homework primary school australia

Australian Teacher

Ideas for Aussie teachers (PP to Yr 10)

All activities grouped together per grade level.

(These worksheets can also be used by parents. Please send a message to [email protected] for permission. Thank you.)

Worksheets for every topic for every grade level

Worksheets for years 5-10.

These collective worksheets are for different subjects: Science, HASS, Math, English, etc. that could have been already added in the other pages. But for easier reference and grouping according to years, you can check them here.

Worksheets for Years 3 & 4

A collection of all worksheets and quizzes fitted for years 3 and 4. All of the worksheets on this page are printable and are ready to used.

Worksheets for Years 1 & 2

A collection of worksheets and quizzes for years 1 & 2.

Worksheets for PP & Kindy 

There are three worksheets here: quizzes, assorted worksheets, and reading comprehension. Not too much to overload the young lads.

“ Children are one third of our population and all of our future. “

Interesting Number Facts

Till what number can bees count to.

Studies show that bees can identify and count up to four and recognize the concept of zero. Bees were trained to choose which sample has “more” or “less.” Eventually they exhibited an 80% success rate.

Fastest record to count to 1 million?

Jeremy Harper of Alabama holds the Guinness World Record for counting to one million. He live-streamed the entire process that took him 89 days. He spent 16 hours per day counting aloud, while 8 hours were for eating and sleeping.

How many species of reptiles does Australia have?

Know your Australia!

In fact, Australia has the most amount of reptiles in the world – which is over 750 different species! That’s quite a lot!

If using material from this website, please attribute source: Australian Teacher |  https://australianteacher.org

Please know that AustralianTeacher.org is a not-for-profit educational website. We would be thankful for any amount you’d love to donate to help fund the maintenance of this website and to ensure that new material is added regularly. Thank you very much.

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

School operations

The purpose of this policy is to ensure all schools work with their school communities to develop and communicate a considered homework policy.

• Victorian government schools are required to have a homework policy and communicate it to staff, parents/carers and students.
• The content of this policy is not prescribed, but should be evidence-informed and comprehensive, and must be developed in consultation with the school community.
• School council approval of a school’s homework policy is not required.
• A homework policy template is available on the School Policy Templates Portal External Link (staff login required); schools are encouraged to adapt this template to suit their needs.

Victorian government schools are required to have a homework policy.

The content of this policy is not prescribed by the Department, but should be evidence-informed and comprehensive, outlining:

• a rationale for the elements of the school’s policy
• the responsibilities and expectations of teachers, students and parents/carers in setting, completing, monitoring and responding to homework

The school’s homework policy must be developed in consultation with the school council, as representatives of the school community, and school staff and students. School council approval of a school’s homework policy is not required.

Victorian government schools must periodically communicate their homework policy to staff, parents, carers and students through available communication channels (such as the school newsletter, or by placing the policy on the school’s website).

The setting of homework can be seen as one way of:

• complementing and reinforcing classroom learning
• fostering good lifelong learning and study habits
• developing self-regulation processes such as goal-setting, self-efficacy, self-reflection and time management
• supporting partnerships with parents/carers by connecting families with the learning of their children

The effectiveness of homework can be enhanced when:

• it is set at an appropriate level for each student, supporting those who are experiencing difficulty and extending those of high-ability
• it is related to essential learning at school
• choice in tasks is provided
• it is assessed by teachers, either formally or informally, with feedback provided
• it supports students to have a balance of school-related and non-school related activity in their lives (i.e. where the amount of homework set provides sufficient additional time for students to engage with family, sport and recreation, cultural pursuits and employment, where appropriate)

Definitions

Homework Tasks assigned to students by school teachers that are meant to be carried out during non-school hours.

Reviewed 11 January 2024

• Print whole topic

Policy last updated

15 June 2020

Teacher Professional Practice Unit

Evidence for Learning: Homework

Page generated on: Wednesday, 22 May 2024 at 12:35

We acknowledge Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present, and emerging. We also accept the invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart to walk together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

Education researcher calls for primary schools to have 'courage' to rethink homework

When Estelle Trueman was growing up, homework was par for the course.

