Homework - Primary Phase

Home Learning at NSWL, Primary Phase

We operate a Minimal Homework approach in the Primary Phase and do not set weekly formal homework tasks. Our pupils receive a rich and rigorous education during the school day and work exceptionally hard while they are here. Home time is therefore considered valuable time for children to spend with their families, pursue personal interests, and rest.

This philosophy aligns with our wider school ethos, which focuses on developing the whole child. Children require opportunities to grow independently, explore personal interests, develop resilience through problem solving, and build genuine self-esteem and intrinsic motivation. While expectations evolve in Year 6 as part of preparation for transition to secondary school, this is not part of our regular approach for other year groups.

Educational research strongly suggests that homework for primary aged pupils has no significant impact on academic progress and studies reviewing homework in primary education report little or no positive effect on achievement. Conversely, research shows homework can increase stress and negatively affect family wellbeing, with parents and children reporting anxiety, frustration, and conflict arising from homework expectations.

We do however have clear expectations for regular engagement in key areas which is outlined below.

We ask that all children read at home with an adult every evening for at least 20 minutes. A short, focused period of high quality reading can be highly beneficial to a child’s development. We also ask that pupils practice times tables using the Times Tables Rockstars platform at least three times a week from Year 2 upwards or if in Reception or Year 1, use the Numbots app to reinforce understanding of key number skills.

Throughout the year we will also set a small number of projects that link closely to our Faith and Virtues calendar. These projects offer pupils the opportunity to reflect on and express their understanding of the values we explore in school. When completed, pupils will be expected to share their work with the class, and class teachers will celebrate, discuss, and showcase the learning submitted.

For parents and carers who wish to engage further in their child’s learning, we provide links below to a range of materials that can be accessed at any time. These resources are optional and are not monitored by the school but are available should you find them useful. Year group statutory spellings will also be shared with parents on MS Teams, as will the hard-copy results of their half termly tests should parents wish to practise these at home.

 

Homework - Secondary Phase

Homework is an integral part of the curriculum at Nishkam School West London and gives opportunities for pupils to consolidate and extend their learning outside of the classroom. Homework helps to create independent learners and gives pupils opportunities to practice and refine the skills they have learnt in school. All subjects will set one piece of homework each week and tasks will take pupils between 30 and 40 minutes to complete. Homework tasks will be shared with pupils via MS Team and will often make use of online learning platforms such as Seneca Learning, Hegarty Maths and Quizlet. At NSWL we have a homework guarantee that pupils will be given sufficient time to complete all homework tasks. Pupils will never be asked to submit homework the day after it has been set. In order to ensure quality homework from all pupils, pupils will always be given at least two evenings to complete their homework tasks. 

	Seneca has hundreds of resources for Key Stages 3, 4 and 5. Seneca’s resources have been developed to meet the requirements of the examination boards and will be used in class, for homework assignments and as a useful revision tool.
	Hegarty Maths helps pupils develop their skills in all areas of the Maths curriculum. Work will be tailored to the skills of the pupil and tasks are delivered in the comprehensive and rigorous manner.
	Quizlet uses flashcards, practice tests and games to help pupils to develop their memory and recall. Quizlet is used regularly in MFL.

 

What is Seneca? 

Seneca is an online learning platform designed to improve learning outcomes by using the latest cognitive science research. - In a Randomised Control Trial with 1,120 Year 9 students (published in Impact journal - Feb 2018) students using Seneca outperformed the control groups by 65-105%! Seneca embeds principles from cognitive science that have been shown to improve learning and retention including:  

- Dual-Coding 

- Elaboration  

- Interleaving 

- Spaced practice 

- Retrieval practice 

- Concrete examples 

What is included in Seneca Premium? 

Premium Learning Tools:

Our Premium learning tools help students to learn as effectively as possible. They harness the latest research and student data to focus students on the learning that will make the largest impact on their achievement. 

- Smart Learning Mode uses our smart algorithm, and insights from cognitive neuroscience & AI to generate recommendations of which topic students should study next to ensure maximum retention. 

- Wrong Answer Mode encourages students to focus on the questions they struggle with the most. Students will only see questions on topics they have got wrong in the past, focussing their efforts on the areas they find most challenging 

- Notes-only mode, say goodbye to revision guides! Premium unlocks revision e-book notes for each topic for your students. 

Premium Courses:

Students gain access to hundreds of targeted learning courses such as: 

- Predicted Papers and other revision courses to get your students prepared! 

- 7-9/A-A* Knowledge and Hardest Questions for your top students 

- Hyperlearning and HyperFlashcards courses that keep students engaged. 

Boost Exam Technique with AI Marked Exam Questions: 

Get students practising our 7000+ exam questions marked by AI. With premium, teachers can set an unrestricted number of exam question assignments per class, as well as exam-questions-only assignments. 

Tutorial Video on how to connect to your child’s account: 

How to connect my parent account to my child's account? | Seneca Learning Help Center 

Frequently asked questions: 

Parent FAQs | Seneca Learning Help Center