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What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

Decades of research show that homework has some benefits, especially for students in middle and high school—but there are risks to assigning too much.

Many teachers and parents believe that homework helps students build study skills and review concepts learned in class. Others see homework as disruptive and unnecessary, leading to burnout and turning kids off to school. Decades of research show that the issue is more nuanced and complex than most people think: Homework is beneficial, but only to a degree. Students in high school gain the most, while younger kids benefit much less.

The National PTA and the National Education Association support the “ 10-minute homework guideline ”—a nightly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. But many teachers and parents are quick to point out that what matters is the quality of the homework assigned and how well it meets students’ needs, not the amount of time spent on it.

The guideline doesn’t account for students who may need to spend more—or less—time on assignments. In class, teachers can make adjustments to support struggling students, but at home, an assignment that takes one student 30 minutes to complete may take another twice as much time—often for reasons beyond their control. And homework can widen the achievement gap, putting students from low-income households and students with learning disabilities at a disadvantage.

However, the 10-minute guideline is useful in setting a limit: When kids spend too much time on homework, there are real consequences to consider.

Small Benefits for Elementary Students

As young children begin school, the focus should be on cultivating a love of learning, and assigning too much homework can undermine that goal. And young students often don’t have the study skills to benefit fully from homework, so it may be a poor use of time (Cooper, 1989 ; Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). A more effective activity may be nightly reading, especially if parents are involved. The benefits of reading are clear: If students aren’t proficient readers by the end of third grade, they’re less likely to succeed academically and graduate from high school (Fiester, 2013 ).

For second-grade teacher Jacqueline Fiorentino, the minor benefits of homework did not outweigh the potential drawback of turning young children against school at an early age, so she experimented with dropping mandatory homework. “Something surprising happened: They started doing more work at home,” Fiorentino writes . “This inspiring group of 8-year-olds used their newfound free time to explore subjects and topics of interest to them.” She encouraged her students to read at home and offered optional homework to extend classroom lessons and help them review material.

Moderate Benefits for Middle School Students

As students mature and develop the study skills necessary to delve deeply into a topic—and to retain what they learn—they also benefit more from homework. Nightly assignments can help prepare them for scholarly work, and research shows that homework can have moderate benefits for middle school students (Cooper et al., 2006 ). Recent research also shows that online math homework, which can be designed to adapt to students’ levels of understanding, can significantly boost test scores (Roschelle et al., 2016 ).

There are risks to assigning too much, however: A 2015 study found that when middle school students were assigned more than 90 to 100 minutes of daily homework, their math and science test scores began to decline (Fernández-Alonso, Suárez-Álvarez, & Muñiz, 2015 ). Crossing that upper limit can drain student motivation and focus. The researchers recommend that “homework should present a certain level of challenge or difficulty, without being so challenging that it discourages effort.” Teachers should avoid low-effort, repetitive assignments, and assign homework “with the aim of instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self-directed learning.”

In other words, it’s the quality of homework that matters, not the quantity. Brian Sztabnik, a veteran middle and high school English teacher, suggests that teachers take a step back and ask themselves these five questions :

• How long will it take to complete?
• Have all learners been considered?
• Will an assignment encourage future success?
• Will an assignment place material in a context the classroom cannot?
• Does an assignment offer support when a teacher is not there?

More Benefits for High School Students, but Risks as Well

By the time they reach high school, students should be well on their way to becoming independent learners, so homework does provide a boost to learning at this age, as long as it isn’t overwhelming (Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). When students spend too much time on homework—more than two hours each night—it takes up valuable time to rest and spend time with family and friends. A 2013 study found that high school students can experience serious mental and physical health problems, from higher stress levels to sleep deprivation, when assigned too much homework (Galloway, Conner, & Pope, 2013 ).

Homework in high school should always relate to the lesson and be doable without any assistance, and feedback should be clear and explicit.

Teachers should also keep in mind that not all students have equal opportunities to finish their homework at home, so incomplete homework may not be a true reflection of their learning—it may be more a result of issues they face outside of school. They may be hindered by issues such as lack of a quiet space at home, resources such as a computer or broadband connectivity, or parental support (OECD, 2014 ). In such cases, giving low homework scores may be unfair.

Since the quantities of time discussed here are totals, teachers in middle and high school should be aware of how much homework other teachers are assigning. It may seem reasonable to assign 30 minutes of daily homework, but across six subjects, that’s three hours—far above a reasonable amount even for a high school senior. Psychologist Maurice Elias sees this as a common mistake: Individual teachers create homework policies that in aggregate can overwhelm students. He suggests that teachers work together to develop a school-wide homework policy and make it a key topic of back-to-school night and the first parent-teacher conferences of the school year.

Parents Play a Key Role

Homework can be a powerful tool to help parents become more involved in their child’s learning (Walker et al., 2004 ). It can provide insights into a child’s strengths and interests, and can also encourage conversations about a child’s life at school. If a parent has positive attitudes toward homework, their children are more likely to share those same values, promoting academic success.

But it’s also possible for parents to be overbearing, putting too much emphasis on test scores or grades, which can be disruptive for children (Madjar, Shklar, & Moshe, 2015 ). Parents should avoid being overly intrusive or controlling—students report feeling less motivated to learn when they don’t have enough space and autonomy to do their homework (Orkin, May, & Wolf, 2017 ; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008 ; Silinskas & Kikas, 2017 ). So while homework can encourage parents to be more involved with their kids, it’s important to not make it a source of conflict.

Does homework really work?

by: Leslie Crawford | Updated: December 12, 2023

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You know the drill. It’s 10:15 p.m., and the cardboard-and-toothpick Golden Gate Bridge is collapsing. The pages of polynomials have been abandoned. The paper on the Battle of Waterloo seems to have frozen in time with Napoleon lingering eternally over his breakfast at Le Caillou. Then come the tears and tantrums — while we parents wonder, Does the gain merit all this pain? Is this just too much homework?

However the drama unfolds night after night, year after year, most parents hold on to the hope that homework (after soccer games, dinner, flute practice, and, oh yes, that childhood pastime of yore known as playing) advances their children academically.

But what does homework really do for kids? Is the forest’s worth of book reports and math and spelling sheets the average American student completes in their 12 years of primary schooling making a difference? Or is it just busywork?

Homework haterz

Whether or not homework helps, or even hurts, depends on who you ask. If you ask my 12-year-old son, Sam, he’ll say, “Homework doesn’t help anything. It makes kids stressed-out and tired and makes them hate school more.”

Nothing more than common kid bellyaching?

Maybe, but in the fractious field of homework studies, it’s worth noting that Sam’s sentiments nicely synopsize one side of the ivory tower debate. Books like The End of Homework , The Homework Myth , and The Case Against Homework the film Race to Nowhere , and the anguished parent essay “ My Daughter’s Homework is Killing Me ” make the case that homework, by taking away precious family time and putting kids under unneeded pressure, is an ineffective way to help children become better learners and thinkers.

One Canadian couple took their homework apostasy all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. After arguing that there was no evidence that it improved academic performance, they won a ruling that exempted their two children from all homework.

So what’s the real relationship between homework and academic achievement?

How much is too much?

To answer this question, researchers have been doing their homework on homework, conducting and examining hundreds of studies. Chris Drew Ph.D., founder and editor at The Helpful Professor recently compiled multiple statistics revealing the folly of today’s after-school busy work. Does any of the data he listed below ring true for you?

• 45 percent of parents think homework is too easy for their child, primarily because it is geared to the lowest standard under the Common Core State Standards .

• 74 percent of students say homework is a source of stress , defined as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss, and stomach problems.

• Students in high-performing high schools spend an average of 3.1 hours a night on homework , even though 1 to 2 hours is the optimal duration, according to a peer-reviewed study .

Not included in the list above is the fact many kids have to abandon activities they love — like sports and clubs — because homework deprives them of the needed time to enjoy themselves with other pursuits.

Conversely, The Helpful Professor does list a few pros of homework, noting it teaches discipline and time management, and helps parents know what’s being taught in the class.

The oft-bandied rule on homework quantity — 10 minutes a night per grade (starting from between 10 to 20 minutes in first grade) — is listed on the National Education Association’s website and the National Parent Teacher Association’s website , but few schools follow this rule.

