BBC Bitesize

primary

Age 3 to 11

secondary

Age 11 to 16

careers

Skills and jobs

teachers

Exam revision 2024

Don't learn off randoms - revise with BBC Bitesize!

Get ready for your GCSEs, Higher and National 5 exams with quizzes, videos, podcasts and more. Check out our revision resources page and subject collections now.

Man wearing purple body suit with mortar board holding up and pointing to a sign which says: BBC Bitesize - Don't learn off randoms - for GCSE exam revision

Maths quizzes, exam questions and more

primary homework.co.uk

English Literature exam questions and more

primary homework.co.uk

2024 GCSE exam dates

primary homework.co.uk

Biology quizzes, exam questions and more

primary homework.co.uk

Chemistry quizzes, exam questions and more

primary homework.co.uk

Physics quizzes, exam questions and more

primary homework.co.uk

English Language exam questions and more

primary homework.co.uk

History exam questions, guides and more

primary homework.co.uk

Geography quizzes and exam questions

primary homework.co.uk

Computer Science quizzes and exam prep

primary homework.co.uk

Three myths about revision - busted!

primary homework.co.uk

Play maths, English and more Bitesize games!

NEW! History Explorer: Secrets Through Time

  • Attribution KS2 History • Ages 7-11

primary homework.co.uk

Guardians: Defenders of Mathematica - game

  • Attribution KS2 Maths • Ages 7-11

A knight faces off against a demon on a gloomy misty background.

Operation Ouch! It Takes Guts! - Science game

  • Attribution KS2 Science • Ages 7-11

Operation Ouch! characters shrunk down to explore the stomach.

Karate Cats English - English game

  • Attribution KS1 English • Ages 5-7

Karate Cats practising their English skills in the dojo.

Karate Cats Maths - Maths game

  • Attribution KS1 Maths • Ages 5-7

Karate Cats in an arena, dressed as a banana and a unicorn, with their mouse coach.

Dance Mat Typing

  • Attribution KS2 Computing • Ages 7-11

Dance Mat Typing characters: a goat, rhino, Alpine cow, octopus, and turtle.

All maths games

  • Attribution Ages 4 -14

Karate Cats characters, one in a black suit wearing sunglasses, one dressed as a ninja, and one sumo wrestler.

All English games

Cartoon character Ernie in story corner in a library reading a book to a small group of children.

All science games

Smiling face on AI display unit with a science lab in the background.

All history games

Two ancient Greek children in a temple with columns and a giant golden statue of a goddess.

Discover more from BBC Bitesize

‘I was more of a scribbler’ - School day memories of people born 100 years ago

100 years of BBC Education: Three women born in 1924 - or earlier - recall their memories of school

primary homework.co.uk

Learn about World Earth Day 2024

  • Attribution KS2 Citizenship • Ages 7-11

primary homework.co.uk

60-second headline quiz

  • Attribution Other Side of the Story

primary homework.co.uk

Maths challenges!

  • Attribution Maths Week Scotland 2023

Graphic of a coloured puzzle box and question mark

The monthly AI or real quiz: April 2024

primary homework.co.uk

Start coding today with the virtual micro:bit

  • Attribution micro:bit - the next gen

primary homework.co.uk

What is World Earth Day 2024?

  • Attribution KS1 Citizenship • Ages 5-7

primary homework.co.uk

2024 SATs dates and resources

  • Attribution SATs • KS1 and KS2

A primary school student writes in a book with a pencil while another student sits in the background.

Times tables games, quizzes and songs

  • Attribution Maths • Ages 5-11

A boy in a school classroom looking at a tablet during class.

Free flashcards on the Bitesize app!

  • Attribution GCSE

Someone on public transport looking at the Bitesize app on their mobile device.

Post-16: Functional Skills maths and English

  • Attribution Ages 16+

A young man and young woman sit in a living room with mugs of coffee looking at a laptop, smiling.

Teacher? Subscribe to our free newsletter

  • Attribution BBC Teach

A teacher helps a pupil in a classroom.

Horrible Histories: Raid and Trade

More games for primary school students.

Crystal Explorers - English game

  • Attribution KS2 English • Ages 7-11

Crystal Explorers characters face off against a snarling man and a chameleon with a magic crystal in the background.

Earth Squad, Go! - Science game

primary homework.co.uk

Race Across the Continents - game

  • Attribution KS2 Geography • Ages 7-11

primary homework.co.uk

Bud's Number Garden - Maths game

  • Attribution Early Years Maths • Ages 4-5

primary homework.co.uk

Numberblocks: See the Amount - game

primary homework.co.uk

Games for secondary school students

Atomic Labs

  • Attribution KS3 Science • Ages 11-14

primary homework.co.uk

Divided Islands

  • Attribution KS3 Maths • Ages 11-14

Divided Island title screen

Planet Planners

  • Attribution KS3 Geography • Ages 11-14

Planet Planners - Geography game

History Detectives

  • Attribution KS3 History • Ages 11-14

History Detectives - History game

Blue Peter Book Club

Share the joy of reading with the Blue Peter Book Club. Each month, they'll talk about a different book and find out your thoughts on it too.

