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Welcome to the first My-Progression debate.
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The hot topic today is Homework.
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Should we set it?
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How much should the students be expected to
do?
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And at what age should it start?
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There are many different opinions on the setting
of homework and these views may vary greatly
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depending on who you are speaking to.
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Now full honesty We don't have the answers!
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But we will go through the pros and cons in
this video.
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I’m Natalie from My-Progression and we would
love to hear your thoughts on homework in
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the comments below and whilst you’re there
like and subscribe to keep hearing more from
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My-Progression.
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And have a little click on the bell icon so
that you'll be informed when future videos
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come out.
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Now before we get into this… let’s make
sure we all know the basics of homework.
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To get us on the same page homework is work
that we ask the children to complete at home
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in a set amount of time.
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Children are often given homework from an
early age such as Reception and this may be
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in the form of learning phonics or words to
support early reading.
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Parents or carers have to obviously be involved
to support young children in their learning.
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Historically the Government advised that secondary
school children should do two and a half hours
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of homework per night but that guidance was
scrapped in 2012 and it's now up to schools
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to decide how much to set.
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Your school policy will guide you and the
parents as to the expectations.
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Ofsted explained the change by saying: “For
homework it is up to individual schools to
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decide whether it is age-appropriate and in
line with their policy.
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Inspectors do not assess homework as part
of inspections.”
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This was a u-turn as they had previously placed
much more emphasis on homework.
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Now on to the debate:
I will be remaining neutral in this debate
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I will be arguing for.
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And I will be arguing against.
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Setting homework can be a great way of asking
children to consolidate their learning from
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class through practice of something or you
could even ask the children to use and apply
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their knowledge to another piece of work.
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You can then assess their understanding of
learning through the marking of the homework.
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Which I think sounds like a great idea right?
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Yeah but the downside the setting of homework
can add to an already heavy workload in terms
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of marking I mean haven’t we got enough
to do?
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You can’t always be sure that all pupils
will complete work set either.
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Well this could help you gain an insight into
your pupils and their home circumstances
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Hussain says: "I couldn’t complete my homework
because I was at my grandparents’ house
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all week because both mum and dad were at
work and I needed some help.”
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Or Jasmine says: "My sister is ill in hospital
and we were there all weekend and so I couldn’t
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complete my homework"
We have to see past the tick on the spreadsheet
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sometimes don’t we need to realise there
are bigger problems for some children.
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You may also deal with the consistent fail
to produce homework that was me and the ‘don’t
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care’ attitude.
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How do we deal with that?
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Maybe those children stay in to complete the
work?
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It’s important to manage attitudes and encourage
a positive view on learning outside of the
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classroom.
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This is important.
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Hang on so this means that the children who
are already struggling with a difficult home
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life get penalised and judged at school as
well?
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No it’s identifying who needs support and
where there shouldn’t be any judgement.
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But you cannot deny that some of the reasons
a child can’t complete their homework or
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do it to a high standard is out of their control!
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In some cases we may have a child who is fully
supported and produces homework to an excellent
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standard but this does not reflect their ability
in class.
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On delving into the situation there is a great
deal of support at home and so work is accurate
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but is it the child’s work?
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However any support and extra teaching from
home may just be an excellent way of consolidating
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learning.
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Parents can find homework informative and
helpful as they are then aware of what their
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child is learning they can see how things
are done by what methods and what terminologies
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are used in various subjects.
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Homework allows a parent to assess how their
child is coping with work they are doing in
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school and then support them.
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And what about busy working parents who just
don’t have a lot of free time in the evening.
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Completing homework is reported by many parents
to be stressful time-consuming and upsetting!
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There are parents who only have a couple of
hours to spend with their child during the
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week and they might want to use that time
doing something enjoyable or relaxing with
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their child.
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Now my little girl is not at this stage of
life yet but friends inform me that there
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can be tears and tantrums over the completion
of homework.
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If you’re a parent you will no doubt have
your own experience and opinions about this!
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Some parents are able to fully invest time
and support their child with homework but
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some parents may not be able to do this for
many reasons work commitment time constraints
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children being looked after by wrap-around
clubs or child-minders.
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It sounds like this may cause stress to the
child and the parents and it means some will
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have a better output than others.
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It could but there’s always going to be
some level of challenge in life doesn’t
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mean we don’t do something!
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Most children do not relish the thought of
doing homework do they?
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Not all the time however as the children progress
through the key stages they may change their
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opinion and see the value in doing extra work
to help them in their studies.
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Some will always produce homework and some
never will.
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Clearly homework is a challenging part of
a teacher's role.
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Right it’s time for closing statements.
