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Changing homework for an individual student

R
Written by Richard Boyd
Updated over 3 weeks ago

This article explains how to customise homework settings for individual students to better support their learning needs.

Changing a student's homework length


You may sometimes want individual students to receive a shorter homework than the rest of their class, for example if they're catching up after absence

  1. From Student Manager, click the blue pencil icon next to the student that you want to work with

  2. Under the 'Homework type' drop-down, choose '30 minute homework' to reduce the student's homework from the class default to 30 minutes

  3. Click 'Save' which will apply the new homework length from the next hand-out onwards
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    ​Please note: research verified by Cambridge University shows that working in Sparx Maths is positively and significantly associated with higher outcomes in Maths. Completing the recommended 60 minutes of homework per week for one whole school year on average yields a 0.24 level improvement in GCSE grades.

Changing a student to always receive optional-only homework


If you don't want a student to receive compulsory homework, for example because they are experiencing difficulties at home, they're poorly, or they have a special education need that makes compulsory homework difficult or stressful for them, you can set them to always receive optional-only homework

  1. From Student Manager, click the blue pencil icon next to the student that you want to work with

  2. Under the 'Homework type' drop-down, choose 'Optional only'

  3. Click 'Save' which will apply the change from the next hand-out onwards

When you do this:

  • The student won't get any compulsory homework

  • Topics added to the Planner for the student's class will be covered in the student's XP Boost homework

  • The student's XP Boost homework will be extended to match the homework length set for their class (it's usually 30 minutes, but if the class are set to 60 minutes compulsory homework for example, then the student will receive a 60 minute XP Boost homework). This is to give the student the opportunity to keep pace with your scheme of learning if they want to, without the pressure of a compulsory homework.

  • The student won't get a late mark if they don't complete their XP Boost or Target homework

  • The student's parents won't receive homework update emails

  • The student will be excluded from any hand-in rate calculations

Changing a student's homework difficulty level

  • You may sometimes want to override the homework difficulty level that Sparx Maths automatically sets for a student, for example if they've been receiving help at home.

  • We recommend waiting to change any student's level until they have completed around 100 questions (4-5 weeks of 60 minute homework) as this is how long it takes our algorithm to determine the level they are working at.

  1. From Student Manager, click the blue pencil icon next to the student that you want to work with

  2. Under the 'Homework level' drop-down, choose the level that you want to set the student to.

  3. Click 'Save' which will apply the change for any unopened existing homework and all future homeworks. All future consolidation questions will also be at the new level.

  4. You can move the student back to Automatic leveling at any time

  5. See Key concepts of a Sparx Maths homework for more information on difficulty levels.

Excluding higher-only topics from a student's homework

  • Schemes of learning will sometimes include topics labelled 'Higher only'. These are only suitable for students who will be sitting the higher tier of KS4 assessments

  • If you have classes that will sit a mixed tier of assessments (some foundation, some higher), you can exclude Higher only topics from the homeworks of students that are sitting the foundation paper

  1. From Student Manager, click the blue pencil icon next to the student that you want to work with

  2. Under the 'Exclude higher only topics' drop-down, choose 'Yes'

  3. Click 'Save' which will apply the change from the next hand-out onwards

Adding or removing times tables practice from a student's homework

You may sometimes want to override the class default times tables setting for individual students

  1. From Student Manager, click the blue pencil icon next to the student that you want to work with

  2. Under the 'Times tables task in homework' drop-down, choose whether or not you want the student to receive a times tables task

  3. Click 'Save' which will apply the change from the next hand-out onwards

  4. Students can still practice Times Tables in Independent Learning even if turned off

Frequently asked questions

How do I make the same change to multiple students?

You may sometimes want to make changes to multiple students in a class (but not the whole class), or multiple students from multiple classes across a year group.

  1. From Student Manager, select the class or year group that you want to work with from the class selector in the header

  2. Tick the blue checkbox next to all students that you want to change

  3. Click the 'Edit selected students' button

  4. From here, you can change the following settings for the selected students:

    • Homework type (compulsory; 30 minute; optional only)

    • Homework level

    • Whether the students will receive a times tables task in their homework

    • Whether higher only topics should be excluded from the students' homework

  5. Click 'Save' which will apply the change for all future homeworks.

One of my students is receiving longer homeworks than I've set for their class. Should I reduce their homework length?

Every time a student completes their homework, Sparx Maths learns more about their working speeds. You might find that students spend a long time on their homework every now and again. If this is the case, be assured that Sparx Maths will adjust the length of their future homework accordingly.

You don't need to change the homework length in this case. Instead, you can support students by checking their Answer history from the Hand-in page and helping them with any topics or questions that they significantly struggled with.

When I make changes to a student's homework settings, when will they take affect?

Changes will apply to the next homework that's set for the student. They won't affect any current or previously set homework.

If I make changes to a student's homework settings, can I change them back again later?

Yes, you can return to Student Manager at any time to adjust settings or return them to defaults.

If I make changes to a student's homework settings, will it affect other students in the same class?

No, changes made for individual students only affect their homework and won't impact other students in the class.

What happens if I make changes to both class and individual student homework settings?


Individual student settings always take precedence over class settings.

Related Articles
Key concepts of a Sparx Maths homework
Setting or changing the default homework settings for a class
Monitoring homework completion
Turning homework off
Student rewards and recognition
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