But now her two daughters are in primary school at Townsville in north Queensland, homework isn't mentioned.

"There's no pressure," Ms Trueman said.

"If we get home and want to prepare a meal together, or spend time together outside before bed, we can, and don't have to hope that we won't get in trouble tomorrow because we haven't done the reader."

Across Australia, there's anecdotal evidence a growing number of primary schools have introduced no – or low – homework policies since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to University of Melbourne Emeritus Professor of Education John Hattie.

Professor Hattie said while there was some evidence homework benefited high-school students, there was no need for it in primary schools.

"The evidence is pretty clear that homework in primary school has a very low to zero effect," he said.

In a bid to modernise the education system, .

Professor Hattie said Poland's move sent an important message, but it would take a "brave" politician to rattle the cage in Australia because of widespread views among parents here.

"There are parents who think homework is critical and essential for their children's future, which is not true," he said.

Homework out, reading in

In Townsville in north Queensland, Belgian Gardens State School has scrapped compulsory homework in favour of reading, practice, and play.

"[Worksheet saturation] does not foster parent engagement, neglects the individual needs of students and in some cases leads to drawbacks including disengagement and frustration," principal Ryan Pedley said.

Students were given the option to undertake "practice" or "study habits" at home.

Mr Pedley said parents were highly engaged, through regular information sessions, about what was being taught at school. 

St Benedict's Catholic School in the city's west is similarly taking a minimalist approach.

"We couldn't really see the benefits for doing homework … but we do require our students to be reading at home each night," assistant principal Aleesha Rockemar said.

"It [homework] can become a nightmare for families to get done."

For 10-year-old Keira Warren, it was a pleasant surprise when she transferred to the school this year.

"I was very relieved, I hated having to go home and do more work," she said.

"I didn't like having to either get in trouble because I didn't go to sports, or get in trouble because I didn't do homework."

What are the rules on homework?

In Queensland, there is no one-size-fits all approach; it's up to each school principal to decide their homework rule book.

The Department of Education said it did not collect data on the state's 1,264 public schools' policies.

Instead, it stipulated principals needed to determine what worked for their individual school communities and to ensure any homework was meaningful.

"Schools work collaboratively with students and families to make sure to allow sufficient time for family, recreation and, community and cultural values," a department spokesperson said.

Brisbane Catholic Education, which oversees 146 schools across south-east Queensland, said it did not have a mandated homework policy, but any homework should complement students' learning and wellbeing.

Pros and cons

Professor Hattie has been researching teaching and student learning since the 1970s.

His latest publication in 2023 analysed more than 130,000 studies worldwide on what helps students learn. 

Professor Hattie said the research found homework in primary school – if at all — should be kept short, review what had already been learned at school and not require parental surveillance.

"Don't get [children] to do a project unless you want to see what the parents contribute," he said.

"You've got to seriously question why you need homework at all. I want to give some courage to [primary] schools to drop it, if parents don't get upset.

"There's no need for it in primary school."

Lecturer in early childhood education Amanda Hoffensetz, from James Cook University, said homework was a difficult topic to research and there were too many variables for conclusive evidence.

"Schools vary greatly in quality, quantity, and the amount of support that children are getting at home," she said.

For Scott Wiseman, the chief executive of P&Cs Qld, the peak body representing state school parents and communities, homework had traditionally played an important role in helping parents engage in their child's learning.

"Everyone learns differently and for some kids, doing the sight words or the fact sheets may actually be really important to reinforce their schoolwork," he said.

"It needs to be a consultation process between the school and parents and the community as to how they want education to work in that particular school."

Family impacts

At Townsville's Marian Catholic School, principal Kylie Helmore said changing its homework policy in 2023 had resulted in more student engagement in class and less stress on working families.

"We're not getting the reports that 'my child is refusing to do anything'," Ms Helmore said.

But reading at home is still required and senior students must complete a passion project each term.

For mum-of-two Estelle Trueman, home life was more manageable without the burden of homework.

"Our kids are only little once," she said.

• Create new account
• Reset your password

Register and get FREE resources and activities

Ready to unlock all our resources?

