Homework: The Birchwood Way

Our vision is to cultivate a learning environment in which students are given frequent and purposeful home learning opportunities to consolidate their knowledge and enrich their broader understanding of the topics covered in class.

At Birchwood Community High School, we recognise that regular, well-planned homework can:

Elevate learning and ensure that students make maximum progress in their academic and social development.
Help students to develop strategies for transferring key information to their long-term memory.
Develop good work habits and self-regulation for the future.
Help parents/carers gain insight into their child’s schoolwork and promote a partnership between home and school.

To support our ‘Disconnect to Reconnect’ campaign, and in response to parental feedback, we have reviewed the frequency of our online homework and the changes below have been made.

Please be aware that any apps used for homework purposes are designed to be completed on laptops/computers not mobile phones. We appreciate that not all students will have access to laptops or computers at home therefore, we have built in many opportunities for students to complete online homework in school during enrichment or at the end of the school day.

KS3 Homework Timetable

We know how important it is for students to revise and revisit key knowledge throughout the year and how crucial this is for supporting students’ long- term learning. For this reason, students in year 7, 8 and 9 are expected to spend 30 minutes a day on homework. This will be largely based on retrieval tasks and will be centred on the key resources within their subjects:

Knowledge organiser
Vocabulary list

To support students with their learning, teachers will set homework for the same day of each week and will give students at least a week’s notice for any work that is due in.

Students are also expected to complete 30 minutes of reading for pleasure, every day.

Homework at Key Stage 4 is very much dependent upon option choices. We have adapted the frequency, but this will naturally grow as the work becomes more challenging over time. The same guidelines apply as with KS3, all apps are expected to be opened on laptops or computers and there is an expectation that mobile phones are put away whilst homework is being complete to avoid any distractions.

All subjects have a homework schedule. This schedule includes retrieval tasks that will aim to consolidate the knowledge covered within lessons. The schedule also includes intermittent tasks on knowledge acquired earlier in the year.

Homework is often based around information in a knowledge organiser, vocabulary list and accompanying documents. This knowledge may be tested in class and peer-marked by students. Where applicable, students write the correct answers in a different coloured pen to help them to easily identify gaps in their knowledge. This also helps teachers to easily identify and plan for any topics that might need to be revisited.

For KS4, retrieval is the minimum requirement for homework. Teachers will use their judgement about any additional tasks their students would benefit from receiving. Any further tasks that are set are acknowledged in some way either through self, peer or teacher assessment.

Students who engage with this process and seek out further opportunities for their learning will be rewarded with House Points.

Support

We want all students to be given the opportunity to complete the work set outside of school, to support their learning. For this reason, if students are not able to complete their homework, we will refer them to an after school or lunch time support session to complete their homework. These sessions take place in computer rooms so that they have the chance to use the school’s facilities to catch up on any missed work. There is also always a member of teaching staff supervising these sessions to ensure that students can receive help and guidance, should they need it.

Negative behaviour points are issued for missing homework tasks. For students who miss 3 or more homework in a half term, class teachers will contact home to speak with parents. For those who are not completing homework across numerous subjects their form tutors will contact home and develop a plan of actions with parents.

Reading

All students are issued with a reading record and encouraged to read at home at least 3 times per week.

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