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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

wierd homework marking policy ( in my view )

30 replies

MilkRunningOutAgain · 09/06/2013 19:54

DS is bright and finds maths homework easy. Until a few weeks back, although he hates homework, he accepted it as a necessary evil and did it, getting a housepoint for his minimal effort. A few weeks back he mis read the point of several questions, and got them wrong. The teacher noticed this, usually she ticks the correct answers, the incorrect ones she left untouched, no tick, no cross, no comment. But she gave the customary house point.

Next week, DS doesn't bother at all, just puts answers in the boxes without reading the questions. Result, no ticks, no crosses, but a HP!

I spoke to his teacher about it as I was amazed. I tried to be calm and simply asked what her policy was. She was embarrassed. She admitted that the new post Ofsted ( where the school was found to be needing improvement ) policy was not to put children off by marking homework wrong. Can this be right? DS is just taking advantage, and has been now for several weeks.

I wondered if anyone else has experienced this?

OP posts:

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learnandsay · 09/06/2013 20:03

They'd be better off just not giving homework then.

Floggingmolly · 09/06/2013 20:11

That's sheer lunacy.

ClutchingPearls · 09/06/2013 20:14

Odd.

My schoolage self would push it as far as possible to see how little/wrong I could get my homework and still receive the HP.

Did the teacher indicate the lower threshold for the HP or would a rolled up piece of torn paper with "my homework" written on it still pass?

learnandsay · 09/06/2013 20:15

What about the paper with unspecified brown smudges on it, does that still get a house point?

christinarossetti · 09/06/2013 20:46

How old is your ds?

Original poster

MilkRunningOutAgain · 09/06/2013 21:10

DS is in yr 5. No idea about the brown smudgy paper L&S, DS is quite particular about his belongings and careful to keep everything neat & tidy!

OP posts:

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 09/06/2013 21:13

WTF?

Surely all that does is lead to children not putting in effort as with your DS, but also thinking that they have got questions right when they haven't? Especially in maths when things are fairly black and white that is a dreadful idea and could encourage them in thinking that incorrect methods work and all sorts.

I would be speaking to the HT to clarify and complain.

ReadytoOrderSir · 09/06/2013 21:18

When I was training, one of my placement schools had a whole school marking policy that involved marking a maximum of three correct bits with a star, and a maximum of three incorrect bits with a dot (in different colours!). So, if a child had done 20 maths Qs and got half of them right, they'd have three stars and three dots and a comment. I got told off for using the comment to say "Have another look at questions 5, 6, 8, 9, 12 ... etc). Madness!

LindyHemming · 09/06/2013 22:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wheresthebeach · 09/06/2013 22:46

Well that's madness!

Phoebe47 · 09/06/2013 22:47

What is the point of giving homework if it is not marked appropriately? There is no point in a child doing homework if is is not going to be properly marked so that they can see what they are doing right and where they are going wrong. If they find ticks and crosses so offensive why do they not use another marking system - red circles for correct and blue circles for not correct perhaps - although I must say that I think that would just be silly. Teacher could write a comment telling children where they have gone wrong and praising what they have got right. Prefer ticks and crosses myself and the school I work at had Ofsted in January and we got Outstanding. Ticks and crosses not a problem as long as also a positive comment for our Ofsted team.

BabiesAreLikeBuses · 09/06/2013 23:00

I have spent the last 2h marking homework, we use diff colour highlighter pens for right and wrong. I have used both - and next to the wrong bits i have asked questions or explained it. Took ages but at least they will learn from it. It's pointless without feedback. I have also made lots of positive comments -been doing it this way all year and the difference since sept is huge. No point in a reward unless it is earned, that totally devalues housepoints as your dc has quickly realised.

LindyHemming · 09/06/2013 23:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

picnicbasketcase · 09/06/2013 23:02

So he could draw a picture of a willy or wipe a bogey on the page instead of writing an answer and it would still get a house point? That's loopy.

