Adding your school holidays in Sparx Science helps manage your homework scheduling around holidays, so we highly recommend adding holiday dates for the full academic year before building your Schemes of Learning.
Changes made to holiday dates will also be reflected in your school's other Sparx sites.
How to add holiday dates
Go to 'Management' → 'School Settings'
Click on the 'Academic Year' tab
Choose the correct academic year from the 'Academic Year' dropdown menu
Select 'Add new holiday' and then give it a name, for example, "Autumn Half Term"
Select the start and end dates
Best practice: Include the full week for example - Saturday until the Sunday before the holiday ends
Click 'Add holiday' to save the holiday
Impact of setting holiday dates on homework
Where a full week (Monday to Friday) falls within a holiday, homework will automatically be turned off in Schemes of Learning. The homework set in the week before the holiday will be due after the holiday.
For example:
A class has homework set on Wednesday and due on Tuesday.
Half-term in the school is from 12th to 16th February.
The homework set on Wednesday 7th February is due in on Tuesday 20th rather than on the 13th during half-term.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I change our academic year start/end dates?
How do I change our academic year start/end dates?
We will need to make this change for you - please contact us using the 'Help & Support' button in your Sparx site.
Can I change holiday dates after they've been added?
Can I change holiday dates after they've been added?
Yes, you can edit or remove holiday dates at any time through 'Management' → 'School Settings' → 'Academic Year'. However, be mindful that changing dates may affect homework scheduling in your Schemes of Learning. You will need to re-publish your Schemes of Learning for these changes to be reflected in future weeks in each class' Planner page.
What if my holiday dates don't align with a full week (Monday-Friday)?
What if my holiday dates don't align with a full week (Monday-Friday)?
For partial-week holidays, homework won't automatically be turned off. You'll need to manually manage homework settings in your Schemes of Learning.
Will adding holidays affect homework that's already been set?
Will adding holidays affect homework that's already been set?
Adding a holiday won't automatically change any homework that's already been set. If you need to adjust existing homework around holiday periods, you'll need to do this manually through the Planner page.
How do bank holidays affect homework scheduling?
How do bank holidays affect homework scheduling?
Single bank holidays don't automatically affect homework scheduling. If you want to adjust homework around bank holidays, you'll need to manually manage this in your Schemes of Learning or Planner.