Does your child's school use a system that allows parents to see what their homework is?

But my DD is at a school that schedules 12 pieces of homework per week

Wow! This is the biggest issue, I'd say. Hard for them to take responsibility for their own homework with that amount. Our school did quite a lot of research into the value of homework and consequently massively cut back.

lotusbell isn't that an illustration of the problem with the system - the children stop taking responsibility for themselves and become passive and helpless.

If the homework was on the board then secondary age children without relevant learning difficulties should have ownership of the task and getting it done, not shrug and expect not to have to do it if it hasn't also been added onto an online system.

Right from year 5 my children have been expected to find out from classmates what any work and homework they missed while off ill was - they can go and find the teachers one by one (middle school type set up with traditional primary ending after year 4) if they want, but they aren't spoon fed.

Obviously some children require extra support but the majority aren't well served by being made passive passengers in their schooling - learning to take ownership stands them in good stead as they become independent learners.

No, not at secondary age they don't. Their feeling, and mine, is that at this age parents shouldn't have to be involved in the child's homework.

They also discourage parents from correcting anything as part of the point with homework is to actually see how the boys themselves understand the subject (all boys school).

I mean if my kids ask me something or asks me to help with a particular issue, I do it happily. But it's up to them to know what they're supposed to do and when they're supposed to do it. It's such a big part in getting ready for uni.

Oh right kazzy
I thought you meant that there should be one platform that does everything, rather than one place for homework. Sorry. That's my misunderstanding.

Setting on the board and show my homework/school online system is the expectation in most places I've worked.

The beauty of SMH and other platforms is that we can link to other learning platforms that have material, but it has to be posted on school approved platform.

My frustration is that I don't think people realise that some of these platforms actually create workload for staff, so in the past it would be:
A. Prep homework
B. Set homework in class
C. Collect homework
If anyone needed help then they'd ask friends or find a teacher.

Now it's:
A. Prep homework
B: Set homework in class (usually accompanied by one students who says they dont have a password / can't use the online platform)
C. Find some time to upload the homework to the platform
Sit there safe in the knowledge that Timmy's mum will argue that he couldn't have possibly done the homework you gave a week for because it went live at 830am Tuesday and not 3:30 Monday when it was set in class, ergo he couldn't possibly have completed it.
D. Collect homework in in class
E. Hear a range of excuses linked to the platform as to why it couldn't be done (occasionally genuine but most translate to "I wasn't organised and want to blame something else").

And alongside all of this, a minority think that an online platform means being contactable 24/7 so you get requests for help at 10pm, followed by notes from parents saying their child lost the homework so won't have it done (even though they could have collected another from you in the 4 days they've had a lesson this week).

In a school with a good culture and sensible parents, these systems and platforms are excellent. In others they are, shall we say, another way of passing more and more student responsibility into staff.

Firefly is used at both my DS & DD's schools.

With DS i have the app on my phone so i can see what homework he has, links to reports and messages from school. He has one teacher who has a habit of putting homework on there before the lesson and then forgetting to tell them.

DD's school doesn't have a parental option but maybe that's because she's in sixth form?

Schools usually pick the systems that work best for their school.

They have, they've chosen SMHW but the point is that teachers don't all use it - some use other ways which just makes the whole thing complicated and unmanageable. If a school has adopted a system such as SMHW then that should be "THE" definitive place where homeworks are set. Not on the board, or by email or in a SM chat.

kazzy
Schools usually pick the systems that work best for their school.

Eg register for SIMS because it's the better data management set up than most others, another may be better for setting homework. Our electronic communications system for parents is great, but it doesn't have a homework section and I'd rather have 2 systems that do their job well than one purely to make life easier for the people who don't use it most of the time.

Also the school have abandoned paper planners now unless indivisuals request one. My youngest has one but when he uses it he misses out key information so if he had to rely on that alone it would be a disaster!

Ours use Insight. The kids have their own log in and parents have a separate one. There is also an app. It's used to put homework on/behaviour points/the timetable for the day/booking parents evening and viewing reports. It also generates emails to parents each time homework is set on there.

Rarely log on for my eldest child but the youngest has SEN and it has been a godsend!

Show my Homework here, but they never put the grades in afterward.

It’s very useful and tbh I’d never keep up with three at secondary otherwise. I can see all three in the app

wonder if there is an argument for going back to paper diaries where you can see the weeks ahead more easily and keep all the commitments together in one place.

I'd agree with that. It's important to have all actions due in one system, whether you're a school pupil, or at home or at work. Having several different systems is never going to work as well.

Alternatively, they could just force the teachers to use the official system rather than a myriad of different ways subject to teacher preference. We desperately need more systemisation in schools.

My son's school "use" show my homework (SMHW). Well, some teachers do anyway. It was first introduced when son was in year 8. Before that they were given homework diaries which worked well and the form teacher used to sign off the diary each week to check it was being used properly.

SMHW worked well at first as most teachers started to use it. But during year 8, they still had the homework diary so it was a bit half and half.