Australia is a continent and an island – in fact it’s the world’s biggest island but the world’s smallest continent!

Australia is located in the South Pacific Ocean and can be found on the opposite side of the world from Europe which is why people in the UK often refer to Australia as ‘down under’!

Officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, it is the sixth largest country in the world and comprises of mainland Australia, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. The capital city is Canberra and most people speak English.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who have lived on the continent of Australia for over 60,000 years, have the oldest living culture in the world.

Top 10 facts

1. Although Sydney is Australia’s most well-known city, Canberra is actually the capital.

2. Australia is the sixth biggest country in the world. At 7,692,024km 2 it’s about 32 times bigger than the United Kingdom!

3. The currency in Australia is the Australian dollar.

4. English is the commonly spoken language in Australia although ’Australian English’ has a distinctive accent and vocabulary.

5. The first people who arrived in Australia were the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They came by boat from the islands of Indonesia and lived in all parts of the country for an estimated 60,000 years before the arrival of British settlers in 1776.

6. The Aboriginal Australians lived in different tribes and spoke about 250 different languages. They invented tools like the boomerang and the spear.

7. Australia comes from the Latin word ‘australis’ which means southern.

8. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef and can be found off the north-east coast of Australia.

9. The Great Barrier Reef is about 1616 miles in length which is about as far as going from Land’s End to John O’ Groats and back again! It’s so huge that it can be seen from space.

10. Over 23 million people live in Australia.

Boost Your Child's Learning Today!

• Start your child on a tailored learning programme
• Get weekly English & maths resources sent direct to your inbox
• Keep your child's learning on track

Did you know?

The koala is perhaps Australia’s favourite native animal. They can be found in the eucalyptus forests in Eastern Australia and are marsupials, which means they carry their babies around in their pouch. The name koala is actually an Aboriginal phrase meaning ‘no drink’. Koalas seem to get all the liquid they need from the leaves they eat and don’t appear to drink water! Would you believe that koalas spend an enormous 18 hours a day sleeping? Munching on leaves for hours on end is obviously tiring work!

Australia is an animal lovers' paradise.  It is home to more reptiles than any other country, with over 750 different species living there.

Australia is also home to some of the world’s most deadly creatures, including snakes, spiders, sharks and crocodiles. In fact 20 of the top 25 most venomous spiders come from Australia!

People often refer to Australia as ‘down under’. This is because it’s located in the southern hemisphere whereas the UK is in the north so it literally is on the other side of the world. Their seasons are opposite to ours and when you go to bed at night, people in Australia are just waking up!

A ‘lamington’ is an Australian delicacy! They are cubes of sponge cake with a chocolate coating, rolled in desiccated coconut usually served with whipped cream. 

The acacia is the country’s national flower.

Due to its sunny climate, the Australian BBQ or ‘barbie’ is very much part of the country’s culture and most meals are eaten ‘al fresco’ – in the great outdoors!

Australia is the world’s biggest wool-producing country.

The Australian outback, an area of hot and dry desert, is one of the most empty and uninhabited places on Earth. Most Australians live in coastal towns and cities in the southeast of the country.

Look through the gallery below and see if you can spot the following:

• The Australian coast
• The Australian flag
• The Great Barrier Reef
• Sydney Opera House
• The Twelve Apostles off the shore of Port Campbell National Park

With such a warm climate (it’s the driest continent) and many, many beaches, Australia is not only a popular place to holiday, it’s a country that many British people have chosen to move to. In fact around 20,000 Britons emigrate to Australia every year.

The continent of Australia is divided into six states:

• Southern Australia
• Western Australia
• New South Wales

and two territories:

• Northern Territory
• Australian Capital Territory

The largest towns in Australia are nearly all capitals of the various states and territories. Sydney, for example, is the capital of New South Wales and Melbourne is the capital of Victoria. Canberra is the capital of the Australian Capital Territory as well as being capital for the country as a whole.

