“Setting the right amount of homework each week is the equivalent of our boys getting an additional lesson or two every week; it is the ideal way to create independent learners.” Tim Plumb

At Woolwich Poly, we try to make our students independent learners so that they are prepared for future study, prepared for problem-solving and prepared for the workplace.

Homework is an essential ingredient in making our boys independent: it provides a task on which they must use their skills, resourcefulness and their previous work to create new assignments, thus reinforcing skills and knowledge they have acquired in lesson, but this time without the immediate support of a teacher or friend, developing the resilience and perseverance that future educators and employers demand.

To manage students’ time, we provide a homework timetable so that there is an even and consistent spread of challenging tasks throughout the week.

Aims of homework

“A good, well-managed homework programme helps children and young people to develop the skills and attitudes they will need, for successful lifelong learning.” The Standards Site

The advantages of homework are that:

• It speeds up progress;
• It encourages independent learning and working to deadlines;
• It can reinforce skills taught in lesson;
• It can allow students to access materials that they would not normally have in the classroom.

Amount of homework

• KS3 Core: 2 homework tasks set a week – suggested timing: 30 minutes each.
• KS3 EBBAC: 1 homework task set each week – suggested timing: 30 minutes.
• KS3 Foundation: 1 homework task set once a week.
• KS4: 2 homework tasks each week – suggested timing: 40 minutes to one hour each.
• KS5: 3 homework tasks set each week – suggested timing: 2 hours each.

Spaced homework: 

At the Poly, when applicable, homework is delayed or spaced in line with the curriculum. It means that teachers set homework on topics that students have learnt 2-4 before.

The benefits of our system: 

• Regular delayed homework would mean students are constantly solving problems based on things they have already learnt. 
• These regular reviews mean constant memory retrieval, which is perfect for spaced learning. 
• Delayed homework requires students to retrieve what they have learned earlier. 
• Creating additional layers of meaning in new material that connect to old material.  
• When possible, specific targeted homework combined with spaced practice will have the maximum benefit to our students. 

The Nature of Homework:

The following activities are considered meaningful:

• Reading or written tasks
• Revision, but using an active strategy
• Designing, drawing, painting or making a model
• Watching a TV programme and making summary notes or observing or recording information
• Carrying out a project
• ICT-based research