Parents Guide to Homework

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Introduction

St Peter’s High School values effective homework and thinks that learning at home is an essential part of good education. We believe that home can play a significant role in improving learning and raising achievement. It supports the development of independent study skills, including the habits of enquiry and investigation and supports the learning that is taking place at school.

Amount of Homework

The approximate amount of time for Homework is given below. However, the precise amount of time that may need to be devoted to activities will vary from student to student

Homework Timetable

Homework will be set for each year group in a homework timetable.

A copy of the relevant homework timetable for each student will be sent to you. Please sign the acknowledgement.

Students will NOT usually be asked to complete homework for the next day. This will support the students as they develop the important skill of planning their use of time to include their other activities, and leaving enough time to ask their teacher for help with their homework if they need it. On some occasions, however, this may be unavoidable.

Sometimes the homework will be an 'extended task' to be worked on over a longer period of time. Your son/ daughter should enter this for every week of the duration of the task. This will help them avoid “last minutes rushes” as they try to complete a task that was designed for several homeworks in one or two nights.

Homework Planners

Homework Planners are a useful way for you to send a message to your child’s teacher or vice versa. Ask your son or daughter to get the teacher to sign the message so that you know they have received it.

Students must take their Homework Planner to all lessons and are expected to record all homework set and the date for completion. They are expected to look after their Planner, keeping it in a good condition.
Mentors will check the Planners in order to monitor the progress of students in their mentor group. They will sign the Planner weekly.

Parents are requested to sign the Planners on a weekly basis, preferably at the weekend. The Planners should be used to communicate with the school (for example, providing absence notes in the allocated space).

Parents

Parents can help the school make homework more effective by doing the following:

• Provide a reasonably peaceful, suitable place in which pupils can do their homework or help pupils attend other places where homework can be done, such as homework clubs or study support centres.
• Provide a suitable bag to help transport books and equipment to and from school.
• Make it clear to pupils that they value homework, and support the school in explaining how it can help them make progress at school.
• Encourage pupils and praise them when they have completed homework.
• Expect deadlines to be met and check that they are.
• Inform the Lead Learning Mentor if you have any concerns about homework.

The amount of time spent on a given homework will vary from student to student and with the different activities set. Sometimes a student may complete an activity quickly whilst at others it may take longer.

If a child has tried but is simply unable to complete the homework within a reasonable time, parents should note this in the student’s planner and stop the student from working. Students need to be fresh for school the next morning if they are to learn effectively.

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