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Home Study

Homework:

Homework is work completed after school at home. It may involve completing work not finished in class, completing some more exercises to consolidate class learning, or working on a task or project. Homework will usually have a due date. The amount of homework a student receives will vary by year group and a student’s academic pathway or subject. Subject teachers will communicate specific homework requirements and procedures for their classes as needed.

Homework has the potential to:

  • bridge the gap between learning at school and learning at home;
  • complement and reinforce classroom learning;
  • foster good study habits and lifelong learning;
  • help develop self-discipline and concentration;
  • provide training for students in research skills, planning and time management;
  • help develop a range of skills in identifying and using information sources; and
  • provide parents/caregivers with the opportunity to see the progress of their child.

Home Study:

We expect students to do home study every night. Home study is not homework. Students at Esperance Senior High School are taught how to study at home by their teachers. This will vary depending on year group, academic pathway and subject. Home study can take the following forms:

  • make a study planner that shows a weekly breakdown for work, homework/home study, rest and sport commitments;
  • revisit the day’s work in every subject. Ensure all work is finished, e.g.:
    • headings, definitions and important information need to be highlighted or underlined;
    • summarise work to prepare for topic tests later in the course, when there may not be time to read everything again. All work needs to be re-read three times, the day it is done, a day or two after, and again a week later. If this is followed, recall stays at about 90 per cent after a month, whereas something learnt but not revisited results in a recall of only about 10 per cent after a month. This means revising for a test really means learning everything again. Re-reading work each evening means that if there is something students don’t understand they immediately know what to ask the teacher the next day;
    • work summaries can include using visual tools like mind maps; and
    • create “cheat sheets”, that is, summary documents that can be used in tests.
  • build up a subject dictionary every day for any new words they have learnt;
  • practise skills, revise work using Quizlets and other online tools;
  • being ready for school:
    • getting files, paper and writing materials organised;
    • getting Physical Education clothes ready for Physical Education days; and
    • getting notes signed and returned.
  • for practical subjects like Home Economics, it means cooking at home for the family what students have cooked at school; and
  • watching news, weather, current events, reading the newspaper and generally having an awareness of what is going on in the world. Talking about these is something that can be done as a family.

Parents can support students by:

  • providing a suitable environment (a desk, adequate lighting and ventilation, and, if at all possible, a private area that is free from interruptions – especially from social media distractions);
  • discouraging homework and study in the vicinity of the television;
  • using Connect to see due dates of tests and assessments, checking results; and
  • contacting the class teacher with any specific queries about homework.

All students:

Reading: Reading is a fundamental skill. We get better at reading by reading. Students should undertake a minimum of 20-30 minutes of sustained reading every day. This is different to reading social media feeds. Most English classes will visit the school’s library and students are encouraged to borrow a book to read during these visits. In addition to this, the library is open before school, lunchtimes and after school until 4pm Monday to Friday. Students in English classes may have an assigned book to read.

Touch Typing: Touch typing is the fastest method of typing. Touch typists can produce a greater volume of typed work. This is especially important for online tests, future careers and future study.

There are many free touch-typing tutorial websites. To become a proficient touch typist requires 20 minutes per day for six weeks doing proper practice. Proper practice means NOT LOOKING AT YOUR FINGERS.

We encourage all students to invest the necessary time and effort to become a touch typist. Students without access to a computer at home can make use of the computers available in the library, before school, lunchtime and after school.