Teachers not marking homework... what?! AIBU

[NoNeatFreakHere]

... and by marking I don't mean grading - giving a number. An absolutely star teacher last year wrote a one liner on DCs homework and DC was always excited to read it. The one liner conveyed "I see you" and maybe you want to adjust this thing or other but I liked such and such thing you wrote. DC couldn't wait to read it always and made a difference in DC being enthusiastic about school.

Now the school management has communicated there is no more of that and homework books will come and go. Met DCs teacher this year and explained what a difference the one line made last year to motivation to do the homework and general enthusiasm and asked her that school mgmt consider the feedback. I was met with the response of pfff we have 30 of them to do, we can't do it (and an attitude of it's so obvious this is not doable). Now homework is once a week and it's primary school. It's not that much and can't there be a middle ground? Do the marking once every 2 weeks or something?

The argument here is that feedback is given in class and for class work. Then why do we have homework? And why would my DC be incentivised to do it? We have asked the school management when it was announced. We were told... and felt like out points were ignored of those parents that spoke. It was a patronising session to the tune of "us heads of school know better". Extremely frustrating.

This also breaks parent comms in my mind as I have no clue what is happening or expected then outside of a termly 10 minute session. It's hard to know how much or little is expected of certain quite open ended pieces of homework. Booking more time with the teacher in my mind would defeat the purpose of being more efficient with teachers' time.

School is state and ofsted outstanding for context.

AIBU:

• I empathise with teachers' workload but isn't this a core part of the job?
• I am sure there are teachers here, what do you think? Am I being in complete ignorance of what teachers go through?
• Other MNers is this happening in your school too or is it just ours? What do you think of it?

Thank you for reading 🙏🏻

Sorry, moving away from writing comments my post should say.

Refer to my earlier responses - when another constructive PP explained what useful stuff are happening in class.

That’s fine - perhaps that is how you should approach the school, by offering alternative solutions to help you as parents feel engaged with what’s happening in class, rather than focusing narrowly on the ‘marking homework like this’ issue, which is how it seemed you’d framed it.

You complain school dismissed or patronised you whilst listening to others. It could be that their communication is at fault, or it could be that they felt your feedback wasn’t constructive. Asking to feel involved as parents in understanding how praise is given and homework assessed is a different sort of ‘constructive communication’ than saying ‘my child really loves written feedback and I think it’s unfair not to prioritise this anymore.’ It will get a different response.

I would not attempt to shut client down just because of difference of opinion and I would have an open / growth mindset to understand their point of view and consider whether they had a point or not.

Then your upset is with how you perceive they treated your feedback, not their ultimate answer of ‘no marking’?

I opened the question because I am happy to be convinced otherwise and to hear other views.

I reject the point that I should be phrasing the question differently necessarily though and that it is not constructive, in order for the school to want to engage in conversation with a parent. I was not rude - I recognised issues with teachers time and also proposed less frequent marking. I am not supposed to guess what is happening in class or have the solutions myself. This is just a silly defence, for fobbing me off. The way I framed it with the school was that this was my observation from my family of the benefits of marking. Surely an education institution would want to enlighten a parent with goodwill. Engage in conversation... but perhaps that is also time consuming.

They get feedback on homework, it's just verbal and not written.

Written feedback is a huge addition to teacher workload and even the DfE have advised schools to use less written marking.

Primary teacher.

I set homework because we have parents complaining if we don't. I think it is (mostly) a total waste of time as the children that do it are either the motivated ones or the ones with motivated parents. The children that would benefit from extra learning time generally don't do HW.
We also set it so parents can see what the children have been learning that week.

Reading - yes. Every day. Times tables - yes. Homework for homework's sake - pointless.

However, I do think you're right that if children produce something, it should be acknowledged. I am very fortunate to have an amazing TA who helps mark HW.

And don't get me started on 'projects'...as a parent to primary-aged children, that caused epic headaches

I was not rude - I recognised issues with teachers time and also proposed less frequent marking. I am not supposed to guess what is happening in class or have the solutions myself. This is just a silly defence, for fobbing me off. The way I framed it with the school was that this was my observation from my family of the benefits of marking.

I understand, and I’m not saying you were rude.

