Lower School

Homework is kept to a minimum in the Lower School as we believe that children are young for such a short time and should be encouraged to play and enjoy life as much as possible. They are therefore given only reading and spelling in Key Stage 1, with the occasional special assignment.

In addition, Year 3 are given one piece of English and Maths each week with project work occasionally throughout the year.

We encourage parents to involve their children in day-to-day tasks such as cooking and shopping as these involve many of the skills they require in school.

Upper School

In the Middle School (Years 4 and 5) the girls are set weekly homework in core subjects (English, Maths and Science) and regular homework in other subjects. This is designed to extend and revise topics taught in class. In Year 4 girls receive a Spelling homework and Mathematics each week and weekend homework in either English, Mathematics or Humanities. Year 5 girls receive two pieces of homework in English and Mathematics per week as well as some Humanities homework. They also receive optional holiday homework at the end of each term to enable them to practise what they have learnt in school and begin to prepare for 11+ exams.

Year 6 pupils are expected to do 30 - 40 minutes of homework in one or two subjects per night. The core subjects - English, Mathematics and Science - are given as homework twice a week and all other subjects have a once a week homework slot.  In the autumn term girls may be required to complete an 11+ paper at home under timed conditions and this might mean that the homework time is extended to 45 minutes. However, this does not happen very often.

If any girl is unable to complete the homework without help, the parent is asked to note on the work where help was given so that the teacher is able to do the necessary follow-up work with that pupil. Homework is an important element in helping us to determine whether a pupil is keeping up with a topic and has understood concepts taught in class, but we try to keep it to a minimum in order that the children may have plenty of time to follow other interests, read, play and relax.

Homework diaries that set out clearly the expectation of each girl are brought home every day. These are also used as a quick and easy means of communication between home and school. Parents are asked to sign the diaries each week.