Homework Policy

The Co-op Academy Stoke-on-Trent

HOMEWORK POLICY

“A teacher must set homework and plan other out-of-class activities to consolidate and extend the knowledge and understanding students have acquired.” – Government teachers’ standards.

Rationale:

Quality homework and extended learning activities are proven to have a positive and measurable impact on achievement.  At the Academy we value homework as an integral part of learning.  Not all of the homework set has to be completed at home.  In fact, some students, who find it hard to study or do not have the resources at home, may require the opportunity to use the Academy’s facilities which we are happy to provide.

Aims:

1. To encourage student self-responsibility and raise achievement.

1. To allow students to maximise potential.
2. To involve parents in their child’s education, strengthening home/Academy links.

Objectives:

1. To encourage students to take a responsible and conscientious attitude to their own work and study.

1. To provide opportunities to consolidate and extend the knowledge and understanding students have acquired.

1. To provide opportunities for research and preparation for learning.
2. To provide opportunities for regular feedback, both orally and through accurate marking, and to encourage students to respond to the feedback; producing reflective learners.

1. To provide opportunities to stretch and challenge students of all backgrounds, abilities and dispositions.

1. To establish student/parent/teacher partnerships.

Types of homework

Students should have the opportunity to use different learning styles, with teachers setting homework using imagination in the type and variety of homework set.  Homework should be made as enjoyable, interesting and relevant as possible for students and may comprise any of the following.

• Preparing for the next lesson by reading, researching, organising discussion or presentation.
• Developing skills of numeracy, literacy and language.
• Completing surveys or practical observations or measurements.
• Developing an interest in current affairs within a subject using the internet or other media sources.
• Drawing charts or diagrams.
• Writing up work.
• Drawing conclusions or answering questions from classwork.
• Doing or devising puzzles, quizzes, crosswords, games etc.
• Extended pieces of writing including imaginative writing.
• Reading.
• Learning or revising tasks (there are numerous ways of doing this using teacher guidance).
• Self- assessment.
• Projects or coursework.
• On-line homework.
• Investigative work.
• Aural/oral work.

N.B Research homework’s should give enough time for students to carry out the required research and students will need guidance as to where/how to find out the information required.

Where homework is set which is expected to take a number of weeks to complete such as project based homework or coursework, students will be informed of their deadline and their progress will be checked by their class teacher at an appropriate time before the set deadline.

Expectations: 

All members of the Academy should understand and carry out their specific role as outlined in appendix A and follow the procedures summarised in appendix B.

Each curriculum area sets approximately the following amount of homework.

At Key Stage 4 the amount and frequency of homework can be variable to allow for exam preparation, after-academy study sessions and coursework demands.  Therefore, the following is used only as a guideline.

Procedures

Incentives

High quality homework and a good work ethos should be sensitively praised in class.

Where appropriate, homework should be included in display work. One merit should be awarded for each good piece of homework, with five merits being awarded for the best piece. For exceptional pieces of homework, a faculty letter or postcard may be sent home.

Sanctions

When homework is not completed, teachers should initially support the student and ensure the tasks set meet the student's needs. If this is so, then sanctions should be used. Teachers receive support from their Subject Leader and Head of Faculty.

The sanctions are as follows:

1. Class teacher - discussion and negotiation with student, informing Head of Faculty where problem is not resolved.
2. Head of Faculty - discussion and negotiation with referred student, informing parents by text, email, letter or phone call and arranging a detention where appropriate.
3. Form Tutor - through weekly monitoring of HERO data, identify pupils with homework problems across several curriculum areas and refer to the Head of Year. Head of Year discusses and negotiates with student, applies sanction or support where appropriate.
4. Head of Year - refers student to Learning Support, Head of Faculty or the VP in charge of homework in the case of a persistent offender.

Appendix A

Responsibilities

The role of the Student

1. To check your homework timetable daily.
2. To inform your class teacher of any difficulties.
3. To agree with parents or carers when and where you will complete homework.
4. To attempt all homework to the best of your ability.
5. To attend the after academy support sessions when required.
6. To ensure that homework is completed and handed in to meet the deadline.

The role of the Parents and Carers

To reinforce its value through positive feedback; this will give students the confidence to persevere, work hard and reach high standards of achievement. The role of the parent is crucial if a child is to gain success from homework.

Parents can assist by:

• Providing a table, chair and a quiet place to work.
• Agreeing with your child when homework is to be done, as free time is important too.
• Checking the time spent on individual tasks.
• Checking presentation and content of all homework being returned to the Academy.
• Providing the Academy with information about any problems through the student planner or by contacting the Academy directly.

The role of the Class Teacher

The class teacher controls the direction of homework and the nature of tasks undertaken.

The class teacher will:

• Set homework in accordance with the timetable which will assist in raising achievement.
• Provide the stimulus.
• Give clear instructions.
• Set deadlines for completed work and ensure that they are met.
• Mark and return all homework promptly or feedback as necessary.
• Provide help and support.
• Inform the Head of Faculty and Subject Leader, Tutor and Head of Year, as appropriate, when problems arise.

The role of the Subject Leader / Head of Faculty

• To seek to enhance the quality of homework set.
• To monitor and evaluate homework setting, completion and feedback within their curriculum area.
• To support subject and faculty with difficulties over homework completion including communicating with parents where necessary.

The roles of the Learning Resource Centre Manager and Learning Support Practitioners

• To provide before academy, after academy and lunchtime opportunities for independent study.

