Homework plays a crucial role in reinforcing what students learn in the classroom, helping them develop a deeper understanding of the material. It encourages independent learning, time management, and responsibility: skills that are essential for success both in school and in life. Moreover, homework fosters a strong work ethic and a sense of discipline, preparing students for future academic and professional challenges. In essence, homework is not just about completing tasks, it is about building lifelong learning habits. Learning is defined as a change in the long-term memory. Our students attend 5 hours of lessons per day, which equates to a lot of new information being taken in. Without additional opportunities to practise remembering, much of that information would be quickly forgotten.

Homework expectations: Year 7-9

In Years 7-9 we expect every student to complete 1 hour of homework a day, 4 days a week in the following subjects: English, Maths, Science, History, Geography, French/Spanish and RPE using the following timetable:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Week A	English Maths Science	English Maths Science	English Maths Science	History Geography	No homework
Week B	English Maths Science	English Maths Science	English Maths Science	French or Spanish RPE	No homework

Whilst homework is not formally set weekly/fortnightly in other subjects, they may still be provided with tasks to help further their learning, which we would strongly encourage students to complete. Students are also provided with a Knowledge Organiser each cycle, which contains the core knowledge for the cycle. As well as being used for homework for History, Geography, Languages and RPE, the Knowledge Organisers are to be used by students for revision for assessments and regular review.

Homework Expectations: Year 10-11

In Year 10 and 11, students have selected their GCSE subjects and so in addition to the core subjects, homework is also set in these. Students will do homework for 2 subjects per day for 30 minutes per subject (1 hour total in the week for English , Maths and Science). We expect students to complete 1 hour of homework per day, 5 days per week according to the schedule below:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Subject 1	Science	Geog/History	Maths	Option Block F	Maths
Subject 2	English	Option Block E	English	Science	Option Block G

Maths and Science continue to use Sparx for homework but English set alternative homework and students are no longer required to do Sparx Reader, although we strongly encourage them to continue reading in their own time.

Knowledge Organisers are still provided for each subject and some subjects may still use these for homework alongside other revision platforms such as Seneca and paper-based tasks. At Key Stage 4 homework is set on Class Charts and teachers monitor this weekly and update, ensuring parents are kept informed.

Homework Expectations: Year 12-13

Homework is set weekly by each subject. There is no standard format, due to the different demands of courses. All homework is recorded and tracked on Class Charts

How can parents support their child with homework?

Parents and carers can support their child with homework by doing the following:

• Making sure that your child has a suitable space to complete work in
• Ensuring that time is built into your evening routine to complete homework
• Take an interest in the homework they are doing
• Ask questions and quiz your child on the sections they are learning to improve their recall of knowledge
• Encourage your child to read for at least 30 minutes per day
• Support and work with the school to ensure that homework is completed on time

To support students with homework we run an after-school club, Monday to Thursday in the Library. It is staffed so that students can get help with homework if needed. Students attend on a voluntary basis and we strongly encourage students to make use of this facility.

All students are issued with a printed copy of the Knowledge Organiser. Electronic copies can be found below.