Headteachers to get leeway on homework

Headteachers are to be given greater discretion over how much homework should be given to pupils.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has moved to scrap formal limits on what volume of homework should be handed out to pupils aged between five and 16.

Previously guidelines, introduced under Labour, have specified how much time pupils should be spending on homework each night.

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But a Department for Education spokeswoman said: “Homework is part and parcel of a good education, along with high-quality teaching and strong discipline.

“We trust headteachers to set the homework policy for their school. They know their pupils best and should be free to make these decisions without having to adhere to unnecessary bureaucratic guidance.”

Under the guidelines, which came into force in 1998, primary schools were supposed to set an hour of homework a week for pupils aged five to seven, rising to half an hour a night for pupils aged seven to 11.

In secondary schools, work should have been set at 45 to 90 minutes a night for students aged 11 to 14, while those aged 14 to 16 should have had 90 to 150 minutes a night.

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Television presenter Kirstie Allsopp has campaigned against homework in primary schools and said: “Getting rid of the guidelines might free up teachers to think a bit more creatively about it.”

But former headteacher Chris McGovern, who chairs the Campaign for Real Education, commented: “The danger is that schools will use this as an excuse to dilute the amount of homework.

“Middle-class children will do their homework anyway. Guidance for children who are coming from more deprived backgrounds is probably more important.”

Lessons we can learn: Page 11.

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