Homework: what is the point? (and on the links between school and home)

[Arkadia]

I feel the other thread has run its course, so here is another one...

DD1 (P3) gets usually very little homework (which is fine), but it is ALWAYS the same week in, week out, AND it NEVER gets checked, let alone commented on. So, the question is... what is the point? Obviously she loses interest in doing it (and so would/do I).
There is certainly a pattern because in the previous years it was the same.
When you ask the teacher she invariably says that everything if fine.

Some schools in our council are doing away with homework altogether. That would be OK as such, but homework is the ONLY link that the family has with the school and with what happens in the classroom (except some little morsels of information that DD graciously gives us from time to time). So, on a wider point, do the parents have the right to know what goes on at school or should that be seen as a privilege?

Homework is a massive cause of stress in this house. DD1 is in P4 and she is given about 30-45 minutes worth of homework each week, plus learning 20 spellings, nightly mental maths/timestables and two reading books that are well below her reading level.

I mostly ignore the reading now, because she is reading novels by herself so it seems pointless.

But the rest of it, it might only be 30 minutes worth over a week but by the time I have calmed her down, broken it down so she doesn't get overwhelmed, then got her to stay focused and do decent handwriting, it is taking her considerably longer.

My issue with it is that if she forgets the date, or I forget to sign it, that is all that is commented on. "X, remember we must always date our work" is not an adequate comment on the sweat and tears that have gone into a sodding worksheet.

If she doesn't hand it in or is late with it, she has to go and see the vice principle. At 8 years old this seems like overkill and tbh it wouldn't phase my 4 year old but DD1 is an anxious child and that would cause us hell for weeks.

So my experience of homework, and in fact Primary school in general, as a parent, is that it is more hassle than it is worth. The school don't care about the stress it is causing, her teacher speaks to her like shit. I have considered pulling her out but that isn't the answer either.

Even with the homework, I don't feel like I have a link to her school work. And parent teacher meetings are a joke too. I don't know what the answer is. Maybe we just have a particularly crap school.

toastymarshmallow, have you had a serious meeting with the school? Perhaps you should let them know how you feel.

I have. I have repeatedly been in meetings, being told there are issues, and then two days later there are no issues .

I have kept them informed, I have tried to communicate with them. They don't care and they don't communicate with each other either.

Her current teacher has told her that anything less than 100% is unacceptable. I know that messages can get altered between school and home, but DD1 is pretty consistent with what she is telling me and it does seem to correlate with the comments on the homework.

We were having her assessed for ASD but they concluded that they can't DX now and will reassess in a year. So that feels like more reason for the school to feel OK about ignoring my concerns.

I have a million things going on at the minute, so this is on the back burner, but in 3 weeks or so I will request another meeting and try again.

OP, if the website is crap, you should give them some ideas, especially if you have personal relationship with HT.
You can google schools in your area, or famous ones, and their website comes up. You can check what they feature and check what looks good for parents. Recommend to your school to include those information you think it's valuable.

Or, you can speak to teacher and suggest you want more information beginning of the term, about what your children are learning this term. I don't think it's impossible for teachers to give parents the copy of what's planned for each term, since my ds' school does it every term, as well as it will be uploaded onto school website. We are able to know that, this week in science, they are learning about food chain, and in maths, decimals, or what ever.

I know lots of parents who seem to do their children's primary homework to make sure they get it right and in those cases it is clearly absolutely pointless. I will go through the homework with my two to make sure they understand how to do things and get the concept etc. Like others on here, the one issue I have is that there is seemingly little feedback from the teacher to the pupils. Another thing that also bugs me is that my oldest in year 5 is allowed to choose his homework from either 1 star, 2 stars or 3 stars with 3 stars the most difficult. He always chooses 2 star which he can do relatively easily. I feel the teacher should see he does 2 star well and push him to do 3 star.

As far as information about what pupils are learning goes, maintained schools in England are required to publish certain information, including information about the curriculum on a website.

"Curriculum
You must publish:

-the content of your school curriculum in each academic year for every subject
-the names of any phonics or reading schemes you’re using in key stage 1
-a list of the courses available to pupils at key stage 4, including GCSEs
-how parents or other members of the public can find out more about the curriculum your school is following"

In Scotland, this would be covered by the School Handbook - this page gives guidance on what should be in it - www.gov.scot/Publications/2012/09/8694/3 , so asking the school about that might be a place to start if you want to know more.