Australia is located in the southern hemisphere which means its seasons are exactly the opposite of those in the northern hemisphere where the United Kingdom is. Australians enjoy their summers in December, January and February which is why they often have Christmas dinner on the ‘barbie’! Their winter months are June, July and August but there is still plenty of sunshine and their winters are generally mild.

The first people who arrived in Australia were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. But Australia was to be discovered by others, too. In 1770 the now-famous Captain James Cook set off on a voyage of discovery, charting the east coast of Australia in his ship HM Endeavour. He named Eastern Australia ‘New South Wales’. In 1788 Britain claimed the first of six colonies. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies joined to form the Commonwealth of Australia. This means they have the same King or Queen as Britain although the monarch only performs a ceremonial role. Australia has a democratic government.

Every year on 26 January, Australians celebrate Australia Day which marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales, where the British flag was raised by Governor Arthur Phillip.

The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest reef in the world, so huge in fact that it’s about the the size of 70 million football pitches – that’s really hard to imagine! It’s also home to over 1500 kinds of fish. The Stout Infant Fish is the smallest at only 7 millimetres long while the whale shark is the biggest, and can grow up to a massive 12 metres long! While the Reef may be a huge tourist attraction, it is also home to some of the most dangerous animals in the ocean, including the Box Jellyfish and Blue Ringed Octopus.

The biggest river in Australia is the Murray, which forms the boundary between the states of New South Wales and Victoria. Because there is so little rain in most parts of the country, many of Australia’s lakes and rivers are quite dry for much of the time.

Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) is a very famous Australian landmark. Called the sacred mountain ‘Uluru’ by the Aboriginal people, it is found right in the middle of the country and is the largest single standing rock in the world. It measures an impressive 3.6 km in length, is 1.9 km wide and 348 metres high and is a very popular tourist attraction.

People often refer to land in Australia as the ‘outback’ or the ‘bush’. By this they mean the sparse desert landscape which makes up two thirds of the country. So although Australia is a big country, there are many parts that aren’t suitable for living which is why overall it has a low density of population.

Words to know

Aussie (pronounced ‘Ozzie’): a person from Australia.

Boomerang: a wooden weapon used for hunting which returns to its thrower, invented by the Aboriginal people of Australia.

Didgeridoo: a long, wooden wind instrument or horn traditionally used by the Aboriginal people.

G'day: the Australian way of saying ‘hello’.

Great Barrier Reef: the largest reef in the world, found off the north-east coast of Australia.

Indigenous people: the original inhabitants, the natives of a country.

Marsupial: an animal that carries its young in a pouch, such as kangaroos, wombats and koalas.

Outback: the bush or desert, a mostly uninhabited region of Australia.

Uluru: the Aboriginal people's name for their sacred mountain, found in the middle of Australia.

Related Videos

Just for fun...

Colour the Australian map or the country’s flag

Have fun creating some of Australia’s amazing animals with some free craft activities! 

Complete some Australia-themed wordsearches and worksheets

Loads of Australia printables to download

Play an interactive decision-maker game set in 1850–1900, Gold Rush

Look up Australian slang phrases and words in an Aussie Slang Dictionary

Explore the meanings of common Australian words and test your knowledge of Australian English

Make your own paper model of Sydney Opera House

Enjoy a game of Backyard Cricket (but read the official rules first!)

Interactive games to teach you about living in the Australian landscape

Cook some traditional Australian recipes , like chocolate crackles, Anzac biscuits and zucchini slice

Children's books about Australia

Find out more

A kids' introduction to the continent of Australasia

Download a huge free booklet, Tell me about Australia , and have all the facts at your fingertips!

An encyclopedia guide to Australia

National Geographic Kids Australia facts and figures

Get to know Australian animals ! Find out about the platypus, kangaroo, echidnas, koala, possum, kookaburra and wombat through educational videos

Australian Journey: The Story of a Nation in 12 Objects is a video series exploring the Australia’s history

Maps of Australia  

Information about the geography of Australia

Read a detailed guide to Australia's history

Captain James Cook , the most famous maritime explorer of the 18th century, mapped the islands of the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia. Find out more about Cook’s journal, written on board his ship, the Endeavour, during his trip down under in 1770 , to discover Cook’s first impressions of Australia and watch a video to see what life might have been like on board the Endeavour in its three-year voyage

A children's interactive guide to Captain Cook's voyage to Australia

Rabbits have been a big problem in Australia!

