14 September 2016

Dear Parents

We are keen to work effectively with parents and we know that homework is an area of untapped potential. Within school we aim to make to this aspect clear and easy to follow. This also complements the curriculum overviews that we have share with parents.

Please find enclosed a copy of our updated Homework:Code of Practice2016-17and the Curriculum Overview of each subject for your son or daughter’s year group for Autumn term 2016 (first half term).

Homework: Code of Practice (COP)

This sets out the three broad forms of homework students will receive throughout the year, as well as giving brief ideas on how parents can give help and support for each type of homework:

  1. Level 1 – pre-exposure.

Each student will have a form of preparatory, research-based work to help them prepare for the forthcoming half term topics in each subject area. These will be set before each holiday and this research will enable students to develop key knowledge and understanding prior to covering these concepts in lessons; this will support students in making rapid progress as well as sparking curiosity, ideas and searching questions for the forthcoming half term’s work.

  1. Level 2 –traditional form.

This is the regular style of homework, which will be set by individual teachers throughout each half term, examples of which can be found on the second table of the code of practice. It is envisaged that students will receive a variety of styles of Level 2 homework.

  1. Level 3 – review and extension.

This form of homework is self-directed and encourages students to review, revise and consolidate the content of each day’s lessons. This form of lesson review can be seen as the first line of revision and is valuable for developing independent study.

Curriculum Overviews

For each subject area you will find a brief account of the topics and themes to be covered in the forthcoming half term. You will also find the Level 1 pre-exposure homework for your child to complete for each subject, for that forthcoming half term. Please see the Homework COP table 1 on how parents can help with Level 1 homework.

We hope that both the Homework: Code of Practice 2016-17 and the Curriculum Overviews will give both parents and students clear guidelines as to what is to be studied and how students can make extra progress through the different forms of home learning.

We trust you find this helpful and informative, and please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have any queries or concerns.

Yours faithfully

Jim Balkwill

Deputy Headteacher