Before Christmas, DD(5 y/o)'s homework was fine. They were given a weekly reading book and a little activity each day, which was always related to what she was doing in class. She knew it would take 5 minutes at the most and was quite happy to do it.
After Christmas, the school changed its homework policy and now we are given monthly 'Shared Home Learning Challenges' (current examples: make models, write a poem or a song, create a game). There are some good ones in there (e.g. find objects which start or end with a sound we have learned in class) but they are heavily encouraged/bribed with house points to complete the more complicated assignments. You can also only do each activity once for it to count 
On the whole, it is so much work for parents. I love doing crafty things with DD, but having it assigned takes all the joy and spontaneity out of it.
Is it too much to ask for Maths on a Monday and Wednesday and phonics on a Tuesday and Thursday?!