Beacon Connect: March 2026

Thank you to all parents and carers who attended our first Beacon Connect Parent Forum in March. Your contributions were invaluable, and our staff found the discussions extremely useful. We hope you did too.

As promised, we have reviewed all feedback and agreed on a series of actions to improve communication, reporting and support for our students. Below is a summary of the key points raised and what we will do in response. 

How to support your child's learning:

You said: You would like to know more about what your child is learning and how much homework they should be completing.

We will: We will share guidance to our website which has our curriculum overviews and expectations for homework.

You said: There are challenges with online homework. Devices can be distracting and it can be difficult for parents to support learning at home. Also some online tasks are hard for students to engage with, and online homework increases screen time.

We will: We will continue to carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages of online homework, particularly when using openly available platforms such as YouTube. We will also continue to keep up to date with research about students’ attention and learning when working on screens.

You said: It would be helpful to have clearer information about the support available to help students with homework.

We will: We will ensure we clearly communicate the support available, including contacting subject teachers, Keep Up sessions, the daily Homework Club, and access to the library before school every day and after school.

Digital Learning:

You said: You would like more guidance about how much time your children should be spending on their phones.

We will: We will continue to share guidance on phone usage for students.

You said: In light of developments in AI, you would like a clearer explanation of what constitutes cheating and a clearer understanding of the purpose of homework.

We will: We will remind students that the purpose of homework is to develop their thinking and consolidate learning. We will also issue clear guidance about the appropriate and inappropriate use of AI.

Feedback about Beacon Connect: 

We were delighted to receive positive feedback following the event. Here are a few comments from parents and carers: 

• I found the session on revision extremely helpful and wonderful that our children receive the same insight. The session on homework equally useful and very well presented, the golden nugget for me was not to get involved in 'helping' with any misunderstanding and to foster a mindset of reaching out to peers or teachers to find answers.

• I really appreciate the school doing this and the teachers giving their time to enable it, so thank you. 

• t was also very useful to listen to other parents talking about what they find useful or challenging. I was really impressed by all of the teachers level of engagement, interest and care for the learning experience and our children.

Our next Parent Forum: 

We will continue to host Beacon Connect Forums, providing opportunities to explore and discuss important topics with our school community. Further details will be shared once our next session has been confirmed.

Thank you again for your feedback and continued support. 

If you have any questions, please contact us at office@beacon-academy.org.