Book 6: Am I Made of Stardust?

Written by Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock and illustrated by Chelen Ecija, answering questions about space and the universe for all budding scientists.

  • Attribution Blue Peter Book Club • KS2 English

Front cover of book 'Am I Made of Stardust?' with overlaid graphic of child reading a book.

Book 5: Poems Aloud

Written by Joseph Coelho and illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett. A book full of poems to read, shout, whisper and enjoy by yourself or with friends.

primary homework.co.uk

Book 4: Juniper Mae: Knight of Tykotech City

Written and illustrated by Sarah Soh. Young inventor of incredible gadgets Juniper Mae must protect the city.

primary homework.co.uk

Book 3: The Christmas Carrolls

Written by Mel Taylor-Bessent and illustrated by Selom Sunu. When Holly goes to a new school, she realises not everyone shares her love of Christmas.

primary homework.co.uk

Podcasts for GCSE revision

Bitesize and Sounds have teamed up to help you explore core GCSE topics. Listen at home as part of your revision or out and about on the BBC Sounds app.

GCSE Biology

Explore cell biology, photosynthesis, respiration and more biology topics with host Dr Alex Lathbridge.

  • Attribution Revision podcasts

A young student listening to a podcast and making notes.

GCSE Physics

Learn about forces, electricity, energy and more physics topics with hosts James Stewart and Ellie Hurer.

Bitesize physics podcasts promo image showing hosts James Stewart and Ellie Hurer with physics icons in the background.

GCSE Chemistry

Revise atomic structure, chemical changes and more topics with hosts Tulela Pea and Dr Sunayana Bhargava.

Bitesize chemistry podcasts promo image showing hosts Tulela Pea and Dr Sunayana Bhargava with chemistry icons in the background.

GCSE English Literature

Join Testament, Hollie McNish, Carl Anka and Jean Menzies to revise plots, themes and characters with key quotes.

Bitesize English Literature podcasts promo image with host Testament and English icons in the background.

Around the UK

Social Studies History

Learn about early pandemics and the Scottish witch trials.

  • Attribution Scotland • 3rd level • Ages 11-15

A cartoon witch floats in the air amid crimson clouds.

Feelings and emotions

We all have emotions and we feel different things at different times. Find out why.

  • Attribution Northern Ireland • KS2 PDMU

primary homework.co.uk

Humanities History

Discover the Celts, the Tudors and the Princes of Wales.

  • Attribution Wales • Primary • Ages 8-11

A historical Prince of Wales wearing a crown in a cavern.

Humanities Geography

Learn about change and movement while building your geographical skills.

  • Attribution Wales • Secondary • Ages 11-14

A series of hexagonal grids with fields, forest, river, mountain; all locked together

View all our subjects

Maths, English, Science and more... We've got you!

primary homework.co.uk

  • Create new account
  • Reset your password

Register and get FREE resources and activities

Ready to unlock all our resources?

The beginner's guide to primary-school homework

Beginner's guide to primary-school homework

What’s the point of homework?

For many families, homework is a nightly battle, but primary schools set it for a variety of reasons. ‘It helps to consolidate the skills that are being taught at school, and provides children with additional revision opportunities,’ explains head teacher Steph Matthews of St Paul’s CofE School, Gloucester .

‘It also gives children an opportunity to explore learning in an unstructured setting, encouraging them to be independent and follow their own lines of enquiry.’ In addition, homework creates a partnership between school and family, giving parents an insight into what their child is learning.

primary homework.co.uk

How much homework should my child get in primary school?

In the past, the Department for Education advised that Key Stage 1 children should do an hour of homework each week, rising to half an hour per night in Key Stage 2. This advice was scrapped in 2012, giving schools more freedom, but many still follow the old guidelines.

In Reception , formal homework is rarely set. However, children are likely to bring home books to share with the family, first reading books, and/or keywords to learn.

In Years 1 and 2 , children are likely to have one or two tasks per week. This could be literacy or numeracy worksheets (for example an exercise where children have to compare the weights of different household items), a short piece of writing (such as a recount of a school trip) or work relating to the class topic (find out five facts about the Great Fire of London ).

In Years 3 and 4 , most schools set two homework activities each week: typically, one literacy (such as a worksheet on collective nouns, or a book review ) and one numeracy (a worksheet on bar charts).

In Years 5 and 6 , children may have two or three pieces of homework each week. ‘The amount begins to increase to prepare children for SATs and the transition to secondary school,’ says Steph. These activities might include maths worksheets, researching a topic, book reviews and grammar exercises.

