Kaikorai Valley College- Homework

Rationale

The reasons for having a  homework programme at Kaikorai Valley College are to:

• Enable students to develop study skills and the habit of working independently at home in preparation for the extra workload that NCEA entails. 

• Reinforce learning that has already occurred in the classroom.

• Foster a culture of high academic expectations and hard work at KVC.

• Enable skills and knowledge to be transferred from short-term memory to long-term memory and to practice retrieving information from long-term memory: see diagram below.

KVC Homework Framework

• All homework needs to test concepts or skills already covered in class; students should not be exposed to new learning material through homework.

• Homework should be paper-based to make all tasks accessible to all students. If the homework is in worksheet format, it will need to be glued into the book. 

• Homework needs to be done at home, at the Homework Club or during assigned whānau times.

• Homework is set on Monday and marked at the end of the week.

Homework in Years 7 and 8

Homework tasks will be set weekly by the homeroom teacher and will focus on developing literacy and numeracy skills. The weekly homework tasks will be the following:

• Weekly spelling words to practice

• Basic mathematical facts 

• Daily reading, recorded via a reading log 

Homework in Years 9 and 10

Core subjects (Maths, Science, English, Social Studies) set a task per week, handed out on Monday and due by the last lesson of the week.

Option subjects can choose to set homework.

Homework in Years 11 to 13

All subjects are to set a task each week. The tasks should: test concepts already covered in class, or complete a current project.  Homework at the senior school could also be related to an assessment.