The role of the VP in charge of homework

• To provide staff, students and parents with the necessary access to homework.
• To develop classroom practice to enhance homework across the Academy.
• To review annually the Academy homework policy.
• To monitor and evaluate the Academy homework policy.

Channels of communication

Appendix B

Homework setting, monitoring and evaluation.

Policy Monitoring, Evaluation and Review

This policy will be reviewed at least every two years and will be promoted and implemented throughout the Academy.

Adopted by the Academy On                

Chair of Governors                

Principal                

Review date                

______________________________________________________________________________________

Expectations in relation to homework and extended learning

• Homework’s need to be integrated into all schemes of learning so that they are closely related to class work –this is crucial
• The Academy then needs to make it clear how often it is expected that homework will be set for different ages and groupings of students and for different subjects, taking account of the number of teaching periods a subject has each week – all staff then need to follow this homework timetable
• Departments can have their own homework policies, related to the overall Academy policy, with account taken of the needs of their subject area, but they will still be expected to follow the homework timetable
• All teachers should keep a record of homework set, which should be available for inspection if needed.
• The Tutor should check their Form’s HERO data weekly and investigate any homework issues arising and implementing interventions where necessary to support the student.
• The Academy should provide time and facilities at the end of the academy day, with students encouraged to stay on to complete set tasks and engage in wider learning opportunities
• These extended learning opportunities after academy should be linked to the Academy’s wider enrichment and community programme

The success of homework in raising achievement is then related to:

• The Academy being positive with students about how homework can develop them as learners and bring them greater success.
• The Academy promotes it as extended learning rather than homework.
• There is imagination shown in the type and variety of homework’s set, and they are made as enjoyable and interesting as possible for students.

• It is the quality not quantity of homework that matters; there is evidence that students gain little by spending excessive amounts of time on homework.
• The type and amount of homework being personalised to the needs of the student, e.g., a student who is aiming for higher grade GCSEs and then perhaps A-levels and university may well need to be engaged in regular academic extended study and at the same time acquire much needed independent learning skills – at the same time a less able or SEND student may benefit more from regular, short, sharp skill development work.
• Homework’s are differentiated, challenging and relevant to the students.
• Different students being set alternative homework assignments so that each student can use the time to overcome some of their specific weaknesses (differentiation).
• The age and experience of the students being taken into account when setting homework.  For instance, a Year 7 student will need more help explaining how to go about homework tasks, a student who has revision for GCSEs will need a lot of help in order for them to structure and carry out useful revision.
• All students being given advice on homework skills as a part of their tutorial programme and in subject lessons.
• Homework’s are available on line wherever possible.
• Departments will have examples of successful homework’s to assist teachers in their planning.
• Some homework can be a project or theme set over a period of weeks provided that the quantity of work set is equivalent to the amount of homework needed for that period.  It must be shown in the student planner for each week of the length of the project.

Setting homework

• Homework may be set at any appropriate time during a lesson in line with the Academy homework timetable and the nature and purpose of the homework explained.
• A clear deadline will be given and an idea of how long the homework should take and what quantity is expected; students should always be given a fair amount of time to complete homework’s – due in the next day would not be reasonable.
• Students should have the opportunity to have any questions regarding the homework/task answered.
• It will occasionally be necessary to allow students 10 minutes towards the end of a lesson to start the homework in order to ensure that they know how to carry out the work set.

Checking/Marking homework

• Homework will be checked as soon as is possible.
• It may often be appropriate to spend the first 10 minutes of a lesson checking and going over aspects of the homework (Fix It Time).
• Teachers will often discuss with students how long their homework has taken them.
• Encouragement and praise for genuine effort is essential, as is pointing out the futility of token effort.
• All homework should be marked regularly, sensitively and constructively as part of the overall marking policy.
• Completion of homework should be rewarded appropriately.

Students not completing homework

• Students failing to complete a piece of homework will be allowed extra time and support where necessary if a plausible explanation is supplied otherwise they will receive a 20 minute HERO detention at lunchtime.  
• Students who do not respond to the Academy’s positive approaches to encouraging students to complete homework may face sanctions, but it will be based on a personalised approach. The imposition of huge numbers of homework detentions is not manageable and clogs up the whole sanctions system; the aim is to take action against those who are regularly failing to complete homework for no good reason.
• Larger departments e.g. numeracy may provide a compulsory “homework club” at lunchtime or after academy for serial homework non-completers to attend in order to identify and remove barriers to completion.
• Records of non-completion of homework should be kept centrally.  The Head of Department, Tutor and parents should be informed when homework is not completed on a regular basis.

Home/Academy Links

• The Academy will explain fully to parents what its policy for homework and extended learning is and what are its expectations and seek their support.
• The Academy will ask that the parent considers the conditions under which their child completes their homework and to provide the necessary support and interest in the work.

• The Academy will publicise the alternative provision made available during lunchtimes and after academy and ask parents to encourage their children to attend.
• The website, student reports, parents’ evenings, emails, texts, praise postcards, telephone calls and student planners all serve as a means of communication with parents, conveying to them what homework is set each day and reporting both achievements and disappointments.

Measuring Impact

As part of a faculty’s quality assurance system timetabled over the academic year, the following homework related areas will be explored.

• Homework setting and relevance to the scheme of learning.
• Scrutiny of students’ homework.
• Records of homework related sanctions.
• Student voice regarding all aspects of homework.