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Informs parents of learning at school and
is one way of communicating what is going
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on in the classroom.
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This can educate parents too.
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Teachers can assess the pupils’ understanding
of learning in class and identify issues as
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they arise or move learning forward.
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It acts to consolidate school learning for
the pupil outside of the classroom to practice
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what they have learned and even extend their
knowledge and understanding.
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It forms good study ethics and creates a routine
of work.
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Later this can be seen as important time management
skills when studying at a high level.
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It can promote self-learning and self-study
and the pupil gains self-confidence and independence
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in the learning.
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Homework can promote critical thinking and
problem solving as challenges will make the
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student resourceful and even creative in their
attack of their independent work at home.
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Homework can boost memory retention and the
practice or extension of a skill will reinforce
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learning.
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It allows for revision of topics as well as
consolidation of work.
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Homework allows the child to build confidence
independence initiative and resilience and
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this will further support exam-taking in the
future.
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So why would we not encourage the use homework?
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Right.
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Now for the cons.
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Homework creates an extremely long day for
a pupil is this necessary?
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It’s about the same working length of an
adult.
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Shouldn’t we let kids be kids!
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As any parent will know homework can cause
a great deal of stress not only for them but
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for the child.
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Homework can be time-consuming and therefore
impact on a child’s free time.
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Pupils are probably tired and feel stressed
at the thought of having to complete further
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work at home after a full day at school and
therefore demotivated in their attitude to
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learning.
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Homework that needs parental support can identify
the social gap between family situations and
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massively increase the gap.
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Some will have a huge advantage and then how
do you catch those that don’t?
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Panic over not doing it or falling behind
can lead to absenteeism.
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And this can create issues between parents.
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For example Molly is at Dad’s house over
the weekend and he wants quality time with
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his daughter so homework is unimportant.
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Mum then has to play bad cop and make Molly
complete homework on returning.
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And can a teacher be sure that the pupil completed
the work rather than lots of support from
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another adult?
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You could take that time spent marking homework
and use it to bridge the gap between those
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that are struggling and those that are achieving.
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This is the big one: There is little evidence
to support the impact of homework on attainment.
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So how can we as educators make homework manageable
for ourselves as well as the pupils?
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First of all Homework set needs to be relevant.
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There is little point in setting homework
on long division when you have been teaching
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data handling!
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Children complain to parents that they haven’t
done this in class and have no idea what to
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do!
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Quite rightly so.
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Teach it use it cement it.
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Homework is a good way to cement that knowledge
by going over the topic again.
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Make sure that a good explanation is given
with an example if possible.
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Give guidance to the pupil a bit like success
criteria for them to aim towards.
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If using a worksheet from an education site
make sure it is in line with your teaching
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methods and that you have checked it and the
children will be able to complete it.
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Set your children up to succeed at home!
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Think carefully about your workload is homework
going to support your next teaching steps
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or just create marking?
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Can you self-mark as a class?
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Keep a homework folder and make sure you can
reuse or adapt for other classes.
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The hard work initially can support future
years of teaching.
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Perhaps your school has bought into online
homework programs which are also marked.
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It is then your responsibility to look at
the data and see how a child is performing.
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This can inform teaching and you can address
issues as well as give you the confidence
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that children are getting it!
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You may set a project for homework which may
last over a number of weeks this can be a
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motivating way of learning for the children
as well as give the child time to complete
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the project.
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It may be an open project and the child can
present the task however they want to a poster
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PowerPoint presentation a model or an essay.
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Time needs to be given to evaluate projects
in class rather than being ignored and no
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value being placed on the work done.
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Despite the repeal of the 2.5-hour rule some
teachers still go for more is better.
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Can you make homework small and impactful?
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Instead of reading two chapters of Romeo and
Juliet could they study and fully understand
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two pages!
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Can you give the kids a choice?
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We’re more inclined to do something if we’ve
been part of the decision-making process.
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You can give a few options of what homework
to complete and the class can vote on what
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they want to do.
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This means they are actively voting to do
homework.
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Sometimes due to circumstances you may not
set homework.
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It may be you know the class has a lot on
or you do too like parents' evenings or report
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writing so you have to make that professional
decision.
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You may need to check with your line manager
or the policy.
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The argument for and against homework will
continue forevermore!
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As educators we are all invested in maximising
our pupils learning.
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We’re united by wanting them to do the best.
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Whether homework is the right or the wrong
answer if we continue to push ourselves into
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creating engaging learning experiences then
we all win!
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I hope that this has been helpful to you.
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We would love to hear from you about how you
manage homework any tips or ideas.
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Please comment below.
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I’ve been Natalie from My-Progression and
let’s keep your career in motion!