Do you think your child is doing excessive homework? Harris Cooper Ph.D., author of a meta-study on homework , recommends talking with the teacher. “Often there is a miscommunication about the goals of homework assignments,” he says. “What appears to be problematic for kids, why they are doing an assignment, can be cleared up with a conversation.” Also, Cooper suggests taking a careful look at how your child is doing the assignments. It may seem like they’re taking two hours, but maybe your child is wandering off frequently to get a snack or getting distracted.

Less is often more

If your child is dutifully doing their work but still burning the midnight oil, it’s worth intervening to make sure your child gets enough sleep. A 2012 study of 535 high school students found that proper sleep may be far more essential to brain and body development.

For elementary school-age children, Cooper’s research at Duke University shows there is no measurable academic advantage to homework. For middle-schoolers, Cooper found there is a direct correlation between homework and achievement if assignments last between one to two hours per night. After two hours, however, achievement doesn’t improve. For high schoolers, Cooper’s research suggests that two hours per night is optimal. If teens have more than two hours of homework a night, their academic success flatlines. But less is not better. The average high school student doing homework outperformed 69 percent of the students in a class with no homework.

Many schools are starting to act on this research. A Florida superintendent abolished homework in her 42,000 student district, replacing it with 20 minutes of nightly reading. She attributed her decision to “ solid research about what works best in improving academic achievement in students .”

More family time

A 2020 survey by Crayola Experience reports 82 percent of children complain they don’t have enough quality time with their parents. Homework deserves much of the blame. “Kids should have a chance to just be kids and do things they enjoy, particularly after spending six hours a day in school,” says Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth . “It’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.”

By far, the best replacement for homework — for both parents and children — is bonding, relaxing time together.

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The beginner's guide to primary-school homework

What’s the point of homework?

For many families, homework is a nightly battle, but primary schools set it for a variety of reasons. ‘It helps to consolidate the skills that are being taught at school, and provides children with additional revision opportunities,’ explains head teacher Steph Matthews of St Paul’s CofE School, Gloucester .

‘It also gives children an opportunity to explore learning in an unstructured setting, encouraging them to be independent and follow their own lines of enquiry.’ In addition, homework creates a partnership between school and family, giving parents an insight into what their child is learning.

How much homework should my child get in primary school?

In the past, the Department for Education advised that Key Stage 1 children should do an hour of homework each week, rising to half an hour per night in Key Stage 2. This advice was scrapped in 2012, giving schools more freedom, but many still follow the old guidelines.

In Reception , formal homework is rarely set. However, children are likely to bring home books to share with the family, first reading books, and/or keywords to learn.

In Years 1 and 2 , children are likely to have one or two tasks per week. This could be literacy or numeracy worksheets (for example an exercise where children have to compare the weights of different household items), a short piece of writing (such as a recount of a school trip) or work relating to the class topic (find out five facts about the Great Fire of London ).

In Years 3 and 4 , most schools set two homework activities each week: typically, one literacy (such as a worksheet on collective nouns, or a book review ) and one numeracy (a worksheet on bar charts).

In Years 5 and 6 , children may have two or three pieces of homework each week. ‘The amount begins to increase to prepare children for SATs and the transition to secondary school,’ says Steph. These activities might include maths worksheets, researching a topic, book reviews and grammar exercises.

Alongside formal homework tasks, most children bring home reading scheme books from Reception onwards, with weekly spellings and times tables from Year 1 or 2.

Learning logs and homework challenges

Not all schools rely on handing out worksheets. Learning logs or challenges are becoming more popular: children are given a folder of suggested activities – from writing a poem to building a model castle – and must choose a certain number to complete throughout the term.

Other schools ensure that homework ties in with the current class topic. ‘We have a themed approach, and set homework activities that give opportunities to explore the topic in a fun way, for example, designing a method of transport that Phileas Fogg could use to travel the world,’ explains Steph.  

Modern homework methods

Unsurprisingly, technology is playing an increasingly important part in homework. Some schools use online reading schemes such as Bug Club , where teachers allocate e-books of the appropriate level, or subscription services like SAM Learning  to set cross-curricular tasks.

A growing number also set homework electronically , with children logging into the school website to download their task.

What if the homework is too much – or too hard?

If you feel your child is overloaded with homework, speak to the teacher. ‘Forcing children to complete homework is counterproductive, because they come to perceive it as a chore,’ says Rod Grant, head teacher of Clifton Hall School, Edinburgh . ‘This makes learning appear boring, arduous or both, and that is really dangerous, in my view.’

Most schools publish their homework policy on the school website , telling parents exactly what to expect. ‘Teachers should make their expectations very clear in terms of deadlines and how long it should take, and should also differentiate tasks to suit the level of the pupil,’ adds Steph.

No homework at all?

If your child doesn’t get any homework, you may feel out of touch with his learning, or concerned that he isn’t being challenged. But there are good reasons why some schools don’t set homework, or set it only occasionally, says Rod. ‘Although homework can be beneficial, family life tends to suffer as a result of it being imposed,’ he explains. ‘ If a school isn’t providing homework, there’s plenty that parents can do at home instead : reading with their children, doing number puzzles on car journeys, using online resources, and so on.’

Parents may also worry that without doing homework, children won’t develop study habits for later life. ‘There is genuinely no need for a six-year-old to get into a routine of working at home; there’s time to learn that later,’ Rod advises. ‘Parents need to relax and encourage children to love learning – and that comes when learning is fun, relevant and engaging, not through doing homework tasks that are unchallenging, or secretarial in nature.’

Homework: advice and support for primary-school parents

For information and support on all aspects of homework, from managing other siblings to helping with specific subjects, head to our Homework area.

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Is Homework Good for Kids? Here’s What the Research Says

A s kids return to school, debate is heating up once again over how they should spend their time after they leave the classroom for the day.

The no-homework policy of a second-grade teacher in Texas went viral last week , earning praise from parents across the country who lament the heavy workload often assigned to young students. Brandy Young told parents she would not formally assign any homework this year, asking students instead to eat dinner with their families, play outside and go to bed early.

But the question of how much work children should be doing outside of school remains controversial, and plenty of parents take issue with no-homework policies, worried their kids are losing a potential academic advantage. Here’s what you need to know:

For decades, the homework standard has been a “10-minute rule,” which recommends a daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Second graders, for example, should do about 20 minutes of homework each night. High school seniors should complete about two hours of homework each night. The National PTA and the National Education Association both support that guideline.

But some schools have begun to give their youngest students a break. A Massachusetts elementary school has announced a no-homework pilot program for the coming school year, lengthening the school day by two hours to provide more in-class instruction. “We really want kids to go home at 4 o’clock, tired. We want their brain to be tired,” Kelly Elementary School Principal Jackie Glasheen said in an interview with a local TV station . “We want them to enjoy their families. We want them to go to soccer practice or football practice, and we want them to go to bed. And that’s it.”

A New York City public elementary school implemented a similar policy last year, eliminating traditional homework assignments in favor of family time. The change was quickly met with outrage from some parents, though it earned support from other education leaders.

New solutions and approaches to homework differ by community, and these local debates are complicated by the fact that even education experts disagree about what’s best for kids.

The research

The most comprehensive research on homework to date comes from a 2006 meta-analysis by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper, who found evidence of a positive correlation between homework and student achievement, meaning students who did homework performed better in school. The correlation was stronger for older students—in seventh through 12th grade—than for those in younger grades, for whom there was a weak relationship between homework and performance.

Cooper’s analysis focused on how homework impacts academic achievement—test scores, for example. His report noted that homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness and independent problem solving skills. On the other hand, some studies he examined showed that homework can cause physical and emotional fatigue, fuel negative attitudes about learning and limit leisure time for children. At the end of his analysis, Cooper recommended further study of such potential effects of homework.

Despite the weak correlation between homework and performance for young children, Cooper argues that a small amount of homework is useful for all students. Second-graders should not be doing two hours of homework each night, he said, but they also shouldn’t be doing no homework.

Not all education experts agree entirely with Cooper’s assessment.

Cathy Vatterott, an education professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, supports the “10-minute rule” as a maximum, but she thinks there is not sufficient proof that homework is helpful for students in elementary school.

