We are delighted to present to you your child’s Homework Schedules for 2007-08. This is the second year that we have provided Homework Schedules for Year 7, 8 and 9 in this format and we very much hope that both parents/guardians and students will find them of considerable use. Each of the subjects taught in Year 9 has its own Homework Schedule and they are presented in alphabetical order for your convenience.
Purpose
The Homework Schedules have been designed by Subject Leaders to help both parents/guardians and students to complete homework to the best of the student’s ability. They are intended to provide an overview of homework for your child during the course of Year 9 and will be complemented with materials based on Digitalbrain and the School’s website. These materials may include guidance on specific homeworks, checklists and level descriptions for key assessments, links to useful materials and even on-line testing where appropriate. The Homework Schedules are intended to be a guide and are not designed to provide a week-by-week guide to specific homework.
Key Homeworks
Following a very detailed process of planning and subsequent review it is hoped that we have been able to enhance the homework experience for students at Thomas Adams School. Maths, French and German will continue to set a minimum of one homework every week, although there is an option to set one additional homework per week at the discretion of the teacher. English, Science, Geography, History, RE, ICT, PE, Drama and Music have identified Key Homeworks. These Key Homeworks are very important, often comprising several weeks work, and will be set a minimum of six times per year per subject. Shorter homeworks, which may support or reflect on the Key Homeworks, or be stand alone pieces of work, will also be set. Due to the nature of Technology, Art and LifeStyle, these subjects will continue to set and assess relevant homework at the discretion of the teacher. These Key Homeworks have been timetabled to avoid students having to complete several pieces of work at once. The timetable is intended to be a guide and can be found overleaf.
What Next…?
We would also like to point out that there are opportunities for your child to complete work during school time. The library is available every lunchtime for students to complete work and Room 10 is also available every lunchtime for any student who requires additional help. Moreover, many staff may be willing to offer a lunch and/or after school session on request. In addition, lunch-time and after-school study clubs will be made available to your child this year. We do hope that you find these Homework Schedules useful and would welcome your feedback. You can contact the school on enquiries@thomasadams.net or on the usual telephone number (01939 237000).
Key Homework Schedule
Autumn Term Year 9
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Eng
Sci
Hist
Drama
RE
PE
ICT
Half
Term
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Eng
Drama
ICT
Geog
Sci
RE
PE
Geog
Hist
Music
Spring Term Year 9
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
English
ICT
RE
Sci
Drama
PE
Geog
Hist
Half
Term
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
English & Science *
ICT
RE
Drama
Hist
Geog
PE
Music
Summer Term Year 9
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Examination Period (Revision and Preperation)
SATS
The scheme revisits a range of conventions from the previous two years and introduces new more complex ones, like given circumstances, which require much more personal research. It demonstrates to students how Drama can be created from a painting and asks them to enter into various roles distanced from themselves in time, culture and belief.
Police State
‘Police State’ increases confidence and competence in using different forms of Drama to create and explore meaning. It looks at themes such as oppression, terror and personal freedom. It also allows students to develop their understanding of human rights by exploring what it is like to live in a regime of terror.
Physical Theatre and Fairy Tales
The scheme uses fairy tales as a base to create physical theatre. Students are challenged to experiment with these familiar contexts and to create dynamic ad none naturalistic performances from them.
Kidnap
This scheme asks students to display maturity in dealing with an emotive issue and to take responsibility for the drama and their individual research. They will learn how to effectively use their research to shape and select material for performance.
The Identification
Students build on their previous understanding of how drama is created from a poem. They are given much greater freedom to demonstrate their knowledge of which conventions will both enhance and move their drama forward. The scheme asks them to create moving performances and to develop roles with emotional conviction.
WWI
Students use research and knowledge gained in other subjects to explore the emotions of soldiers and their families during WWI. There is a strong focus on group skills and continuing to develop roles with emotional conviction.
Details of Key Assessments
Pupils’ assessment will be continuous rather than focussing on a particular activity and will take into account their contributions to the entire scheme of work. Students will receive a level for each scheme of work as well as being given regular verbal feedback and being encouraged and given time to appraise both themselves and their peers.
Details of Key Assessments
Pupils’ assessment will be continuous rather than focussing on a particular activity and will take into account their contributions to the entire scheme of work. Students will receive a level for each scheme of work as well as being given regular verbal feedback and being encouraged and given time to appraise both themselves and their peers.
Details of Key Assessments
Pupils’ assessment will be continuous rather than focussing on a particular activity and will take into account their contributions to the entire scheme of work. Students will receive a level for each scheme of work as well as being given regular verbal feedback and being encouraged and given time to appraise both themselves and their peers.
Notes:
Much of Drama homework will be reflective and pupils will be asked to consider and explore issues, problems and situations they have investigated in class. Homework will always be practically linked to students’ classwork.
Details of Key Assessments
Unit 5 test (May)
Unit 6 test (July)
Notes:
During the year, all four language skills (writing, reading, listening and speaking) are tested. The Year 9 exam also incorporates all four skills. The Year 9 exam result is a very important factor for setting groups for Year 10, but effort and progress throughout the year will also be taken into account.
