Why do primary age kids have homework?

[letsmargaritatime]

Is it because parents expect it? Is it needed because the school hours are not long enough for all the learning to be done? Is it necessary to cement what has been learned in the classroom? Is it extra pressure on teachers because of SATS?

When I was in primary school (80s) it was literally just reading and times tables, which I get, these things underpin all their other learning. But my dc get weekly homework and always hated doing it, and I hated forcing them. Sometimes the tasks themselves seem pointless, and I always rolled my eyes at the model making tasks where kids would be lavished with praise or get extra golden time for something clearly constructed by their parents. I remember hearing one mother tell her child that she would carry the model Tudor house into the classroom as "I'm not risking you dropping it and ruining it"

Why the increase? Or was I unusual in not having homework in primary school? In fact maybe I'm unusual in saying I'd be perfectly happy if my dc had no homework at all until
senior school!

[G1raffe]

i wonder if thats it . More adfluent/middle class intakes can get away with out playing the homework game.

Ours is a mainly w/c with some m/c, a real mix.

I

[NefretForth]

God knows, I hate it and I have a child who doesn't have much trouble with it and doesn't really seem to mind it. Heaven knows what it would be like with a really resistant child. I really can't see what good it's doing. DD is 7 and we've had the weekly spelling list since the beginning of Year 1, plus reading (don't mind that, but the books don't get changed often enough), maths, grammar and now she's in Yr 3 science too. Our evenings would be so much nicer without it!

[ThisIsntMyUsualName]

For my yr1, very recently turned 5 ds today we have visited a castle. We then needed to write 5 facts about said castle and do a poster when we got home. We didn't realise until we got there that our EH membership had expired so had to pay £38 to get in. Then the normally 30 minute drive home took 2.5 hours as the motorway was shut. By the time we got home ds was too tired to write anything down. Dc2's fell asleep in the car the whole way and is now standing on his head shouting 'trains and cars' repeatedly.

I consider all this to be evidence that homework for young children is a complete waste of time that drives me to drink.

[silverbell64]

I have no idea why they should and neither does my sister who's a primary school teacher. There is absolutely no benefit to the child.

[AnotherCasserole]

Definitely middle class neighbourhood. Not everyone knits their own lentils but lots of parents with houses full of books. As is ours :-)

[G1raffe]

Wow Another. Out of curiosity is it a more affluent intake?

[AnotherCasserole]

My kids' junior school has just scrapped homework. Joy! Well... except they have a "reading log" they're supposed to write in every day (not too stressful, actually, and firstborn writes whatever she reads, whether it's a "proper" book or her Deadly 60 annual :-)) and we've been sent a list of "optional activities". But no one seems that keen on those. Yay for getting our Saturday mornings back for wholesome family fun (and totally not watching bad cartoons and playing Labyrinth... totally not that at all) without the weekly row about homework, being neat etc etc

[Maryann1975]

The purpose of primary school homework is to annoy parents, that is the only reason I am think off.
We have a middle school system here, so 1 child at first school, 2 at middle school. The 7 year old has had more homework than the 9 and 11 year old this weekend. This frustrates the life out of me. If homework is so necessary why have they (the older two) not got more?
We have arguments every weekend about doing it. With the older one, I appreciate its usefulness but the youngest one, I can see no benefit in the crap she is being given to do. Reading and maybe a bit of mental maths practice every now and again should be plenty.

[G1raffe]

Macaroni - you see a point to spellings then? all from yr 1-yr 6? Does it actually help them spell...

[Macaroni46]

I work in primary education and personally am against homework for children under the age of 10. But we get so much pressure from parents if we don't set homework that we feel obliged to set it. We try to keep it "light", usually topic based such as finding five fun facts about the topic they're working on plus daily reading, weekly spellings and times tables. In my experience (been in education for 25 years) for every parent who complains about too much homework there's another who is desperate for more! Some parents have told me they like it as it lets them see what their DC is doing at school but I don't think that's a good enough reason to set it. If it was up to me, I'd only set reading, spelling and tables.

[Whatamesshaslunch]

Government/ofsted advice is for meaningful homework. Not 'send them home and write a story'.
You write the story at school. The homework can be finishing it, or underlining the adjectives in it, or something else that extends.
Similarly, why would you set a homework to 'research' something? That's also for school, with help.
If homework is really to nurture natural curiosity it should be a discussion idea, or a 'what if...' style question etc. You shouldn't expect much more from a primary child after school, and especially not something that involves 20 minutes of writing, if you want them to be at their best during the actual school hours.

[G1raffe]

"In line with Government advice, homework is set in all year groups. Home learning offers a range of opportunities which extend the educational offer provided by our schools, nurture children’s natural
curiosity and promote a desire for self-improvement."

The school was taken over a few years ago and so the homework through infant school is new to us.

[G1raffe]

A wealthy area in contrast full of extra curricular activities and houses more predominantly with books etc will be able to do less to get there?

[G1raffe]

Very "mixed" area here so battling in order to get good results from the demographic. Probably why the "pushing" then.

[kesstrel]

Why do schools say ofsted expects h/w if other schools don't?

School leaders sometimes appear to be out of date on changes in Ofsted expectations. Ofsted have back-pedalled a lot recently on previous prescriptive requirements. On the other hand, concerns about whether all Ofsted inspectors are being consistent in applying standards are probably pretty reasonable, given past history. A school getting good results probably also feels more confident in following their own ethos than one that doesn't.

[G1raffe]

Why do schools say ofsted expects h/w if other schools don't?

It does seem to be the norm.

I think our school is hoping it raises sats scores. I do hate that the main interaction with school becomes about cajoling kids into doing pointless tasks or they're kept in!

[kesstrel]

Pretty sure the Dept of Education no longer insists on homework. Changed 4-5 years ago? But most schools are under pressure from parents to set it.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

With the current attack on state school budgets, coupled with the teacher shortage, parents are going to have to do more at home if they want their DC educated to a decent standard.

[Heatherjayne1972]

My sons yr4 teacher said she didn't agree with it but she had no choice as the dept of education insist on homework

[Ohyesiam]

The lovely primary that both my kids have been through only gives spellings, reading, and tables to year 6, apart from summer holiday homework around the topic, which can be a model, a dance, some cooking, a poster etc. So the invitation is to put in as little of s much time as you like.

[Allyg1185]

I always read these posts and winder if it's an English school thing to hand out so much homework?

I live in Scotland my ds is in p2 and has had no homework this term ( schools break off for October holidays in two weeks )

In p1 he got none till after the xmas break. He got home ten spelling words on a Tuesday which he was to read to me and write out twice. On a Friday he got a reading book. By book i mean 3 pages long and it was " the fat cat sat on the mat". Anf he got one project that year to make a habitat out of a shoebox

I have relatives in the same school in p3 and p4 and its the same for them

[Perfectly1mperfect]

My attempt to bold what GetAHaircutCarl said on my last post didn't work for some reason !

[Perfectly1mperfect]

GetAHaircutCarl
People always trot out the reasearch shows primary HW is useless line, without really looking at the research.

What it shows is that the type of HW generally given by state schools in primary has little affect upon English and maths as measured by SATS.

To conclude that no HW has any impact on any subject, is quite a jump.

This makes more sense. If a child is struggling with a topic at school and the school send some home as homework, you get to see if they can't answer the questions. As a parent you can explain it to them 1:1 and then they can do the questions. So obviously it helps.

I think it requires parents to sit with the child and deepen their understanding sometimes so that it makes sense. This is what in my experience many parents are unwilling to do. They then start churning out the 'homework doesn't help' lines.

[GetAHaircutCarl]

History? geography? Science?