To set homework with Sparx Reader, several setup steps are required, these are detailed on the Getting Started Steps page in your Sparx Reader site. Alternatively, you can follow the steps outlined in the second half of this page.
Using the Getting Started Steps page
The Getting Started Steps page in your Sparx Reader site provides a detailed overview of the setup steps that need to be completed, customised to your school. You'll likely find it easiest to use this to guide you through the setup process.
When you first start using Sparx Reader, you'll see a link to the Getting Started Steps page on your dashboard.
If you dismiss this, or need to refer to the Getting Started Steps page later on in the school year, you can also access it via the 'Getting Started' option under your user menu.
This page lists the steps that need to be completed, the status of each of these steps for your school, and guidance on how to complete the steps. Click on a step to expand it and view more detail.
Steps to complete
Alternatively, you can follow the steps listed below.
Import your classes and students from your school's MIS, into Sparx Reader
Import your classes and students from your school's MIS, into Sparx Reader
You'll need to choose which classes to import from your school's MIS, into Sparx Reader. When you import classes, all students in those classes will be imported too.
See Adding classes and students for more information.
Set up teacher accounts
Set up teacher accounts
To enable your colleagues to use Sparx Reader, you'll need to set up Sparx Reader accounts for them by adding them to Staff Manager.
See Adding, updating and removing staff members more information.
Get your team to complete their Sparx Reader training
Get your team to complete their Sparx Reader training
It's important that all teaching staff and other relevant roles who use Sparx Reader (i.e. Librarian) understand how to use it, in order that it's working the best that it can for your school. We provide a short training programme which helps users to familiarise themselves with all of the key features of Sparx Reader.
See Helping your team to make the most of Sparx Reader for more information.
Tell us about your key contacts
Tell us about your key contacts
It's important that you tell us about certain key contacts in your school (e.g. your finance contact, your IT contact etc.) so that we can ensure that important communications get sent to the right person.
See Adding, updating and removing key contacts for more information.
Show your students how to use Sparx Reader and get them logged in for the first time
Show your students how to use Sparx Reader and get them logged in for the first time
When introducing Sparx Reader to students, it's important to understand the initial steps they'll take and how to best support them through the process. The platform is designed to help students build strong reading habits through regular practice and engagement with texts at their level.
See Understanding the student experience and getting students started for more information.
Complete your class setup and assign teachers
Complete your class setup and assign teachers
The Class Manager page (found under the More menu) allows you to see all classes on Reader, including the teachers that are assigned, whether any homework plans are due to expire soon, and easily click through to see all students in the class.
Assign teachers to classes:
Click the pencil icon in the "Teachers" column to make changes to individual classes
Assign yourself to multiple classes:
Click Select my classes to assign yourself to multiple classes
Assigning yourself to your classes makes it easier to navigate to the correct Hand-In page, and unlocks personalised statistics on the Home page for just your classes. This also enables teacher emails to be sent about homework.
See Monitoring homework completion for more information on teacher emails.
Create your homework plans
Create your homework plans
Create each class homework plan.
See Planning or changing homework for a class for more information.
Recommended steps
Turn on parent emails
Turn on parent emails
Our data shows that turning on parent emails has a significant impact on homework completion.
See Why and how we engage parents with Sparx Reader for more information.
Set up Single Sign-On (login with Google or Microsoft)
Set up Single Sign-On (login with Google or Microsoft)
If your school provides Google or Microsoft accounts for your staff and students, we recommend enabling single sign-on so that they can use these accounts to sign in to Sparx Reader.
This reduces the likelihood of forgotten passwords (which can, in turn, result in delayed homework hand-ins for students).
See Setting up single Sign-On (login with Google/Microsoft) for more information.
You might want to ask your school's IT contact to help you to set this up, in which case you can create a teacher account for them, so they can log in to your Sparx Reader site. See Adding, updating and removing staff members more information.