Details of Key Assessments Key Homework 1: Turkish Earthquake News Report. Students are required to provide a script with visual aids for a BBC Special News Report on the Turkish Earthquake one year on. It should be written in script style with interviews and different reporters whilst covering the causes and impacts of the earthquake and also the response to it.
Key Homework 2: Tectonics Test. This will be a simple short answer test on the structure of the earth, plate tectonics, plate boundaries, continental drift and the case studies on both earthquake and volcano
Details of Key Assessments Key Homework 3: Yellowstone Super-Volcano. Students are required to produce a powerpoint presentation/emergency leaflet to outline the walk to life evacuation plan. This assessment follows work on the Yellowstone SuperVolcano DVD.
Key Homework 4: Shrewsbury Floods Newspaper Front Cover. Students are required to produce a front cover for the Shropshire Star for the day after Shrewsbury is flooded. Students are encouraged to think about the causes and impacts of flooding and the various responses by the Environment Agency & Council.
Details of Key Assessments Key Homework 5: China’s One Child Policy: Success or Disaster? Students are required to analyse and respond to a variety of sources on the One Child Policy in China. Students are encouraged to provide a balanced assessment of the policy – considering its practical and emotional strengths and weaknesses.
Key Homework 6: Students are required to analyse a variety to video clips on Drop the Debt. Students are encouraged to evaluate the impact of each clip and assess its relevance to addressing poverty.
Notes:
Examples of students’ work for Key Assessments will be available on the Geography section of the School website and in class, along with examples of written Key Assessments – including instructions and level criteria checklists so students know what they need to do to reach a specific level.
Explanation and commentary for many of the non-Key Assessment homeworks can also be found on the Geography area of the website.
Geography staff are available to help students during break, lunchtime or after school – this can be arranged between staff and students at a mutually convenient time. Please encourage your child to ask their Geography teacher if they require any help.
Finally, we would encourage you to monitor the progress of your child in terms of Key Assessments via the record sheet inside the front cover of their Geography book. This sheet also contains the target level for your child so you can monitor their progress against this target level.
Details of Key Assessments
Unit 5 test (May)
Unit 6 test (July)
Notes:
During the year all 4 language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) are tested.
The Year 9 exam also incorporates all 4 skills.
The Year 9 exam result is a very important factor for setting groups for Year 10 but effort and progress throughout the year will also be taken into account.
A careers/citizenship programme including students in a range of ‘real life’ activities that may require research and support from home
Homework Outline:
Option Presentation * -
Individual research
A spoken presentation about themselves and their future
Parenthood
Understanding roles and issues
Looking after babies
Human Rights Part 1
The link between Rights and Responsibilities
Communication
Homework Outline:
Drugs Education
Motives for using drugs
Individual responsibility
The special impact of drug use
Control of drugs
Effects of drug misuse
Human Rights * Part 2
Examination of local and world issues
How to have an influence
Notes:
Some units may be carried out in a different order to facilitate the distribution of resources.Lifestyle will not have regular homeworks but students will be expected to undertake various research assignments and assessments that will require work to be completed at home. Those marked with * are particularly likely to involve work outside the classroom. Assessment is primarily carried out within the lessons and is often based on personal evaluation and self- and peer assessment as the lessons are concerned with skills, attitudes and values as much as knowledge and understanding.
Year 9 is a preparation for SATs and this is very much reflected in the homework set. We believe that part of the success at KS3 is due to being able to read the questions with understanding. To this end we start work from the very beginning of the year with one homework per week being set on answering SATs type questions The syllabus is divided into four categories: Algebra, Number, Shape and Space and Handling Data and questions have been prepared which fit into the different SATs levels. Each child will receive two booklets for each of the four curriculum areas; one booklet represents the level at which your child is working, the other is the level which your child will be working towards. In exceptional circumstances we may end up sending three levels home. These booklets are kept at home and returned to school when the SATs exams have been taken. A cost of 50p per booklet will be charged for any missing booklets.
In addition another homework may be set each week and this will be a consolidation of the work started in lessons. A homework should take no longer than 45 minutes.
During the Easter holidays each pupil will be set a series of revision homework; parents will be supplied with the answers so that they can be actively involved in the process of helping their children should they wish to do so. The work is divided into a range of activities spanning ten days and should cover a lot of the basic work at levels five and six.
With this in mind that the SATs exams take place in the first half of the summer term we will be using the second half of that term to develop the skills necessary for students to complete good courseworks in their GCSE so during this part of the year homework will be researching and working on problem solving and Handling Data.
Homework Outline Autumn:
One homework from work done in class, one homework from the Autumn Term Mathematics Homework Booklet
Homework Outline Spring:
One homework from work done in class, one homework from the Spring Term Mathematics Homework Booklet
Homework Outline Summer:
One homework from work done in class, one homework from the Summer Term Mathematics Homework Booklet
Basketball Football GymnasticsNetball Table tennis Aerobics/Circuits
Units of Work Covered:
Basketball Football DanceGymnastics Badminton Table tennis
Units of Work Covered:
Rounders Netball AthleticsCricket Softball
Homework Outline:
Why is it important to regularly take part in physical activity?
