We use Knowledge Books at Park School to support students learning both in lessons and as an integral part of homework. Year 7, 8 and 9 students will carry out Knowledge Organiser homework in line with the timetables below with the addition of English and Maths homework. Year 10 and 11 students will also carry out Knowledge Organiser homework in line with the schedule and, in addition, will have regular homework set by their class teachers. Teachers will use Class Charts and Contact Books to communicate homework with parents/carers and students.

Please see below for more information on how students will be using their Knowledge Books; this information is also included in their Knowledge Book. At the bottom of this page, please see our video on how to complete Knowledge Organiser homework.

Knowledge Books

A students Knowledge Book is part of the toolkit they will need to be successful at Park. Their teachers have taken a great deal of time to plan out their learning and create Knowledge Organisers for each subject and topic they will study during this cycle. We have developed the Knowledge Books as we know how much knowledge they need to learn and be able to recall to be successful; the Knowledge Books and associated homework will aid them with this by helping them to transfer knowledge into their long term memory and back again. By having lots of the knowledge already in their brain, this will also free up their working memory so they can take on more knowledge and information in lessons and find learning easier.

Their Knowledge Books contain critical knowledge they must learn and know.

This book will help them pre-learn, recap, revisit and revise what they have learnt in lessons in order to remember this knowledge long-term.

They must have their Knowledge Book for every lesson; it is part of their equipment.

They will use your Knowledge Book for most of their homework but they can also complete additional self-study to help develop their long-term memory.

How students use their Knowledge Book for Homework

Firstly, doing this homework may well hurt their brain and may not always be exciting! Retrieving information from their long term memory and recalling it to paper takes concentration and dedication but the outcomes are amazing if they do it properly. They should not be tempted to cheat; they should make sure they have a really good go at retrieving all of the information from their brain before looking at the definitions/answers.

They will end up repeating the same sections and key facts during each cycle, over the year and in the years to come. This is deliberate as we know that repeatedly learning facts over a period of time, improves the quality of your memory and ability to recall. Think about how you remember the words to songs, by repeating them over and over again.

Technique One: Look, Cover, Write, Check

This is the way most of us learnt our spelings spelllings sppelings spellings. But it’s more versatile than that, and in fact, works very well with knowledge organisers.

Study carefully (i.e. look at) a section of the knowledge organiser and underline keywords.

Write down the keywords in your Knowledge Workbook with space left to write your definitions or draw your diagrams.

Cover that section with a piece of paper.

Then write down or draw exactly – exactly – what’s written under the paper from memory (this is the bit that helps the knowledge “stick”).

Finally, check to see what you’ve remembered and what you’ve forgotten, marking in green pen. Make corrections in purple pen.

Over time, the ‘look’ and ‘cover’ stages can be reduced or skipped, so you can just write and check.

Technique Two: Flashcards

Turn sections of your Knowledge Organiser into flashcards by putting a title or word on one side of a flashcard and then a definition or diagram on the other.

Quiz yourself or ask someone else to quiz you.

Write down the title or word from the card in your Knowledge Workbook; from memory, write down the full answer in your Knowledge Workbook.

Check to see what you’ve remembered and what you’ve forgotten, marking in green pen. Make corrections in purple pen.

If you get the answer correct, put the flashcard at the back of the pack and come back to it next time you have that subject in your homework timetable. If you didn’t get it correct, put it in a new pile; test yourself on this new pile each day until you get it right.

Keep testing yourself in between homework sessions to improve your memory further – you could even use the Leitner System – a YouTube video of it can be found here: tinyurl.com/y2e9hve2

What are the Homework Expectations?

Complete 20 minutes of homework per subject each evening using the timetable below (3x20min equals 1hr in total each day);

Complete a minimum of two full pages in your Knowledge Workbook every day;

Make sure your handwriting can be read by everyone;

Spell accurately using the Knowledge Organiser to correct any incorrect spellings;

Use the Knowledge Organiser after you have finished, to mark (in green) and correct (in purple) your own work;

Check the schedule below to see which subjects you should be completing each day.

Homework Timetable:

This is their homework timetable. They will need to complete their Knowledge Book homework for each subject and hand it in on the timetabled day.

Their tutor will check this each morning and stamp their book.

If they have not completed their homework for each subject, they will receive a 30-minute homework detention to be carried out at the end of the day. they will use this time to complete missing homework or start the homework for that evening.

Year 7 Homework Timetable

Year 8 Homework Timetable

Year 9 Homework Timetable

Year 10/11 Homework Timetable

To help you complete your homework, we have areas such as the library open before and after school for you to be able to complete your homework with friends.

Homework Assemblies:

Week commencing 23rd October 2019, we held assemblies to further ensure students knowledge and expections around homework – here is a copy of the powerpoint

Expectations of KO Homework