“Correlation is not causation,” she said. “Does homework cause achievement, or do high achievers do more homework?”

Vatterott, the author of Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs , thinks there should be more emphasis on improving the quality of homework tasks, and she supports efforts to eliminate homework for younger kids.

“I have no concerns about students not starting homework until fourth grade or fifth grade,” she said, noting that while the debate over homework will undoubtedly continue, she has noticed a trend toward limiting, if not eliminating, homework in elementary school.

The issue has been debated for decades. A TIME cover in 1999 read: “Too much homework! How it’s hurting our kids, and what parents should do about it.” The accompanying story noted that the launch of Sputnik in 1957 led to a push for better math and science education in the U.S. The ensuing pressure to be competitive on a global scale, plus the increasingly demanding college admissions process, fueled the practice of assigning homework.

“The complaints are cyclical, and we’re in the part of the cycle now where the concern is for too much,” Cooper said. “You can go back to the 1970s, when you’ll find there were concerns that there was too little, when we were concerned about our global competitiveness.”

Cooper acknowledged that some students really are bringing home too much homework, and their parents are right to be concerned.

“A good way to think about homework is the way you think about medications or dietary supplements,” he said. “If you take too little, they’ll have no effect. If you take too much, they can kill you. If you take the right amount, you’ll get better.”

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Primary school children get little academic benefit from homework

Lecturer and Researcher in Education, University of Hull

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Homework: a word that can cause despair not just in children, but also in parents and even teachers. And for primary school children at least, it may be that schools setting homework is more trouble than it’s worth.

There is evidence that homework can be useful at secondary school . It can be used to consolidate material learnt in class or to prepare for exams.

However, it is less clear that homework is useful for children at primary school (ages 5 to 11) or in early years education (ages 3 to 5).

What is homework for?

There are no current guidelines on how much homework primary school children in England should be set. In 2018 then education secretary Damien Hinds stated that “We trust individual school head teachers to decide what their policy on homework will be, and what happens if pupils don’t do what’s set”.

While there is not much data available on how much homework primary school pupils do, a 2018 survey of around 1,000 parents found that primary pupils were spending an average of 2.2 hours per week on homework.

The homework done by primary school children can include reading, practising spellings, or revising for tests. Charity the Education Endowment Foundation suggests that the uses for homework at primary school include reinforcing the skills that pupils learn in school, helping them get ready for tests and preparing them for future school lessons.

Homework can also act as a point of communication between home and school, helping parents feel part of their child’s schooling.

However, the 2018 Ofsted Parents’ Panel – which surveyed the views of around 1,000 parents in England on educational issues – found that 36% of parents thought that homework was not helpful at all to their primary school children. The panel report found that, for many parents, homework was a significant source of stress and negatively affected family life.

Little academic benefit

Not much academic research has been carried out on the impact of homework for children in primary school. The available meta-studies – research that combines and analyses the findings of a number of studies – suggest that homework has little or no positive benefit for the academic achievement of children of primary school age . A central reason for this seems to be the inability of children to complete this homework without the support provided by teachers and the school.

Some research has suggested that primary pupils lack the independent study skills to do homework, and that they are not able to stay focused on the work.

What’s more, homework may actually have a negative effect if parents set unrealistic expectations, apply pressure or use methods that go counter to those used at school.

Homework may also increase inequalities between pupils. High achievers from economically privileged backgrounds may have greater parental support for homework, including more educated assistance, higher expectations and better settings and resources.

However, it is possible that setting homework for primary school children has benefits that cannot be easily measured, such as developing responsibility and independent problem-solving skills. It could also help children develop habits that will be useful in later school life.

A common task set for homework in primary schools is for children to read with their parents. There is some evidence that this has a positive impact as well as providing enjoyment, but the quality of interaction may be more important than the quantity.

If the purpose of homework is to develop the relationship between home and school and give parents more stake in the schooling of their children then this may well be a positive thing. If this is its purpose, though, it should not be used as a means to improve test scores or school performance metrics. For the youngest children, anything that takes time away from developmental play is a bad thing.

Rather, any homework should develop confidence and engagement in the process of schooling for both children and parents.

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The Great British Homework Debate 2024 – Is It Necessary At Primary School?

Alexander Athienitis

The homework debate is never much out of the news. Should homework be banned? Is homework at primary school a waste of time? Do our children get too much homework?

Not long ago, UK-based US comedian Rob Delaney set the world alight with a tweet giving his own personal view of homework at primary school. We thought, as an organisation that provides maths homework support on a weekly basis, it was time to look at the facts around the homework debate in primary schools as well as, of course, reflecting the views of celebrities and those perhaps more qualified to offer an opinion!

Here’s how Rob Delaney kicked things off

Gary Lineker leant his support with the following soundbite:

And even Piers Morgan weighed in, with his usual balance of tact and sensitivity:

A very experienced and knowledgeable Headteacher, Simon Smith, who has a well-earned following on Twitter (for someone working in education, not hosting Match of the Day) also put his neck on the line and, some might think controversially, agreed with the golden-heeled Crisp King of Leicester…

Fortunately Katharine Birbalsingh, Conservative Party Conference keynote speaker and Founding Headteacher of the Michaela School, was on hand to provide the alternative view on the importance of homework. Her op-ed piece in the Sun gave plenty of reasons why homework should not be banned.

She was informative and firm in her article stating: “Homework is essential for a child’s education because revisiting the day’s learning is what helps to make it stick.”

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How much homework do UK primary school children get?

Sadly, there’s little data comparing how much homework primary school-aged children in the UK and across the globe complete on a weekly basis. A study of teenagers used by The Telegraph shows that American high-schoolers spend an average of 6.1 hours per week compared with 4.9 hours per week of homework each week for UK-based teens.

Up until 2012, the Department of Education recommended an hour of homework a week for primary school Key Stage 1 children (aged 4 to 7) and half an hour a day for primary school Key Stage 2 children (aged 7-11). Many primary schools still use this as a guideline.

Teachers, parents and children in many schools across the land have seen more changes of homework policy than numbers of terms in some school years.

A ‘no-homework’ policy pleases only a few; a grid of creative tasks crowd-sourced from the three teachers bothered to give their input infuriates many (parents, teachers and children alike). For some parents, no matter how much homework is set, it’s never enough; for others, even asking them to fill in their child’s reading record once a week can be a struggle due to a busy working life.

Homework is very different around the world

We’d suggest that Piers Morgan’s argument for homework in comparing the UK’s economic and social progress with China’s in recent years based on total weekly homework hours is somewhat misguided – we can’t put their emergence as the world’s (if not already, soon to be) leading superpower exclusively down to having their young people endure almost triple the number of hours spent completing homework as their Western counterparts.

Nonetheless, there’s certainly a finer balance to strike between the 14 hours a week suffered by Shanghainese school-attendees and none whatsoever. Certainly parents in the UK spend less time each week helping their children than parents in emerging economies such as India, Vietnam and Colombia (Source: Varkey Foundation Report).

Disadvantages of homework at primary school

Delaney, whose son attends a London state primary school, has made it plain that he thinks his kids get given too much homework and he’d rather have them following more active or creative pursuits: drawing or playing football. A father of four sons and a retired professional footballer Gary Linaker was quick to defend this but he also has the resources to send his children to top boarding schools which generally provide very structured homework or ‘prep’ routines.

As parents Rob and Gary are not alone. According to the 2018 Ofsted annual report on Parents Views  more than a third of parents do not think homework in primary school is helpful to their children. They cite the battles and arguments it causes not to mention the specific challenges it presents to families with SEND children many of whom report serious damage to health and self-esteem as a result of too much or inappropriate homework.

It’s a truism among teachers that some types of homework tells you very little about what the child can achieve and much more about a parent’s own approach to the work. How low does your heart sink when your child comes back with a D & T project to create Stonehenge and you realise it’s either an all-nighter with glue, cardboard and crayons for you, or an uncompleted homework project for your child!

Speaking with our teacher hats on, we can tell you that homework is often cited in academic studies looking at academic progress in primary school-aged children as showing minimal to no impact.

Back on Twitter, a fellow teacher was able to weigh-in with that point:

Benefits of homework at primary school

So what are the benefits of homework at primary school? According to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) (the key research organisations dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement) the impact of homework at primary is low, but it also doesn’t cost much.

