We are very keen that every pupil in our School should fulfil her or his academic potential. This will involve hard work on the part of each and every pupil. Academic success does not come without determination and effort. Ideally, these qualities are imbued in our pupils in their time with us. There is no doubt that those who find work intrinsically interesting and enjoyable, girls and boys, in other words who like learning for learning’s sake, are those who will flourish most and do best. However, we recognise that all children need encouragement and that quite a number require a formal structure to help them achieve their potential.
We believe that a certain amount of homework is a necessary part of every child’s education. The amount that each pupil is required to do increases gradually from Prep 4 (Year 4 in NC terminology) onwards, when homework is first formally set.
At Prep 4 level, children are expected to do around one hour a week, in two separate slots. We think this is necessary because it often helps to consolidate work that is going on within School. Sometimes, it also allows a degree of independent finding of information for a task that is about to be pursued in class. By Prep 6 (Year 6 in NC terminology), pupils might have around one and a half to two hours’ work to do at home each week.
In College, our 11-18 girls’ only day/boarding section, the formal requirement for homework builds up over a girl’s school career. In Upper Three (Year 7 in NC terminology) girls will be set around one hour’s work each evening. They are given help to organise this commitment. In the Upper Four year (Year 9) they will probably have to undertake about two hours’ work each evening and be expected to complete some homework over the weekend as well.
For GCSE, the homework requirement will be perhaps as much as two and a half hours an evening, with some weekend work. By this stage, girls will have a greater degree of independence as to how they manage their own work.
A Level courses, we believe, require girls to do around 15-20 hours’ work on their own each week. Of course, by this stage, they are not timetabled for every lesson in the week so there is time available for them to do quite a lot of their work in the day.
Indeed, one of the great advantages of College, throughout a pupil’s career, is that there is opportunity to do homework in School every day. A day girl could, if she wished, remain in School each day in supervised conditions until all her homework was done.
Every individual is, of course, different and some pupils will get through some tasks more quickly, or more slowly, than others, so, over time, pupils will recognise what they need to do. The key to academic success lies in enjoying academic work and taking pride in it. Pupils need to be able to learn from experience and put such lessons into practice.
And finally, because it cannot be said, too often, reading is vital – for fun and beyond what is formally required. There is much evidence to support the view that pupils who read most are, in the end, those who are most successful academically. Of course, over time, they have to increase the range and depth of their reading and it has to be an activity that is maintained as other interests are developed. But reading remains essential to the process of building academic capacity and it should be a lifetime’s engagement for all thinking people.