Alongside formal homework tasks, most children bring home reading scheme books from Reception onwards, with weekly spellings and times tables from Year 1 or 2.

Learning logs and homework challenges

Not all schools rely on handing out worksheets. Learning logs or challenges are becoming more popular: children are given a folder of suggested activities – from writing a poem to building a model castle – and must choose a certain number to complete throughout the term.

Other schools ensure that homework ties in with the current class topic. ‘We have a themed approach, and set homework activities that give opportunities to explore the topic in a fun way, for example, designing a method of transport that Phileas Fogg could use to travel the world,’ explains Steph.  

Modern homework methods

Unsurprisingly, technology is playing an increasingly important part in homework. Some schools use online reading schemes such as Bug Club , where teachers allocate e-books of the appropriate level, or subscription services like SAM Learning  to set cross-curricular tasks.

A growing number also set homework electronically , with children logging into the school website to download their task.

What if the homework is too much – or too hard?

If you feel your child is overloaded with homework, speak to the teacher. ‘Forcing children to complete homework is counterproductive, because they come to perceive it as a chore,’ says Rod Grant, head teacher of Clifton Hall School, Edinburgh . ‘This makes learning appear boring, arduous or both, and that is really dangerous, in my view.’

Most schools publish their homework policy on the school website , telling parents exactly what to expect. ‘Teachers should make their expectations very clear in terms of deadlines and how long it should take, and should also differentiate tasks to suit the level of the pupil,’ adds Steph.

No homework at all?

If your child doesn’t get any homework, you may feel out of touch with his learning, or concerned that he isn’t being challenged. But there are good reasons why some schools don’t set homework, or set it only occasionally, says Rod. ‘Although homework can be beneficial, family life tends to suffer as a result of it being imposed,’ he explains. ‘ If a school isn’t providing homework, there’s plenty that parents can do at home instead : reading with their children, doing number puzzles on car journeys, using online resources, and so on.’

Parents may also worry that without doing homework, children won’t develop study habits for later life. ‘There is genuinely no need for a six-year-old to get into a routine of working at home; there’s time to learn that later,’ Rod advises. ‘Parents need to relax and encourage children to love learning – and that comes when learning is fun, relevant and engaging, not through doing homework tasks that are unchallenging, or secretarial in nature.’

Homework: advice and support for primary-school parents

For information and support on all aspects of homework, from managing other siblings to helping with specific subjects, head to our Homework area.

Give your child a headstart

Give your child a headstart

  • FREE articles & expert information
  • FREE resources & activities
  • FREE homework help

More like this

primary homework.co.uk

©Copyright Mandy Barrow 2013 primaryhomeworkhelp.com

Follow me on Twitter @mbarrow

  • £ 0.00 0 items

primary homework.co.uk

  • Assessment For Learning
  • British Community
  • Creative Curriculum Topics
  • Design Technology
  • Famous People
  • Modern Foreign Languages
  • Religious Education
  • School Council
  • Sport and PE
  • Sustainability & Climate
  • Thinking Skills

primary homework.co.uk

Curriculum Questions for Subject Leaders – Bundle

primary homework.co.uk

Coping With Change

primary homework.co.uk

Feelings – Moving On Assembly

primary homework.co.uk

Changing Places

primary homework.co.uk

Curriculum Questions for Subject Leaders – Reading

primary homework.co.uk

Curriculum Questions for Subject Leaders – Writing

primary homework.co.uk

Curriculum Questions for Subject Leaders – Mathematics

primary homework.co.uk

Phonics, Early Reading and Reading Monitoring

primary homework.co.uk

Doorways of Life

primary homework.co.uk

Making New Friends

primary homework.co.uk

One Small Step

primary homework.co.uk

Feelings PowerPoints – Bundle sale

Latest articles see all.

  • Search Search for:

Home

Reading & Math for K-5

  • Kindergarten
  • Learning numbers
  • Comparing numbers
  • Place Value
  • Roman numerals
  • Subtraction
  • Multiplication
  • Order of operations
  • Drills & practice
  • Measurement
  • Factoring & prime factors
  • Proportions
  • Shape & geometry
  • Data & graphing
  • Word problems
  • Children's stories
  • Leveled Stories
  • Context clues
  • Cause & effect
  • Compare & contrast
  • Fact vs. fiction
  • Fact vs. opinion
  • Main idea & details
  • Story elements
  • Conclusions & inferences
  • Sounds & phonics
  • Words & vocabulary
  • Reading comprehension
  • Early writing
  • Numbers & counting
  • Simple math
  • Social skills
  • Other activities
  • Dolch sight words
  • Fry sight words
  • Multiple meaning words
  • Prefixes & suffixes
  • Vocabulary cards
  • Other parts of speech
  • Punctuation
  • Capitalization
  • Narrative writing
  • Opinion writing
  • Informative writing
  • Cursive alphabet
  • Cursive letters
  • Cursive letter joins
  • Cursive words
  • Cursive sentences
  • Cursive passages
  • Grammar & Writing

Reading & Math Workbooks for K-5

Download & Print From Only $1.79

Free Worksheets for Kids

primary homework.co.uk

What is K5?

