All students will be completing their maths independent learning with Sparx Maths. Sparx is an exciting online platform that provides every student with a personalised maths independent learning experience.
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 independent learning is 100% completed.
Every student has been shown Sparx and have worked with it to familiarise themselves with the system. Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Students will be given 7 days to complete their work. Work will be set and collected every Wednesday. There will be an opportunity to work with Sparx gurus on a Monday lunchtime in T6, and teachers will review progress in the first lesson of each week, using the start of the lesson to help with any class misconceptions to help.
How does Sparx independent learning work?
Sparx personalises each child’s independent learning, 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 independent learning questions. Questions from previous topics will also be included in the independent learning so that students can keep practising the skills they have learned.
How can I help my child with their independent learning?
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 independent learning on their own, 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. If you were to help your child too frequently the independent learning may get too difficult too quickly. All students have been told this and understand the level of work set for them is appropriate and adapts to their strengths over time.
Why does my child need to achieve 100% compulsory independent learning completion?
Sparx independent learning 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 learning leads to clear progress. It is therefore advised that students do their independent learning as early as possible, so they have the time to have a go themselves and seek help from their teacher if needed. Independent learning 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. Students will need to attend a sanction on a Friday the same week as the Wednesday hand in if they fail to complete the work. This is why we offer 7 days, the catch up sessions and dedicate time at the start of the first lesson each week to support them.
You can keep track of your child’s independent learning completion in the weekly email you will receive from Sparx. If you do not wish to receive these emails then you will be able to opt out by clicking on a link within the body of the email.
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.
Kind regards
The Perins Mathematics Department
