Before turning homework on for a class, there are some important steps to complete to ensure that everything runs smoothly. This article guides you through these steps.
Steps to complete
Assign a scheme of learning to the class
Assign a scheme of learning to the class
You'll need to set a scheme of learning for the class so that we can automatically set homework each week that follows your teaching.
See Setting or changing the default homework settings for a class for more information on how to do this.
Set when the class's homework will be handed out and due in
Set when the class's homework will be handed out and due in
You'll need to tell us the day and time each week that homework should be handed out for the class (the hand-out day/time), and what day and time students will need to complete it by (the hand-in day/time).
See Setting or changing the default homework settings for a class for more information on how to do this.
Set the initial homework difficulty level for the class
Set the initial homework difficulty level for the class
The objectives within each topic in Sparx Maths have a set difficulty level that describes which students are likely to be able to access its content.
Students also have a homework level, which allows us to match question difficulty to the student's capability.
You'll need to set an initial difficulty level that we'll use to personalise early homeworks for all students in the class, until we learn more about their behaviours and capabilities.
When setting up the class, use the 'Initial homework difficulty' level drop-down to set the desired level for the class.
Assign teachers to the class
Assign teachers to the class
We strongly recommend that you assign at least one teacher to each class, as:
Throughout your Sparx Maths site there are various options to filter pages down to 'my classes'. This won't work for a teacher if they aren't assigned to any classes.
When teachers are assigned to classes, they'll receive helpful homework planning, progress and review emails about their classes. See Monitoring homework completion for more information.
Teacher assignments will show in downloadable reports, which is likely to help with your analysis of those reports.
When setting up the class, use the 'Add teacher' button to select a new teacher to assign to the class, choose whether they should receive emails about the class's homework, and press the 'Add' button.
Ensure that your students understand how to use Sparx Maths and can log in
Ensure that your students understand how to use Sparx Maths and can log in
To ensure a smooth experience for your students when they receive their first Sparx Maths homework, we strongly recommend that you show them how Sparx Maths works, and verify that they can all log in, before you set their first homework.
See our Getting students started article for more information.
Turn homework on for the class
Turn homework on for the class
Once you're happy that all of the above steps are complete, you can turn homework on for the class. See Setting or changing the default homework settings for a class for more information on how to do this.
Frequently asked questions
What should I set my classes' initial homework difficulty levels to?
What should I set my classes' initial homework difficulty levels to?
Following are the difficulty levels that we set for objectives, across the curricula that we support. You can use these as guidance when setting the initial difficulty level for a class.
Key Stage 3 levels
Suitable for students who need significant extra support
Suitable for students who need some extra support
Suitable for students who meet the expected standards for their age
Suitable for students who need more challenging material
GCSE levels
Suitable for Foundation/Core tier students who need extra support
Suitable for most Foundation/Core tier students
Suitable for students on the borderline between Foundation/Core and Higher/Extended tier papers
Suitable for most Higher/Extended tier students
Suitable for Higher/Extended tier students aiming for the highest grades
Fundamentals levels
Suitable for students who need significant extra support to access secondary material
Suitable for students who need extra support to access secondary material
Further Maths levels
Suitable for the lowest attaining students taking this course
Suitable for middle attaining students taking this course
Suitable for the highest attaining students taking this course
When will the first homework appear for students?
When will the first homework appear for students?
The first homework will be set on your next scheduled hand-out day.
For example, if you turn homework on on a Tuesday and the hand-out day for the class is Monday, the first homework will go out the following Monday.
How do I make the same changes to multiple classes?
How do I make the same changes to multiple classes?
You may sometimes want to make changes to multiple classes, for example this can speed up your class setup at the beginning of a new academic year.
From Class Manager, select 'all classes' from the class selector in the header
Tick the blue checkbox next to all classes that you want to change
Click the 'Edit selected classes' button
From here, you can change the following settings for the selected classes:
Whether homework is switched on or off (via the 'set homework status' checkbox)
The homework hand-out day and time
The homework hand-in day and time
The scheme of learning
The initial homework difficulty level for students in these classes
Whether the times tables task is included in students' homework
The default homework length
The teachers that are assigned to the class
Click 'Save' which will apply the change for all future homeworks.
