Homework

Vision:   

The Malling School is an IB (International Baccalaureate) World School, and our aim is to empower our students to develop the IB Learner Profile attributes throughout the curriculum and ensure that our students are well equipped for all the opportunities and challenges our rapidly changing world will provide. The Malling School believes that homework extends learning beyond the classroom and enhances the curriculum providing meaningful opportunities to contextualise big ideas, critically evaluate and seize opportunities for reflection that leads to the student’s overall growth and development. We believe that homework supports the students in becoming self-regulated learners, developing independence, a strong work ethic and organisation.   

The Malling School believes that home learning:    

• Enables students to be knowledgeable and reflective through consolidating and reinforcing their skills and understanding.   
• Encourages students to be enquirers, providing students with opportunities for pre-learning, pre-reading and research prior to experiencing topic content in the lesson with the teacher, nurturing student’s curiosity and developing their skills for inquiry.   

• Can become a part of the family routine: developing positive study skills and habits such as self-discipline and organisation which will serve students well in adult life.    
• Builds a positive partnership between home and school and enables parents to be involved in their child's education. This encourages students to be balanced individuals recognising the importance of balancing different aspects of their lives and recognising our interdependence with the world in which we live in.   
• Is most effective when it compliments and enhances the learning experienced in lessons and throughout the curriculum and therefore is strategically planned, issued and reviewed by teachers.   

Expectations   

Classroom teachers are responsible for monitoring the completion of homework and set appropriate sanctions if it is not completed or not completed to an appropriate standard. Sanctions for the non-completion of homework are set by the classroom teacher and will involve a detention should homework not be completed on time.  

Homework Club 

The Malling School homework club is in our school library on the ground floor of the Tydeman block. Students will have access to the library to complete their home learning and use one of the schools’ laptops under the supervision of two members of staff including the school librarian. 

Timings: 

Morning – 8:00 to 8:45 
Afternoon – 15:20 to 16:00 

If students are identified through monitoring of homework completion codes, the pastoral leaders will work with families to ensure that the student is attending the Homework Club. 

Quality Assurance   

To quality assure homework effectively, subject leaders within each area of study will conduct quality-assurance checks as part of the whole school quality assurance schedule. A member of SLT will also have responsibility to quality assure the amount of homework set, the quality of set homework and respond to or seek student and parent voice regarding homework.   

In KS3 students will be expected to complete up to 90 minutes of homework each evening including time dedicated to reading. In KS3 homework prioritises the core and EBacc subjects with homework in KS4 being set for all core and option subjects selected by the students.    

As students progress through the school, the quantity of homework will increase and the format and nature of the work will reflect the stage they have reached in their education.   

---

Timetables

Below are the timetables for all year groups and bands which details the days in which homework is set and due. There is also a timetable which provides a structure for students to follow so that they are dedicating sufficient time to each subject per evening and to support effective time management.

Homework in some subjects includes a short daily skills quiz, while in others, it consists of a single, more time-intensive assignment. Due dates reflect these expectations and are detailed in the students’ timetables. In the Sixth Form, homework is scheduled by individual subject teachers.

The homework timetables will detail the nature and format of each subject’s home learning whether it is completed on online platforms, on Teams or via curriculum books. Students will receive guidance and training on all platforms and be provided with reminders and updates when required.  Below is a table which identifies the platforms detailed in the guidance and how to access each: