Self-Study at Bartley Green

Introduction

The long term impact of good quality self-study is evidenced by pupil achievement at GCSE. According to the Sutton Trust (2014), on average, the impact of self-study on learning is “consistently positive (leading to on average five months' additional progress).” Self-study aids pupils’ retention of knowledge and helps them to practise the skills learnt in lessons. 

Rationale

At Bartley Green School we strongly believe that self-study is an integral part of pupils’ learning journey. Learning should take place in and outside of the classroom and provides pupils with the opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills set. Working at home should consolidate and extend work covered in class or prepare for new learning experiences.

How is your child expected to complete self-study?

In order to facilitate a whole school approach to homework, we will be trialling a slightly different approach to self-study during the Autumn term 2022. 

English and Maths will continue to set two pieces of homework a week. Each single Science subject will set one piece of homework per subject a fortnight (Biology, Chemistry and Physics). This homework will be set via MathsWatch or Educake, with Accelerated Reader once a week.

Most other subjects will move towards revision of key facts using knowledge organisers to aid our knowledge-rich curriculum:

  1. This will help pupils’ retention of fingertip knowledge, reduce cognitive overload within the lesson and improve pupils’ revision technique.

  2. It will also allow more time in the lesson to focus on retrieval and new learning, rather than the admin of handing out or collecting in homework.

Pupils will be expected to learn the key facts and will be tested on these each week. Assessments which take place three times a year will also include a purely fact-based section to check pupils’ knowledge retention. All subjects will coach pupils on how to specifically revise in their subject and the knowledge organiser for each topic will be handed out on paper as well as being available on Google Classroom.

Instructions on how to use Google Classroom

Every pupil is given a school email address and login details on entry to Bartley Green. For instructions on how to use Google Classroom please click here or watch the short videos below. Google Classroom can be accessed on pupils’ phones, laptops, tablets. As a school we are trying to move away from paper based tasks to ensure pupils regularly access their accounts from home. Teachers and pupils’ heads of year will use email to communicate with pupils and so it is important pupils log into their Google accounts on a daily basis.

When should your child complete self-study?

On average we expect pupils to complete 30 minutes of self-study per subject per week. In core subjects, this may increase to two tasks per week. At Key Stage Four, pupils will be set weekly homework tasks in all subjects and the amount pupils spend on their homework is likely to increase.

Pupils are expected to complete a homework timetable during their first term at Bartley Green. This is in the form of a sticker in their planner. Pupils will be advised by their subject teachers which day homework is set on. This may vary depending on if the subject is at a different time in week one or two.

What sorts of self-study tasks may be given?

Below are some of the self-study tasks which may be given out in Key Stage Four. In Key Stage Three most non-core subjects will be handing out knowledge organisers for pupils to revise from each week. Each subject will coach pupils on how to revise in their subject. In addition, extra reading may be given out for pupils to complete.

  • Independent research tasks

  • Extension of work covered in class

  • Completion of coursework assignments

  • Literacy tasks such as extended writing tasks

  • Purposeful use of ICT

  • Learning or revision tasks that aid memory skills

  • Reading tasks

  • Recording and analysing data

  • Creative tasks

Additional self-study options

Subjects may add additional reading or suggested websites for your child to access in order to complete additional self-study. Knowledge organisers are used in every year and should also be revised throughout Key Stage Three and Four.

Feedback on self-study tasks

Teachers will use pupils’ work on self-study tasks to inform their planning and may incorporate pupils’ misconceptions in their self-study into future lessons. Similarly, feedback on self-study revision tasks may form part of pupils’ assessments in class. Self-study may also be self or peer assessed during the lesson or self-study test scores used to help teachers identify common gaps in pupils’ knowledge or understanding. Parents can keep up to date with the self-study tasks being set by looking at pupils’ planners or Google Classroom. Data entry points throughout the year reflect pupils’ work in class and the impact of their self-study. The assessment of self-study is reported to parents via the pupil tracking report.