5,000 signatures reached
To: Education Secretary
Ban homework in primary schools
Please stop primary schools from giving out homework. The evidence does not support any gain in standards, but only in unnecessary pressure and anxiety for young children who need free play and quality family time for their healthy development.
Why is this important?
In 2012 Michael Gove scrapped homework guidelines that laid out how much homework schools should be setting. Let’s ask that we go a step further and scrap homework in primary schools altogether.
Schools continue to operate under the false assumption that homework is necessary for children to gain a satisfactory level of academic achievement, and to pander to the pressure from parents who also operate under this misconception.
The fact is that there is not a single piece of evidence that can show any correlation between homework and academic achievement, nor that shows any improvement in study habits.
Yet many recent studies and reports have raised serious concerns about the well-being of children, their lack of physical activity, excessive time spent in front of screens, increasingly limited time for free play, and lack of time spent outdoors.
Homework is an intrusion on family time, on children’s free time, and can be a regular source of conflict in the home. It creates unnecessary anxiety and pressure for children.
Young children already spend enough time engaged in formal school work. To expect them to bring more of this home risks overloading them and turning them off learning altogether. They learn and develop in so many other ways. Time for free play, outdoor play, pursuing their own interests, and quality family time is essential for their development and well-being.
Schools continue to operate under the false assumption that homework is necessary for children to gain a satisfactory level of academic achievement, and to pander to the pressure from parents who also operate under this misconception.
The fact is that there is not a single piece of evidence that can show any correlation between homework and academic achievement, nor that shows any improvement in study habits.
Yet many recent studies and reports have raised serious concerns about the well-being of children, their lack of physical activity, excessive time spent in front of screens, increasingly limited time for free play, and lack of time spent outdoors.
Homework is an intrusion on family time, on children’s free time, and can be a regular source of conflict in the home. It creates unnecessary anxiety and pressure for children.
Young children already spend enough time engaged in formal school work. To expect them to bring more of this home risks overloading them and turning them off learning altogether. They learn and develop in so many other ways. Time for free play, outdoor play, pursuing their own interests, and quality family time is essential for their development and well-being.
