Our Homework Club provides a quiet, calm and comfortable learning environment for pupils who will benefit from a teacher supervised learning session with access to educational resources. Usually pupils bring their own homework assignments from their schools to work on and complete at the Centre, and will prefer to do this independently to complement school work. All pupils, when starting a learning programme at SPARK, will have a Learning Record Sheet, which tutors complete for each lesson, recording any difficulties identified or progress made.

Teacher Supervision

Supervising teachers are able to assist if required by pupils, but usually pupils are encouraged to become independent learners. In some cases individual pupils might experience persistent difficulty with some aspects of their learning, and this might indicate a specific learning need.  Once identified, parents are contacted.

WHY ASSESS?

If, during Homework Club sessions, individual pupils request continuous help with homework assignments, the Homework Club Co-ordinator will contact parents and recommend a detailed Diagnostic Test which will identify the specific learning problems of the pupil. The Diagnostic Test Report is then available to help devise an individual learning programme to target and deal with any subject weaknesses.

Academic Diagnostic Tests are only conducted at the request of parents, and only when significant and persistent weaknesses have been identified on a day to day basis during Homework Club sessions, or if a pupil's school has identified a specific learning difficulty. We offer three levels of Assessment:

1.  Basic Learning Function assessment

This will identify subject–related difficulties which are interfering with a pupil’s school progress. Examples of this might be problems with reading and writing such as grammar and punctuation mistakes. These will indicate `gaps` in a pupil’s knowledge and these are relatively easy to correct. A personal learning programme will be provided to help the pupil overcome these obstacles to their academic progress.

2.  Academic Diagnostic Assessments

These tests cover the whole range of core-curriculum subjects - English, Mathematics, and Science. They are intended to test pupils' levels of ability and to identify subject areas for further improvement. The test will also identify pupils' preferred learning styles and advise pupils how to become independent learners.  Pupils will be offered a programme of educational exercises intended to strengthen specific skills identified in the assessment.

3.  Detailed Learning and Academic Skills Audit Assessment

This detailed assessment uses nationally recognised diagnostic tests, and includes IQ Tests and tests for specific learning difficulties, as well as tests for levels of social functioning which can impact on academic performance. These tests will be conducted by a qualified Psychologist and will identify personal individual developmental profiles.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Tests are only conducted at the request of a pupil`s parents and/or guardian, and the written reports and their contents are not shared with any third party.