Cut out written homework to help unleash pupils’ imaginations
THE school around the corner isn’t always the same as proven by Loreto Primary School in Rathfarnham whose principal and staff are trialing a new no written homework policy for most of its classes.
With every passing year my memories of primary school get hazier, but some things are as clear as the day they happened: the cold of the PE hall, cartons of milk, the sound of fingernails on blackboards, the radiators, the day a classmate put the soft end of a pencil in his ear and ended up going to casualty.
There are hundreds more memories from those happy, carefree days. Coming home from school to a waiting parent was the norm then.
Today, in most instances, both parents are working and the child is at after-school where homework is done.
For some lucky enough to have a grandparent minding their child, there is the added dimension of little Jack or Emily spending quality time with a family member, but for most this isn’t possible.
The Government needs to look at education and see it as the most important catalyst for positive change in society. For too long we’ve been waiting on a technical university for the South East, but I digress.
The formative years children spend in primary school are hugely important in shaping Irish citizens of the future. I was delighted to hear about the trial at Loreto Primary School in Rathfarnham where pupils don’t get a free pass as teachers still require students to do spellings and tables though. According to a Prime Time report featuring a mother of a girl attending the school, her daughter is happier, her work isn’t suffering and her energy levels are better than ever. The only problem is she increasingly comes in wearing muddy clothes.
The imposition of homework on young minds after five or six hours in school seems cruel, especially in the late spring, summer and early autumn periods when children should be outdoors enjoying themselves, not stuck crumpled over a desk.
The quality of Irish teachers is something most parents are aware of and, in turn, are appreciative of. The perception of many parents is that everything their child needs to learn academically should be able to be taught during ‘school time’.
Home (or creche) time – especially for children aged under ten – should be about developing interpersonal skills, arts and crafts, and a cartoon here or there won’t do any harm. Naturally there is a reflexive trend these days to tie children to the routine of homework and after-school activities for fear they’ll disappear into a phone or tablet screen, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case.
As a parent of two young children I’d love to have the time to sit down and do their homework with them, but as is the case for anyone working a busy job, this just isn’t possible. I’ll cast my eye over their neat handwriting and Maths book in between cooking, doing the washing, breaking up fights: all of the usual parental stuff that crops up. At Loreto in Rathfarnham teachers say there has been an improvement in the abilities of students. Childhood goes quickly and the early years should be spent developing imaginations, (something which our teachers do very well), but as the trial at the Loreto school has highlighted there may be another way, different from the school around the corner, that’s worth exploring more, along with big changes to second level education.