Rationale

Homework fosters independence, self-reliance, self-esteem, co-operation and responsibility and life-long learning. It is an essential part of primary education as it re-enforces what children learn in school. It should be integrated into a programme of teaching and learning, forming a part of assessment for learning (AfL), which emphasises each child’s active role in his/her own learning. Homework also offers an opportunity for a more meaningful dialogue between school and home.

Homework helps children to build knowledge, develop deeper understandings and connections among concepts to which they have been introduced, and provides an opportunity for them to apply skills they have acquired in school. It also helps children to develop good study habits, and fosters self-discipline, responsibility, and an interest in learning that will benefit them throughout their lives.

The school’s homework policy was reviewed at this time, aiming to maximise the benefit of homework to the child’s learning to develop more positive homework practices for the pupils to address teachers’ and parents’ expectations about homework to reflect guidelines within the Primary Curriculum (1999), through the Department of Education and Science (DES) and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), as well as the INTO’s Your child and the primary school - tips for parents.

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