We are excited to note the aspirational approach that our parents have for their children’s learning at Barker. Our Academic Staff share these high expectations and take great care to extend and challenge their students. Our recent HSC results are testimony to the ways in which the Barker experience builds capacity in learning, with students, at all levels of ability, raising their results well beyond expectations.

One of the most important ways that we can support the Academic Care of our students is to give them time to reflect on their goals, organise their study, plan homework and use resources to build skills for learning. Our parents (particularly in Middle School) have given us feedback that they would like to see more homework. Our Heads of Departments will be addressing this within their faculties and reinforcing it with our students.

Sometimes lapses in homework flow from a lack of direction or organisation. Another way to reinforce the importance of homework is to help our Middle School students manage their own learning responsibilities. Our Connect teachers this year in Years 7 and 8 will focus on building learner agency in a set time each week in a program called “Responsible Approaches to Learning” – or “ReALTime”. They will provide time for students to get organised, work on study notes, complete approaches to learning, respond to feedback, plan their homework times, and access online study skill resources. One on one conversations with students can also be had in this time. Our Study Hall program, established in 2022, will also continue this year, and is a reminder of the importance of consolidating learning at home.

What can parents do if they come across the “I have no homework” mantra? Which, as we know, often causes conflict at the dinner table. We encourage parents to engage in discussion about the topics that their son or daughter is learning and challenge them to read more widely or deeply on the task. Our English classes will all have a set text or a wide reading book to read and deliberate practice in a maths skill to review. Study notes, further research or creating mind maps are also ideas for students to take their learning further. Homework will always work best when students are proactive in their learning and make the consolidation of what they are working on in class a top priority. By teachers and parents working together on learning beyond the classroom we will set our students up for great success.