K5 Learning offers free worksheets , flashcards  and inexpensive  workbooks  for kids in kindergarten to grade 5. Become a member  to access additional content and skip ads.

primary homework.co.uk

Our members helped us give away millions of worksheets last year.

We provide free educational materials to parents and teachers in over 100 countries. If you can, please consider purchasing a membership ($24/year) to support our efforts.

Members skip ads and access exclusive features.

Learn about member benefits

This content is available to members only.

Join K5 to save time, skip ads and access more content. Learn More

  • Forgot Password?

Should Kids Get Homework?

Homework gives elementary students a way to practice concepts, but too much can be harmful, experts say.

Mother helping son with homework at home

Getty Images

Effective homework reinforces math, reading, writing or spelling skills, but in a way that's meaningful.

How much homework students should get has long been a source of debate among parents and educators. In recent years, some districts have even implemented no-homework policies, as students juggle sports, music and other activities after school.

Parents of elementary school students, in particular, have argued that after-school hours should be spent with family or playing outside rather than completing assignments. And there is little research to show that homework improves academic achievement for elementary students.

But some experts say there's value in homework, even for younger students. When done well, it can help students practice core concepts and develop study habits and time management skills. The key to effective homework, they say, is keeping assignments related to classroom learning, and tailoring the amount by age: Many experts suggest no homework for kindergartners, and little to none in first and second grade.

Value of Homework

Homework provides a chance to solidify what is being taught in the classroom that day, week or unit. Practice matters, says Janine Bempechat, clinical professor at Boston University 's Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.

"There really is no other domain of human ability where anybody would say you don't need to practice," she adds. "We have children practicing piano and we have children going to sports practice several days a week after school. You name the domain of ability and practice is in there."

Homework is also the place where schools and families most frequently intersect.

"The children are bringing things from the school into the home," says Paula S. Fass, professor emerita of history at the University of California—Berkeley and the author of "The End of American Childhood." "Before the pandemic, (homework) was the only real sense that parents had to what was going on in schools."

Harris Cooper, professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University and author of "The Battle Over Homework," examined more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and found that — when designed properly — homework can lead to greater student success. Too much, however, is harmful. And homework has a greater positive effect on students in secondary school (grades 7-12) than those in elementary.

"Every child should be doing homework, but the amount and type that they're doing should be appropriate for their developmental level," he says. "For teachers, it's a balancing act. Doing away with homework completely is not in the best interest of children and families. But overburdening families with homework is also not in the child's or a family's best interest."

Negative Homework Assignments

Not all homework for elementary students involves completing a worksheet. Assignments can be fun, says Cooper, like having students visit educational locations, keep statistics on their favorite sports teams, read for pleasure or even help their parents grocery shop. The point is to show students that activities done outside of school can relate to subjects learned in the classroom.

But assignments that are just busy work, that force students to learn new concepts at home, or that are overly time-consuming can be counterproductive, experts say.

Homework that's just busy work.

Effective homework reinforces math, reading, writing or spelling skills, but in a way that's meaningful, experts say. Assignments that look more like busy work – projects or worksheets that don't require teacher feedback and aren't related to topics learned in the classroom – can be frustrating for students and create burdens for families.

"The mental health piece has definitely played a role here over the last couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the last thing we want to do is frustrate students with busy work or homework that makes no sense," says Dave Steckler, principal of Red Trail Elementary School in Mandan, North Dakota.

Homework on material that kids haven't learned yet.

With the pressure to cover all topics on standardized tests and limited time during the school day, some teachers assign homework that has not yet been taught in the classroom.

Not only does this create stress, but it also causes equity challenges. Some parents speak languages other than English or work several jobs, and they aren't able to help teach their children new concepts.

" It just becomes agony for both parents and the kids to get through this worksheet, and the goal becomes getting to the bottom of (the) worksheet with answers filled in without any understanding of what any of it matters for," says professor Susan R. Goldman, co-director of the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois—Chicago .

Homework that's overly time-consuming.

The standard homework guideline recommended by the National Parent Teacher Association and the National Education Association is the "10-minute rule" – 10 minutes of nightly homework per grade level. A fourth grader, for instance, would receive a total of 40 minutes of homework per night.

But this does not always happen, especially since not every student learns the same. A 2015 study published in the American Journal of Family Therapy found that primary school children actually received three times the recommended amount of homework — and that family stress increased along with the homework load.