Design a circuit training session to improve general fitness for a sport of your choice.
Homework Outline:
Analyse one sport, activity or event and discuss your strengths.
Plan a full coaching session that includes a warm up, skill practice and cool down - for a sport of your choice.
Homework Outline:
Describe the qualities of a good sports coach or teacher.
How fit am I?
Details of Key Assessments
Participation in sport will be addressed and the reasons why people may drop out of sport i.e. peer pressure, weight and gender issues.
Having participated regularly in fitness training sessions and skill related sports circuits; pupils will be given the opportunity to devise their own circuit training sessions.
Details of Key Assessments
Pupils will reflect upon some of their best experiences within sport. Strengths in performance will be analysed.
Pupils will plan and deliver full coaching sessions to other class members.
Details of Key Assessments
Using all knowledge, resources and experience pupils will be given the task of describing the qualities of a good coach.
Fitness components will be assessed and evaluated.
What are the main arguments for and against the existence of God?
Are scientific and religious views about the origin of the world compatible?
How do religions attempt to explain the problem of suffering?
Units of Work Covered:
What do religious traditions teach about helping others? Do such teachings still apply in a secular world? (Prejudice and Discrimination – USA - Martin Luther King, Holocaust – Corrie Ten Boom)
Units of Work Covered:
What do religious traditions teach about helping others? Do such teachings still apply in a secular world? Continued….
What is the value of marking special occasions?
Details of Key Homework Tasks
Assessment 1 – will engage pupils in a discussion about the issue of either free will or suffering, and encourage them to articulate a written response on the issue.
Assessment 2 - – ‘Is there a God out there?’ Pupils are encouraged to engage with a range of ideas on this topic, including those of philosophers, and come to their own conclusion.
In addition, supporting homework may be set, at the discretion of the class teacher, which will help students build up to the level of knowledge required to complete these key assessments.
Details of Key Homework Tasks
Assessment 3 – Martin Luther King said ‘I have a dream’
Students are asked to write their own ‘dream speeches’ articulating their hopes for their own generation.
Assessment 4 – Reflective work on the Holocaust.
Pupils will be asked to respond to the work they have done on this topic in a creative way.
In addition, supporting homework may be set, at the discretion of the class teacher, which will help students build up to the level of knowledge required to complete these key assessments.
Details of Key Homework Tasks
Assessment 5 - Diary of Corrie Ten Boom
Pupils will produce a piece of work showing a knowledge and understanding of the events of the Holocaust, and of the motivation behind those who tried to help.
Assessment 6 – will focus on marriage within the Christian, and one other, religious tradition.
In addition, supporting homework may be set, at the discretion of the class teacher, which will help students build up to the level of knowledge required to complete these key assessments.
Notes: The module titles are taken from the locally agreed Shropshire Agreed Syllabus. Your child has a progress sheet at the front of their book, to which we would encourage you to refer, containing information regarding academic development in RE.
Students will undertake three activities selected from the six above - plus three opportunities during the year for SATS preparation
Please note: Pupils receive a detailed description of each homework task before they start.
In order that Year 9 Science lessons are effectively resourced, the above Units are taught in different orders for different classes. Therefore, the key homeworks indicated will be completed at different times of the year for different pupils. Pupils may be set other pieces of work from time to time, for example revision for an End of Unit test.
There will be 3 homework opportunities during the year where Year 9 pupils will be focusing on preparation for their SATS examinations in May. These homeworks may take the form of revision, a past paper to complete, or another relevant piece of work linked to the examination.
Produce step-by-step instructions to explain a chosen element of the clock design. This is an extended homework and the outcome should reflect this
Produce step-by-step detailed plans
Effective use of communication techniques
Textiles
End user profile
Logo design
Design development
Exploring ideas and the task
Generating ideas
Product Design
Investigation of packaging developments (nets)
Product analysis
Effective use of communication techniques
Developing ideas and modelling
Food
Weigh and organise ingredients in preparation for practical lessons
Evaluation to follow tasting ready-made products
Weighing and measuring – numeracy
Evaluating
Notes:
The making of high-quality products is the manifestation of the Design and Technology framework in schools. In Year 9 Technology, focus is placed on the practical element of the framework. Homeworks are designed to increase the capability of knowledge, values, attitudes and skills which underpin the practical outcome. Students take part in a ‘carousel’ system in which they move between each area of Technology as the year progresses. Typically students cover 5 areas in Year 9: Resistant Materials, Product Design, Computer-Aided-Design & Manufacture (CAD/CAM), Textiles and Food. At any one time the year group is engaged on all five areas concurrently. The overview for homework, therefore, needs to be on a yearly basis. Also because of the dynamics of Design & Technology i.e. curriculum change and development focus will continue to be based on the National KS3 Strategy for Design and Technology.