Find out more about the plants and animals of Australia

The Great Barrier Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage site

Watch a video about how Australian places got their names and why cities around Australia are adopting Aboriginal names

See the creation tracks that crisscross Australia

Discover more about life in the Australian desert

Find out more about  Aboriginal Australian culture

From the First Fleet and the Endeavour Tour to the Eureka Stockade and Australia's first Parliament, find out about Australian history in videos for children

See for yourself

Experience Australia in 360 o

See Sydney Opera House online on their website, then read about the famous Bondi Beach and  Sydney Harbour Bridge

Pay a virtual visit to the National Museum of Australia

Look around a replica of the HMB Endeavour

A tourists' guide to the Great Barrier Reef  

Take a visual journey to Uluru

See Australia for yourself in these fabulous pictures

Give your child a headstart

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

Education News

The pros and cons of homework.

John Hattie is Professor of Education and Director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and the author of Visible Learning , a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement in education.

When deciding on how much, and what, homework to hand out, Hattie says there are quite a few things teachers should consider.

“Homework in primary school has a measurable effect of around zero,” Hattie told BBC Radio 4 Journalist Sarah Montague.

“In high school it does have a larger measurable effect, which is why we need to get it right, not why we need to get rid of it. It’s one of those lower hanging fruit that we should be looking at in our primary schools to say ‘Is it really making a difference?”’

Hattie looked at research studies from all over the world that have tried to measure the impact of various factors on education, including the optimal time students should be spending on homework.

He found homework appears to be more effective for higher-ability rather than lower-ability students, and for older rather than younger students.

CensusAtSchool is a collaborative project involving teachers, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Education, which examines the lives of children in year four to 12.

A comparison of the findings from 2008 to 2013, reveals that Australian children are spending more time doing homework than they were five years ago.

In 2008, Australian children spent an average of 5.3 hours a week doing their homework. Today that has jumped to seven hours a week. Child psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said he was concerned by the trend that kids were spending an increasing amount of time on homework, and believes the trend is linked to higher levels of anxiety.

“I actually think less is more with homework, because there seems to be so much stress around school,” he said.

A number of primary schools in Australia are effectively handing the decision-making power over to parents, allowing parents to permanently excuse children from homework.

Some primary schools have even sent letters home to parents outlining their reasoning for setting homework, but ultimately recognising that parents are best placed to make decisions about whether or not their children have the capacity or time to complete it.

Hattie is more positive about giving secondary school aged children homework.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found that high-school aged Australian students are also spending more hours doing homework each week.

The report found that 15-year-old Australian students spend an average of six hours a week doing homework. That marks an increase of 0.3 hours per week from the 2003 study.

Australia and Austria were the only countries to report a statistically significant increase in the amount of time students spend doing homework.

“The overall effect of homework on achievement in older students is positive, but there are quite a few qualifications to that,” Hattie writes in Visible Learning . Qualifications included things like the age of the learner, the amount of homework, and whether the homework was task-oriented or complex and unstructured.

Neurologist and former classroom teacher Judy Willis says if a teacher knows a bit about the brain, he or she can plan homework to suit the needs of students as they develop.

“During early school years, for example, the brain is focused on getting to grips with the world around us. Memories and understanding grow when new information can be linked to things we already know. Homework that helps with this recognition can build literacy and numeracy skills,” says Willis.

“When students reach adolescence, they become more independent and self-directed. There is shift away from rote memorisation and single, correct responses. Learning goals are more likely to focus on reading for content and comprehension, revising, report writing, solving problems, investigating and independent or group work.”

Willis says that while the amount of time spent on homework will always vary depending on the age of students, there are a few physiological guidelines to remember.

