How to allocate posts to pages (and hide from front page)

I’m new to wordpress and trying my best to sort out as many of my own questions as I can, but I can’t get my head round the pages, posts and categories of this template, despite all the documentation. Wonder if someone can help.

Can I create a ‘home page’ with this template that only shows a certain category of post? So I can control exactly what’s shown when users land on the site (i.e. hide all other types).

Can I then allocate new posts to separate pages and not have them show on the home page at all?

Thanks in advance