This article shares recommendations on encouraging your team to engage with Sparx Science and use it to its full potential.
Launching Sparx Science Successfully
If you are just starting your Sparx Science trial, you’ll likely be keen to begin setting homework as soon as possible. However, we recommend completing a few key steps before rolling it out to students and staff to ensure a successful launch. This guide provides the resources and best practices to help you introduce Sparx Science smoothly in your school.
1. Staff Training: All staff should complete the Sparx training modules (6 minutes) before setting homework, as these cover essential features and best practices. Consider coming together as a department to encourage discussion of the features, or setting a clear deadline for training completion.
To monitor staff training progress, go to Management > Staff Manager and view the Training Progress column. Watch the training videos here.
2. High Expectations: Make a decision on how you will:
Create systems of support for students so they are able to meet expectations
Rewards and sanction students to ensure they meet expectation
See Student rewards and recognition for more information about how Sparx can help reward students
3. Plan for Success: Make a decision on how you will:
Create Schemes of Learning
Set and monitor homework within the department
Check that the policies and expectations are being followed
4. Policy: Create a homework policy informed by the above decisions. You can download and use our template to help you establish your homework policy:
5. Launch: Create a plan on how you will:
Launch with your Science department in a meeting Department Launch Slides
Launch to parents using emails or letters home
See Why and how we engage parents with Sparx Science for more information
Launch with your Students in assemblies or science lessons Student Launch Slides
We know there may be more steps and challenges along the way but remember you can always contact your coach for support with these.
Top Tips from Science HoDs
Removing the barriers to success
Removing the barriers to success
I think the key to success with Sparx Science is getting that support in place. Remove those barriers and make sure that the communication to parents is really good early on - because if the message is every student is expected to get 100% on their homework, parents rightly will hit the roof. But if you can communicate that it's 100% completion and here's how we're going to help your student get there, then you can get parents on board and you can get students on board.
- Al Pike, Head of Science, Glenmoor and Winton Academies
To ensure students can fully complete their homework, it's crucial to eliminate all barriers to access. While support is integrated into the learning process, individual students may still encounter challenges. Identifying these challenges and establishing consistent policies and expectations is essential for addressing them effectively.
To support students it is best to have clear support, here are some examples from other Sparx Science Schools:
Sparx Science Clubs: Schedule lunch or after-school homework clubs with a science teacher a day or two before the assignment deadline to give students a chance to ask questions and get help.
“I’m REALLY stuck” options: If a student is unable to answer a question, they should email their teacher with a screenshot before the deadline to allow the teacher to provide individualised support and not issue sanctions.
Half-homeworks and levels: If students are struggling to complete Sparx Science assignments, temporarily reduce their level or move them to half homeworks. This can help build confidence and encourage success, and you can gradually increase the level and time as they progress.
Celebrating success and progress
Celebrating success and progress
For us, it wouldn't work without the rewards. So having some sort of system in place whether that's within the department or whole school that if a student is completing their Sparx Science there is a reward, a house point or a raffle or some sweets, whatever it is that you can do within your team and that's what really keeps our students engaged with the process.
- Rebecca Courtney, Head of Science, St James School
Embedding high expectations into your homework policy will require you to consider how to reward students doing well and what sanctions you put in place for students who are not completing their homework. Every school setting is different, however here are some examples from other schools:
Early Completion: Give out achievement points for students who hand in homework a day before the deadline - this is most easily achieved if you have consistent deadlines across all learners.
Sparx XP: We have an XP system on the platform and certificates can be found here, as students move up the levels celebrate them with certificates, or by posting a leaderboard display.
Reward trips: Taking top homework performers on an end of year trip based on their Sparx science and/or classroom behaviour can help motivate students to get 100% every week.
Sparx Science ambassadors: The top completion rates each term become science ambassadors with pins, some schools even ask these students to support their peers in a homework club.
Prize draw: Each week all the on-time completions are entered into a draw for small prizes with the winner being chosen in an assembly.
Making it easier to set and monitor homework
Making it easier to set and monitor homework
All homeworks are set on a Friday 4 p.m. and they are all due in on Friday 4 p.m and we found that having the same deadline for all of the subjects just meant that the students had no reason to say, "Oh, I didn't know when the deadline was”. This also gives us time to pick them up throughout the week if they haven't done their homework, they are directed to Sparx Club if they've not started anything by Wednesday and they get support there.