But if the school’s stance is that they have reviewed the evidence for written feedback on homework marking and decided that it is an inefficient use of teacher time, asking them to reverse that decision isn’t going to get the result you want - even if you suggested doing it less frequently, they think it should not be done at all.

Meanwhile, the benefit to the written line of praise was twofold to your family: 1) to your DC who loved to see their work praised 2) to you as parents to feel involved with how things are going.

If you then said - OK, I accept the school stance is no written marking of homework, but how can you reassure me that the things that one line of praise represented are still important, maybe they’d share ways in which the children get classroom praise, ways in which they feel you can still support and be involved etc.

They shouldn't ask children to do with work into a void, no. I'm guessing they have decided to see homework as work at home for parents with parental support but haven't communicated that effectively. You are now the person to give encouragement and write sweet notes. Buy some stickers and stamps. Home support is crucial so I'd take this as an opportunity to find out what's on the syllabus generally for the year group and you'll be able to see how the homework fits in. Add a worksheet or game of your own - make a clay river, a balloon stomach with coke and bread inside, cheer them on at hit the button, have a book cover competition, sort words into word classes with colours, make a stone age axe with sticks and mud, write a story with the new spelling words- there is so much you can do and it's what homework really stood be. Your involvement is far much more influential than a one liner from another adult. It's clear you care.

Yabu, you clearly have no idea what a teacher's workload is, or how packed the school day is.

I have between 90 and 120 books to mark daily (English and maths daily + science (2×/week), topic, RE, guided reading depending on the day).

Yes, another 30 would be too much.

I know plenty of teachers who mark homework - they do it because parents like you insist that it's incedibly important, and that it's the teacher's job to educate and motivate even when the child is at home. (You know, you could see homework as your job, and offer motivation at home.)

Marking homework takes precious time, so they undermark science or topic or RE instead. The books you don't often see.

I give my all to plan, resource, deliver and mark the lessons that happen in school. We all know that h/w is mainly pointless at primary.

To parents asking, why set it if you don't intend to mark it? Because that's school policy. I don't make it.

A few people have commented on teachers commitment and saying that some are more committed than others. That is possibly true, but I have been both types.

Before having my own family I would have marked them all , had time to do all sorts of extra etc because it was literally my life and I was easily working 60 hours a week maybe more! Crazy! I literally can’t do that now I have my own family, but I know teachers that do, so comparisons are drawn and I feel completely inadequate most of the time.

I can completely see it from a parents point of view too, when they see one teacher do something, they expect all to, understandably. Some schools are better are managing teachers workloads and parents expectations than others.

Homework however is something schools will never please everyone with.

I think if it’s basically not worth marking then they need to review what they are setting for homework. My DCs school moved away from homework sheets a few years ago and now it’s just times table practice and reading, which is really worth spending more time practicing at home. So much better.
But I do agree with your child’s school that marking the homework with a written comment is a complete waste of time. I’d much prefer they spent that time preparing good resources and marking and assessing the class work efficiently.

"I would not be annoyed if said client had questions and objections and I would be open to discussion. I would not attempt to shut client down just because of difference of opinion and I would have an open / growth mindset to understand their point of view and consider whether they had a point or not. I would expect the education system to see that."

It sounds as if they've considered your point of view and heartily disagree. Maybe it is unusual for you to experience that. Time to let it go maybe? Or are you determined that they simply don't understand your marvellous viewpoint and only have to listen properly to realise the merits? Just let them get on with their job.

I agree with you. Isn't is awful that some people seem to think that a teacher is only good if they do tons and tons unpaid work and those that prioritise a work life balance (still working above the hours they are paid for) are classed as lazy.

Homework is set by schools because certain parents like it and see it as a sign that their school is better than ones who don't.
It is a shame that something that motivated your child is being withdrawn but a well done stamp on work that the parents might have corrected is also pretty pointless. While your child might sit on their own and submit their own effort, others will have corrected their child's maths before it's submitted so isn't a reflection of their work anyway.
There is a teacher shortage so it's possible that heads are getting rid of extra stuff like this to retain staff.

When a teacher is honest about something, you doubt her commitment and ability? Yes, that's wrong.

