Policies: Homework

Our aim is to achieve a balance between the pressures which arise from:

• Faculties whose skill development requires regular practice at home.
• A concern to avoid the mindless homework exercises once so often set, not because they flowed out of what was being explored at the time, and had point, but because an administrative demand had to be met.
• The need to work to some sort of timetable to avoid impossible loads being put upon students on particular occasions.
• The need to avoid undue intrusion into other types of learning in which the family may be involved.

From this the following policy has emerged:

• A homework timetable for students at all years will be organised by year coordinators at the beginning of the school year, composed of those subjects which request inclusion.
• The timetable is to entered into an appropriate section of the diary and a copy placed in a conspicuous place in the group's gathering place for staff and student reference.
• A suitable homework diary entry will be supervised by subject teachers at the time of its being set. Where an assignment topic is set, the completion date should be entered and future allocated slots refer to original date at entry.
• Parents must reasonably expect that where homework is due, it has been set for 'home' and not 'in between' moments.
• The following expected times will be the basis of the exercise:
  Year 8 - 80 minutes per night
  Year 9 - 90 minutes per night
  Year 10 - 100 minutes per night
  Year 11 - 120 minutes per night
  Year 12 - minimum is expected to be in the order of 2-3 hours per night if a student wishes to be successful.
• Group teachers should let the Principal know names of students who experience difficulty because of family pressures, to enable some arrangements to be made to help cope with this.
• Homework timetables will exist on five nights per week for all students with Friday optional for 9 and 10. Homework will only be set for Year 8 classes on Friday if the subject has its only lessons on the Friday. In such cases, for all year levels, the students will have until the following Tuesday to hand up this work as arranged with the teacher for that subject.
• Four subjects will be set on each homework night.