“After about 15 minutes of learning and practising something – such as the Pythagorean theorem in maths – the regions of the brain activated in spatial-numerical learning get fatigued and need to rebuild the neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, that get depleted,” says Willis. “The restoration only takes a few minutes if the break is timely, but if they are pushed to stay with that same process for too long, stress builds, neurotransmitters drop way down and it will take twice as long to restore full efficiency to that area of the brain.”

Willis recommends online games for learning basic knowledge as they usually have set timings.

“You can assign a specific amount of time to be spent on the skill-building program for homework and confirm students’ compliance by checking the teachers’ pages,” she says.

“When students know that the effort they put into homework will enhance their participation and enjoyment of classroom learning, they become more motivated. Pupils also put more effort into schoolwork or homework when they are engaged in something that is relevant to their studies.”

One of the studies Hattie examined warned against homework that undermined a student’s motivation, as it could lead to the student internalising incorrect routines.

“For too many students, homework reinforces that they cannot learn by themselves and that they cannot do the schoolwork,” says Hattie. “Ensuring that students are assessment-capable learners is the most important thing we can do to raise student achievement.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary schools ditch homework for students in favour of play, reading and downtime

A small but potentially growing number of WA public schools are banning homework for primary students so they can spend more time relaxing, reading and playing.

At least four schools have introduced official "no homework" policies — all they ask of students is to read a little each night, preferably with their parents.

They argue homework is of no benefit to younger children and can even be detrimental because it gets in the way of important family and recreation time, which allows children to recharge their batteries after a busy day of learning at school.

It could be the start of a quiet revolution, with a number of other schools watching closely before taking the leap themselves.

Benefit of homework questioned

Bramfield Park Primary School, in the Perth suburb of Maddington, introduced its no homework policy last year, but it came with strings attached.

Principal Jayne Murray said the school wanted children reading or being read to every night, getting out and playing rather than being glued to a screen, and also getting a good night's sleep.

"There's lots of research to show that doing extra homework doesn't have an educational benefit for our students," Ms Murray said.

"They work really hard when they're here everyday. They're on task, they're really learning a lot, so we think after school is a time to do something else, not be on their screens but get outside and play.

"It's a stress for parents, it's a stress for teachers.

"Finding that time to sit down with your child is difficult if you're busy."

She said only a small number of parents requested homework for their children and the school directed them to online learning resources including ABC Reading Eggs and Mathletics, or encouraged them to get a tutor.

'We don't need our children to be busy'

Newly opened Southern Grove Primary School, in the south Perth suburb of Southern River, introduced its no homework policy this year.

Currently the school only has kindergarten and pre-primary students, but the policy will apply to Years K-6 next year.

Principal Rebecca Burns said the decision was research-driven and the school had decided to foster a love of reading instead.

"I would like them to be reading, I would like them to be cooking with their parents," she said.

"I would like them to be playing board games, I would like them to be outside doing some physical activity and sport, playing with their friends and also just having that down time.

"Somehow in society there's a need to keep our children so busy, and we actually don't need our children to be busy.

"We need them to be able to relax, have a break and just be themselves."

Other schools adopting a similar approach include Honeywood Primary School in the outlying Perth suburb of Wandi and Bletchley Park Primary School in Southern River, where homework was banned 11 years ago.

But after a recent review, Bletchley Park has approved limited homework, allowing spelling lists, times tables, and project work for the final term in Year 6, to better prepare students for high school.

The great homework debate

The WA Education Department does not take sides in what can be a controversial debate.

It only requires schools to document their approach, taking into account the needs of students, their age and the context of the school.

Departmental guidelines stipulate that homework should not require unreasonable levels of parent help, should not impinge on family, recreational or cultural time, should not be given as a form of punishment, and should be directly linked to learning.

WA Education Department principal advisor Doug Cook said a blanket approach to homework does not work.

"Every school has a different context," he said.

"If you look at the size of our state, from tiny little Wheatbelt schools with one teacher where kids go home from school and actually have work to do around a farm, extra tasks on top of that might make the home life difficult.

"We have remote schools, where some of the home lives aren't ideal, and setting tasks for kids to take home into an environment where they may not be able to do it sets them up for failure.

"Making a blanket rule for a state this size, with so many different contexts, would be short-sighted."