They put it at a “+2 months” impact against a control of doing nothing. To put this into context, 1-to-1 tuition is generally seen as a +5 months impact but it’s usually considered to be expensive.

“There is some evidence that when homework is used as a short and focused intervention it can be effective in improving students’ attainment … overall the general benefits are likely to be modest if homework is more routinely set.”

Key to the benefit you’ll see from homework is that the task is appropriate and of good quality. The quantity of homework a pupil does is not so important. In this matter Katharine Birbalsingh is on the money. Short focused tasks which relate directly to what is being taught, and which are built upon in school, are likely to be more effective than regular daily homework.

In our view it’s about consolidation. So focusing on a few times tables that you find tricky or working through questions similar to what you’ve done in class that day or week often can be beneficial. 2 hours of worksheets on a Saturday when your child could be outside having fun and making friends probably isn’t. If you really want them to be doing maths, then do some outdoor maths with them instead of homework !

At Third Space Learning we believe it’s all about balance. Give the right sort of homework and the right amount at primary school and there will be improvements, but much of it comes down to parental engagement.

One of our favourite ways to practise maths at home without it become too onerous is by using educational games. Here are our favourite fun maths games , some brilliant KS2 maths games , KS1 maths games and KS3 maths games for all maths topics and then a set of 35 times tables games which are ideal for interspersing with your regular times tables practice. And best of all, most of them require no more equipment than a pen and paper or perhaps a pack of cards.

Homework and parents

One of the key benefits cited by EEF is in regard to parental engagement. Time after time, the greatest differentiator between children who make great progress at school – and those, frankly – who don’t is due to the same factor in the same studies: parental engagement .

It is a fair assumption that if a parent is engaged in their child’s learning, they’re probably going to be the same parents who encourage and support their child when they’re completing their homework.

Whereas parents who are disengaged with their child’s school and schooling – for whatever reason (sorry, Piers, it’s rarely due to laziness), are highly unlikely to be aware of what homework gets set each week, let alone to be mucking in with making sure it gets handed in completed and on time.

We also encounter time and again, the issue of parents’ own lack of confidence in maths. A survey by Pearson found that:

• 30 percent of parents “don’t feel confident enough in their own maths skills to help their children with their primary school maths homework”
• 53 per cent insisted they struggled to understand the new maths teaching methods used in modern classrooms. Fortunately that’s what we’re here to address.

Setting the right homework at primary school can be tricky

Although we disagree with Piers, we can see what he may be driving at in terms of setting appropriate homework.

The question quickly becomes what would Piers think of as being ‘interesting’ homework, and if all four of his children would agree upon the same thing being ‘interesting’.

That’s the problem.

One would imagine Piers would find it hard enough finding one task to satisfy the interest of all of his four children – it’s almost impossible to find a task that will engage the interest of 30 or more children in their out of school hours.

Each with different emotional, behavioural and learning needs, then sprinkle in the varying levels of poverty each family suffers (be it financial or in terms of time), and you can see how it isn’t just about being a good or bad teacher – whatever that means – in regards to being able to set Morgan-approved homework tasks.

What does this mean for my child?

Ultimately, the question at the top of mind whenever a parent thinks about homework is a more general one – am I doing the best for my child?

Although the world is changing at a faster pace than ever before in human history, what’s best for children hasn’t changed that much (if at all).

One-to-one support is best, and young people benefit most from adult-child conversations where they acquire new vocabulary and language structures to form and share their thoughts and opinions.

These insights – that one-to-one support is best and that regular, structured adult-child conversations are life-changing within a child’s development – are what inspired us to create Third Space Learning.

A platform where children can engage with a community of specialist tutors in a safe, structured learning environment where they are able to engage in one-to-one conversations that enable them to progress in their learning with confidence.

• How to help your child with their maths homework – A parents guide
• The Best Homework Hacks: 18 Tips And Tricks To Help Busy Parents Get It Done Faster!
• The 20 Most Recommended Teaching Blogs for UK Teachers and School Leaders

DO YOU HAVE STUDENTS WHO NEED MORE SUPPORT IN MATHS?

Every week Third Space Learning’s maths specialist tutors support thousands of students across hundreds of schools with weekly one to one tuition designed to plug gaps and boost progress.

Since 2013 these personalised one to one lessons have helped over 150,000 primary and secondary students become more confident, able mathematicians.

Learn about our experience with schools or request a personalised quote for your school to speak to us about your school’s needs and how we can help.

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• John Hattie

John Hattie on BBC Radio 4: “Homework in primary school has an effect of zero”

“Homework in primary school has an effect of around zero”, says Professor John Hattie. But what does really work in education, schools and classrooms around the world? Every week Sarah Montague interviews the people whose ideas are challenging the future of education, like Sugata Mitra, Sir Ken Robinson and the headmaster of Eton College Tony Little. In August John Hattie, Professor of Education at the University of Melbourne, was her guest at BBC Radio 4. You can listen to the whole interview with John Hattie following this link (28 mins). Here are some quick takeaways. If you want to read further about what works best in education you can order the books Visible Learning and Visible Learning for Teachers .

Visible Learning: Buy the book VL for Teachers: Buy the book

John Hattie about class size

“Well, the first thing is, reducing class size does enhance achievement. However, the magnitude of that effect is tiny. It’s about a hundred and fifth out of a hundred and thirty odd different effects out there and it’s just one of those enigmas and the only question to ask is why is that effect so small? Because it is small. And the reason, we’ve found out, that it’s so small is because teachers don’t change how they teach when they go from a class of thirty to fifteen and perhaps it’s not surprising.”

John Hattie about public vs private schools

“Here in England, if you take out the prior differences from going to a private school where they tend to get parents who choose, as oppose to them sent to the local school, they tend to get a brighter student, you take that out, there’s not much difference. In many places the government school would be better. So, it’s kind of ironic, in the last twenty years where we’ve pushed this notion that parents have choice, so they can choose the school that may not be in the best interest of their student.”

 John Hattie about homework

“Homework in primary school has an effect of around zero. In high school it’s larger. (…) Which is why we need to get it right. Not why we need to get rid of it. It’s one of those lower hanging fruit that we should be looking in our primary schools to say, “Is it really making a difference?” If you try and get rid of homework in primary schools many parents judge the quality of the school by the presence of homework. So, don’t get rid of it. Treat the zero as saying, “It’s probably not making much of a difference but let’s improve it”. Certainly I think we get over obsessed with homework. Five to ten minutes has the same effect of one hour to two hours. The worst thing you can do with homework is give kids projects. The best thing you can do is to reinforce something you’ve already learnt.”

John Hattie about streaming

“It doesn’t make a difference.” Sarah Montague: “But bright kids aren’t held back by less bright and less bright not suffering?” “No. No difference at all. No. Teachers think it’s easier for them and it may be but in terms of the effects of students, no. Now you’ve got to remember that a lot of students gain a tremendous amount of their learning from their other students in the class and variability is the way that you get more of that kind of learning from other students.”

Listen to the whole interview with John Hattie at BBC Radio 4 . If you want to read further you can order the books Visible Learning and Visible Learning for Teachers.

BBC Radio 4: The Educators . Sarah Montague interviews the people whose ideas are challenging the future of education. Episode 2: John Hattie Duration: 28 minutes First broadcast: 20 August 2014 Presenter: Sarah Montague Producer: Joel Moors.

38 comments on “ John Hattie on BBC Radio 4: “Homework in primary school has an effect of zero” ”

John Hattie Homework I beg to differ, depends on what type ! E.g. Cook a meal with mum or day, explain today’s Math to a family member, read the last chapter of a book, make a touch cast report of your pet, use time laps photography with your iPad to show the growth of a seed into a plant, find Mars using an iPad app, create a billboard online that promotes one of the current issues ….

And I quote: So, don’t get rid of it. Treat the zero as saying, “It’s probably not making much of a difference but let’s improve it”.

I agree. What can we do to give it a greater effect? “Flipped” classrooms for example have a great effect on student learning as modern research shows.

Spot on.I work in Dubai and that’s how we plan homework. No rote but just enriching linkage to lessons learnt. Our kids enjoy these and are eager to share their experiences and learn tremendously from each other! !

