Home Learning

Why is home learning important?

At Dene Academy we believe that home learning is important in: 

• reinforcing positive attitudes to school work;
• encouraging and developing self-organisation and self-discipline;
• reinforcing, broadening and extending the school curriculum;
• developing the home/school partnership.

Additional reasons to set home learning

Further important reasons for setting home learning tasks are as follows:

• to encourage and develop self-discipline and study habits; 
• to reinforce class work and consolidate learning; 
• to provide opportunities for teachers to assess students’ progress and to maintain a dialogue with students about their learning; 
• to give students experience of working independently;
• to develop a sense of responsibility for, and commitment to, their own learning; 
• to involve parents in the educational process and provide an insight into the work of the student. 

Types of Home Learning

Home learning tasks are embedded within Schemes of Work and reflect ongoing class work across the curriculum. The list below is not exhaustive but home learning can take the form of: 

• a specific self-contained project, exercise or task, based on previous class work;
• further examples of tasks undertaken in class and designed to reinforce what has been learned;
• reviewing and memorising what has been learned in class;
• follow-up work to assessment, ensuring that the students learn from errors;
• an extended task or project, spanning several weeks;
• researching at home or in libraries using a variety of sources including ICT;
• revising and preparing for tests / examinations and using knowledge organisers;  
• communication and literacy tasks.

Frequency of Home Learning Tasks

Key Stage 3 and 4

At Key Stage 3 and 4 EBACC subjects should set fortnightly home learning tasks as outlined below. At Key Stage 3, spellings should also be distributed on a fortnightly basis.

Home learning tasks are also compulsory in non-EBACC subjects but subjects have the autonomy to set home learning tasks fortnightly or to have project based tasks spanning the duration of a scheme of work. 

Firefly

Home learning tasks and resources for each scheme of work are available on the school’s Firefly page. The home learning resource may take the form of a PowerPoint with instructions, worksheet with guidance or a link to an external programme, such as: Heggarty Maths or Educake. Pre-recorded Teams sessions may also be used.

Duration of Home Learning Tasks

Class Charts

Teachers will set all homework on Class Charts. They will upload the details of the home learning task, instruction for its completion, the due date and any other instructions; they will also reference the Firefly title of the home learning task and its location on the Firefly page. The teacher will inform the class that homework has been set. The teacher may also attach other resources that may be required such as supplementary worksheets and links to websites or videos – although all of these are available via Firefly.     

Each student has a personal login that presents them with their personal homework calendar. The calendar shows them what tasks have been set and the deadline for each task. It also allows them to access web links and worksheets. Students can also mark tasks as having been completed to help them with their organisation. 

Parents and carers are allocated a login to enable them to support their child’s organisation and completion of home learning.  

Students that do not have access to the internet at home, or to the resources they need, can attend after school homework clubs.   

Marking and Monitoring of Home Learning

As a minimum expectation, teachers award students with an effort level for their home learning and students will gain points to contribute to the whole school reward system. Teachers can also award subject specific feedback at their own discretion and this is particularly encouraged at Key Stage 4. The effort grades and points allocation are as follows and Classcharts buttons have been created for this purpose:

As well as home learning feeding in to the whole-school rewards programme, Departments also have autonomy to create an internal rewards programme to reward students. 

It is the responsibility of the classroom teacher to encourage students to hand in their home learning tasks. Where students have missed a home learning task, the classroom teacher should engage in a discussion with the individual students to ascertain why this is the case, offering appropriate support.  Students could, for example, be encouraged to attend the home learning clubs where they will have appropriate access to resources.

If students fail to return their home learning tasks, the classroom teachers should make parental contact (parents will also receive a notification from Classcharts when an effort grade C is logged).

For students who persistently fail to hand in home learning, parental contact should be made by department leads and appropriate action plans should be set in place.

Persistent failure to hand in home learning will result in year leaders contacting home, and where necessary, students will be placed in detention to complete the work.   Teachers have autonomy over whether homework is submitted electronically or on paper but all homework should be stored by class teachers for half termly monitoring by senior leaders.