Good v bad homework

While the prospect of no homework is relished by some, not everyone is convinced.

Glenn Savage, a senior lecturer in education policy at the University of Western Australia, said there was a huge gulf between good homework and bad.

There was also a strong body of research showing students reaped the rewards of homework if it was thought out correctly.

"I think there are some problems with the blanket-ban approach to homework," Dr Savage said.

"What we should be doing is trying to inspire all teachers to understand what good homework practices look like, and then rolling that out across all schools and across all classrooms.

"You wouldn't want to go from Year 6 having no homework, having never heard of the concept, to suddenly going to high school in Year 7 and being given homework every night, and not know how to be an effective learner when it comes to that."

Taking children out of the rat race

Applied social psychologist and educator Helen Street welcomed the decision of some primary schools to ditch homework.

"I think it's fantastic," Dr Street said.

"We have to stop trying to think of education as this race. And the sooner we start, and the more we do, the quicker we'll get over the finish line.

"I think it's really important that primary schools encourage children to have as much free, self-determined, creative time as possible.

"Free time is not time out from learning, it's a really important part of learning.

"We need to think of the whole child and the whole of their learning, not simply about more and more academic structured work, which is actually diminishing creativity and diminishing autonomy.

"We're ending up with a lot of children leaving Year 12 feeling really disengaged and despondent."

• X (formerly Twitter)

Related Stories

Anti-cottonwool schools where kids stare down risk and reap the rewards.

• Primary Schools
• Southern River

Should Australian schools ban homework?

Associate Professor, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney

Director, Learning and Teaching Education Research Centre, CQUniversity Australia

Disclosure statement

Richard Walker is the co-author of Reforming Homework: Practices, Learning and Policy.

Mike Horsley is the co-author of Reforming Homework: Practices, Learning and Policy.

CQUniversity Australia and University of Sydney provide funding as members of The Conversation AU.

View all partners

The recent decision by French President Francois Hollande to abolish homework from French schools has reignited the long running debate about homework.

This debate has been around for more than a century and remains a contentious issue for parents, students and education researchers alike.

A lengthy debate

Last month’s promised ban came as part of Hollande’s wider reforms to education , and followed widespread teacher and parent agitation for a short-term ban on homework in France earlier in the year.

At that time, the president of a French teachers’ organisation stated that homework reinforces socioeconomic and educational inequalities, saying: “Not all families have the time or necessary knowledge to help their offspring.”

On the other side of the debate, the president of another French parents’ association spoke in support of homework and stated: “Of course, it has to be reasonable, but going back over a lesson is the best way of learning things.”

Homework, broadly defined as tasks given to students during non-school hours, has long been the subject of both pro- and anti-homework campaigns, some of which have resulted in court action and the abolition of homework for students in some school grades.

Abolishing homework

The recent French announcement has led to calls for the abolition of homework in some German and American schools. So should homework be abolished in Australia?

The answer to this question requires a closer look at what homework is supposed to do, and whether it achieves these goals for students of all backgrounds.

The most comprehensive list of reasons for setting homework has been compiled by American researcher Joyce Epstein . These include the practice of already learnt skills, preparation for the next lesson, parent-child communication about school activities, the requirements of school or education department policies, and the enhancement of the reputation of the school or teacher.

But most empirical research into homework focuses on three main issues: does homework enhance student learning and achievement outcomes? Does homework help students to develop the skills of independent, self-directed learning? Does homework involve parents in the educational activities of their children in ways that are beneficial?

The conclusions

In our new book Reforming Homework: Practices, Learning and Policy , we have reviewed and evaluated the research evidence on each of the three issues.

While this research is complex and there are many caveats, the following broad conclusions can be drawn. In terms of academic achievement, homework has no benefit for children in the early years of primary school, negligible benefits for children in the later years of primary school, weak benefits for junior high school students and reasonable benefits for senior high school students.

Sound research has demonstrated that spending more time on homework is associated with lower student achievement; this finding is complemented by research showing that in countries with high homework demands, student performance on international tests of achievement is poor.