All well and good if the parents can afford an iPad……….

Spot on John. Also, maybe let them chose from several options an activity which is of interest to them.

Why Is no one pointing out the fact of once these kids go to a higher grades the shock of how much of a load of homework will be a complete wreck them. My son was in 4th and he had homework and he hated doing it now he’s in 5th and the no homework rule is in place but once he hits 6th grade he will have it as again and i know sixth grade is always a shock for most kids. So I strongly disagree so we give him reading every night and review with him what he learned in class each day

Good revision routines prepare kids adequately

I use to be an advocate for streaming but I was wrong… kids learn best when there are varied abilities in the room. Class sizes don’t matter… quality instruction … minimal instruction .. maximum participation for students… and yes homework is over rated.

Based on what research? Im not saying you’re wrong, just curious what facts you’re using to support your opinion.

very simple data and anecdotal evidence.

Empirical research from over 800 meta-analysis — hardly “simple data” nor “anecdotal”. Evidence-based.

It’s John Hattie, are you a dinosaur? What current educational research sites don’t draw on his ongoing research?

These comments are reflecting what research the Sutton trust has accumulated. It shows that homework and class size make no difference and the thing that makes the most difference is noticing children’s responses and adjusting immediately according to them. In my head, this is obviously easier to do well with a smaller class. So if you want good teaching and not burn teachers out trying to individually respond to 32 children in each lesson, then reducing class size will make a difference. But class size in itself doesn’t. I also think that we have a large number of children who need nurturing not just teaching facts. So again a smaller class is beneficial to this end.

When a class size goes down to 5 then there are massive differences in learning. I was on a college course and for some reason, which I have forgotten, there were only 5 students on my engineering course. The teacher had a much better understanding of what we knew and on the effect of his teaching. We all got straight A’s.

It’s all about the quality of what is happening in the learning environment not the number students. A good teacher will have a good impact with 14 or 40 kids. You have to change what you do to meet the needs of the students.

I believe class size does make a difference. It certainly did with my daughter. Not from a teaching perspective, but from a learning perspective. The more students in a classroom, the more distractions and behavioral issues there are. My daughter is not a child who is easily distracted, but two years ago, she left public school and switched to online learning with a small amount of students in her class. She said there is a huge difference in the number of times the teacher has to stop the lesson in order to reprimand a student.

If students spent the first 3 years K-2 learning to get along in a classroom-how to work as a group and other social skills, there would be less disruptions in classrooms. Sone children at that you age are not neurologically developed enough to handle all of the reading, writing and math thrown at the lower grade levels. Throw some numbers and letters at them while building on their social skills and they will be much more successful students from 3rd grad and up.

The problem with Hattie’s research is that it is not primary school based but rather based across all schools from preschool to tertiary. Smaller classes make a huge difference especially in the junior school and it is covert teacher bashing to say that the teachers don’t change with smaller classes. They can and they do. They can’t with larger classes no matter how skilled they are. It’s the same with home work. If the homework is being encouraged to work with mum or dad in the kitchen or the garden por encouraging parents to read and act out stories with their children these will make massive differences to achievement.

I agree completely. Last year I was lucky enough to have a class of 18 for the best part of the year. I do believe the spring in my step made me a better teacher. A number of my D students became B’s. I believe in a normal class grouping I would have been lucky to get them to a C. I don’t think Prof. Hattie can measure my stress levels. There was so much joy in teaching my little group of children!

Jules, I completely agree with you. Hattie has, as far as I’m aware, never done research on the effect of larger/smaller class sizes on teacher stress levels and less/more time to think, prepare and spend more time with individual students. Of course, there are methods designed to maximise the learning of larger classes, but there is a huge time saving in marking a class of 18 essays to marking, say, 30. The time saved can be invested in lesson preparation, or even, time to just think! John Hattie was a maths teacher, though, so I guess he didn’t mark too many essays…

Jules you are so right! With the complexities of children’s personal lives having a smaller class enables us to have time to address their individual needs both personally and academically. We can then feel happier in our ability to fulfill each child’s needs which gives another avenue to help reduce our stress levels.

Not a fan of homework, except as a little revision, especially in primary school. My 5 children attended a state primary school, which had multi-age classrooms, which assisted children to learn at their own pace. It worked. It was also a Glasser school, which helped with socialisation. My eldest child is 27, and has Asperger’s Syndrome. The other 4 have all been accepted at tertiary institutions. All but one of those 4 were educated completely at state schools, with 1 attending a private school for her last 3 years of school, at her own request, for social (not academic) reasons. Perhaps children, especially boys, should begin school at a later age.

Having read and used Professor Hattie’s research in order to make positive impacts on student learning and outcomes, and having listened to many interviews, I can honestly say I have never felt that he covertly bashes teachers with his findings. The opposite in fact. I have always found Professor Hattie to speak positively of teachers. As a teacher, I wish more people in the public arena would validate what we do.

hang on. I remember like it was yesterday that when I was put down a group I immediately sank down to the equivalent level in that group. Ie in footballing terms, relegation zone in premiership led to relegation zone in championship. And how come nobody mentions the threat of being beaten up (let’s call it bullied) for doing well in the “second set” group? That was also a very real threat. You certainly didnt want to shine once you were relegated. Why does nobody mention this? Presumably this is a neutral site?

I agree as a parent i believe homework makes a difference….provided parent/s are involved. 1. I know what my child is learning in school. 2. I can pick up what my child needs extra attention to work on, help her with it and bring this to the teacher’s attention. 3. Show an interest in what my child is doing during her day. Only helps build on a stronger family unit.

Why is it, that never is there a word about student behaviour and the huge effect it has on learning, not just for the behaviour problem students, but for all children within that classroom! Unacceptable behaviour can keep a classroom in an upheaval . Also, the undesirable effects of hard drugs while in the womb…also alcohol! Then we have undernourishment and exhausted children. And we must not forget the trauma many are experiencing…separated parents, bickering parents, living in households where adults are smoking inside, eating a diet of processed foods, a parent or parents drinking to extremes on a daily basis, sexual abuse, seeing a parent being abused… and I could go on! All of these things and more are what many children are experiencing on a daily basis. Change will take place in the classroom and learning will take place when things change first in our homes and in our lives. It is the parents responsibility and we need to hand it back to them!

Couldn’t agree more with Elizabeth’s comments – but when you have an inspired and passionate teacher who can see beyond the behaviour and identify the effects of trauma in a youngster – the impact on that child, that class can be huge! Critical skills training can be invaluable – visible learning at worst can lead to children becoming statistics in the forensic analysis of data when actually they will gain more and teachers will have more of an impact with 5 minutes of care and concern and perhaps being the only person that has spent 5 minutes 1:1 with that child! Real relational trust takes time and genuine concern and interest in children developing and progressing – what is an assessment capable learner? Sounds like a robot!

Behavior is a big learning factor for the student with behaviors and those around them. Our son has a diagnoses with multiple co-morbids ADHD/Anxiety/OCD/Depresson/PTSD/Sensory disorder. The depression and PTSD was brought on in his therapist’s opinion by using peers to assist in helping other students, which doesn’t always have a positive impact and bullying at school.

It got to the point where he was taking 3 stimulants, a mood stabilizer and an anxiety med just to make it through the school day. And then he’d come home and have so much homework he never got to go outside to run off his excessive energy and then 3 more pills to bring him down so he could sleep. Not to mention the ill side effects of weight gain (he’s a 7th grader now 5’5 and weighs 200 pounds thats horrifying).

We pulled him out of mainstream school last year, weaned him off all meds and home school now. His self confidence is building, the weight is slowly coming off and he’ll be done early with the program we bought mainly because he can fly thru what interests him and he already has a wealth of information on and he can spend more time working on new information. We APPLY his lessons to his every day life.

All that being said maybe less pressure should be put on the child having homework and more time spent on educating parents about what their child is being taught and how to apply it to their every day life. As a daycare provider I know that not all parents will back a teacher up but I do think that they’d be surprised how many parents would.

Very interesting thoughts. To say it has zero effect seems a bit far fetched for all students. It depends on the quality of the school and quality of life at home. I work with low income students who seem to not have much education at home. The homework the teachers send helps us evaluate where the children are and help increase their education even if the parents are not involved in their education. Children with strong support systems probably benefit by helping around the house more and being a great part of the community.

