Do you agree with homework in Primary

Surely homework should be more about whether it is child/age appropriate, rather than whether the parent can be bothered to do it with their child. An academic child might thrive in a primary school that sets homework.

DD5 is in reception and has homework in addition to reading but she goes to a private school. She absolutely loves school and homework so it suits her but she’s clearly learning at a much more accelerated rate than my friends’ kids at local state schools.

Once again more teacher trolling and people with an axe to grind against them. Teachers don’t create the curriculum- the government goes. Moan at them.

I think it depends on the homework doesn't it? Reading and in due course tables are so foundational accessing other parts of the curriculum that supporting at home is essential in my opinion. Most children would not be able to gain fluency in tables just from work done in class. It's also worth noting that in most schools it seems like they read more with the children whose parents can't/won't read with them at home. That obviously means that they are not spending time doing other things with other children. Notwithstanding that there are some valid reasons why a parent may not read at home, this does seem irritating and unfair.
Beyond that, the evidence is mixed about impact as it depends what the homework is and what kind of support parents can give. Endless projects on Romans etc don't seem to be very necessary and on occasionI haven't done things like this. Personally, I prefer a few maths questions based on what they are doing in school so I can spot any difficulties and spend a short time consolidating with my children. This helps them.move on with more secure foundations and more confidence.
So overall, if you're missing out on reading amd tables I think you are doing your child a disservice, beyond that it is more subjective.

@Iateitallofit

"Earlier you said they have to learn 100 words by the end of year 6"
So at least you now accept that that comment was plain wrong and I did not say this.

"the evidence you provided is guidance, not statutory"
Also wrong - it is statutory for all the schools in England that follow the national curriculum - which is most of them. Even independent schools tend to follow it for spellings as a it's a good list and structure - and they don't want their children rocking up at senior schools not knowing the lists the government has set!

It's also not 200 that they need to do by the end of year 6. There are the 100 from year 3, 100 from year 4, then all the rules that are taught for spellings across years 3 - 6 (see left hand column in the pages that I referred to that has the statutory column in the document) and the teachers typically teach the rules in school and set relevant spellings that week for practice. We've also seen the weekly lists include words from that week's topics (e.g. relevant words relating to Romans or Vikings), words that many children seem to get wrong in their writing, revision of some of the common (high-frequency and exception) words they should have learnt in by the end of year 2, and words that are in the text that they are reading through together in class.

A list of 10 words a week is often ones they've talked about or covered in class that week, and this is to check that the children have learnt and understood what they have been taught.

I'm still interested to hear how else you think that spellings should be taught as you seem to have other suggestions

This thread is interesting as I know a school mum who was always adament it was the school's job to teach, not the parents, despite her having the time to do homework (being a p/t employee) and her kids not having any of the clubs the OP mentions (which is on the parent, not the school). The school mum I mentioned now has a DD without good qualifications and of course the mum is blaming the school.

It takes a village to raise a child, so the saying goes, and parents should play their part. Homework enabled me to see what my DD was learning, what she was doing well in and not doing so well in, it enabled me to ask questions of the teacher and DD to understand what was happening in school etc. I always helped DD with homework, tried to turn family outings into games, or do other educational games (she loved any games to do with money or counting!), and she has tutors for her exams who also give her homework to do. It's all paid off as she got good grades last year.

There are parents who cannot afford tutors, extra curriuclor clubs etc and homework gives them a chance to help their child in other ways. Its rarely hard homework and usually set at the level the child can work at.

sorry- 200- 100 for year 3/4 and again for 5/6.

Free, independent and academy schools don’t have to teach the national curriculum.

where did I say they have to learn 100 words by the end of year 6? I cannot see that - and it's far more than that as I explained above

The "evidence" I provided is the English National Curriculum! This is what English schools are supposed to teach! And, in my experience, do.

Regular tests seem like a good way to monitor progress for the majority of children so that the teachers know how likely the class as a whole (and individual children) are to be able to be able to leave primary school knowing the spellings that their secondary school would like them to know on arrival.

How do you recommend English primary schools teach and monitor children's spelling progress if they don't test them?

Earlier you said they have to learn 100 words by the end of year 6- now you are saying it’s more that 100 (incidentally the evidence you provided is guidance, not statutory)- so which is it? And why are you wedded to the idea that only weekly spelling tests can achieve it? Also, you seem to think that without it all future education will suffer to the point of beI hard to achieve, which obviously isn’t the case.

I hate homework, I agree kids should do some reading then relax. But I was on the PTA and had parents come in to a meeting to talk about how their kids really struggled with suddenly getting an hour of homework a night once they reached high school. The kids weren’t prepared for high school and were at a huge academic disadvantage compared to other kids from different schools.

So while I hate homework, I made sure my kids do theirs because I don’t want them to struggle later.

I wish it could change, but it would have to be across the board.