Young children can only remain attentive for short periods, so large amounts of homework, especially lengthy projects, can negatively affect students' views on school. Some individual long-term projects – like having to build a replica city, for example – typically become an assignment for parents rather than students, Fass says.

"It's one thing to assign a project like that in which several kids are working on it together," she adds. "In (that) case, the kids do normally work on it. It's another to send it home to the families, where it becomes a burden and doesn't really accomplish very much."

Private vs. Public Schools

Do private schools assign more homework than public schools? There's little research on the issue, but experts say private school parents may be more accepting of homework, seeing it as a sign of academic rigor.

Of course, not all private schools are the same – some focus on college preparation and traditional academics, while others stress alternative approaches to education.

"I think in the academically oriented private schools, there's more support for homework from parents," says Gerald K. LeTendre, chair of educational administration at Pennsylvania State University—University Park . "I don't know if there's any research to show there's more homework, but it's less of a contentious issue."

How to Address Homework Overload

First, assess if the workload takes as long as it appears. Sometimes children may start working on a homework assignment, wander away and come back later, Cooper says.

"Parents don't see it, but they know that their child has started doing their homework four hours ago and still not done it," he adds. "They don't see that there are those four hours where their child was doing lots of other things. So the homework assignment itself actually is not four hours long. It's the way the child is approaching it."

But if homework is becoming stressful or workload is excessive, experts suggest parents first approach the teacher, followed by a school administrator.

"Many times, we can solve a lot of issues by having conversations," Steckler says, including by "sitting down, talking about the amount of homework, and what's appropriate and not appropriate."

Study Tips for High School Students

High angle view of young woman sitting at desk and studying at home during coronavirus lockdown

Tags: K-12 education , students , elementary school , children

2024 Best Colleges

primary homework.co.uk

Search for your perfect fit with the U.S. News rankings of colleges and universities.

Headteacher-Trusted Tutoring

"This is one of the most effective interventions I have come across in my 27 years of teaching."

Free CPD and leadership support

All the latest guides, articles and news to help primary, secondary and trust leaders support your staff and pupils

Free CPD and leadership support

The Great British Homework Debate 2024 – Is It Necessary At Primary School?

Alexander Athienitis

The homework debate is never much out of the news. Should homework be banned? Is homework at primary school a waste of time? Do our children get too much homework?

Not long ago, UK-based US comedian Rob Delaney set the world alight with a tweet giving his own personal view of homework at primary school. We thought, as an organisation that provides maths homework support on a weekly basis, it was time to look at the facts around the homework debate in primary schools as well as, of course, reflecting the views of celebrities and those perhaps more qualified to offer an opinion!

Here’s how Rob Delaney kicked things off

Rob Delaney's Homework Debate Tweet

Gary Lineker leant his support with the following soundbite:

Gary Lineker's Homework Debate Tweet

And even Piers Morgan weighed in, with his usual balance of tact and sensitivity:

Piers Morgan had more to say on the homework debate

A very experienced and knowledgeable Headteacher, Simon Smith, who has a well-earned following on Twitter (for someone working in education, not hosting Match of the Day) also put his neck on the line and, some might think controversially, agreed with the golden-heeled Crisp King of Leicester…

Simon Smith (Headteacher)'s Tweet On The Homework Debate

Fortunately Katharine Birbalsingh, Conservative Party Conference keynote speaker and Founding Headteacher of the Michaela School, was on hand to provide the alternative view on the importance of homework. Her op-ed piece in the Sun gave plenty of reasons why homework should not be banned.

She was informative and firm in her article stating: “Homework is essential for a child’s education because revisiting the day’s learning is what helps to make it stick.”

Katharine Birbalsingh, Headteacher, Michaela Community School waded in on the homework debate too.

KS2 Maths Games and Activities Pack

A FREE downloadable games and activity pack, including 20 home learning maths activities for KS2 children to complete on their own or with a partner.

How much homework do UK primary school children get?

Sadly, there’s little data comparing how much homework primary school-aged children in the UK and across the globe complete on a weekly basis. A study of teenagers used by The Telegraph shows that American high-schoolers spend an average of 6.1 hours per week compared with 4.9 hours per week of homework each week for UK-based teens.

Up until 2012, the Department of Education recommended an hour of homework a week for primary school Key Stage 1 children (aged 4 to 7) and half an hour a day for primary school Key Stage 2 children (aged 7-11). Many primary schools still use this as a guideline.

Teachers, parents and children in many schools across the land have seen more changes of homework policy than numbers of terms in some school years.

A ‘no-homework’ policy pleases only a few; a grid of creative tasks crowd-sourced from the three teachers bothered to give their input infuriates many (parents, teachers and children alike). For some parents, no matter how much homework is set, it’s never enough; for others, even asking them to fill in their child’s reading record once a week can be a struggle due to a busy working life.