Hattie’s work should be taken for what it is–superficial with blunders https://ollieorange2.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/half-of-the-statistics-in-visible-learning-are-wrong-part-2/

Yes I agree with Hattie when he says, “a lot of students gain a tremendous amount of their learning from their other students in the class.” Empirical evidence in my class has shown for those who are “not into” a particular subject, their influence (teaching) on others to fall behind, not engage in activities and not do the work is infectious. Make it more interesting people say, how interesting can you make a football game for those wanting to do ballet? Put them on the field and they will learn though, they will learn to avoid playing against the Alphas at all costs so the best solution, get into trouble to avoid having to integrate, cause trouble so the lessons gets dragged out. All of these theories I’m sure work, but it needs a tag line: They work “in the ideal world.” The fact is that we don’t live in one.

I’m not sure what you mean by integrate? Please forgive me if I’m wrong. I take your comment to say that if a child doesn’t itegrate into the classroom setting, they’ll fail at adulthood?

We have two older children with ADHD and they never truly integrated into the school system but outside school in their ongoing education and career’s they’ve chose career’s in fast paced, every changing fields one medical, one education and they’re excelling. Failure to integrate into a classroom setting does not automatically set a child up for failure in their adult life.

It’s parents who drive the homework. They think it’ll make their kids smarter. Teachers are under pressure to give kids extra work. A lot of teachers would rather not give homework. Reading with an adult is the best thing you can do for your child.

Teaching kids to be happy versus give them more work so they dont have time to find out for themselves or worse keeping them miserable

Homework that reinforces the application of skills and knowlegde already taught will prove to be purposeful. The time spent on homework must be in keeping with the concentration span of the child. It should not be an extension of the school day. 6 to 9 year olds learn best through play. Written tasks rob them of that opportunity to explore whilst developing valuable life skills.

When we know better, our moral obligation is to do better. Saying, “Yeah, I see this research. It just doesn’t fit with what I believe” is a profession of non-professionalism.

Hattie is a fraud. Unfortunately, many seem to have been taken in by his profoundly flawed research and his political motives.

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[…] What really works in education, schools and classrooms around the world? Every week Sarah Montague interviews the people whose ideas are challenging the future of education, like Sugata Mitra, Sir Ken Robinson and the headmaster of Eton College Tony Little.…Read more ›  […]

[…] may be interested in John Hattie’s homework interview on the BBC recently.  Professor Hattie is a leading and highly regarded educationalist and his […]

[…] What really works in education, schools and classrooms around the world?  […]

[…] synest å seie at elevar med mykje lekser får dårlegare karakterar, medan velkjende John Hattie konkluderer med at “homework in primary school has an effect of […]

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[…] Homework in primary school has an effect of around zero. Which is why we need to get it right. Not why we need to get rid of it. John Hattie BBC interview.  […]

[…] John Hattie, Professor of Education at the University of Melbourne, was her guest at BBC Radio 4. Read more or listen to the full […]

[…] educational researcher John Hattie interviewed on a few matters including Homework. Here’s the clip to listen […]

[…] prøver å være må vi ta inn over oss den forskning som er på lekser. Tradisjonelle lekser er verdiløse læringsinstrumenter i småskolen. Forskeren John Hattie (Det er han vi bruker for å fortelle at «forskning viser at […]

[…] First we explore our memories of homework as students, then our experiences as teachers, before introducing an outside source, in this episode,it’s ASCD’s article which quotes the The National PTA and the National Education Association “10-minute rule.” Also, check out John Hattie’s research on homework “effect size” here.  […]

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‘Too many of us are stressed and losing sleep’: Students explain why school needs to change

Our panel of pupils want more creativity, less emphasis on homework and greater recognition of learning outside the classroom.

Erlandino Doha, Conor Dunne Atkins, Sofia Moran and Philippa McIntosh

It was the day everything changed: March 12th, 2020. Schools were shut and catapulted into an experiment in remote learning on a huge scale.

In many ways, the education system showed its resilience amid the chaos – but in other ways, the pandemic was a jolting reminder of an underfunded education system rooted in a 20th-century model of learning.

What we have learned since, combined with the rise of AI and its potential to reshape education, provides an ideal moment to debate what school is for and where it should go next.

As the Government’s plans to hold a citizens’ assembly on the future of education hang in the balance due, partly, to the change of taoiseach , The Irish Times is leading a debate about how to future-proof teaching and learning.

Many apprentices are now on higher salaries than college graduates. Is snobbery around ‘earn and learn’ options fading?

Court appearances due over Newtownmountkennedy protests

New laws needed to deal with asylum seekers arriving into State from North, says Taoiseach

Last month we canvassed business leaders, educators, cultural figures and scientists for their views . Now, it’s students’ turn to have their say.

Our panel includes pupils of different ages, backgrounds and school types. It includes: Sofia Moran (8), a second-class student in Holly Park, Dublin; Conor Dunne Atkins (14), a second-year student at Clogher Road Community College, Dublin 8; Síofra (15), a third-year student at a school in Salthill, Co Galway; Philippa McIntosh (16), a transition-year student at Bandon Grammar School, Co Cork; Erlandino Doda (17), a sixth-year bursary recipient student at Belvedere College in Dublin 1; and Hazel (17) who attends iScoil, an online-learning service.

Philippa McIntosh. Photograph: Andy Gibson

Restrictive curriculum: ‘We’re not given a chance to really think for ourselves’

Philippa McIntosh (16) says one of the biggest negatives is that the curriculum restricts how students learn.

“Even art, which should be free and creative, is restricted by the curriculum,” she says. “I understand the reason behind homework, but the sheer volume of it can be overwhelming.”

Conor Dunne Atkins (14) also feels that while teachers at his school “really do listen to us”, they still have to deliver the curriculum in a particular way.

“We are all taught the same and not given a chance to really think for ourselves,” he says. “We need to be given more opportunities to question everything.”

These issues also affect primary level. Sofia Moran (8) says when she started school it was lots of fun, but now the focus is on more traditional lessons.

“Maths is one of my favourite subjects, but it has become more about learning the information than about enjoying it. But I think that is just what the teachers have to teach, because that is what they are told to do.”

Conor Dunne Atkins (14). Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

Homework: ‘It’s excessive’

Almost all our panel say they understand the need for homework – they just feel there is too much emphasis on it.

“The sheer volume of it can be overwhelming,” says Philippa McIntosh. As a dyslexic student, she would like if there were more leeway and understanding. “Yes, there’s allowances made in the exams, but we still have to spend much longer on our homework, and if it’s not completed, it will be held against us.”

Similarly, Hazel feels homework is “far too long” and adds to the anxiety of second level. “Homework adds to the pressure, and you don’t get any time to yourself at all,” she says.

By the time Síofra (15) gets home from school, she feels so much time is spent on homework that there’s little space or energy for anything else.

“Already, attention is turning to our [transition year] and Leaving Cert subjects, with a focus on which subjects are more likely to get us a H1. It shouldn’t have to be this way,” she says.

The points race: ‘It shouldn’t have to be this way’

As a sixth-year student, Erlandino Doda (17) know all about the points race.

“One of the big problems is how much is built around the CAO. There should be more options, more critical thinking and more input of student voices. Yes, there is an internal student council, and the ISSU is there, but I am not sure whether the Government really listens to the student voice,” he says.

Philippa (16) feels more should be done to make the curriculum more accessible and less stressful. “There are so many young people who are stressed and losing sleep: this is not how we should be spending our childhood,” she says.

Erlandino says policymakers should look at the international baccalaureate as a model. “In maths, for instance, students do a project on any area outside the curriculum. And they might look at continuous assessments, projects and alternative routes to college. As a bursary student, I am grateful for the opportunity, but you shouldn’t have to access a fee-paying school to have more chances of a better life – it is unfair,” he says.

Sofia Moran (8). Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

Learning outside school: ‘Rat race leaves no time for this’

While Conor Dunne Atkins (14) says school is necessary, he feels it is not the only route to success. “I have an online business selling clothes ( unpluggedclothes.com ) that I started when I was 12. We should be encouraged to make plans that don’t just revolve around college,” he says.

