Completion of Home Learning is useful for many reasons. It is an opportunity for pupils to practise and embed the learning completed in lessons; it prepares pupils for future learning; revisits prior learning and enables pupils to extend or elaborate their work. Research shows that effective Home Learning can improve pupil progress by up to 8 months and it is certainly the case that pupils who do their Home Learning tend to be more successful. For those that complete good Home Learning and are self-motivated, there is an increasing need to become more independent in their studies at home to prepare for further study.
A Home Learning Timetable is produced for all pupils at the start of the school year. Home Learning should be clearly recorded in all pupils’ planners. Tasks set are also available for completion on Microsoft Teams. All children have access to a Teams account and many have downloaded the app. However, there is a link to Teams via Office 365 on our school website. Should you have any questions about this please contact your subject teacher.
Home Learning will be set according to our 4 R's:
- Recall – Recall homework’s are used to help embed learning and increase retention of knowledge. They help bring essential information to mind and check retrieval. This can be done using low stakes tests, pop quizzes and self-marking apps such as Microsoft Teams Form, GCSE POD, Quizlet
- Revision – Revision homework’s are to improve independent study skills and help pupils prepare for assessments and examinations. They are to revisit content already covered and interleave topics. This can be done by mind maps, flash cards, peer testing, note taking, minimum fact sheets, read cover write repeat, active reading, ‘eat your frog’ closing the gaps and online resources such as Nearpod, GCSE POD, One drive
- Research – Research homework can be used for flipped learning activities, preparing pupils for future learning, extending knowledge on key content using the rationale of ‘inch wide, mile deep’, reading articles to develop scholarship and broadening pupils understanding. These homework’s are NOT about copying and pasting but reading and absorbing content, processing information found to aid learning.
- Reflection – Reflection homework’s allow pupils to think about their learning, progress and content and reflect where they currently are and where they need to be. This could include embedding knowledge and skills by recreating content covered into a new form, reflecting on progress and improving work, redrafting and completing closing the gap work.
At secondary level the Government recommends that the time spent on Home Learning or GCSE preparation should fall between these ranges:
Year 7 and 8 = 45 minutes to 90 minutes per day
Year 9 = 1 to 2 hours per day
Year 10 and 11 = 1.5 to 2.5 hours per day
This is a minimum suggestion and pupils who achieve an ATL 2 often go above and beyond expectations.
In order to access BSM@HOME and Microsoft Teams, pupils will need their Office 365 username and password. This may be known to the pupils as their email username and password. If pupils do not know their account or password details then they will need to contact school or email ictrequest@st-maryshigh.lancs.sch.uk to find out what it is or get it reset.
Please see the links below should you or your child require help navigating Office365 and links to websites should you need support about online safety
How to access Microsoft 356: Outlook and Teams
How to upload work onto Teams using the school website link
How to upload work onto Teams using the app
Reading and sending emails through Microsoft 365
How to view feedback from teachers on work completed
Behaviour expectations during Remote Learning activities
Useful websites -
Free software to assist with home learning. (Click on the picture below to download)
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