Independent learning at home is integrated into all Faculty plans of how to support students’ progress through the curriculum so that they can know more, do more and remember more. Independent learning tasks will be set by teachers with a particular focus on preparing for the lesson by finding out new knowledge, reviewing previous relevant content, application of new knowledge or skills or taking time to review learning following on from a lesson. The setting of small regular assignments enables tasks to be both meaningful and manageable. Assignments are set on Arbor and are logged as submitted/completed by the student and parents/carers can see the assignments and their submission status.
A timetable is produced for Key Stage 3 subjects which schedules 45 minutes of independent learning for each of the core subjects and 30-45 minutes bi-weekly for each of the non-core subjects. Drama, PE, Music, STEM and Art will set assignments as required, focussing on preparation, project work or practice of a skill.
Staff require greater flexibility at KS4 to set independent learning in line with their teaching plans, again with a focus on encouraging our students to know more, be able to do more and remember more. Core subjects and Option subjects will set approximately 1 hour of independent learning per subject each week. Having regular days on which teachers set their assignments and communicating this to our students helps them to plan their time more effectively and improve their independence. All work is set on Arbor.
A Level students should be completing approximately 10 hours of independent learning per fortnight for each subject studied and will be directed to available resources to enable them to use their study time to prepare for the lesson, apply their knowledge, review their learning, practise skills, plan, monitor and reflect upon their learning strategies. Within these 10 hours for each subject, some independent learning tasks will be set explicitly by the teacher, taking approximately 3 hours per fortnight.