22nd September 2022

Top Tips for Parents SPARX Maths Homework

Sparx top tips for parents Encouraging good habits

• Try and set up a quiet work area for your child if possible. If you don’t have the space, consider setting aside routine ‘quiet times’ during the day, when children can concentrate, even if only for short periods of time.

• It is important that students still keep a record of their work when learning at home, so providing them with a book or folder if they don’t have their school book is recommended. They may still need their teacher’s support, and they in turn may want to see student workings.

• Keep in contact with your child’s teacher, or encourage your child to keep in contact with them themself. Most schools have a platform that students can use to reach out to teachers if they need help.

Getting logged in to Sparx

• Go to https://sparx.co.uk, click login in the top right corner, and select student login. Here they will be asked to start typing the name of their school before being prompted to select it from a dropdown list.

• If this is the first time your child has logged in, they will need to select New Sparx User and enter their name and their date of birth in order to confirm their username.

They will then be asked to set their own password, which they will need to remember! Note: This password needs to contain at least 6 characters. The screen will inform the student once their password passes this rule.

• If your child has forgotten their password, they should contact their teacher who will be able to reset it for them

 

What exactly is Sparx Maths Homework?

• Sparx homework is tailored to your child, and should offer them just the right level of challenge, based on the topics that their teacher has set.

• Homework contains 3 elements: Compulsory, XP Boost and Target.

• All questions in the Compulsory section must be answered correctly for the homework to be marked as complete.

• Each task bar will show as green when fully complete. For the homework to be classed as complete, all task bars for that homework need to be fully green. The percentage of homework complete will show on the menu page:

• XP Boost questions are at a similar level to Compulsory, and offer extra practice.

• Target questions have been designed to challenge your child. You will receive a link to a video in your parent email each week, to help you offer them support and encouragement with their Target homework.

 

If a student receives too much assistance with their homework, Sparx may think they’re able to tackle more difficult questions and their work could get harder. To prevent this, always encourage them to attempt the question first and to watch the support video before getting help.

Why are there bookwork checks, and how do they work? We believe that a good standard of bookwork is very important in helping students to embed good practice, and to help them and their teachers to keep track of any misconceptions.

• In Sparx, every question is accompanied by a ‘bookwork code’.

• Your child should write this down, and then write their workings and answer next to the code.

• When they are asked for the answer they gave for a particular bookwork code, they need to give the exact answer they wrote down, even if it was wrong

• If a student fails a bookwork check in Sparx, they will need to re-do the question, even if they originally gave the correct answer. This is to encourage them to record their workings.

• The more bookwork checks your child gets correct, the fewer they’ll see

How can I support my child when they’re  stuck?

• Even if your child thinks they will answer incorrectly, they should make the first attempt on a question without assistance. This will enable the teacher to see what they are working on, and also helps Sparx and School correctly determine their level.

• Each question is accompanied by a help video. Watching the video with your child is a great way to support and encourage them with the question.

• If your child gets a question wrong three times, Sparx will suggest they seek help.

• The teacher will also be notified that they need help with this particular question.

• You can also contact the child’s teacher for help using the school’s normal communication channels.

• To help the teacher, we recommend supporting your child in writing down their workings clearly in their book. You can share this with the teacher to help them identify the problem.

• Parents whose children have been set Compulsory homework will receive a weekly email from Sparx, which includes an update on how much homework their child has completed as well as any they have outstanding from the previous few weeks. Most importantly, the email contains a link to a short video that parents can watch and use to help support their child in answering one of their Target questions.

What happens if my child can’t complete their work?

• If for some reason they cannot complete the work that has been set, you, or your child should contact their teacher and seek further advice. How can I check on my child’s progress?

• Sparx provides teachers with data to help them make informed decisions on student progress. We believe that the teacher is the expert on your child’s progress in Maths, and therefore encourage you to get in touch with them if you would like an update.

What is XP?  

• Sparx XP or ‘Experience Points’ is an effort based points system that schools can use to support and inform their own reward schemes.

• Students earn XP when they complete a task or win a reward game.

• Tasks from different homework types earn different numbers of points, for example students can earn more XP if they complete XP Boost and Target homework tasks compared with Compulsory ones.

• In lessons, all tasks are rewarded the same level of XP.

• Students go up a Sparx level for every 10,000 XP they collect. They can be encouraged to increase their number of XP by completing all of their XP Boost and Target homework.

 

Questions with extended written answers

• Some questions in Sparx can not be entered online, but should instead be written down for the teacher to check.

• Sparx will prompt the student to answer ‘I have done this’ for these questions, and teachers may follow up with them later.