School has been back for 2 weeks now, and things are, more or less, settling down. The pre-term anxieties were high, but not as bad as Christmas, and although I have had to face pouts and sighs most mornings, he’s gone in ok, and come home almost happy!  The only real difference is that there has been very little formal homework set, so far, as there are school tests in a week so most of the homework has been revision (which has consisted of chatting about 1 topic within 1 subject most, but not all, evenings – not enough so far). This has meant that school has been about school, and home has been about home. This has meant there is a clear divide between the two, which has reduced the stress and anxieties.

So, where do we go from here, and what do we do once the tests are done, marked and homework is back on the agenda? And how can I/we put things in place now so that the increase of homework over the next 4 years doesn’t result in an increase in stress for us all?

When our eldest was writing his uni assignments, one was on comparative education, and he compared the UK system to the Finnish system.  Proof-reading his assignment for him was so interesting, and led me to read some of his research too.  In Finland, they don’t start formal lessons until the children are 7. There is funded childcare available for younger children, and most children are at school from 5, but between 5 & 7 they learn through play, rather than being made to sit and learn spellings and maths and things that most 6 year olds will learn through conversation and play anyway (and probably better through play).

The schools run from 7 through to 16, so there is no change of school at 11 where they have to change peer groups and make new friends just as they are on the cusp of pupating through their teenage years before emerging as adult butterflies (and I really believe that this happens, metaphorically, that’s a subject for another blog). They have the same teachers and familiarity throughout, and although there are skware pegs in Finnish education, the lessons are student orientated, and if a student can’t learn a certain way, the teacher will change the way they teach or ask colleagues for advice to ensure that the children do learn. Most importantly, as far as this blog is concerned, they are set very little homework, and have very few in school tests.  Homework tends to be project based, or similar, and there is a culture in Finland that the parents will help, either by reading or being with the child while they complete the work.

All this must be working as Finland are consistently in the top 10 countries in the world for education and attainment, and 93% of students leave formal education with the equivalent of a level 3 qualification (A-level or BTEC National).

I don’t often set homework as the students don’t want to do it (and I really don’t want to mark 20 pieces of apathetic, can’t be bothered work either, if I’m completely honest). The homework I do set is things like ‘Read anything and everything, from instructions to menus to newspapers to novels. Fill your heads with words, and criticise what you read.’  That has meaning, it’s easy to do, and it really does help with the subjects I teach!

I’m still not sure what I need to do – any suggestions are welcome – but I think I may trust my instinct, maybe stamp my feet a little, and see if we can have the final term more or less homework free.  I will post updates, watch this space…..