Homework is very different around the world

We’d suggest that Piers Morgan’s argument for homework in comparing the UK’s economic and social progress with China’s in recent years based on total weekly homework hours is somewhat misguided – we can’t put their emergence as the world’s (if not already, soon to be) leading superpower exclusively down to having their young people endure almost triple the number of hours spent completing homework as their Western counterparts.

Nonetheless, there’s certainly a finer balance to strike between the 14 hours a week suffered by Shanghainese school-attendees and none whatsoever. Certainly parents in the UK spend less time each week helping their children than parents in emerging economies such as India, Vietnam and Colombia (Source: Varkey Foundation Report).

Disadvantages of homework at primary school

Delaney, whose son attends a London state primary school, has made it plain that he thinks his kids get given too much homework and he’d rather have them following more active or creative pursuits: drawing or playing football. A father of four sons and a retired professional footballer Gary Linaker was quick to defend this but he also has the resources to send his children to top boarding schools which generally provide very structured homework or ‘prep’ routines.

As parents Rob and Gary are not alone. According to the 2018 Ofsted annual report on Parents Views  more than a third of parents do not think homework in primary school is helpful to their children. They cite the battles and arguments it causes not to mention the specific challenges it presents to families with SEND children many of whom report serious damage to health and self-esteem as a result of too much or inappropriate homework.

It’s a truism among teachers that some types of homework tells you very little about what the child can achieve and much more about a parent’s own approach to the work. How low does your heart sink when your child comes back with a D & T project to create Stonehenge and you realise it’s either an all-nighter with glue, cardboard and crayons for you, or an uncompleted homework project for your child!

This tweet on the homework debate showed off the fun side of primary homework

Speaking with our teacher hats on, we can tell you that homework is often cited in academic studies looking at academic progress in primary school-aged children as showing minimal to no impact.

Back on Twitter, a fellow teacher was able to weigh-in with that point:

Ed Finch tweeted on the homework debate

Benefits of homework at primary school

So what are the benefits of homework at primary school? According to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) (the key research organisations dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement) the impact of homework at primary is low, but it also doesn’t cost much.

They put it at a “+2 months” impact against a control of doing nothing. To put this into context, 1-to-1 tuition is generally seen as a +5 months impact but it’s usually considered to be expensive.

“There is some evidence that when homework is used as a short and focused intervention it can be effective in improving students’ attainment … overall the general benefits are likely to be modest if homework is more routinely set.”

Key to the benefit you’ll see from homework is that the task is appropriate and of good quality. The quantity of homework a pupil does is not so important. In this matter Katharine Birbalsingh is on the money. Short focused tasks which relate directly to what is being taught, and which are built upon in school, are likely to be more effective than regular daily homework.

In our view it’s about consolidation. So focusing on a few times tables that you find tricky or working through questions similar to what you’ve done in class that day or week often can be beneficial. 2 hours of worksheets on a Saturday when your child could be outside having fun and making friends probably isn’t. If you really want them to be doing maths, then do some outdoor maths with them instead of homework !

At Third Space Learning we believe it’s all about balance. Give the right sort of homework and the right amount at primary school and there will be improvements, but much of it comes down to parental engagement.

One of our favourite ways to practise maths at home without it become too onerous is by using educational games. Here are our favourite fun maths games , some brilliant KS2 maths games , KS1 maths games and KS3 maths games for all maths topics and then a set of 35 times tables games which are ideal for interspersing with your regular times tables practice. And best of all, most of them require no more equipment than a pen and paper or perhaps a pack of cards.

Homework and parents

One of the key benefits cited by EEF is in regard to parental engagement. Time after time, the greatest differentiator between children who make great progress at school – and those, frankly – who don’t is due to the same factor in the same studies: parental engagement .

It is a fair assumption that if a parent is engaged in their child’s learning, they’re probably going to be the same parents who encourage and support their child when they’re completing their homework.

Whereas parents who are disengaged with their child’s school and schooling – for whatever reason (sorry, Piers, it’s rarely due to laziness), are highly unlikely to be aware of what homework gets set each week, let alone to be mucking in with making sure it gets handed in completed and on time.

We also encounter time and again, the issue of parents’ own lack of confidence in maths. A survey by Pearson found that:

  • 30 percent of parents “don’t feel confident enough in their own maths skills to help their children with their primary school maths homework”
  • 53 per cent insisted they struggled to understand the new maths teaching methods used in modern classrooms. Fortunately that’s what we’re here to address.

Setting the right homework at primary school can be tricky

Although we disagree with Piers, we can see what he may be driving at in terms of setting appropriate homework.

Piers Morgan had strong opinions on the homework debate

The question quickly becomes what would Piers think of as being ‘interesting’ homework, and if all four of his children would agree upon the same thing being ‘interesting’.