Our 9 year old DD has to do reading, spellings and times tables every night, then extra Maths and English at the weekend. On top of this, roughly once a term there will be some kind of elaborate 'special' project..something like making a junk-model medieval castle that has to have a working drawbridge, researching a particular topic and writing a 5 minute speech about it complete with slides, or conducting a science experiment and presenting your method and results on a big display board, that sort of thing. This annoys me as it's always something that needs a high level of parental involvement, we can easily end up losing a whole Saturday or Sunday. I also feel sad for the kids whose parents can't be arsed or are genuinely unable to help, they must feel so shit.

They are learning the words for life. That is what an education is for!

It's more than 100 words they need to know though by the end of primary school.

Pages 49 - 62 cover the English curriculum for spellings in the last 4 years of primary school (KS2) https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7de93840f0b62305b7f8ee/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_English_220714.pdf

It's not just learning the words - they are taught the techniques at school and supposed to revise what they have learnt at home in the 10 words they are given that week. At least, that's what I've seen in two different primary schools.

And quite frankly, it's the child who needs to learn to spell the 10 words. Not the parent.

OP is in not in England but I assume there is something similar for primary spelling curriculum where she is.

Also, if they have to know these 100 words (presumably for Sats?) and no further spelling learning will take place at high school @PollyPut why don’t they all loose marks for spag at gcse? Clearly the subject specific spelling are wider spellings needed for gcse is learnt somewhere?

10 spellings a week for 4 years is a hell of a lot more than the 100 words they ‘have’ to know.

In an ideal world maybe it would work like that, but we don’t live in an ideal world where most children learn in the same way and every parent has the capacity to focus on homework- we should have a system that works with reality, not with what people would like reality to be.

Look at it from another angle. Let's assume that the teacher has a work plan that involves the children learning 10 spellings a week over 4 years in junior school, they hope to cover the syllabus. By sending a copy of the 10 spellings a week home, especially if they covered them in class, most children will know them by the end of primary school and the ones who don't have the opportunity to learn them.

There will be some children who find this doesn't approach work for them (e.g. SEN or dyslexia). But it will work for most, especially those who already read a lot. If everyone took the OP's approach to not even look at the class spellings (and @Toastiesforever has now twice overlooked the questions about whether her DC have spelling tests at school, so we don't know) then the class as a whole is going to make much slower progress in their spelling.

If everyone does do their weekly spellings at home, then the few who are going to need extra support with spelling, or a different way to learn spelling (which I think is what you are referring to @Iateitallofit ) should be highlighted to the teacher earlier and then those other techniques you seem to be referring to can applied at a younger age to help them.

I agree with homework, it shows me how she's progressing and what struggling with. We do daily reading, spelling and times tables. The spelling and tt are little and often so 5 mins a day or longer if enjoying the app. Reading is slightly longer eg one chapter is minimum but will often read more if likes the book.
2 additional piece of home work set weekly, usually 15 mins each, if its maths then skip tt that day etc
There's no reward for doing homework or discipline for not, but they do get progression awards, so my dd is happy to do extra at home. There is also options to do spelling and tt in afterschool club which has done several times this year too.

I used to hear Year 7 saying that too, they had been force-fed for SATs and thought High school was such a relief! They soon learned otherwise once the honeymoon period of Year 7 ended, usually around January.

So you expect that with almost no experience of homework until GCSE, generally Year 10, children will be able to discipline themselves to do the amount of homework necessary, as well as the revision? Good luck with that one!

As I said- sitting with someone one to one being ‘taught’ spellings isn’t the only (or necessarily the best) way to learn to spell, it’s quite possible to be successful without it.

Im not saying no one should be taught to spell or practice spellings etc- I’m just saying that weekly spelling tests are not the be all and end all without which all is lost. Learning doesn’t work like that.

We didn’t do any homework except reading until this year (p6). Now dd is 10 she can do homework actually independently and it’s good prep for secondary but until now she’s been near the top of the class and as with others we felt there was better ways to use her time - cooking and eating as a family, practising a musical instrument, exercise and free reading.

My son had more homework in primary then secondary school 🤣 his shock was the opposite.

It's an unenforceable waste of time imo at any age. Setting activities is fine, but there should be no punishment for students who don't do them. So voluntary.

Who do you think is going to help those children learn those spellings in secondary school? I wouldn't have thought it's the secondary school English teachers job to teach them the spellings that the national curriculum has said they should learn in primary school. So who do you think will pick up on the words they can't spell, work with that child one on one to correct them and then check them to make sure they know them? Chances are that they aren't going to get them corrected and will go through life with the wrong spellings. I can think of two teachers at our primary school who couldn't spell certain words and then we found the next generation of children learning the wrong spellings - that wasn't ideal...

The government set a list of words for pupils to learn by the end of year 6 for a reason.

I'm sure that some people with SEN find spelling tests a tricky way to learn spellings and have no doubt that some will need extra help or can't keep up - I know a few children this applies to. But then presumably they will have their own agreed arrangements with the school. OP didn't mention SEN.

I think reading, spellings and timetable practise is more than acceptable. I also think they should have little “projects” once in a while so they learn the responsibility of homework without it being so tiresome. It is still a MASSIVE change going into secondary education, no harm at all gently preparing them.

I do. It's only a bit and they're old enough in year 5 and 6 and if they don't get used to it secondary school would be horrific.