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At Birkdale we aim to be leaders in the education of boys, which for us starts with a clear focus on developing effective teaching pedagogy and not engaging in educational fads or gimmicks. Your son will receive teaching driven by cognitive science and educational research, delivered by an incredibly knowledgeable and experienced body of professionals. We are proud of the subject knowledge our teachers have and we use the most effective methods at imparting that knowledge on to our students. Your son’s teachers are given the space and support they need to make positive changes in their teaching in a risk-free environment. We watch each other teach, share best practice, and are eager to accept our professional obligation to improve methods of embedding the knowledge your son needs.
Literacy is a big focus for us at Birkdale High School. We want boys to leave us as competent young men, able to communicate effectively in different situations. Vocabulary review, instruction, questioning, and practice all feature in the CPD and Quality Assurance processes that our teachers complete each year.
We strongly believe that homework supports our boys to consolidate their learning. Independent study is a valuable life long skill and getting our boys into good habits in the Foundation Stage of High School will reap rewards for them when they enter the Examination Stage and preparation for their GCSEs. Research into what makes effective homework indicates that it serves the following purposes:
| Year 7 homework expectations per subject | |
|---|---|
| Mathematics | Set on the Hegarty Maths website. Each week during term 1 there will be one Skill task set. From term 2 onwards there will be one Skill task and one Memri task set each fortnight. |
| English | Three self quizzes per week on the allocated section of Knowledge Organiser. At least 2 lessons of Bedrock vocabulary online per week. |
| Science | Minimum of three Google Forms Quizzes per unit of Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) plus guided revision for unit tests. |
| History | Homework will be set on a fortnightly basis and will include quizzes in the Google Classroom, reading and other independent activities. |
| Geography | Homework will be set on a fortnightly basis and will include quizzes in the Google Classroom, reading and other independent activities. |
| French | Term 1 spellings. 1 list of spellings to learn each week, tested in class. Terms 2 and 3 weekly spellings tested in class plus online vocabulary practice using Quizlet. |
| Spanish | Term 1 spellings. 1 list of spellings to learn each week, tested in class. Terms 2 and 3 weekly spellings tested in class plus online vocabulary practice using Quizlet. |
| Computing | Homework quizzes set weekly on Google Classroom and other independent activities linked to topic content and key vocabulary. |
| Technology | Subject specific tasks as appropriate to topic and short multiple choice quizzes each week based on content and key vocabulary. |
| RE | Two pieces per fortnight: one recall of vocab/ key concepts and one written homework to consolidate understanding. |
| Art | Homework will be set at regular intervals throughout the topics and will in the main be practical tasks to develop the relevant skills/themes they are working on at the time. |
At Birkdale High School, all homework tasks are set via Google Classroom. Your son already has a Google account as his Birkdale High school account is a Google one. He can access this on any device using the same details he uses to log on to a school computer.
As a parent, you can become a linked parent/ guardian to all of your son’s Google Classrooms. If your email address is registered with school, you should receive an invitation to join your son’s classes. When you have accepted the invite, you will be able to receive notifications about your son’s work.
