Understanding the Planner Page
When a Scheme of Learning is assigned to a class, it creates a homework plan. You can see the homework plan for a class in the Planner page.
The right-hand side shows the calendar broken down into weeks and each week has a number. It's not possible for schools to adjust the numbering of the weeks in order to align with a school's numbering system. Although it's worth noting that these numbers are not shown to students.
Click on a week to make changes to that week's homework. You can turn homework on or off, add or remove topics, change the homework length and change when the homework will be handed our or handed in from here.
You can also adjust the topics that are eligible for consolidation by clicking Manage Consolidation Topics.
To make changes to all future homework, click Edit class settings in the top-right corner.
You can preview roughly what the homework will look like for students by clicking Preview for a particular week.
Adding topics to a selected week
Adding topics to a selected week
Topics are automatically added to a student’s homework each week based on the Scheme of Learning that is being followed.
If you want to add any topics:
Go to the Planner page icon from the left hand menu, and select the correct class using the drop-down at the top of the screen
The right-hand side of the Planner page gives an overview of all of the homework in each week of the current academic year
The centre of the screen shows details about the homework for the selected week.
Click Add Topic to Week [ ]
You can then search and choose from a list of available topics
Removing topics from from a selected week
Removing topics from from a selected week
Topics are automatically added to a student’s homework each week based on the Scheme of Learning that is being followed.
If you want to remove any topics:
Go to the Planner page icon from the left hand menu, and select the correct class using the drop-down at the top of the screen
Click on the particular week containing the upcoming homework that you would like to amend from the list in the right-hand pane
Select Remove to remove the topic from that week
Moving a topic between weeks
Moving a topic between weeks
Go to the Planner page icon from the left hand menu, and select the correct class using the drop-down at the top of the screen
To move one topic, select "Move" next to that topic and choose to either move it to the previous week, following week or a specific week:
Moving topics in bulk between weeks
Moving topics in bulk between weeks
Go to the Planner page icon from the left hand menu, and select the correct class using the drop-down at the top of the screen
To move multiple topics in one go, select Bulk Move Topics:
Select "Move Week 25 topics into a different week" to move all of the currently selected week's topics into another week
Select "Bulk move topics up" to move the selected week topics up one week and all future weeks up one week
Select "Bulk move topics down" move the selected week topics down one week and all future weeks down one week
When bulk moving topics up or down, you have the option to select a specific subject (physics, chemistry or biology) or to move topics from all subjects
Changing hand-out or hand-in dates or times for a specific upcoming week
Changing hand-out or hand-in dates or times for a specific upcoming week
To change the hand-out or hand-in dates or times for the upcoming homework:
Go to the Planner page icon from the left hand menu, and select the correct class using the drop-down at the top of the screen
Click on the Hand-out and Hand-in dates to bring up a calendar where you can edit the dates and times accordingly
Click Set date and time when you are done
Please note - this only changes the hand-in or hand-out for the currently selected week. If you want to adjust the hand-in or hand-out day for all future homework's then see our article on Changing homework settings for a class.
Note: You are able to edit the hand-in time for homework that has already been set by following the same steps. But you are not able to change any of other settings or which topics are covered.
Changing the homework length for a specific upcoming week
Changing the homework length for a specific upcoming week
To change the length of an upcoming homework:
Go to the Planner page icon from the left hand menu, and select the correct class using the drop-down at the top of the screen
Click on the week you wish to edit
Select the drop down option under Homework length and adjust accordingly
You can choose between 20 and 90 minutes, in 10 minute increments
Turning homework on or off for a specific upcoming week
Turning homework on or off for a specific upcoming week
To turn an upcoming homework on or off:
Go to the Planner page icon from the left hand menu, and select the correct class using the drop-down at the top of the screen
Click on the week you wish to edit
Select the drop down option under Homework type and adjust accordingly
Turning homework OFF
If you are turning homework off, you will be offered the choice of whether you wish to remove all the topics for that week from the Planner, or whether you'd like to move them to the next available week
Turning homework ON
If you are turning homework on, you will need to add topics for that week
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change the length or the topics once a homework has been set?
Can I change the length or the topics once a homework has been set?
Once a homework has already been set, it's not possible to change:
the length of homework
or which topics are covered
Can I change the hand in dates or times once a homework has been set?
Can I change the hand in dates or times once a homework has been set?
Yes, you can changes the hand in date and time once a homework has been set from the Planner page.
Can I cancel a homework once it's been set?
Can I cancel a homework once it's been set?
It is possible to cancel a homework once it's been set. You may need to do this if:
The homework was set by mistake
The homework contains the wrong material
You have a particular student who you don't want to complete the homework
You can cancel for a whole class, or for individual students.
To cancel a homework:
Go to the Planner page and select the class you wish you cancel
Select the relevant homework week on the right-hand side
Click Cancel this homework
Decide whether to cancel for the entire class or for a subset of students.
Important: you will not be able to un-cancel the homework or set a different homework in the same week. We do make this clear in our messaging before you click 'Cancel this homework'.
Cancelled homework will not be included in reporting.
Students will no longer be able to complete the homework and will be shown this message:
Can I make changes to a homework that's about to be set?
Can I make changes to a homework that's about to be set?
To ensure that any changes are included in an upcoming homework, we recommend making your changes in your Planner page at least 10 minutes before the homework hand out time.
What happens if I remove all the topics for a week in the Planner?
What happens if I remove all the topics for a week in the Planner?
Each week will always contain consolidation homework. If you remove all of the topics from a week, then only consolidation homework will be set. We recommend keeping the number of consolidation only weeks to a minimum, to ensure that students receive homework that's reflective of what they've been learning in class.
How do I control which topics are included in Consolidation?
How do I control which topics are included in Consolidation?
Sparx Science automatically provides spaced retrieval for students in the Consolidation section of homework which revisits topics assigned in previous weeks.
30% of the homework in Sparx Science is devoted to Consolidation.
You can control which topics are eligible for Consolidation in the Planner page by clicking "Manage Consolidation topics".
In the window that appears, you can deselect specific topics and these will not appear in the Consolidation of any future homework.
How many topics do you recommend per week in homework?
How many topics do you recommend per week in homework?
For a 60 minute homework, we recommend 3 topics per week on average for KS3 and 6 topics per week on average for GCSE.
You can use the Preview feature in Planner to see what questions will be set for different lengths of homework and numbers of topics.
Shorter homework - we'd recommend reducing the number of topics for a shorter homework so that students still have enough practice on each set topic.
Longer homework - you can set a couple more topics for a longer homework (longer than an hour), but we do not recommend exceeding 6 for KS3 and 9 for KS4.