English
Students will routinely spend a minimum of 30 minutes reading a fiction or non-fiction text on a digital platform called Sparx Reader. Students are regularly questioned to check their understanding and to ascertain how carefully they are reading. Sparx Reader is designed to encourage slow, careful, and independent reading of texts, and to instil the habit of regular reading. If students are reading regularly and widely across KS3 they will be better equipped to read and discuss how texts work at GCSE and beyond. In the Spring and Summer Terms, students will also be set home learning to enable them to prepare for the delivery of an interesting talk or persuasive speech in class. Home learning will support students in researching, drafting, and rehearsing their talk or speech. Students will also be instructed to revise ahead of their Key Stage Three Summer Exams, with guidance from their teachers and on the Beaumont revision website.Key Stage 3
Year 10 students will be set two weekly home learning tasks in the first half of the autumn term in Year 10, rising to three weekly tasks after that. These will include a retrieval task (either quizzes on the plot of literature texts or quotation learning/close reading), a reading/writing task (which will either add to their contextual knowledge or reinforce skills from the English Language exam), and also a mind map (encouraging ongoing revision). Students are expected to spend up to an hour and a half weekly on their home learning. Students are also encouraged to read independently beyond these required tasks. This programme will be continued through Year 11, with a greater focus on revision activities towards the end of the year.Key Stage 4
Guidance for independent learning in English can be found here.Key Stage 5