The teacher who smiles and takes on the extra work without complaint is doing other teachers a disservice. Marking work done out of school, when you've no idea how much the parents have helped or done themselves, isn't a good use of a teacher's time. Wouldn't you rather the teacher spent that time each week (and even fortnightly they'd have two weeks' worth of homework to mark so it would just be double the weekly amount of time and not actually saving anything) planning, resourcing and assessing lessons for the classroom?

I hate homework in primary. It's lots of time to find or create differentiated work, get it printed and copied, often write names on because of the differentiation or stuck into an exercise book, then handed out, collected in the next week, those who haven't completed it need to be chased up, let alone marking each piece and trying to decide how much is the child's independent work and how that fits in to the formative assessments you have of each child in your head for each subject and topic.

You can be a wonderful, committed and able teacher who instils a love of learning in your class, whilst making a stand against unnecessary tasks.

"Marking is a huge part of what teachers do at primary and it takes time. Time you then do not have to do any of the other myriad things you also need to do. Even your one line comment, on each pupil's homework, will easily be an hour of marking: reading the piece and actually taking it in, and writing something meaningful. I absolutely understand how lovely and motivating personal encouragement and praise is and I wish there was the time to provide this level of individual boost on a weekly basis."

Then don't set the fucking homework. DD spent several evenings on a WWII project, put all she could into it, and just got a bloody tick at the end of it.

Agreed @DuesToTheDirt . Many teachers at primary would rather not have homework at all beyond reading, time tables and spellings. School leadership, however, often has different ideas.

Homework should be reframed as Independent Learning. In Primary, the criteria for success should be given out alongside the Independent Learning. For example, a piece of instruction writing could have a tick-list: ‘bossy’ verbs, sequencing words, paragraphing.

Then…the parents should mark it!

Parents would be doing teachers a massive favour if they demanded an end to homework at primary. A bit of reading and learning times tables should be all that is asked. Homework policies are not based on logic or evidence, they're often just a result of parental pressure. So to counteract the vocal minority of parents who demand homework, put pressure on the schools to change to a no homework policy. You might be pleasantly surprised that you get what you want, as I really don't think any school is that invested in their homework policy that they're unwilling to be persuaded that there's a better way.

“DC couldn't wait to read it always and made a difference in DC being enthusiastic about school.”

I think replace DC with your own name op and that’s what this thread is all about. You sound over-invested in this and you should think about getting a hobby and letting teachers do their job. Your DC will be fine.

No, they’ll be the ones who dont see their own children as much as other non teaching parents because they spend so much time doing pointless tasks like setting and marking homework in order to appease ignorant parents like you who know sod all about education. Or the ones who are forced to do it under the constant threat of competency - even though its been proven that homework in Primary is a complete waste off time.

This is one of the most ignorant things I've read. Who are you to judge her competency?

Actually, and I know this might surprise many, it does take effort to print things off Twinkl. To find something suitable, print different things for different children, photocopy it. Maybe it's only a 10 minute job but being a primary teacher is all about having hundreds of 2 or 5 or 10 minute jobs. And only having around 3-4 hours outside the teaching day to do them, unless you're going to work silly hours (not including all the days with meetings, seeing parents after school etc).

For what it's worth, I make up my own homework (not Twinkl, but I still get angry at the covid home learning accusations that finding things on Twinkl takes no time) and I mark it every week. It's a pain because children's work is so, so much messier than what they do at school, often even when they've clearly been sitting with an adult. I doubt they ever really look at the ones they got wrong though; it seems silly and unfair not to mark it but I imagine it's mostly a waste of time in terms of learning.

What would you like the teacher to stop doing in order to put a smiley comment on the homework you did with her?

Stop marking maths done in school? Not plan a school trip? Plan less resource-intensive lessons?

The time is finite. You want this? You lose something else.

"Then don't set the fucking homework. DD spent several evenings on a WWII project, put all she could into it, and just got a bloody tick at the end of it."

We don't have a choice. We hate it too. It's policy in many schools and SLT insist on it. Tbf it is often because surveys and questionnaires tell us that parents want it. It is actually quite surprising to see what parents value and feel is indicative of a 'good school.' If parents all campaigned to scrap it, most classroom teachers would be very happy.

But surely your DD's learning does not hinge on a written comment from the teacher. She learnt something while doing her project, so it had value. She may have had verbal feedback too. It is not good for children to see that learning only has value if you get a reward for it.