HOMEWORK

Vision


At Cornelius Vermuyden we strongly believe that homework is an integral part of students’ learning journey. Learning should take place in and outside of the classroom and provide students with the opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills set. Homework should consolidate and extend work covered in class or prepare for new learning experiences.


Aims


We set homework at Cornelius Vermuyden for a number of reasons. These include:

  • To develop our students’ ability to study and learn independently
  • To develop our pupils’ ability to organise their time and priorities to complete work to deadlines
  • To reinforce learning from the lesson
  • To help prepare for future lesson
  • To extend the work and ideas of the lesson
  • To work independently on coursework
  • To allow teachers to assess the learning of pupils and to plan further lessons accordingly
  • To invite parents and carers to be actively involved with their child’s learning

Homework Activities


The homework tasks that are set vary according to the year group, subject and scheme of work and may include:

  • an extended piece of writing
  • a project over several weeks
  • learning keywords or concepts
  • revising for a test
  • answering questions on a worksheet or online platform
  • preparing ideas to prepare the next lesson
  • researching a topic
  • recalling knowledge through the use of a knowledge organiser
  • redrafting and improving a piece of work carried out previously
  • reading
  • producing a diagram, drawing or model
  • practising a skill.

Homework Frequency


The school does not have a fixed homework timetable with time allocated for different subjects on different evenings. Students will need to learn to manage their time so that they do some homework each evening. Teachers will ensure that an appropriate amount of time is given to pupils to complete homework. The time devoted to homework should increase as the pupil progresses through the school.

Key Stage 3: Year 7 Homework should take between 30- 45 mins

English, Maths and Science, – one piece per week based on knowledge organiser, Tassomai or Hegarty Maths. Geography, History, Art, Design and Technology, MFL – at least two pieces per half term. There may be occasional homework in Performing arts and PE. All based on using the knowledge organisers.

Key Stage 3: Year 8 Homework should take between 45 mins- 1 hour

English, Maths and Science, – one piece per week based on knowledge organiser, Tassomai or Hegarty Maths. Geography, History, Art, Design and Technology, MFL – at least two pieces per half term. There may be occasional homework in Performing arts and PE. All based on using the knowledge organisers.

Key Stage 3: Year 9 Homework should last one hour

English, Maths and Science, – one piece per week based on knowledge organiser, Tassomai or Hegarty Maths. EBACC subjects including History, Georgraphy and MFL bi weekly. Foundation subjects including Design and Technology, ICT, and Art – at least two pieces per half term. Wider curriculum subjects – three pieces per rotation.


Key Stage 4 (Year 10 and 11)

Homework in ALL examined subjects at least once per week between 1 – 1 ½ hours.


Monitoring of Homework


Homework is very much a school priority. Therefore it requires a consistent approach across the school. It must be easy for all stakeholders to have an overview of homework as time is very limited. To ensure that everyone meets the homework guidelines set, homework is reviewed regularly on Show my Homework for quality and quantity.


What is satchel:one?


satchel:one is a simple online homework calendar where all the homework a pupil receives will be placed on. The school will be using satchel:one to ensure homework is set and communicated with parents across the school. Teachers, parents and pupils’ can all access satchel:one via the Web, Mobile and Tablet devices.


How can homework be accessed?


Homework can be accessed by teachers, pupils and parents in the following ways:

  • Please go to www.satchelone.com/login
  • Once you login, you can see your child’s personalised homework calendar with key information such as date set, date due, and you can monitor your child’s submissions.
  • There are iPhone and Android apps available for free for students and parents.

Knowledge Organisers


A knowledge organiser is a simple, specific, one page summary of the key knowledge of a particular topic. They specify what students will need to successfully learn. They can be used to get an overview of a new topic, be referred to during a topic for key points, spellings and meanings. This means that lesson time will not be wasted delivering content as the student already has it and this will free up teaching time to embed and extend learning. Through using knowledge organisers, students can commit key information to their long term memory.

For every term in Years 7, 8 and 9 the content for each subject has been broken down into a Knowledge Organiser. All of the Knowledge Organisers have been collated into a booklet which each student receives at the beginning of each half term.

Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 have been taught how to use the read, cover, write, check method to test themselves. This encourages students to take ownership of their learning, and to support them in developing good learning habits. Teachers will check in class that knowledge organisers are being used by regular quizzing and asking to see students read, cover, write, check work located in their pink books.

Embedding this content is critical for long-term success and effective retrieval from long-term memory. It will prepare them really well for their studies in future years.


Self Quizzing Strategies


We recommend:
Look, cover, write, check students learn key information in their Knowledge Organisers by reading a small section, covering it up, saying the definitions to themselves, writing out those key terms and definitions, then checking to see if they got them right. They should correct any errors in green pen, then repeat the process.

Students creating question and answer flashcards with a question on one side, and an answer on the other (or key terminology on one side, and definitions on the other). They test themselves several times a week, and revise each card depending on whether they got it right last time or not.

Small group quizzing, whereby students work in pairs or small groups and test each other on recalling the information on their knowledge organisers.

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