Homework

Homework is set as an integral part of the course. It is designed to reinforce material covered in class, to test understanding and to prepare for future lessons. Parents are asked to play their part in ensuring that students meet deadlines for completing it. Mentors and the Learning Centre will be happy to help students who have difficulty in organising their work schedule properly.

When setting homework assignments, teachers bear in mind the total homework load on the students.

A timetable for homework and important projects is set sufficiently in advance. Courses that meet daily often require that tasks be completed for the following day.

Students in Year 9 should have a total of about 1½ hours per evening. This rises to about 3 hours per evening (i.e. 15 hours per week) as students approach their IB courses. In senior classes it is more usual to set homework, tests, etc, to be completed in one week's time.

Students naturally work at different paces, so some will have to spend longer on it than others. If your son or daughter appears to be spending an excessive amount of time (or indeed very little time) on homework, please inform the mentor who will be able to investigate further.

Teachers will sometimes set collaborative group tasks for homework, but otherwise homework should be the student’s own work.

Homework should either be done at home in a quiet environment without distractions – i.e. without the TV or music playing in the background. Whatever claims are made to the contrary, research clearly shows that virtually all types of music impair rather than aid concentration on the task in hand.

Students who have been absent for whatever reason are expected to find out what homework assignments they have missed, and complete this work.