Why Homework Works

I have just read the story of the Philip Morant secondary school in Colchester, which has decided no longer to set homework. It is making a grave error.

I was a teacher for over thirty years and I used homework as a vital component in educating my pupils. A few points about the importance of homework:-

Why do pupils go to school? To learn, I hear you say. Only to a degree (excuse the pun). They go principally to study. Even bright children will pick up less than 50 percent of what they're taught first time around. The learning is done after class (i.e. homework) and, if this happens, that 50 percent becomes 90 percent.

For an hour's lesson, no more than 15 minutes' learning time is required. If that 15 minutes doesn't take place, the child will forget about 85 percent of the lesson within a week. When year 11 pupils say they are revising for an exam, what they're usually doing is re-studying.

I have ALWAYS told my classes there are three steps to success:-
STUDY(1 hour) - LEARN (15 mins) - REVISE (5 mins).  Simple as this.

You cannot learn what you haven't studied and you can't revise what you haven't learned.
This is why homework is imperative. If the teacher gives the impression he or she does not consider homework as relevant to the school process, then the pupils will suffer the consequences.

Uniform Matters

I have been a guest contributor on various radio programmes this week discussing the puerile protests by parents at Hartsdown Academy in Kent because their offspring have been sent home by the new Head teacher, Matthew Tate, for wearing incorrect school uniform. These complaining fools are unable to recognise that nothing does more to undermine the effective running of a school than this sort of selfish, misguided behaviour.

There are plenty of things parents are entitled to complain about on behalf of their children, such as persistent bullying/poor teaching/being in the wrong set for a particular subject. However, any complaints parents do have must be proffered behind closed doors with the Head in a constructive, mature manner.

As far as wearing a smart uniform is concerned, because the teaching and learning process is a formal one, then what the pupils wear should reflect this. But even if the wearing of a particular uniform was deemed by many to be surplus to requirements, if the pupils know what the rules of the school are, they should abide by them; it is the slippery slope to allow pupils and parents to pick and choose which rules they agree with.

I believe smart attire at school links in with discipline, respectful behaviour and good manners. This in turn is inextricably linked with feelings of security, contentment and academic success. A school uniform crosses all social divides and this is appropriate in a school environment which is one of equal opportunities.

But regardless of any of the reasons for and against wearing a specific school uniform, I wish these parents could start acting responsibly and take a united stance with the school's position. If they cannot see that it is their own children who will pay the price of the discord resulting from these pathetic, misguided public protests, then they need to go back to school themselves.