Dealing with a new school

We are pleased to welcome all new pupils to Queen Elizabeth's School and we wish them a long and successful association with the School. These notes are designed to help them to settle in quickly to the QE's routines and to tell them about some of the exciting opportunities available to them.

Organisation is essential.

Boys should pack their bags the evening before School, going through the following day's timetable to ensure that all necessary books and equipment are in place. They should also take at least one reading book to School each day.

Equipment needed by each boy will include pens, pencils, rulers, coloured pencils, a calculator and other mathematical instruments, his rough workbook and homework diary. If physical education, art or design is on the following day's timetable, additional equipment may be required.

Boys must not bring to School: knives, mobile phones with cameras, electronic games, cassette players or correcting fluid.

Classwork

This information will tell you what is to be studied in each subject throughout the first year. Boys will also learn in each lesson and from their House Tutors the study skills necessary to make the most of their abilities and of the opportunities available to them. Assessment will often be by formal-written tests for which boys will need to revise. Advice will be given about revision techniques but they will need to bear in mind the need to provide themselves with material which can be used for revision.

Homework

Some tasks (extended writing, practising examples, memory learning, revision etc.) are best done at home. This opens up areas of study and makes possible the use of materials and sources of information which are not necessarily available in the classroom. Homework teaches pupils how to organise themselves, and disciplines them to develop and maintain a regular work schedule, in an independent manner. It allows pupils to practise skills taught in class and to discover whether they have understood a topic. It gives them time to complete work not finished in class and it involves parents with their children's' education. For these reasons, homework is seen as an essential part of a boy's work at Queen Elizabeth's School.

During his first year a boy should expect to be set 13-homework tasks each week. Each task should take him between 30 and 40-minutes, and homework tasks will be set according to a homework timetable, distributed during his first week. All tasks should be recorded in the homework diary.

How can parents help with homework?

• Parents can help by providing good working conditions at home; quiet surroundings, warmth, light and a table or desk, a dictionary and other useful books, pens, pencils and a ruler.
• Parents must take an active interest in their son's work. This will involve monitoring and signing his homework diary weekly, checking that work in the exercise books has been satisfactorily completed and taking steps at home to ensure that bad practice is eliminated.
• They should encourage him to develop good work habits at home; he should have a schedule for work to be done each evening and should be encouraged to read and learn beyond his actual School work. He may benefit from visits to the local library and from visits to places which will stimulate his interest, such as museums and historical sites.
• We encourage parents to ‘proof read’ completed pieces of work to check that spelling and punctuation are basically sound. Parents are also expected to monitor presentation of written work, handwriting, underlining titles and dates etc.
• Parents should take time to discuss pieces of work which have been marked and returned to the boys. In particular, teachers' feedback about how work can be improved need to be noted. Everyone makes mistakes, but real progress is made when people learn from them! Parents should be able to help boys to set realistic, yet demanding targets for improvement and should monitor the achievement of those targets.
• Parents can help with revision, by testing their sons on work which has to be learned.
• In the event of genuine difficulties, we encourage parents to contact their son's subject teacher via a brief note. Although we expect boys to work hard at home as well as at school, they must have time to relax and must have sufficient rest each night to be able to perform effectively the following morning.

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The homework diary

• Each boy receives his own homework diary in which he records his timetable, his homework timetable and then, day-by-day, the homework set in each subject.
• The homework diary is critically important. Knowing their homework timetable, the diary can be set out at the beginning of the week and the tasks, together with the date by which each piece of homework must be completed entered as the week progresses. The date should be entered at the top of the page, and at the bottom there is space to record any merits or commendations earned during the week. On the rare occasion that no homework is set, this must be entered in the diary rather than simply leaving a gap. When work has been marked and returned, the grade should be entered next to the task.
• At the back of the diary there is space to record all the test marks, and at the front there are pages for each term, so that boys can keep their record of achievement. Boys may use the additional space for personal notes, to record appointments, sports fixtures, club meetings etc.
• From time to time the subject teacher or House tutor may write a comment in the diary. House tutors therefore check the diary on a regular basis, and parents are expected to do the same. Each week, parents are asked to sign a completed page to confirm that they have seen the diary and are satisfied with it, and to confirm that homework has been completed.

Your son has been provided with an exemplar of a homework diary which represents a model of good practice.

How to get further help

If more substantial help is needed, or if the matter is not urgent, subject-specific clinics operate throughout the week. Staff and senior pupils are on hand to provide help with specific problems as well as general advice about how to improve performance. The timetable for these clinics is published at the beginning of the year.

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IMPORTANT DATES 2008-2009

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What can parents do to help?

Expectations

The most important thing parents can do is to work with the School to support your child. Try to have realistic expectations. From Year 7 onwards, marks in your child’s diary or organiser, regular half-term tests results, reviews, profiles and parents evenings will be providing constant feedback about his progress. If you have concerns, discuss them with your son’s personal tutor or Year Head.

In the time approaching examinations

Do not underestimate the stress your child may be feeling. If things seem to be getting too much, try to see that he does not bottle it up.

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Helpful things you can do

• Encourage without pressurising
• Take an interest; offer to help with vocabulary or other factual learning
• At examination time, offer drinks & snacks to break up revision
• Make a note of which examinations are being taken and get them up in good time on examination days
• Remember that there is life beyond examinations
• Above all, keep calm - this will create a better working atmosphere

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Parents’ evenings

It is in your son’s interest that you know what is going on and how to help in practical ways. So, make the most of parents’ evenings.

• Ensure that your son makes appointments for you to see his teachers
• Have a list of things to ask:
  • Is your son achieving his targets?
  • Is his work of the highest quality that he can achieve?
  • Are there any useful books or study aids you can acquire?

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Bespoke tutoring:

During their first year, boys will begin a system of ‘bespoke tutoring’. They will meet with their House Tutor, either individually or in a small group, once each half-term. The tutor will review their performance and academic progress and will agree targets for the next half termhalf-term. Parents will play an important part in this. They will need to be aware of the targets and will want to encourage boys to meet these targets. Your son is responsible for setting himself targets, which must be followed through. You can assist him in setting these targets:

• Targets can be constructed by reading a teacher’s feedback in a book, by looking at comments made on a profile or a review, or by working on verbal advice
• Targets should be realistic and achievable. The final target should include an analysis of what your son must actually do to achieve it.
• When your son works, in class or at home, he should consider the targets which he has set for himself before completing a piece of work.
• Your son’s aims should be constructed in line with the marks that he has been receiving.

Read Home - School Agreement

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