Erlandino would also like to see more acknowledgment of what students do outside school. “For instance, I organise events in my own free time, but the education system gives no credit, and the intensity of the rat race leaves no time for things like this,” he says.

Philippa also feels that the intense nature of the exams means many students don’t have time for extracurricular activities.

“I used to do swimming but had to stop because there wasn’t time. I would like to see whether we could be given some credit for involvement in volunteering, sport or other activities,” she says.

Síofra (15) feels subjects should be more focused on skills you need in life, such as business and home economics. “I would also like to see more school trips and exchanges, that are not just tied to whether your school does them,” she says.

Erlandino Doha

Better use of tech: ‘We barely even notice that we’re learning’

Hazel (17), who attends iScoil, says she has seen first hand how education doesn’t need to be delivered in a school setting.

“You can achieve an education without having to physically go somewhere: with technology becoming more relevant in today’s society, you can work from home online,” she says.

“Since I have been attending iScoil, I have rarely been sick or had to go to the doctors as much, as working from home is an environment that I am comfortable in. It has completely changed my life for the better and I am so grateful.”

Sofia (8) has seen how apps can make learning subjects such as learning much more enjoyable.

“There are lots of fun things they could do with apps or reading games, so we barely even notice that we are learning,” she says. “We could also do charades in Irish, for example. There is too much sitting still for six hours in school: we are children, we should be moving around more.”

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• School Education /

Class 6 Holiday Homework: Creative and Exciting Ideas

• Updated on  
• Apr 19, 2024

As a teacher, you always want your students to identify their strengths and grow academically. Also, you wish for their holistic development. In an attempt to do so, you attempt to assign exciting holiday homework that tickles their imagination and curiosity bugs. So this summer vacation, when you are planning to assign students Class 6 holiday homework, you can take inspiration from the list of assignments mentioned in this blog. Let’s have a look!!

Table of Contents

• 1.1 1. Interactive Timeline
• 1.2 2. Maths Whiz Quiz Night
• 1.3 3. Science Model
• 1.4 4. Digital Hindi Kavita Rangoli
• 2.1 1. Science in the Kitchen
• 2.2 2. “Apna Gaon” (Our Village) Documentary
• 2.3 3. Public Speaking Challenge
• 2.4 4. Artists of India Research Project

Class 6 Holiday Homework Ideas for Different Subjects

To begin with, we have Class 6 holiday homework ideas for History, Mathematics, Science, and Hindi for you. Let’s proceed!!

1. Interactive Timeline

As teachers, you ask students to pick a period in Indian history to create a timeline using pictures, drawings, and short descriptions of key events. You can advise them to make it interactive by adding movable elements or using an online timeline tool.

2. Maths Whiz Quiz Night

Further, for Class 6 Math holiday homework, you can recommend students to design a family quiz night with fun math problems (e.g., word problems based on household chores). Based on their creativity you can award them points.

3. Science Model

In addition, you can ask students to choose a scientific concept (e.g., water cycle, photosynthesis) to create a working model. For this assignment, you can ask them to create the model from simple DIY crafts using recycled materials or items found at home.

4. Digital Hindi Kavita Rangoli

Besides, for Class 6 Hindi holiday homework, you can assign the task of writing a short Hindi poem on a seasonal theme (e.g.Summers, winters, monsoon, Diwali). Then, ask them to create a virtual rangoli design incorporating the poem’s words or imagery.

Check out: Creative Holiday Homework for Nursery Class: Top 11 Ideas and Themes

Creative Ideas for Class 6 Holiday Homework

Herein, we have creative Class 6 holiday homework ideas for you.

1. Science in the Kitchen

Ask your students to choose a scientific concept related to food (e.g., states of matter, chemical reactions) to conduct a simple experiment at home (e.g., observing how dough rises). Thereafter, tell them to document their observations and explain the science behind it, when the school reopens. 

2. “Apna Gaon” (Our Village) Documentary

Also, you can design interesting Class 6 holiday homework for students who are visiting their village during the summer holidays. Tell them to record a short video documentary showcasing its unique traditions, crafts, or landmarks. Moreover, ask them to interview local residents (with permission) to capture their stories. Tell them to share their experiences and learnings once the school resumes.

3. Public Speaking Challenge

Additionally, you can suggest that students choose a topic they are passionate about (e.g., the importance of reading, or a local hero). After they select the topic, ask them to write a short speech and practice delivering it to their family during vacations, and present it before the class after the holidays. 

4. Artists of India Research Project

Also, you can tell students to research a famous Indian artist, musician, or dancer (e.g., M.F. Hussain, A.R. Rahman, Abeeda Parveen, Iqbal Bano, Pt. Birju Maharaj). Ask them to create a presentation highlighting their work and its significance in Indian culture .

Ans: Here are some interesting summer vacation homework ideas for Class 6 students: – Science model on water cycle – Mapmaking – DIY Crafts – Photography project on the lives of people from different walks of life – Journaling

Ans: Class 6 students can create a ‘DIY Solar Oven’ using a cardboard box, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap. They can harness the sun’s energy to cook s’mores or melt chocolate. This project demonstrates solar energy conversion and the greenhouse effect, making science fun and tangible for young learners.

Ans: As teachers, you can inspire students with a ‘Summer Cultural Quest.’ Encourage them to explore diverse cultures through cooking, music, and traditions. They can document their discoveries in journals or create presentations to share with classmates in the fall. 

Explore other interesting topics in school education here:

For more interesting reads on other school education topics like this one, follow Leverage Edu now!!

Ankita Singh

Ankita is a history enthusiast with a few years of experience in academic writing. Her love for literature and history helps her curate engaging and informative content for education blog. When not writing, she finds peace in analysing historical and political anectodes.

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What is a Permanent Substitute Teacher? & 5 Ways They Support Teachers

Damon Torgerson : Feb 15, 2023 11:00:00 AM

“Teaching is the perpetual end and office of all things. Teaching, instruction is the main design that shines through the sky and earth.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Substitute teachers are a necessity in every school district, providing leadership and guidance to students when their usual teachers are unavailable. Some districts prefer to hire substitutes on an as-needed basis, choosing from a list of approved substitutes when a teacher is absent. Others prefer to hire permanent substitute teachers. In either case, substitute teacher onboarding is a must for teachers to be successful.

At Alludo, we talk to assistant superintendents and school leaders regularly about their needs and one thing that often comes up is the issue of whether to hire one or more permanent substitute teachers. We have included relevant activities to support onboarding because we understand that proper training can serve as an onramp for hiring new teachers while boosting teacher effectiveness and retention.

With that in mind, here’s our guide to answer the question of what a permanent substitute teacher is and what they do, plus five ways they support teachers. 

Table of Contents

What is a permanent substitute teacher, report to the same school each day, be available for long-term and short-term assignments, provide students with a stable environment, what are the responsibilities of permanent subs, #1: teachers feel confident their students are in good hands.

• #2: It's Easy for Teachers to Schedule Appointments, Training, and Meetings

#3: Their Presence Encourages Collaboration

#4: they provide peace of mind, #5: they maintain order in the classroom.

• Alludo's Take

Support Teachers in Your District by Hiring and Onboarding Permanent Substitutes

Traditionally, substitute teachers are on an approved list and may receive a call on any given day to fill in when a teacher is absent. They may go to a different school within a district each day. 

By contrast, a permanent substitute teacher is a teacher who is embedded at a specific school for the entire school year. They report every day and are assigned to fill in for teachers whenever a substitute is needed. 

Like substitute teachers, they may fill in for a single day or several days. They may also provide interim support if a teacher is stuck in traffic, has to leave early for an appointment, or needs time during the school day to conference with parents or attend IEP meetings.

What Does a Permanent Substitute Teacher Do?

Permanent substitute teachers have the same responsibilities as regular substitutes but with a few additions. Here are their most important responsibilities.

The first responsibility of a permanent substitute teacher is to report to the same school every day. Permanent subs have the opportunity to build relationships with teachers, school administrators, and support staff.

Because permanent substitute teachers are onsite at one school every day, they are available to step in at a moment’s notice.

Permanent substitutes can fill in for teachers when there is a short-term absence due to a family responsibility or illness, or for long-term absences when a teacher is on leave or experiencing an extended illness.

