Principles

• Home learning is any learning that takes place outside of lesson time.
• All students benefit from completing regular, purposeful home learning tasks.
• Home learning is an essential and integral part of the teaching and learning process.
• All students should be encouraged to produce their best work, both at school and at home.
• Home learning helps students develop good learning habits.
• Purposeful home learning tasks and quality timely feedback can help students develop a growth mindset.
• Home learning offers an important and valuable opportunity for parents to participate in their daughter’s learning.
• A strong partnership between parents and the College will encourage students to establish good home learning routines.

Aims

• To ensure home learning is an intrinsic part of the teaching and learning process, focused on complementing and/or developing lesson learning objectives.
• To ensure high quality and purposeful home learning tasks are set which engage and challenge students.
• To ensure quality developmental and timely feedback is given.
• To support student learning through the promotion of an effective partnership and good communication between the College and home.
• To set all home learning in a timely fashion using the ShowMyHomework (SMHW) platform.
• To fully explain all home learning tasks, including their purpose, during the lesson.

Why we set home learning

Home learning fulfils an important function in contributing to our overall curriculum aims.  We set home learning (tasks):

• to consolidate learning;
• to develop perseverance and resilience and the ability to organise time and meet deadlines;
• to retrieve learning from class;
• to revise, practise and memorise;
• to prepare for or review new learning;
• to apply learning in new contexts and to new problems;
• to investigate own interests stemming from core learning;
• to foster the development of independent study habits;

Procedures

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Students should be encouraged to take responsibility for:

• Ensuring that they understand each home learning task and how best to complete it.
• Ensuring that their home learning is their best work, reflecting a high degree of effort.
• Proof reading their work and checking its quality before submission.
• Communicating any issues associated with completing set tasks to teachers in advance of the deadline.
• Meeting the deadlines set by teachers for specific pieces of work.
• Reviewing, reflecting and acting upon feedback to inform future work.
• Accessing and managing all home learning through SMHW and alerting the teacher when this is not possible.

Subject Teachers have responsibility for:

• Communicating home learning tasks, assessment criteria and purpose clearly to students during the lesson.
• Recording all home learning on SMHW in a timely fashion, explicitly stating the purpose.
• Use SMHW to record submission/non-submission of home learning tasks.
• Ensuring that they do not set home learning that spans a holiday period (Years 7 to 10).
• Allowing students sufficient time to complete home learning tasks, with at least 4 days between setting and taking in all home learning.
• Setting and developing quality home learning tasks according to the Scheme of Learning (SOL).
• Following the procedure outlined in the Improving Behaviour Policy when home learning is not completed.
• Asking students to repeat a task if it is not completed to an expected standard.
• Contacting parents if the completion of home learning is a concern.
• Marking home learning tasks as appropriate and providing feedback within a maximum of two weeks of submission.
• Ensuring students reflect on and respond to feedback by allowing time in class.
• Setting the correct quantity of home learning as per the home learning structure in Appendix 1.

Heads of Department have responsibility for:

• Leading the department by monitoring and evaluating the frequency, quantity and quality of home learning in line with the teaching and learning policy, e.g. through SMHW reports and book scrutiny.
• Ensuring that quality and timely feedback is given and that students respond to the feedback.
• Ensuring that home learning tasks are integral to the Scheme of Learning and appropriately challenging for all students.
• Ensuring consistency across the department in the amount of home learning set to each teaching group, in line with Appendix 1.
• Ensuring that the department follows procedures in the Improving Behaviour Policy relating to the non-completion of home learning tasks.
• Including evaluative comments regarding home learning in the DSEF.

Heads of Faculty have responsibility for:

• Ensuring the home learning policy is applied within the Faculty and supporting HoDs with the implementation of their responsibilities.
• Supporting faculty members in applying the procedures outlined in the Improving Behaviour Policy when home learning is not completed.
• Leading faculty discussions on the purpose and impact of home learning tasks and feedback.
• Auditing and monitoring the quality of home learning tasks, marking and feedback, and being aware of their impact on student learning, through discussion with Heads of Department, using lesson observations, work scrutiny and student interviews as evidence and through discussion at HOF meetings.
• Including evaluative comments regarding home learning in FSEF and including (when appropriate) in Departmental appraisal action.

Form tutors have responsibility for:

• Monitoring submission/non-submission of home learning tasks recorded on weekly reports from HOS and discussing with students, supporting as appropriate.
• Monitoring that home learning is set regularly and that the home learning load is reasonable and follows the home learning timetable (and discussing any concerns with Heads of School).
• Assisting tutees with time management and organisational issues.
• Communicating with HODs and/or HOS as appropriate with any concerns raised by students regarding the quality or quantity of home learning.

Heads of School have responsibility for:

• Providing a report of submission/non-submission of home learning tasks to HOFs and tutors.
• Monitoring that tutors check submission/non-submission of home learning tasks.
• Liaising with HOD and or HOF regarding issues associated with the setting of tasks raised by tutors.
• Monitoring that home learning is set regularly and that the quantity is reasonable and is in line with the timings in Appendix 1.
• Liaising with HOFs and Assistant Head Teacher for Student Progress and Welfare regarding any concerns relating to home learning.
• Liaising with Assistant Head Teacher for Curriculum and Learning regarding the preparation of a schedule for the setting of home learning each academic year.
• Supporting tutors with the implementation of their responsibilities.

Parents and Carers will: 

• Support their daughter to ensure that home learning is completed.
• Regularly access SMHW to monitor their daughter’s home learning.
• Provide a suitable environment for the completion of home learning.
• Assist their daughter with time management and scheduling of tasks.
• Communicate any concerns regarding home learning to the tutor and subject teacher.

Assistant Head teacher for Student Progress and Welfare has responsibility for:

• Supporting the HOS in fulfilling their responsibilities as outlined in the Home Learning policy.
• Reviewing the monitoring data collated by HOS and liaising with AHT for Curriculum and Learning to discuss any concerns.

Assistant Head teacher Curriculum and Learning has responsibility for:

• Supporting the HOF in fulfilling their responsibilities as outlined in the Home Learning policy.
• Monitoring the quality of home learning tasks and marking, and being aware of their impact on student learning by liaising with Assistant Head teacher for Student Progress and Welfare and HOFs.
• Liaising with Assistant Head teacher for Student Progress and HOFs to ensure that a suitable schedule for the setting of home learning is prepared each academic year and that this is published to students and staff.

Relationship to other policies

Internal Policies:

• Curriculum Policy
• Home School Agreement
• Improving Behaviour policy
• Learning and Teaching policy