Independent Study

As a school, we believe that the core purpose of homework is to help students make progress in their learning, whether that be in their knowledge, skills, understanding or in their own personal growth. Teachers will set homework for a variety of reasons that might include preparation for lessons to come, consolidation and practice of lessons that students have had, to stretch and challenge or to broaden personal development. As a school, we do not believe in setting homework for the sake of it. We recognise that many of our students have extensive extra-curricular commitments outside school. We value family life.

What can you expect to see?

• Homework will be relevant and a clear task set.
• Guidance on how long to spend on each homework and a clear deadline.
• Both of the above should be recorded in your daughter's planner.
• A wide variety of homework tasks, such as the completion of exercises, revision, independent research, longer term projects or the practice of skills in practical activities.
• Some tasks will relate directly to exam style questions, others will aim to take your child beyond the syllabus. Some will be written, some will involve the use of computer. Tasks may be creative or simply involve reading or thinking about a subject. Work may have to be completed individually or in groups.
• Our Independent Study document for each subject area detail the frequency and length of homework set..
• We have made a conscious decision not to have homework in the week preceeding a school holiday. Students shoudl use this time for consolidation, reflection and to try some of the activites in the 'Learning to Fly' documents. 

Things to be aware of

• Not all homework will be marked formally by a teacher, but all will be assessed. Sometimes this assessment will be written, sometimes verbal, sometimes peer and self-assessed. Some homework tasks will be given a mark or grade, some may have formative comments. Some feedback may require your son/daughter to revisit their work in order to learn from it and improve.
• Teachers will set a homework task appropriate to the subject, the group and individuals within it. Therefore your child may not have the same task as another in the same subject or even in the same class.
• Sometimes, tasks may be challenging. This could be intentional, but should never cause worry. If this is the case, encourage your child to talk to their teacher to let them know that they are finding the task difficult.
• If your daughter is taking a long time on their homework (greater than 125% of the allocated time), please encourage them to stop. Please write a short note in their planner to advise the subject teacher of this.

What can I do to help?

• Take an interest, but do not do your daughter’s work for them.
• Find your son/daughter a space to work – but this may not have to be on their own in their bedroom. Some students will feel happier working in the kitchen or sprawled out on the living room floor. Sometimes (for example when doing revision) you may have to help with ensuring a quiet environment, whilst on other occasions a family discussion could be more effective.
• If you have any concerns about your duaghter spending too much or too little time on their homework, please do let us know via their tutor or Head of Year.