Like a lot of these new school initiatives, the novelty soon wore off and teachers started using it less. As they'd stopped issuing homework diaries by the start of year 9, pupils had nothing to write it in, so they started either trying to remember or just made a note at the back of the exercise book, so homeworks started to be forgotten. The teachers must have been given a kick up the backside by the management, as SMHW started to be used more again, but after a few months tailed off.

Now, very few teachers bother with it. Some send out emails to their class with homework. Some still just say what has to be done and the pupils have to find their own way of reminding themselves. Others have set up social media group chat pages where they post the homework.

It's all turned into a bit of a mess.

Well, I've finally managed to register with the school's new system by changing my browser.

It shows stuff I could already see, plus attendance record and log of achievements. The homework section doesn't seem very helpful, but maybe that's because DD is up to date.

I shall monitor.

Showmyhomework at dd’s school and ClassCharts at ds’s school.

DS12 school uses Show My Homework, very useful. Would be even better if all the teachers remembered to use it instead of having a go at the kids when they haven't done a piece of work because they haven't set it on SMH!

I tutor children from a lot of schools, and many use a variety of these systems - they're all pretty similar.

They are helpful for those who struggle with getting the homework written down, legibly and in time, and with those who have real organisation problems and manage to lose all the sheets so that they can't actually do the work, and start falling behind.

But for children without those difficulties, it has resulted in them adopting a less responsible, less organised approach. There's always someone or something to blame. Even if the teacher has told them homework in class, if it's not on there, they can get out of doing it, or they didn't listen the first time. they don't listen properly if the teacher tells them about tests or other useful information, as 'it will be on edmodo' or whatever. it's just taken the responsibility away from them, as well as the ability to organise themselves. They don't see longer term than what is immediately due that week, in the way the do with a paper diary that they can flick through to see when half term is (when they know exams are often just before it), what tests are coming up in two weeks, when a project is due, all that sort of thing. They also can't write in things that are commitments for themselves, like play rehearsals or school trips, so that they can organise the homework around it and plan ahead.

All of these things are perfectly possible with an online system, when there are motivated students, supportive parents, supportive schools etc., but my experience is that for the average child, they often don't happen. They stay reliant on someone else to organise the homework and tell them when to revise. I teach university level students as well, and I can see that some of them have also never developed these skills, and wonder if there is an argument for going back to paper diaries where you can see the weeks ahead more easily and keep all the commitments together in one place.

The ones used most often here seem to be google classroom, edmodo, show my homework, epraise.

There is also a problem with students having to remember to write down all the various log-ins and codes that they need to add the right classes to the system (if not done by the school), and to keep all the passwords and codes separate from the ones they need for the various online maths, programmes, etc. I know some who have logged in permanently on their phone, but lost the password since, and if that ever is inaccessible, they can't access the homework at all, since we've tried on other devices.

My DS school uses show my homework

It is a learning curve for children, if their parents are sensible and supportive.

It's not a learning curve if the parent then backs the child and tells them they don't have to do their homework because the teacher hasn't been an on call personal tutor the night before homework is due.

Lola I think that's a learning curve for children. DD2 suggested that she might message her teacher to ask a question the night before homework was due. I told her that ship had sailed. I think that sometimes, children think that however they leave someone is how they stay until the next time they see them! They don't think about the fact that they aren't the only thing that a person thinks of.

DS1's school uses SMHW but he does his homework at school (has SN EHCP etc and it's timetabled)

DS2's school don't use any kind of online system for homework, so it's bits of paper or just written in his planner. I occasionally get an email that I'm then to pass on to him to do for IT. He doesn't get much homework as yet (Yr8).

They can also contact the teachers on there if there is something they don't understand.
That's a good feature, but only if school culture is right.

I've worked in schools where I'd set a week to do homework and then would get queries from students and parents at 10pm the night before it's due, followed by snotty emails and messages from parents saying their child is exempt from any sanction for homework as I had failed to help them.

The idea of starting homework with reasonable time to go, asking for help with a reasonable timeframe, or just attempting homework and applying common sense seemed to go out the window. It became an all too convenient way to blame teachers for their child's refusal to take responsibility. It was awful.

At my current school, even with that feature students still tend to find us at break/lunch or ask questions in person and I've only ever had questions through the system that can be responded to in good time (I tell my students that I'll respond online within 2 working days). Unsurprisingly, it means they use their initiative more and there's much fewer issues.

I don't think it's helicopter parenting to have an idea of what homework your child has, and having access to her Classroom saves all the 'Have you got homework?' 'No' 'Are you sure...' debate. For a child like mine, who struggles with completing homework, we can skip straight to 'ok, you've got 3 pieces of homework due by Wednesday, what's your plan?'

Having said that, DD3 will attend the same school in September, and currently I only see her homework if she struggles. She's super organised, likes homework and is incredibly independent, so I suspect that I'll have very little input with hers.

@Ariana30

They go to a school in solihull, West mids.

@Holidayz, I wonder if our children are at the same school! We have the same, smhw for homework and sims for achievements, behaviour and reports. I like that I can keep up to date and check his homework. Its also really good for the kids to be independent and have control over their homework and can tick it off themselves when they have completed it. They can also contact the teachers on there if there is something they don't understand.