From the Assistant Principal

Annoying Siblings and Other Worthy Pursuits

Some swear by it. Some loathe it. Some just accept it as part of the school experience. And the research? Well, that’s all over the place. Let’s talk about homework.

My mum sent this photo through to our family group chat last week, and it made me laugh for a number of reasons.

Firstly, getting my sister into trouble was always fun (I’m sure there are students who agree that this is a worthy pursuit) and secondly, I find it highly unlikely that I was actually doing my homework.

The reality is, homework in primary school has always been a bit of a contentious issue. And it’s one of those things that, as I said in a previous article, we’ll never get right. Some parents see it as essential, others as an unnecessary stress, and the evidence on its effectiveness for young children is, at best, mixed.

Carly’s message home laid out our school’s approach to homework, consistent with our policy:

• Homework isn’t a performance task but a way to practise and consolidate learning.
• Teachers won’t be providing detailed feedback on homework, but they will track completion.
• If your child is struggling, let their teacher know.
• Some tasks may be digital, but there are always non-screen alternatives.

When I think back to how I spent the hours after school when I was a kid, I don’t have many positive memories about homework. My favourite memories are of course of football training, playing 40/40 home with the kids in the street, and making questionable decisions with my mates when we had too much time and freedom (and not enough supervision). The memories I have of homework are of my inability to learn my 7 times tables and not being able to draw a margin straight enough to satisfy my precision-conscious father. Stress. Worry. Concern. 

Our teachers put a huge amount of thought into planning, teaching, and assessing what students do in their classrooms each day. This is where we do our best work - giving immediate feedback, clearing up misconceptions when they arise, and challenging students at just the right level. That’s why our focus is on what happens during school hours, rather than spending time marking work completed at home, where we can’t always be sure how much support a student had or whether the task was the right level of challenge.

This is not to say there are not benefits to homework. Positive study habits are important when students move into high school. Reading books and strengthening vocabularies, comprehension and building on one’s knowledge of the world, what could be more important than that? So of course it is important that we offer support for families to do this. But homework isn’t just learning your times tables or completing a research project. Homework is also things like helping with the cooking, playing board games, connecting with friends through a club or being active playing a sport. Families have so much to juggle, I don’t envy the after school run-around I hear from many of our families, and homework often becomes a battle that no one emerges victorious from. 

So if homework isn’t right for your family right now, that’s fine. It might be right tomorrow night, or next week. And if it is a priority, that’s fine too - we’ll be here to help however we can either way. 

And just a final note, I do get on with my sister now - I can’t remember her being very, very bad for a very, very long time.

Have a great week,

Mat Williamson

Assistant Principal and Dibby Dobbing Brother 

Newport Lakes Primary School