HOMEWORK

At DBS, homework is seen as a partnership between parents, teachers and children. It is an important part of a child’s learning, which aims to maintain standards of achievement and maximise educational opportunity beyond the school day.

Homework is set regularly throughout the school, gradually increasing in quantity and complexity as students get older. In Pre-Prep, teachers will share the term’s learning objectives including skills that would benefit from practice at home. Additionally, children are expected to read daily each evening, practise spellings and complete activities set by their class teacher on ‘Education City’. 

In Y3 and Y4, students receive consolidation work each week for English, Maths, Thai and Mandarin. The aim of these tasks is to consolidate their learning and to encourage practice of spellings and times tables. Longer term project-based work is also given to enhance development of skills, creativity and curiosity. 

In Y5 and Y6, the homework load will increase with 5 pieces of work being set per week, each piece taking no more than 25 minutes to complete. In Y7 and Y8, the homework will follow a similar pattern, but will increase to 30 minutes per piece of homework. The core subjects at DBS are English, Mathematics, Science, Thai and Mandarin/Japanese.

In Y5-8, homework should be recorded by the student on the day that it is set, as scheduled on the homework timetable. Some homework may be given to last over a number of nights or it may need to be done for the next day. This is at the discretion of the teacher. The completion date should be made clear when the task is set. Guidance for students and parents is provided on the Parent Portal and the Homework Timetable, which is updated at the start of every academic year.

In Y9 and above, the students will receive independent learning from additional subjects, not just the core, on a daily basis to encourage more independent work and to develop time management skills. Further direction and information on Independent Learning can be found on the Senior School Parent Sites. Reading for pleasure should be considered as part of these tasks set. 

A crucial part of home learning is daily reading. As a guide, we expect children to read each day. Reading is the key to unlocking so much other learning; so as well as fostering a love of reading and books, the impact on learning in other areas of the curriculum will be accelerated.

Your child’s achievement is under constant review in all areas of the curriculum. This will be done through observation, providing feedback on learning, marking, testing, discussion with children and observations through monitoring. The information gained is used to inform teachers when planning their next lessons, to ensure they are relevant and pitched at the appropriate level for your child. More formal assessments also take place at different intervals throughout your child’s school career. The test results along with the on-going teacher assessments will determine a level of attainment for your child in different subjects. Regular assessments help to track the progress of our children and thereby maintain and improve standards within the school. 

Subject teachers will assess the students both formatively and summatively throughout the year, as is deemed appropriate in the curriculum. The Senior School also holds a formal assessment week in Term 3,  during which the students will be assessed under strict exam conditions. The exam timetable will be shared with parents before the exams in Term 3.