There are several ways to turn homework off in Sparx Maths depending on your needs - whether it's for specific weeks, during holidays, or permanently for classes or individual students. You can either turn homework off completely or change it to Optional only, where students still receive homework but without the compulsory element.
Turn homework off for a class for a specific week
Turn homework off for a class for a specific week
Go to Planner for the specific class
Select the week you want to turn off
Click the Type dropdown and choose either:
Off - no homework will be generated at all
Optional only - students will still receive XP Boost and Target homework, but no Compulsory homework
When homework is turned off in Planner, the previous week's homework will still be due during the no-homework week, so you'll need to edit the due date if you'd like it to be due after the holiday.
Turn homework off for multiple classes during school holidays
Turn homework off for multiple classes during school holidays
Adding no-homework weeks to a scheme of learning turns homework off for those weeks, for every class using the scheme. This is helpful if you don't want homework set or due during school holidays.
Go to Schemes of Learning
Click Options > Edit on the relevant scheme
Scroll to the holiday weeks
Use the Homework slider to Off
Publish your changes
Note:
When homework is turned off during holidays, any homework set before the holiday will now be due after the holiday.
Re-publishing a scheme of learning will override any changes that have been made over time in individual planners, so ideally this is best used at the beginning of the year.
Alternatively, follow the steps above in 'turn homework off for a specific week' to turn homework off on a class-by-class basis.
Turn homework off permanently for one or more classes
Turn homework off permanently for one or more classes
For a single class:
Go to Management > Class Manager
Click the blue pencil icon
Scroll to Homework status
Set homework to off
Click Save
For multiple classes:
Go to Management > Class Manager
Check the boxes next to the classes for which you want to turn homework off
Click Edit selected classes
Untick Set homework status
Click Save
Turn homework off permanently for individual students
Turn homework off permanently for individual students
Search for the student using Find students at the top right
On their Details page, scroll to Homework details
Select Optional only from the dropdown (student will still receive XP Boost and Target homework)
Click Save
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between turning homework off and setting homework to optional only?
What's the difference between turning homework off and setting homework to optional only?
'Off' means no homework will be generated at all. 'Optional only' means students will still receive XP Boost and Target homework, but won't have any Compulsory homework to complete. Parent emails won't be sent for both options
Will students still get XP Boost and Target homework if I set homework to Optional only?
Will students still get XP Boost and Target homework if I set homework to Optional only?
Yes, students will continue to receive personalised XP Boost and Target homework when set to Optional only. Only the Compulsory homework element is removed.
Can I edit homework while it's turned off?
Can I edit homework while it's turned off?
No, you won't be able to edit homework before hand out in the Planner while homework is completely switched off. However, you can still edit homework if it's set to Optional only.
Will students lose access to previous homework?
Will students lose access to previous homework?
No, students can still access and complete any homework that was set before homework settings were changed.
Will Optional Only students be counted in compulsory completion data
Will Optional Only students be counted in compulsory completion data
No, as students are not being set Compulsory homework, they will not count towards Compulsory completion data.