required to complete at least two lessons on Reading Plus.  The second homework could be a quiz, spellings, research, Century tasks or other activities to help students consolidate what they have been learning in lessons.  In Year 9, this may also include reading activities such as pre-reading materials for lessons and completing comprehension tasks.

At KS4, students will be set two homework tasks per week for English, the aim of which is to consolidate what they have learned in their lessons.  One of these tasks will be to complete at least two lessons on Reading Plus.  Other homework tasks will include activities such as online quizzes, spelling tests, pre-reading materials for upcoming lessons and Century tasks.  Students may also be referred to videos on YouTube to support their revision of the GCSE content, as well as websites such as GCSEPod and BBC Bitesize.  In the run up to the GCSE exams, students may be provided with additional exam papers to use as part of their revision.

In Geography at KS3, students will complete one piece of homework every two weeks. This will be in a variety of formats including quizzes based around current topics or learning key terminology. Most homework will be done online as students generally keep books in school other than revision for assessments. Students will be directed towards websites and have knowledge organisers provided that can support all of the above tasks. 

In Geography at KS4, students will be expected to complete one piece of homework every week. This will be directly related to the topic they are working on. It will usually consist of reading around the current topic in preparation for upcoming lessons, practising exam questions and reviewing work. Students are expected to ensure their GCSEPod logins are kept up to date to support with this and will be directed towards websites and have knowledge organisers provided that can support all of the above tasks. 

In Hair and Beauty in KS4 Year 9 and Year 10, students will be expected to complete one homework per week which is an "Over To You" task created by VTCT.  This will be printed and given to each student and put on Satchel One.  It will consist of pre-reading and pre-teaching activities to prepare students for upcoming topics. 

In KS4 Year 11, students will read key content knowledge organisers each week and be tested on content in Do Now tasks September to February until the exam.  

*In the synoptic windows for Year 10 that run from 1st December until Easter, homework tasks will relate to the brief that is worked on in class 

*In the synoptic window, once Year 11 students have completed their exam in February, tasks until Easter will relate to the brief that is worked on in class 

History homework in KS3 Year 7 and Year 8 is set every other week. There are a variety of tasks set across the half term.  E.g. structured research with follow up activities, extended writing, diary entries.  Each topic also includes a 'Meanwhile Elsewhere' homework, which explores what was going on elsewhere in the world at the time we are studying.  Homework is designed to consolidate learning in class and also to develop further curiosity linked to the topics and themes we are learning about. 

In History at KS4, homework is set once a week and directly links to consolidating learning. Quizzes, re-call, interleaving, extended answers and exam skills building are all included in a variety of different homework tasks that are set. Structured revision tasks are also set using the department knowledge organisers.

In Maths at KS3, students will complete one homework a week using Sparx Maths.  The purpose of these tasks is to consolidate learning and develop fluency. This gives students the opportunity to practise topics that are being covered in lessons and get support through videos where required. Students will also complete tasks on previously taught topics. This retrieval of prior knowledge will help to embed learning in their long-term memory.  

In Maths at KS4, students will complete one homework a week using Sparx Maths.  The purpose of these tasks is to consolidate learning and develop fluency. This gives students the opportunity to practise topics that are being covered in lessons and get support through videos where required. Students will also complete tasks on previously taught topics. This retrieval of prior knowledge will help to embed learning in their long-term memory.

Students in Year 11 will also complete one homework a week focusing on past paper questions.

In KS4 Media Studies, students will use homework to practice key analytical skills; apply this to unseen products in order to develop what they have learnt during lessons. Homework tasks may also include pre-learning or re-caps of subject specific terminology, as well as the application of this to various set texts, to support their understanding.  Students should also be completing tasks which enable them to explore and expand their media knowledge and understanding. This could be watching or reading or accessing information about products they are less knowledgeable about e.g. watching the news or reading a magazine. 

In MFL at KS3, students are set a song to teach their parents/carers as a regular homework. These are based on key structures taught at KS3 and help to embed the learning of these and strengthen memory pathways. Students are also regularly set Duo Lingo and Linguascope tasks. Students will have some written tasks towards the end of Year 7 and also in Year 8 and homework will also consist of students learning their written paragraphs for assessments. Students also have glossaries to help facilitate their learning at home. 

In MFL at KS4, as well as making use of Duo Lingo and Linguascope, students are also guided to use Memorise which helps support the embedding of key GCSE vocabulary and can be tightly controlled by the teacher. Students are set a combination of short written tasks, gap-fills and, eventually, written pieces to learn based on the GCSE topics. Students are also set some translation of key structures and then extended translations where they are required to manipulate these. 

In Music at KS3, students complete homework fortnightly and it relates to the topic they are doing for that half term. The majority of homework is completed on Satchel One either through a self marking quiz (e.g. key terminology definitions, spelling test) or structured written tasks completed in the comment section. There are also a few introductory tasks for new schemes of work such as creative topic tasks (e.g. creating a mind map of new concepts and vocabulary). Homework scores and misconceptions will be addressed in lessons. 

In Music at KS4, students are set homework once a week and the tasks relate to the topics that they are completing that half term. Homework ranges in activities such as: retrieval of key terminology tasks, rehearsal time, past exam questions or appraising (listening + analysis) tasks. Students are given resources needed to complete their homework in lesson time. 

In PRE at KS3, students are set a variety of homework fortnightly.  This can include: research tasks, recapping tasks ( e.g. completing a storyboard of the life of Jesus), pre-learning or pre-reading, consolidating key vocabulary (by using Knowledge Organisers) and occasional structured written tasks. 

In PRE at KS4, homework is set that builds on the previous learning and skills developed at KS3. For example, practice exam style questions, research tasks and creative tasks which help to consolidate the learning done in class. Students will also look in depth and revise key quotes and statements from leading figures in Philosophy. Students are also set homework which requires them to practice and prepare presentations which they then share in class.  Homework is set weekly.

Students in KS4 taking GCSE PE complete a range of tasks set approximately weekly depending on the topic. Types of homework tasks include online knowledge quizzes; exam questions/ long answer 9 mark questions where relevant; acknowledgement tasks based on marking of tests or classwork; consolidation tasks from the lesson, for example labelling a diagram.

In KS3 Science, students will be set a range of tasks throughout the academic year to allow for retrieval practice and underpinning key scientific concepts. Students will use Century, which creates an individual learning path for students. Educake to support retrieval practice and project based work to consolidate their learning. 

In Science at KS4, Y9 & Y10 students will be predominantly using ‘Kay Science’ where they will be set two videos and two sets of questions to complete from each Science discipline. Students will be expected to reach an 80% benchmark score for each homework. In preparation for landmark assessments, students will be set other revision task such as exam questions.

Y11 students predominantly will complete a range of exam style questions, using ‘Kay Science’ and other revision preparation tasks for their GCSE exams, including the use of GCSEpod.

Students in Technology at KS3 complete a homework fortnightly based on the project that they are completing. Examples of homework set include making a mood board or model; designing packaging; watching a video online and answering relevant questions; online quizzes and spelling tests of key words; creating seasonal food calendars; undertaking a research project linked to what they are making in class.

In Technology at KS4, students are set a homework weekly in each of the Technology subjects. The types of task vary depending on the subject. Examples of types of homework include the following:
- Sketchbook work, research projects and design work in Textiles & DT
- Exam questions and practice for theory in Construction and Food