Rationale
Homework is the part of school life that affects home life most directly. In a Catholic School it is desirable for homework to have a positively enriching effect. It is often the daily link between school and home.
Some of these benefits are:
- the opportunity for children to consolidate what they have learnt at school.
- encouragement of self-discipline
- the development of good long term work and study habits as a preparation for further study.
- increased and regular parental awareness of the child’s progress, strengths and weaknesses.
Policy
Homework will be set regularly and may consist of both written tasks and study assignments that a teacher asks a child to perform apart from work completed in the classroom.
Method
Reading is an important activity that should continue throughout the primary years.
Spelling and number facts is an important component of children’s homework.
The supervision of homework by parents should not lead to stressful situations.
Implementation: Regulations and Procedures
- All teachers will set some form of homework on a regular basis. Homework will be distributed on Thursday and will be due on the Tuesday of the following week.
- Each teacher will communicate to parents the homework requirements for their class at the beginning of the school year during the parent information night.
- Homework will cover work already introduced in class.
- Homework for Prep children will commence in Term 2 and may commence with sounds, sight words and reading.
- For Years 1 - 4 homework will consist of Reading/Number Facts / Spelling / Sight Words. Activities will focus on these areas.
- For Year 5 / 6 it will include the above but may also include project works. Full information about project work will be communicated home.
- For Years 1 - 6 the maximum time to be spent on set homework for each year level per week will be:
- Years 1 / 2: 1 hour per week
- Years 3 / 4: 1½ hours per week
- Year 5 / 6: 2 hours per week
This includes reading, project work, spelling and number facts. - In the second semester of Year 6 homework may be segmented and checked on in school between Thursday night and Tuesday morning. This will be fully communicated at the initial parent information night. This is in preparation for secondary school.
- All homework will be checked regularly and assessed. If handed in on Tuesday it will be returned by the end of the week. From this assessment teachers will give children appropriate feedback where required.
- Parents should assist by providing a reasonable environment eg a time and place for homework to be done free of interruption.
- Parents should consult with their children to organise a realistic timetable for homework so that the child has a predictable routine.
- Parents will inform teachers with a note when unforeseen circumstances prevent the children from completing their set homework.
- Children will enter full into the partnership by accepting responsibility for the completion and representation of homework, given that they have worked diligently for the set time.