Home Learning

Students in all year groups are set home learning on a regular basis, as we believe that this encourages good study habits and independent learning. Learning at home is an essential part of good education. Regular home learning enables students to practise the key learning covered in class and helps students work towards improving important skills. It also helps students to become confident and independent in their learning. At Settle College, we ensure that home learning is an integral part of the curriculum and is planned and prepared alongside all other programmes of learning. The guides below are written to provide further information about the topics covered during home learning, the types of home learning tasks given, suggestions for extension work and relevant website links to support students for each subject.

Guided Hours for Home Learning:

Subject	Guided hours at KS3	Guided hours at KS4
English	Once per week; 30-60 minutes	Once per week; up to 1 hour
Maths	Once per week; 30-60 minutes	Once per week; up to 1 hour
Science	Once per fortnight; 30-60 minutes	Three per fortnight; 30-60 minutes
Computing	Once per fortnight; up to 30 minutes	Once per week; up to 1 hour
Geography	Once per fortnight; 30-60 minutes	Once per week; 30-60 minutes
History	Once per fortnight; 30-60 minutes	Once per week; 30-60 minutes
MFL	30 minutes vocabulary practice every lesson	Vocabulary & grammar practice every lesson (20-30 minutes). Extended written task once a week.
Art	Once per fortnight; up to 30 minutes	Once per week; up to 1 hour
Business	–	Once per week; up to 1 hour
DT/Engineering	Once every 3 weeks; up to 30 minutes	Once every week; up to 1 hour
Music	Once every 2 weeks. Students are encouraged to join a music group.	Once every 2 weeks. Students are encouraged to join a music group.
PE	No home learning given. Students are encouraged to join a sporting team or the sports leader group.	Once per week for option PE; up to 1 hour.

At KS5, students are expected to complete 14 to 16 hours of home learning a week. In addition to this, they are also expected to complete further independent study to consolidate their learning across the whole course. For further information, please see the sixth form section of the website.

Teachers will

Ensure home learning tasks are marked by the teacher, providing feedback on what has been done well together with a learning target(s).
Some home learning tasks will be peer marked by another student and others will be self-assessed by the student.
Set home learning tasks at the start of the lesson to ensure sufficient time is allocated to recording the task accurately and to ensure that the students understand what is expected of them.
Set clear deadlines for home learning tasks. If the home learning task is an on-going project this will be recorded on Arbor each week.
Ensure that students know what to do if they run into difficulties with home learning.
Ensure home learning takes equal opportunities into account and that the needs of all pupils are considered e.g. through adaptive teaching.
Ensure that any detentions set for non-completion of home learning are recorded on Arbor.
Ensure that tasks are wide-ranging and structured and their purpose is explained.
Reward quality work and praise and celebrate students and students’ success in line with College Policy;

Tutors will

Assist students who appear to lack organisational skills.
Contact parents if a student is persistently not completing home learning across a number of subjects.

Subject Leaders will

Assist students who find organising their home learning more challenging.
Support teachers if a student is regularly not handing in home learning on time. This may involve a phone call home or a meeting with parents in school.
Carry out a termly work sampling exercise to ensure that home learning tasks are appropriate.

Heads of Year will

Monitor and analyse home learning through Arbor every half term; any issues are fed back to their tutor team and SLT.
Contact parents every half term if their child has had three or more issues with home learning.
Meet with students and parents if a student is persistently still not completing Home Learning tasks in a number of subjects.

Students will

Take responsibility for their own learning and submit completed work to a high standard and in a timely manner;
Have a positive approach towards home learning and other independent tasks;
Maintain the same high level of effort in completing home learning as would be expected of class work;
Make sure they understand the tasks that have been set and seek clarification if required;
Take pride in the presentation and content of their home learning and perform to a high personal standard;
Ensure that home learning missed due to absence from class is recorded and completed at the earliest opportunity (discussion between home and school/subject teachers is essential if this is not possible);
Attend study support sessions as necessary- e.g. home learning club, revision sessions for GCSE exams, controlled assessment catch up.

Parents and carers will

Support their child to complete home learning and encourage their child to have a positive attitude towards it
Make sure that their child completes home learning to a high standard and on time
Provide suitable conditions and resources for their child to complete home learning
Praise their child and celebrate achievements with regard to their home learning
Inform teachers of any issues that may arise in connection with home learning and co-operate with the College to find a solution if appropriate
Keep the College informed of any change in circumstances which may affect their child’s learning, home learning or ability to study independently
Encourage their child to discuss home learning with them, including their feedback from teachers

Home Learning Sanctions

If a student fails to complete a home learning task, they are given until the next morning to hand it in.
If it is not handed in, the student is issued with a subject teacher detention. A record should be made on Arbor that the home learning has not been done and a detention has been set.
If the student does not turn up to the subject teacher detention, the teacher will check if they were absent from school. If they were not absent from school, the student is issued with a Subject Leader detention. This is recorded on Arbor.
If the student fails to attend the Subject Leader after school detention, they are issued with a Leadership Group detention (3.30pm-4.30pm). This is also recorded on Arbor.

Although government guidelines now state that schools no longer have to give 24 hours’ notice for an after school detention or get parental permission, it is our policy to ensure that parents are given 24 hours’ notice for an after school detention.