Home Learning

Home Learning at WBHS 

Home learning should be an integral part of any student’s learning and be underpinned by our assessment principle; ‘high quality with opportunities for regular feedback’. As a school we believe that tasks set for students to complete outside of school hours should develop an ability to become a more independent lifelong learner as students move through each year group. We also recognise that a student’s holistic development is also crucial; therefore, homework should allow appropriate time for students to participate in extracurricular and non-academic activities after school. 

Home learning at Whitley Bay High School is influenced by the Department for Education’s 3Ms for assessment: 

• Meaningful - home learning has a purpose related to the sequence of learning and development of schema. 

• Motivational - students learn from feedback and develop a determination and resilience to improve. 

• Manageable - students do not have excessive home learning which prevents other enriching activities from taking place. 

Our homework strategy is based on the key principles of research conducted by the Education Endowment Foundation. Therefore tasks set for students to complete outside lessons allow students: 

a. to improve their understanding and knowledge based on the feedback they receive. 

b. to prepare for tasks and work to be completed in subsequent lessons. 

c. to reinforce what has been learned. 

d. to stimulate interest. 

e. to learn course content in preparation for assessment. 

f. to develop the skills, confidence and motivation needed to study independently. 

g. to encourage initiative and resilience. 

h. to create an awareness of the on-going nature of learning and prepare for a life of learning. 

i. to manage and complete NEA/coursework assignments, including any preparation or practise for controlled assignments. 

j. to sustain the involvement of parents and build on the student/parent/teacher partnership; this will be a key part of homework developments over the coming year. 

k. to develop reading comprehension and fluency. 

The assessment component of the whole school curriculum map shows the frequency of home learning across 6 half terms. This is summarised in the table below. Having listened to recommendations from our school council, subjects that set fortnightly work will do so in the week specified in the table. Frequency of home learning may change as the curriculum is implemented and the year progresses.

We aim for each piece of home learning to allow challenge and an opportunity to provide quality and positive feedback that encourages student progress. Where home learning tasks are used to assess students understanding, we encourage this to be part of learning within the lessons that immediately follow, so students have the opportunity to correct misconceptions and make more progress with subsequent challenges.  

Students can choose to do their home learning tasks in the school library which is open at lunchtime and after school.  

If you have no access to IT at home, please contact the relevant Head of Year as a Government provided laptop can be loaned to students to facilitate their home learning. 

Microsoft Teams as our Home Learning Platform 

All home learning tasks will be set by teachers using the Teams Assignment function. This means that one ‘assignment’ on Teams, equals one piece of home learning. Students will be shown how to use Teams as part of their induction into the school. To access a student's Teams account (and all other Microsoft applications), students should log in to Office 365. Their username is 22firstname.surname@whitleybayhighschool.org (also their email address), followed by their password. The number 22 gives an example of the number students use related to the September year that they started at the school.

Please watch this short video which demonstrates how students can check their assignments or home learning tasks that have been submitted. We would really appreciate parents supporting students with their deadlines by talking to them about what is due in each week.  

 Once students have completed their assignment or home learning task, they should then submit their work by selecting ‘Turn in’. This short video demonstrates how to do this on the mobile version. It is the same process on the desktop app.  

 Teachers will also use the function in Teams Assignments that adds the deadline to students personal calendar on both Teams and Outlook (their email account). They can then access this on their mobile phone, tablet or device.  

Additional Independent Study 

As students develop their own independent study skills, as well as their weekly routine, we encourage them to make responsible decisions on the amount of home learning they conduct. Therefore, the following video guides are to support students to complete additional home learning if they and parent/carer deem this appropriate, keeping the forementioned 3Ms in mind. They include general independent study suggestions for any subject as well as strategies specific to English, Maths and Science. There is also a video with suggestions for improving reading and general literacy. 

General Home Learning Strategies

English Home Learning Strategies

Maths Home Learning Strategies

Science Home Learning Strategies 

Reading Home Learning Strategies

We have also invested in the Premium Seneca Learning package for Year 11 students. This means that it can be used for independent study in most of the subjects we offer. Seneca is an online platform which will provide instant feedback to students. All students have been given their password in their science lesson. It can be accessed via this link Seneca Learning