Homework Guide – Clifton Community School

Homework Guide

At Clifton, we consider homework to be an important part of the learning process: it allows students to develop their resilience, research and independent learning skills, as well as consolidating in-class learning.

However, we also believe in setting homework when it is necessary, relevant and meaningful. Therefore, your child may not be set homework on a weekly basis in all subject areas. Instead, their teachers will set homework when they deem it necessary for the pupils’ development. Students should expect to receive feedback on their homework: this may be verbal or written. This feedback should make clear any targets for further development needed.

As students progress through each year, they can expect the homework and revision demands to increase. By the end of Year 11, it is expected that students, as well as completing set homework and revision tasks will be taking responsibility for their own learning in order to become mini subject specialists.

Work completed at home may take many forms, however you can expect to see:

Independent projects completed over a longer period of time.
Research and knowledge retrieval: this may take the form of students finding certain information prior to beginning a topic, or to consolidate and enhance in class knowledge.
Completing quizzes and questions.
Completing longer written tasks.
Acting on feedback from class work.
Doing exam questions or papers.
Revision tasks like posters, leaflets, videos and revision cards.
Learning spellings and key vocabulary.
Reading and Accelerated Reader quizzes.
Practical projects.

Homework may also be set using digital formats such as Google Classroom or via online programmes such as MathsWatch, Educake or Accelerated Reader.

How parents/carers can help

It’s normal for your child to need some help getting used to the homework expectation when they start secondary school, and you’ll need to make sure you know what they’re supposed to be doing, support when needed, and help them manage their time so it all gets done. Talk to your child about how they’d like to organise their homework: for example, would they prefer to get it out of the way as soon as they get home, or have some time to relax first? Do they want to do it all in one go, or break it down into shorter chunks?

As your child gets used to their new homework schedule, it’s expected that they’ll become more independent and you shouldn’t need to monitor them so closely. However, you can support them by making sure they have a quiet and comfortable place to work without distractions, and all the resources they need. Be available to help if they have questions or need pointing in the right direction, and check their work over every now and then: teachers will expect good presentation as well as accurate work. In some cases, you might need to be more involved, for example, by testing them ahead of an exam.