That’s the problem.

One would imagine Piers would find it hard enough finding one task to satisfy the interest of all of his four children – it’s almost impossible to find a task that will engage the interest of 30 or more children in their out of school hours.

Each with different emotional, behavioural and learning needs, then sprinkle in the varying levels of poverty each family suffers (be it financial or in terms of time), and you can see how it isn’t just about being a good or bad teacher – whatever that means – in regards to being able to set Morgan-approved homework tasks.

What does this mean for my child?

Ultimately, the question at the top of mind whenever a parent thinks about homework is a more general one – am I doing the best for my child?

Although the world is changing at a faster pace than ever before in human history, what’s best for children hasn’t changed that much (if at all).

One-to-one support is best, and young people benefit most from adult-child conversations where they acquire new vocabulary and language structures to form and share their thoughts and opinions.

These insights – that one-to-one support is best and that regular, structured adult-child conversations are life-changing within a child’s development – are what inspired us to create Third Space Learning.

A platform where children can engage with a community of specialist tutors in a safe, structured learning environment where they are able to engage in one-to-one conversations that enable them to progress in their learning with confidence.

SATs revision lesson slide

  • How to help your child with their maths homework – A parents guide
  • The Best Homework Hacks: 18 Tips And Tricks To Help Busy Parents Get It Done Faster!
  • The 20 Most Recommended Teaching Blogs for UK Teachers and School Leaders

DO YOU HAVE STUDENTS WHO NEED MORE SUPPORT IN MATHS?

Every week Third Space Learning’s maths specialist tutors support thousands of students across hundreds of schools with weekly one to one tuition designed to plug gaps and boost progress.

Since 2013 these personalised one to one lessons have helped over 150,000 primary and secondary students become more confident, able mathematicians.

Learn about our experience with schools or request a personalised quote for your school to speak to us about your school’s needs and how we can help.

Related articles

Teacher Workload Reduction: 7 Strategies School Leaders Can Implement Today

Teacher Workload Reduction: 7 Strategies School Leaders Can Implement Today

Has Teaching Post-Covid Lockdown Felt Different? You Are Not Alone

Has Teaching Post-Covid Lockdown Felt Different? You Are Not Alone

Making The Transition From Primary To Secondary School During Lockdown

Making The Transition From Primary To Secondary School During Lockdown

SLT School Leadership Toolkit for Headteachers and Subject Leaders

SLT School Leadership Toolkit for Headteachers and Subject Leaders

The Ultimate Guide to Effective Maths Interventions [FREE]

Find out how to plan, manage, and teach one to one (and small group) maths interventions in primary and secondary schools.

Includes a 20 point checklist of techniques to improve your one to one teaching.

Privacy Overview

Games, Videos, Holidays & Crafts

Featured games.

Two Minute Warning: Division Flashcards - By 12

Math Games & Videos

Math Tiles: Christmas Multiplication

Mother's Day Fun

Mother's Day Drag & Drop Puzzle

Puzzle Games

Spy A Solution

Arcade Games

Jellyfish

Top Games Online

Educational focus: play & learn.

Typing Speed Test

Fan Pick Of The Week

Slingoween

About PrimaryGames

All Categories

All Games A - Z

Board Games

All Puzzles A - Z

Social Studies

Mother's Day

Father's Day

All Holidays

All Seasons

Coloring Pages

Activity Pages

All Printables

Joke of the Day

All Joke Categories

Top 100 Games

Top 100 Videos

IMAGES

  1. KS2 homework strategies

    primary homework.co.uk

  2. Homework

    primary homework.co.uk

  3. Homework for primary school students

    primary homework.co.uk

  4. Homework

    primary homework.co.uk

  5. Primary Homework Diaries: Include Reading Records & Spelling Lists

    primary homework.co.uk

  6. Help with the homework: Primary Homework Help for Kids

    primary homework.co.uk

VIDEO

  1. Class v/s Homework v/s Test

  2. Primary Interactive Library

  3. KS2 SATs Target Question 31 Video Tutorial

  4. KS2 SATs Target Question 13 Video Tutorial

  5. KS2 SATs Target Question 26 Video Tutorial

  6. Blast homework with ChatGPT

COMMENTS

  1. Primary Homework Help for Kids

    Primaryhomeworkhelp is the new website for Woodlands Junior homework resources. Hundreds of pages of easy to read information and facts on many homework topics including tudors, victorians, romans, rivers and mountains. Projectbritain.com and London Topic also contain Woodlands Resources. I have added a search page so you can locate the ...

  2. Primary resources, homework help and online games

    Learn with Bitesize's primary resources. Explore English and maths games and get homework help. Discover activities for all KS1 and KS2 topics.

  3. World and British History for Kids

    1837. 1990+. Facts of the Day. Woodlands History homework help brings history alive with easy to read information and photographs on many homework topics including Tudors, Victorians, Romans.