- Molly Hindle, Head of Science, The Lowry Academy
To ensure all students complete their weekly homework assignments, staff must monitor deadlines and implement appropriate rewards and sanctions. When creating a homework policy, schools should consider different options for completion, deadlines, and checks. Below is some advice on each part of this to consider.
Choosing a day:
Avoid Mondays: This will mean many students will attempt homework over the weekend, meaning you are less able to provide support.
Give a weekend: Allow a weekend between hand-out and hand-in days to gives students more time to complete their work.
Choosing a deadline:
There are a number of options to choose a deadline, each with its own set of benefits, of these options you could set a deadline where:
All science homework is due at the same time - Many schools have had success by aligning their deadlines - this makes monitoring of completion easier, and allows you to better leverage interventions where students are have not started or completed homework.
Hand-in is on the same day as a timetabled lesson - The key benefit is that students who have completed their homework can be praised and teachers can give out timely sanctions whilst communicating them directly to students.
Hand in is at teacher discretion - This may be preferred by some staff members and may work for your department, it will however make any central monitoring of completion and support for staff more difficult if that is required.
Choose how to monitor:
Option 1: Class teacher checks, Leaders oversee
Assign one teacher to be responsible for checking for each class and allocating any sanctions or rewards.
Leaders should then monitor the completion rates of classes over time and watch for any drops in completion or significant lack of completion.
Option 2: Leaders Check, Class Teachers Monitor
This works best when you have a single deadline, when leaders can download a report on a given date and check for completion, issue rewards and sanctions, and flag any students of concern.
Class teachers would still be expected to monitor the topics set and be aware of students' progress.
Monitoring completion for science classes with more than one teacher:
We know that for many schools, science classes can have a different teacher for each subject. In these cases it is important to remind teachers that whilst one teacher may be assigned for monitoring each teacher should check that the homework set contains the correct topics. See this article for more guidance: Setting homework for classes with different teachers for biology, chemistry and physics
Getting off to a good start
Getting off to a good start
When we first brought in Sparx, we wrote to parents, we did presentations to students in lessons to let them know how it was going to work. Then we rolled it out for year 7 and 11 first, then year 8 and 10 the following week and then brought year 9 in after that. For staff it brings in that real benefit for workload and so we were able to show that in department meetings and then as time has gone on we've dripped in with department meetings more about how they can use Sparx with their classes in order to to maximize that impact - Mike Morely, Head of Science, Davenport School for Girls
To get the most out of Sparx Science it is important your staff are engaged and bought into what it has to offer. We believe Sparx not only ensures students do meaningful practice but requires minimal time from staff and we know many Heads of Department agree.
To launch Sparx with staff we recommend:
Start in a Department meeting: Launch Sparx in a department meeting and make use of our Department Launch Slides.
In this session, make sure you explain the reason for the homework policy, your expectations and, if you can, get all teachers logged in and familiar with the training and system.
Focus on ensuring classes are allocated and staff know how to set and manage homework.
Check in after the first week: Once the first homework has been completed and staff are more familiar show them how to look at how students have done, how they can use the insights page, and give them time to issue rewards and sanctions (if needed).
Check in after the first half-term: Get feedback on the system from teachers, celebrate classes that have done well with staff and get those team members to share what they have done to drive completion rate.
To launch Sparx with students:
Stagger your start: Try starting with different year groups on different days/weeks to give you time to get them on board.
Inform students of the policies: We have prepared some template slides you can use, these can be presented in assemblies or lessons. These should set out expectations, what happens when you meet these, and what happens when you don’t.
Teach students how to log in and complete homework: If you can dedicate an early lesson in a computer room or on devices to teach students to log in and get them to complete their first homework in that session. This helps remove any log in barriers or challenges with levels.
Work with maths and english: If you use our other Sparx systems try collaborating on your messaging with these other departments on getting students onboard with all three.
To help get the most out of Sparx Science it is helpful to get parents on board from the beginning. There are a number of ways you can approach this, but they include:
Send all parents a letter: Introduce Sparx Science, how you will support students, and let them know how they can monitor their child's completion rate.
See Why and how we engage parents with Sparx Science for more information.
Run a homework evening: Ask parents to come in and share the value of homework, giving them advice on how to support their child in completing their homework, and showing them how the support works on the system.