Homework at Northern Education Trust

From September 2026, every Northern Education Trust secondary academy follows the same simple approach to homework. Homework is short, regular and built around the essential knowledge your child is learning in lessons, so that it sticks in their long-term memory.

How it works

Each subject sets one homework a week, on the same day each week, and it is due on the same day the following week. Each homework takes no more than 15 minutes.

Homework comes straight from the subject’s knowledge organiser. This is a one to two page printed sheet of the essential facts, key words and ideas for each unit, so what your child practises at home is exactly what they learn in class.

At home, your child spends 15 minutes revising and rehearsing the set section of the knowledge organiser. They keep this revision in their homework folder, which they bring to school every day.

The following week, they complete a short quiz at the start of the lesson on that content. Teachers use the results to spot and reteach anything pupils have not yet secured. Pupils are rewarded with merits and postcards home for effort, improvement and success.

Which subjects set homework

In Years 7 to 9, weekly homework is set in core subjects. In Years 10 and 11, it is set in examined subjects, including option subjects. Maths homework is set through Sparx Maths, the only online platform we use. Your child’s academy will share its homework timetable showing which subjects are set on which days.

Love to Learn projects

Pupils in Years 7 to 9 also complete a creative Love to Learn project each half term. The best work is celebrated in academies and across the trust.

Support in school

Every academy runs a quiet, supervised homework session each week, so all pupils have a place to complete their homework whatever their circumstances at home.

Keeping you informed

You will be notified of homework through the My Child at School (MCAS) app and termly letters. Homework is also recorded in your child’s planner, which their form tutor checks each week. Your child’s homework completion is reported to you in their STEP report.

How you can help

Check MCAS and your child’s planner each week, help them find a regular quiet time to revise, and ask them to test themselves using Look, Say, Cover, Write: look at the information, say it aloud, cover it up, write it from memory, then check.

The full Homework Policy is available on our policies page.