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Holmleigh Park High School

YEar 7 & 8 - Sparx Maths

Dear Parent/Guardian

As some of you will know, last year our year 7 students were completing their maths homework with Sparx Maths and we are delighted with the significant, positive impact on learning this has had so far. This year, both years 7 and 8 will be using the Sparx platform.

We know that you want to support your child’s maths progress, so we’ve put together this letter to explain how Sparx works and why it is important to make sure that maths homework is 100% completed.

How does Sparx homework work?

Sparx personalises each child’s homework, creating a weekly set of questions tailored to their level of understanding and learning pace. The questions are designed to be achievable whilst offering the stretch that learners need to make progress.

Each week, topics are set by your child’s maths teacher and will make up the majority of the homework questions. Questions from previous topics will also be included in the homework so that students can keep practising the skills they have learned.

How can I help my child with their homework?

We appreciate that you will of course want to support your child with their home learning but please try not to help them with a question until they’ve had a go first! It is really important that they complete their homework independently, and that questions are marked as correct. They can watch the support video if they need to. This way, Sparx can make sure your child continues to see homework that’s at the right level for them. To much parental input may lead to homework getting too challenging to quickly.

Why does my child need to achieve 100% compulsory homework completion? 

Sparx Homework is deliberately designed to help students really get to grips with and understand the concepts and skills they are learning by ensuring they cover the essential building blocks needed to make progress in maths. Sparx’ research (sparx.co.uk/evidence) has shown that an average of 60 minutes a week of this type of personalised maths home learning leads to clear progress. At Holmleigh Park we set Maths homework on Friday and it is due in the following Friday. It is therefore advised that students do their homework as early as possible (try to complete or attempt it over the weekend), so they have the time to have a go themselves and seek help from their teacher in the week before due the date, if needed. Homework is not marked as complete until all of the compulsory questions have been answered correctly, so starting early is key to finishing before hand-in time.

You can keep track of your child’s homework completion in the weekly email you will receive from Sparx.

We hope you agree that Sparx will play an exciting and important role in helping your child’s understanding, success and confidence in maths to grow.

If you have any questions, please contact g.davies@hphigh.co.uk or c.buckenham@hphigh.co.uk