One of the primary differences between regular substitutes and permanent substitutes is that permanent subs are at the school and can step in for a short period of time if the teacher needs to attend a meeting or go to a doctor’s appointment. Their presence makes them very useful for schools who may be experiencing teacher shortages already. Permanent substitutes can act as utility players, stepping in wherever they are needed.

Permanent substitutes provide students with a predictable and steadfast environment because their permanence allows them to get to know students and allows students to get to know them. Their presence in the classroom is likely to be less disruptive because of that trust.

Students are less likely to challenge a permanent sub because they’re likely to see them many times over the course of a school year. Classroom management is likely to be easier for a permanent substitute because the students know them.

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Now, let’s look at the responsibilities of permanent substitute teachers, which may combine the responsibilities of a traditional substitute with those of a guest teacher:

• Familiarize themselves with lesson plans. In a short-term assignment, permanent subs work with existing lesson plans and must familiarize themselves with the plan quickly before students arrive for class.
• Assign homework. Here again, the sub is likely to be working with the regular teacher’s existing plan and must assign homework accordingly.
• Develop lesson plans and assignments. In the case of a long-term assignment, a permanent sub may be responsible for developing new lesson plans, assignments, and classroom activities.
• Maintain discipline. Like any substitute, permanent subs must maintain discipline in the classroom.
• Manage the class. Classroom management encompasses everything from getting supplies to collecting homework and grading assignments.
• Take disciplinary action as needed. Sometimes, students may require behavioral correction based on the school’s disciplinary guidelines, and permanent subs must be prepared to provide it.
• Assist students with special needs. Some students may require small group or one-on-one instruction, and permanent subs must provide that instruction as needed.
• Collaborate with other staff and teachers. Finally, permanent substitute teachers must collaborate with school teachers and staff to make sure that students’ needs are being met.

A skilled permanent substitute teacher can do a great deal of good in a school by providing skilled and steady leadership and a sense of permanence.

5 Ways Permanent Substitutes Support Teachers

Permanent substitutes can do a great deal to support teachers in their work.

Teachers care about their students and being away from the classroom can be stressful for them, particularly if they need to take time off when students are in the midst of learning about a complex topic or preparing for an exam.

When a permanent substitute is on staff, teachers know that there is someone to step in who knows the school and students and has the ability to understand their lesson plans and teach them accordingly.

#2: It’s Easy for Teachers to Schedule Appointments, Training, and Meetings

Traditionally, substitute teachers get a phone call to let them know they will need to step in for an absent teacher the next day or at most, within a few days. It may be difficult for teachers who need to miss one class to do so, because there’s nobody to step in for an hour while they get their teeth cleaned or meet with a parent.

Permanent subs can step in for a full day or for a single period to allow teachers to do other things. They offer far more flexibility than traditional substitute teachers because they are on campus and available to make teachers’ schedules flexible.

Permanent substitutes are part of the teaching team at the school where they work. Their presence means they can meet and collaborate with other teachers , whether the collaboration entails sharing insights about a student who’s struggling or helping with lesson plans.

It’s always useful for teachers to collaborate and share ideas. While it’s impossible for teachers to collaborate with substitutes who come and go from day to day, permanent substitutes are a valued part of the school community.

Every school has its own set of safety procedures that detail how teachers and students should respond to a variety of situations. A new substitute coming into a school for the first time—or one who comes and goes—may not be familiar with safety procedures.

Permanent substitutes are on site and receive the same safety training (and participate in the same drills) as teachers. In the event that there is an emergency, they’ll be prepared to guide students through the process—and teachers will have the peace of mind of knowing that their students will be protected.

Students may not behave as well for a substitute teacher as they do for their regular teachers. It’s natural for kids to test boundaries and they may feel there are no consequences for disrupting class when a substitute is teaching.

Permanent substitutes know students—and students know them. When a permanent sub is in the classroom, students know that they’ll communicate with the regular teacher about what goes on and that their behavior with the sub may have consequences.

Alludo’s Take

Here at Alludo, it’s our passion to help school districts and teachers by providing dynamic professional learning environments that are accessible and engaging. We have included a variety of activities and learning paths in our professional development catalog that may be useful for onboarding and training permanent substitute teachers.

We know that our system can be used for onboarding because of what happened with the Yucaipa Calimesa JUSD . We worked with them to create an onboarding system for teachers, including permanent substitutes, and the system was so successful that the district has turned it into an onramp to hiring new teachers.

Permanent substitute teachers provide stability and safety for school districts, making it easy for teachers to step out of the classroom or take a day off without worrying that their students will be negatively impacted. We’ve listed five major ways that permanent substitutes support teachers, and now you know that hiring permanent substitutes can help teachers and students.

Are you in need of a robust onboarding system for teachers and permanent substitutes? Alludo can help! Click here to get your free trial of our learning platform, Madagascar, with our content catalog preloaded for you to review.

What's New in the Alludo Catalog ?

“It would take us years to roll out all the PD that we can on Alludo." - Kathy Jackson, Director of Teaching and Learning for K-12, YCJUSD

Analytic vs. Holistic Rubrics: Which Type of Rubric Should You Use?

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WELCOME TO PHOENIX PRIMARY SCHOOL

Phoenix Primary School is a large, vibrant, and friendly school. We are a proud accredited enhanced VbE, Centre of Excellence and Character Education setting.  With VbE at the heart of our curriculum we are developing ethical vocabulary and ethical intelligence, which could be argued is the most important intelligence for the sustainability of our world, enabling Phoenix children to be educated citizens, helping to engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.

Step into Phoenix Primary School and you will feel a haven of warmth and a true sense of community, halls filled with children enjoying their day, staff with a profound sense of humour, a leadership team that places importance on family and professional trust. A team that faces the next steps of each journey with resilience, kindness and compassion. A team that supports the children and their families through so much more than their educational journey. 

Pupils at the school are safe, happy and an active part of their community. The pupils at the school embody the school’s philosophy of ‘valuing self, others and the environment’. Parents support the school’s effective wo rk in securing pupils’ mental and physical well-being. There are high expectations for pupils’ learning and behaviour. Pupils have warm and nurturing relationships with staff. They show good manners and consideration to adults and peers alike. When pupils become upset or do not behave as they should, they know there is support available. They are also aware of the consequences of any poor behaviour. They are also aware that they get the chance to repair relationships and that everyone is treated fairly. Pupils are enthusiastic about learning, and interactions in class and around the school are positive and caring. They value their learning and the opportunities the school provides. Pupils are proud of their school and what they are achieving.  - Ofsted June 2023

Mrs M Ireland-Hubbert

Headteacher

PHOENIX NEWS

We're extremely proud to share with you the report from our recent ofsted visit. well done to the children, staff and families for illustrating what a dynamic and amazing community we are.  please click here   to see the report.  .

Suspending or excluding a pupil

Understand the statutory framework surrounding exclusions and what you might be asked to do as part of the exclusions process. download our suspensions and exclusions process flowchart to get up to speed quickly., suspensions and permanent exclusions .

• Suspensions and exclusions process: flowchart
• Reasons a suspension or exclusion may be unlawful
• Exclusions which require special consideration
• Cancelling suspensions and exclusions
• Governors' responsibilities

Only headteachers or acting headteachers can decide to suspend or exclude a pupil. In all cases, the decision must be lawful, rational, reasonable, fair and proportionate. 

Suspensions

Suspensions are temporary. A pupil can be suspended for 1 or more fixed periods, up to a maximum of 45 days in total per school year. 

Suspensions can also just be for a part of the school day, such as a lunchtime suspension. Each lunchtime suspension counts as half a day when determining the total number of days suspended per term and/or school year.

At a governance level, this means you may have to be involved in multiple processes

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• Equality Act 2010
• Governors' suspensions and exclusions panels: procedures
• The governing board's role in a whole-school approach to behaviour
• How to review your suspension and permanent exclusion policy
• How to review your behaviour policy

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Prices – Lakelands PS Uniform Price List 2024_180923

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Unit 2, 76 Reserve Drive, Mandurah WA 6210 Ph: (08) 9500 3036 Email:  [email protected]

NOTE: As Lakelands PS is a new school we do not have a second hand uniform shop. Hopefully this will be established sometime in the future.