ReallyTired · 09/06/2013 23:07

My son's school has a dot instead of a cross for sums which are wrong. Its supposed to be less demoralising.

I think its fair to give a house point for handing in the work and having an attempt. Children vary a lot in ablity and a child might have worked really hard and got every sum wrong because they did not understand the work.

I suppose the school is rewarding hard work rather than cleverness. Prehaps you should tell your son that the house point is for handing in the work and if he does not make more effort then the teacher will think he is stupid.

BabiesAreLikeBuses · 09/06/2013 23:23

Our housepoints are given on effort and at this stage in the year it's easy to figure that out. The worst piece i marked tonight got 2. Half of it was wrong, but it was complete and in on time (unusual) and the child had thought about each question. One had clearly been dictated by a parent
it's how you talk about it that affects the self esteem not the colour of the pen or whether it's a dot or a cross. A cross may seem harsh to us as when we were at school it indicated failure. Teaching and teachers have moved on... Or else wecare bringing up a generation that will be dot phobic!!
reallytired i am assuming you are joking with saying the teacher will think he is stupid, harsh!

DeWe · 10/06/2013 09:41

We're going to bring up a generation that's scared of green dots

And they'll suggest bringing back red pen as it's less scary.

I would actually say it is very demoralising for a child to work hard at a piece of work and know that whatever they'll get a "good mark". Dd1 would still work hard, dd2 wouldn't bother with accuracy, and I don't think ds would see the point of putting pen to paper...

learnandsay · 10/06/2013 10:33

Well, if a child (with a proper homework regime) wants to avoid crosses next to her answers she knows what she has to do.

Floggingmolly · 10/06/2013 10:49

How could a dot be less demoralising than a cross if it means the same thing? . If an answer's wrong, it's wrong, and there's no lesson learnt in not having that fact pointed out to you.
It's just an extension of the "there are no losers, everyone's a winner" bollocks perpetuated by schools today, but it's a step too bloody far for me. I'd remove my kids from any school that couldn't tell them they'd missed the whole point of a lesson in case it crushed their delicate sensibilities.
I'd rather they learnt.

treaclesoda · 10/06/2013 10:52

I don't get this 'x is demoralising so we use a dot instead'. Its just a symbol to indicate if its right or wrong. You can change the symbol all you want but it won't make the sums right, or the struggling student struggle less, or the child who isn't making an effort suddenly try harder. Surely in the end what matters is that the child is encouraged to do their best, to work hard hard etc? In 5 years time, someone could decide that dots will be demoralising too and they'll have to switch to something else

treaclesoda · 10/06/2013 10:52

X posts with others!

treaclesoda · 10/06/2013 10:54

Can I ask, what's a housepoint? And what does it mean. We don't have anything like that at my dcs school. Thanks.

learnandsay · 10/06/2013 11:01

Houses are permanent groups that the school is divided into often named after colours, people, rivers and things of that sort. They compete against each other in sports days and the like. It's likely that the house with the most points at the end of the year wins some sort of trophy.

wheresthebeach · 10/06/2013 13:02

At our school the teacher has the kids marking each others maths...which I'm not a fan of! We often go several weeks without literacy homework being marked.
It's a bit much to give the kids a hard time about handing in homework on time and then have the teacher announce that they 'haven't had time to mark it'...

Lonecatwithkitten · 10/06/2013 13:11

I'm interested in this and amazed at the differences between schools. At DD's school it is expected that home work is given on time and complete. If the work is completed neatly with majority right answers one house point is given. If the extension work has been week attempted then two house points are given. If it is a truly exceptional effort where considerable additional effort has gone in then three points are given.
House points are collected both as individuals and houses. There are certificates for 50, 75 and 100. If you achieve the impressive 150 house points (very rare) you get a certificate and a badge to wear on your jumper. This is for a term each term you start a fresh. The house with the most points each term is awarded a cup and gets treat.
House points are also awarded for behaviour and can be taken away.

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