Dear GA Families 

Firstly , may we thank all students that have been working hard to complete their homework.  We have not set detentions this week to ensure our students get a chance to practise. We apologise for any confusion that has  caused over the week or detentions that have been sent in error and have written this letter to explain the expectations from next week. 

I am writing regarding the homework that Year 7 students are completing at Gloucester Academy to help them climb their own personal mountains to the best universities and professions.  Our approach to homework is rooted in evidence, and is used by the top performing schools in the country.

Knowledge Organiser Homework

All students are given a Knowledge Organiser which contains the key information students need to learn for each of their subjects for that unit.  This information has been handpicked by the subject specialists in the school and is the foundation to achieving success.  For their homework, students need to self-quiz the information from the knowledge organisers, completing 10 pieces of information per night.   This should take half an hour to complete.  Students must check the timetable on page 4 of their Knowledge Organiser to see which information needs completing on which day; this can also be found at the bottom of this letter.

To complete the homework students memorise the information, cover it up and write it into their homework practice book.  If they don't memorise it correctly, then they try again writing the next attempt in a purple pen.  Students must complete one whole side of A4 for each subject, and if all ten pieces don’t fill a whole side, then they re-do earlier pieces of information until they reach the bottom of the page.  There must be no gaps in the page. We have extremely high standards because we only want the very best for your children.  Tutors then check this homework every morning. More information on this can be found in the front of your child’s knowledge organisers.

Sparx

At Gloucester Academy we know the impact high quality homework has on student outcomes.  That is why we only invest in the very best online homework platforms.  Our Year 7 students all get set online Maths homework on Sparx, an award-winning online Maths website which gives students an individually tailored learning experience. 

Each student will receive one hour of compulsory work a week on Sparx.  This is set on Thursday at 4pm and due the following Thursday at 8am.  The compulsory homework takes 1 hour to complete, then students can complete extra “Target” or “XP” work once they have completed, to extend their learning.

 Completing Sparx tasks will consist of the following parts:

• Watching the whole video before completing the task

• Making notes in their Sparx booklet, writing down the book code when prompted

• Students need to complete 100% of their compulsory tasks by 8am Thursday.

Detentions will be issued for students who do not complete their Sparx homework. However, we appreciate that this platform is new for many of our Year 7 students, so will not be running detentions for Year 7 until later week 5 to give them time to familiarise themselves with the platform and seek help from their teachers.

Support

We want every child to meet our expectations, so if a student misses homework then after school detentions will be issued for them to catch up on missed work.  As Year 7 are currently in their apprenticeship week, detentions will not be issued for missed homework this week while students have a chance to practise completing homework to our high standards.  Detentions for missed homework for Year 7 will start from Monday 18th September.

We also have a fantastic array of homework support available to ensure students succeed; GA Prep starts at 7.15am where students can use Chromebooks to complete their online homework, as well as homework support happening every lunch time in room B126.  Both sessions are with teacher supervision, so your child can ask for additional help.  There is also the opportunity for after school homework sessions, please email Miss Roper if you feel this would be beneficial for your child.

Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions at all please contact me using the email a member of the pastoral team:

Miss Roper (Head of KS3)  - aroper@gloucesteracademy.co.uk 

Ms Ryder (Head of Year 7) - sryder@gloucesteracademy.co.uk 

 

Yours sincerely

M Davies

Mr M Davies

Assistant Headteacher

Homework required to be completed each night:

Year	Time required	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Weekend
7	Knowledge Organiser in your practice book 30 minutes	Science	Spanish	English	History & Maths	Geography	DT/Art/ Drama/R.S/Music
	Online session 30 minutes	Sparx Maths		Sparx Maths		Sparx Maths

This means that the following homework is checked on the following days:

Monday	Art, Drama, Music, DT, RS Knowledge Organiser homework (depending on week) and Geography Knowledge Organiser homework
Tuesday	Science Knowledge Organiser homework
Wednesday	Spanish Knowledge Organiser homework
Thursday	English Knowledge Organiser homework and Sparx Maths Online Homework
Friday	History Knowledge Organiser homework and Maths Knowledge Organiser homework