Thank you so much to those that were able to attend our parent consultation on homework on Friday afternoon. Over 25 attended, and others have put their views forward in other ways. Many views were given; most similar, but some contradicting the views of others. A middle ground, founded on good practice, common sense and ultimately thinking about the benefits for the pupils, is the best way to go. The main things that came out of the meeting were that homework should:

– be of a sensible length, progressing year on year;
– be a positive experience, and at the level of the individual child (e.g. not too hard/easy, and possibly enjoyable!);
– be purposeful- related to the current topic or classwork;
– have some feedback to the children;
– include computer-based work, and take into account families without computer access, providing a time within/after school to use them;
– take into account the cost of resources, especially when making things;
– contain a mix of reading, spellings, maths, writing, IT work, and more- but not all in the same week necessarily!

Having considered your views and those of the children, we will revisit our homework policy and get back in touch with you. Thank you.