  4. Learning resources for primary school students

    Learning resources for primary school students | PrimaryLearning.Org

  5. Home

    Use BBC Bitesize to help with your homework, revision and learning from KS1 to GCSE. Find free videos, step-by-step guides, activities and quizzes.

  6. Primary Resources

    Primary Resources - free worksheets, lesson plans and teaching ideas for primary and elementary teachers.

  7. World War Two (WW2) for Kids

    World War II was total war - every person, every business, every service was involved. Britain did not fight alone, the war also involved many countries. World War II involved 61 countries with 1.7 billion people (three quarters of the world's population). Fifty million people lost their lives and hundreds of millions people were injured.

  8. The beginner's guide to primary-school homework

    For many families, homework is a nightly battle, but primary schools set it for a variety of reasons. 'It helps to consolidate the skills that are being taught at school, and provides children with additional revision opportunities,' explains head teacher Steph Matthews of St Paul's CofE School, Gloucester. 'It also gives children an opportunity to explore learning in an unstructured ...

  9. The Tudors Homework Help for kids

    The Tudors were a Welsh-English family that ruled England and Wales from 1485 to 1603 - one of the most exciting periods of British history. How long did the Tudors rule? They ruled for 118 years and during their reign encouraged new religious ideas, overseas exploration and colonisation. Henry VII 1485 - 1509.

  10. Key Lessons: What Research Says About the Value of Homework

    Too much homework may diminish its effectiveness. While research on the optimum amount of time students should spend on homework is limited, there are indications that for high school students, 1½ to 2½ hours per night is optimum. Middle school students appear to benefit from smaller amounts (less than 1 hour per night).

  11. The Best Primary Homework Help Parents Can Give Their Children

    Step 1: Find the most secluded and quiet area of your home. Step 2: Remove televisions, pets, annoying siblings and even computers (unless they are needed for research) from the newfound homework hideaway. Step 3: This is a fantastic chance for you to bring your child in on the design of their homework haven.

  12. Primary Works KS1 and KS2 PowerPoints

    PowerPoints and Worksheets to aid Primary School teaching. A variety of topics including assemblies, PSHE, English, anti-bullying, religious festivals, maths, history, science and more.

  13. Homework challenges and strategies

    The challenge: Managing time and staying organized. Some kids struggle with keeping track of time and making a plan for getting all of their work done. That's especially true of kids who have trouble with executive function. Try creating a homework schedule and set a specific time and place for your child to get homework done.

  14. Free Worksheets for Kids

    K5 Learning offers free worksheets, flashcards and inexpensive workbooks for kids in kindergarten to grade 5. Become a member to access additional content and skip ads. Free worksheets for kindergarten to grade 5 kids. Over 10,000 math, reading, grammar and writing, vocabulary, spelling and cursive writing worksheets.

  15. Primary homework in England: the beliefs and practices of teachers in

    This study examines teachers' views about and practices in homework in primary schools, based on questionnaire data from 235 primary teachers and 19 in-depth interviews. Findings suggest that teachers prioritise contradictory goals and act in ways that support only some of these. Reading with parents is a universal form of homework and other ...

  16. Homework

    The average impact of homework is positive across both primary and secondary school. There is, however variation behind this average with homework set in primary school having a smaller impact on average (see below). The quality of the task set appears to be more important than the quantity of work required from the pupil.

  17. Should Kids Get Homework?

    Too much, however, is harmful. And homework has a greater positive effect on students in secondary school (grades 7-12) than those in elementary. "Every child should be doing homework, but the ...

  18. The Great Homework Debate In Primary Schools 2024

    A study of teenagers used by The Telegraph shows that American high-schoolers spend an average of 6.1 hours per week compared with 4.9 hours per week of homework each week for UK-based teens. Up until 2012, the Department of Education recommended an hour of homework a week for primary school Key Stage 1 children (aged 4 to 7) and half an hour a ...

  19. Games, Videos, Holidays & Crafts

    PrimaryGames is your top destination for online games, entertainment and learning fun! Play exciting new games, celebrate the holidays and seasons, and practice math and reading skills. Find lots of free printable coloring pages, crafts and worksheets or watch free videos. Keep your friends laughing with our Joke of the Day!

  20. Preschool Worksheets & Free Printables

    Food Matching Game 2. Worksheet. My Five Senses Match-Up 1. Interactive Worksheet. Color the Dinosaur: Tyrannosaurus Rex. Worksheet. Hop to the Missing Numbers. Interactive Worksheet. Matching Game for Car Kids.

  21. Why did Poland get rid of homework in primary schools?

    Children in Poland attend primary school from ages seven to 15. Critics of the current curriculum argue that it is overloaded with content and that homework was taking up too much of children's ...