Primary school - homework / tests

[lollol]

We go to a lovely local primary school which has child wellbeing at its heart and a focus on children enjoying learning, being curious etc. I am completely bought into this concept and we love the school.

There has been a big emphasis on reading as well so from Reception, children have a book to read each week. There has never been any other type of homework. My son is now entering Y3 and I am told by parents with older children that the school does not give homework and children get tested but are not aware they are doing a test. I am concerned on the impact this will have and the shock of going into secondary school without having those early homework habits and that yes unfortunately, there will be tests / exams in life and you will get marked and unfortunately compared to others. Also I grew up abroad where we had homework and tests as well as report cards with marks from Year 1. Is this common in the Uk primary state sector? Also we get the end of the year school reports and it just says whether they have met the expected standard or exceeded it or are below it; again no clear marking scale - is this again common in Uk state primary schools? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Monkey]

It's all pretty common, I think... Like you I grew up abroad and struggled with the lack of information at primary school. It was difficult to get test results for example and all we got was meet/exceed standard. However, our daughter was aware she was sitting tests and did get homework from year 1. I don't know if it helped her with the transition to secondary school to be honest as the type of homework she got in year 7 was very different to what she was getting at primary school.

[bonaome]

In primary school, outside of all important daily reading, homework isn't for the benefit of the children, it's to manage the anxiety of parents.

Between ourselves and our friends we have had everything from Heber (no homework to speak of) to Herne Hill and JAGS (couple of hours every single night). I have to say, it's made absolutely no difference whatsoever at secondary school, and we're all now at GCSEs (or beyond).

It's natural to worry about the transition to secondary, but the timing of it (turning 11) is, not by accident, at the time of an absolute sea change in kids' cognitive abilities. They wake up one day towards the end of year 5 / beginning of year 6 and, sadly, your baby has gone and this new thing who looks like your baby is in its body. The voice may even be the same, but emotionally and psychologically you are dealing with a different and altogether more sophisticated being. The good news is that it turns out the new 'them' is even more entertaining than the old 'them'! And they'll cope just fine with year 7.

At the risk of sounding dreadfully patronising (and sincere apologies if so), I'd say you can forget your concerns, enjoy the early years - they're over too quickly - your local primary knows what it's doing (they'd soon get a reputation if they were sending kids to secondary unprepared), the transition to secondary will be fine, and so will you and yours.

[alice]

If you're still concerned check out the research. It backs the above post.

[Ossito]

We had the same concerns for a while. Our son started Year 7 last week and, so far, has taken homework in his stride without a problem.

[Soylent Green]

Whilst the words 'exam' or 'test' will not be used, kids pretty soon twig that the 'quizzes' and special pieces of writing for the headteacher are progress assessments. As for homework, daily reading is the most important thing you can do with a young child along with spellings - and in KS2, times tables. I would agree homework is for parents' benefit rather than the kids. Take these scenarios: Maths h/w differentiated 3 ways: Some kids have fully understood the learning and are just going through the process (waste of time), some struggled a bit in class, were helped by the child next to them and now can't really remember - complete the sheet but get it all wrong (waste of time), some are a bit hesitant and ask for parents' help, who show them the way they did it at school - confuses the child further or ends up with the parents giving the children the answers (waste of time), some just don't do it. (Not fair on those who did). Teacher has to mark it all not knowing if the child did it independently or with help because none of the working out is shows (waste of time). One of the other differences between this country and others is that schools provide the books, so the books stay in school, whereas in other countries parents buy the books and they go home. In this scenario, being asked to finish a piece of work makes sense as homework, but UK homework is usually a printed sheets - which schools can no longer afford to provide given the marginal benefit - and is just further practice of what they have done in school. Instead, children who have struggled and completed little work get to catch up during assembly, breaks or registration/story time with adult guidance.

[bonaome]

That's a very good point about those times tables!

[alex_b]

The reasoning at our son?s school is parents wind up doing a lot of the homework anyway. They put a big emphasis on reading every night and from KS2 expect the kids to be filling in their reading logs. As I went to a UK state primary that had no homework and then went to a UK state secondary that did have homework I?m not particularly concerned about the transition but can understand why parents with different experiences will find it odd.

Realistically the kind of parent that is posting this kind of question on a forum about East Dulwich is going to be providing a supportive enough environment that their kids will be fine whatever approach the school takes.

[lollol]

Thanks all for your messages! It?s been super helpful!