Why do schools set homework?

The government's homework policy says that schools must set homework. Learning at home is believed to be 'an essential part of good education'. Homework should

reinforce classroom learning

help children to develop independent learning skills, including research skills

be at a suitable level for each child.

What's the right amount of homework for my child?

The times listed below are government recommendations. Sometimes tasks may take less time. So long as the activity is interesting and meaningful, that's fine - the idea is to encourage learning rather than to fill a set amount of time.

Primary school children:

Years 1 and 2: 1 hour per week
Years 3 and 4: 1.5 hours per week
Years 5 and 6: 30 minutes per day

Secondary school children:

Years 7 and 8: 45 to 90 minutes per day
Year 9: 1 to 2 hours per day
Years 10 and 11: 1.5 to 2.5 hours per day

If your child is fascinated by a topic or task and wants to spend hours working on it, great - but if a task is taking ages and he's starting to get distressed, do let him stop. Sometimes coming back to it later helps, but if you feel the homework set is just too hard, write a note to the teacher to let her know there's a problem.

However, your child shouldn't be spending very much more time on homework than suggested here. Schools and teachers are expected to plan homework time so that children are not overloaded. Don't let homework time interfere with out-of-school clubs and activities.

If your child has a couple of days without homework, encourage him to read. Make sure there are plenty of interesting books, magazines and newspapers in the house and that he is a member of the local library.

What sort of tasks could be set?

Homework should relate to work your child is doing at school. It doesn't always have to be written down. Homework for younger children might include reading with parents or carers, informal games to practise maths skills, learning something specific like spellings or tables, collecting a series of items or even making something following a set of instructions.

In the early years, homework will usually focus on key reading, writing and maths skills. Other subjects such as science, geography and history will be introduced as your child moves through primary school.

For older children, homework might also include preparing a presentation to the class, finding out information, making something, trying out a simple scientific experiment or even cooking, as well as more traditional written work.

Your child may be asked to write notes after watching or listening to a particular programme, interviewing a friend or researching using books or the internet. On other occasions, a science worksheet might be the homework activity. Sometimes a task will have been started at school and will be brought home to finish. Later on in secondary school, homework will include coursework research and writing.

Based on an article by A Suri

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