Creating a homework rewards system

Most schools we have spoken to find that using a consistent mixture of rewards and sanctions is the best way to motivate their students to complete their Sparx homework on time.

Lots of schools use SRP (Sparx Reader Points) as the basis for their rewards system. Have a look at our Student Activity Reports which are described in our article What can I see and do on the Reports page? to find out where to see this data. SRP (rather than word count) is the best measure of how much work a student has completed because they are adaptive to each student's reading speed.

Reward metrics

• Compulsory SRP completion
• Extra SRP 
• Early reading homework completion

Reward recipients

• Individual students
• Classes
• Year groups
• Tutor groups

Reward examples

Pizza party

The class or students with the highest completion rates at the end of the term gets a pizza party.

Lollipop Friday

If students complete their homework by Friday they get a lollipop.

Certificate assemblies

Give out certificates to students who have reached a new or impressive level of SRP and invite a member of your SLT. We have examples of these certificates which you can print as well as others in this article: Certificates and Posters.

Termly film afternoon

On the last day of each term, the top students, year group or class can win a film afternoon.

Further reward ideas

• Pass to skip the lunch queue
• Postcards/phone calls home to parents
• Linking SRP to an existing school reward system, e.g. to convert to merits, house points, or to buy things in the school reward shop 
• Mentions on social media
• Being the first to leave the lesson

Finding the right data

Using the Student Activity Report

The class with the best completion rates or highest SRP this academic year 

The class with the best completion rate or highest SRP in a particular week 

The student with the highest SRP in a particular week or this academic year 

The student with the highest SRP in a term or half-term