Bedford Free School

HOMEWORK POLICY

Philosophy

Homework is any work or activity which pupils are asked to do outside lesson time either in ‘Prep’ which takes place within the school day, or at home. It is part of the curriculum and an integral part of the BFS strategy to raise attainment in all subjects and year groups.

Homework should not prevent pupils from participating in activities after school such assports, music or clubs of any kind.The purpose of homework at BFS is:

To encourage pupils to develop the confidence and self-discipline to work on their own in preparation for adult life
To consolidate, reinforce or extend skills and understanding
To deepen school learning, for example through additional reading
To enable pupils to devote time to particular demands such as GCSE Controlled Assessment or projectwork
To support the home/school relationship

Aims

Pupils should be aware of the need to reinforce their own learning and have the skills and motivation to enrich their learning through wider reading, independentresearch or reviewing and discussing their work.

Amount of homework set

The school has a fixed homework timetable with time allocated for different subjects on different evenings. This is published to students and families and is available on the school website. Pupils will need to learn to manage their time so that they do somehomework during Prep sessions and some each evening. Teachers may set homework to be completed for the next day in accordance with the Homework Timetable.

The time devoted to homeworkshould increase as the pupil progresses through the school.Pupils are encouraged in addition, to read as widely as possiblearound their chosen subjects to broaden their knowledge. Homework will take account of individual needs.

In Years 7-9 each homework task will typically take around 20 minutes to complete, and students will receive 3 pieces a day on average in Year 7, and 4 pieces on average in Years 8 and 9. Homework in Years 10 and 11 will typically take around 30 minutes and students will be set 4 pieces per night on average.

Types of homework

Homework might include such things as:

Writing assignments
Learning assignments
Preparing an oral presentation
Reading in preparation for a lesson
Finding out information/researching a project
Revising topics
Personally initiated investigations

This list is by no means exhaustive and teachers may set any task they feel is appropriate. What is being set, as well as how often will be monitored by Subject Leaders and SLT.

It is important that pupils should have frequent and increasing opportunities to develop

and consolidate their competencies as independent learners.

Organisation of homework

All pupils have a planner which they should carry with them at all times to recordtheir homework. Tutors and parents/carers must check this and sign it on a weekly basis. The school also subscribes to Show My Homework ( and online tool that allows students and parents to access homework that has been set each day. All staff must log all homework set through Show My Homework.

Students are expected to organise their time to ensure all homework is completed in good time.

Prep

Prep sessions take place each day and last for 45 minutes. Students return to their tutor bases and complete silent, individual work. This is supervised by a member of staff. During these sessions students are expected to complete some, but not all of their homework. IT based or collaborative work is not permitted during Prep. Students are permitted to read during Prep.

Non-completion of homework

When homework has not been done, appropriate action will be taken by the department. Thiswill usually involve a student being kept after school for ‘Extended Prep’and will result in a loss of credit for that lesson. This will be marked ‘HW’ on the pupil’s Achievement Card. Parents will be informed.Extended Prep will be until the homework is completed or until 5pm, whichever is longer.

Bedford Free School’s responsibilities

The subject teacher is responsible for setting appropriate homework and marking it regularly. They should check that pupils are recording details of homework set in their organisers.

Subject Leaders are responsible for ensuring that all teachers in their department are settingappropriate homework regularly and marking it. This should be checked as part of

QA process (SEF).

Parent/Carerresponsibilities

Parents/carers should support pupils with their homework but accept that their role willbecome less and less important as pupils become more responsible and independent
Parents/carers should provide a quiet, suitable place where pupils can work orencourage them to make use of BFS’s facilities
Parents/carers should ensurepupils meet homework deadlines
Parents/carers should make it clear to pupils that they value homework and support theschool in explaining how it can help them to progress
Parents/carers should encourage pupils and praise them when homework is completed

Pupils’ responsibilities

Pupils should always carry their planners with them
Pupils should record the homework set and when it is due, even if they have written it in detail in their exercisebook
Pupils need to accept that deadlines must be kept
If pupils are absent, they need to find out what work has been missed and catch up on it
Pupils should accept that being absent on the day that homework is set is not an excuse for not doing it
Problems with homework should be resolved before the deadline. If necessary pupils should see the member of staff concerned for help
Pupils should take a pride in doing their best

Outcomes:

We will have been successful when:

Pupils do not feel homework is a burden and they understand that it has a valuable role to play in their achievement and success
Pupils show independence, research, creativity and initiative in their work
There are no concerns from Parents/Carers about homework
Students are able to manage their time to effectively complete all homework through a combination of Prep sessions and work at home.

Reviewed September 2014