Self-directed learning skills are associated with doing homework but the research indicates that the development of these skills occurs when parents are able to assist upper primary and junior secondary school students with their homework.

Parental involvement in their children’s homework activities can be both beneficial and detrimental. It can be detrimental when parents are over-controlling or interfering, but can be beneficial to student motivation when parents provide autonomy and a supporting learning environments for their children.

An Australian ban?

In our book we have argued that rather than abolition, homework needs to be reformed. Generally speaking, homework needs to be better planned by teachers and needs to be of a higher quality.

But it won’t be easy – homework needs to be challenging for students but not too challenging, it needs to be interesting and motivating, and students also need adequate feedback.

So the way forward is to start a conversation between teachers, parents and students about the sort of homework students need. The routine of completing homework (if done well) can help with self-management, planning and organising skills, but these skills take a long time to learn.

Homework setting and practice will have to change so that students are learning about self-management and self-regulation. The sort of homework tasks that promote learning these skills will not focus on drill and practice but require homework tasks where students make some decisions and choices and also exercise some autonomy.

At the same time, guidance for students who do not have family support will require planning (and provision) to complete these sorts of more complex homework tasks. The books explores the equity implications of homework and how providing guidance and support for students should be explicitly planned as part of a homework curriculum.

Less homework, better homework

Overall, there should be less homework, especially homework that emphasises drill and practice. Homework should also be there as a a bridge between the community and the school. In particular, homework needs to be planned around the community’s and family’s fund of knowledge – which may be different from what the curriculum is based on.

In essence, homework can help children but perhaps not in the ways we think. And much of it depends on what you want homework to achieve and how parents and teachers see it.

One of the authors of this article has a six year-old daughter in her first year of school. When he asks his daughter to collect a reader from her school bag, bring it to the place she has chosen for the shared reading and decides who reads first and when, this may not seem like homework.

But in fact focusing on her choice and autonomy will help develop independent learning skills, skills that will hopefully last her lifetime. Understanding homework as a path to independent learning needs to be the first step.

Senior Research Fellow - Women's Health Services

Senior Lecturer in Periodontics

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer - Marketing

Assistant Editor - 1 year cadetship

Executive Dean, Faculty of Health

• Skip to content
• Skip to search
• Staff portal (Inside the department)
• Student portal
• Key links for students

Other users

• Forgot password

Notifications

{{item.title}}, my essentials, ask for help, contact edconnect, directory a to z, how to guides, tell them from me, positive homework behaviours.

Positive homework behaviours is a research-based measure from the Tell Them From Me surveys. It is a source of evidence linked to What Works Best and the School Excellence Framework .

What is it?

Homework refers to the time invested by students in learning and studying school subjects outside of school hours. Positive homework behaviours reflect engagement with schoolwork that extends beyond the classroom.

The Tell Them From Me surveys ask students about their attitudes towards homework and their effort in completing it. The results are reported as the percentage of students with positive homework and studying behaviours.

Why is it important?

When employed effectively, homework is positively correlated with student achievement. It can help students to retain information, improve their study skills and demonstrate learning outside of school. Students are more likely to complete and benefit from homework when it is designed to meet specific purposes and goals.

School improvement links

How high expectations and engagement in primary school drive student learning

Improving high school engagement, classroom practices and achievement

Supporting school completion

Evidence base

Cooper, H., Robinson J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987–2003. Review of Educational Research, 76(1), 1-62.

Corno, L. (2000). Looking at homework differently. The Elementary School Journal, 100, 529-548.

Cosden, M., Morrison, G., Albanese, A. L., & Macias, S. (2001). When homework is not home work: After-school programs for homework assistance. Educational Psychologist, 36(3), 211-221.

Epstein, J. L., & Van Voorhis, F. L. (2001). More than minutes: Teachers' roles in designing homework. Educational Psychologist, 36(3), 181-193.

Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Schnyder, I., & Niggli, A. (2006). Predicting homework effort: Support for a domain specific, multilevel homework model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 438- 456.

Warton, P. M. (2001). The forgotten voices in homework: Views of students. Educational Psychologist, 36, 155–165.

Willms, J. D., Friesen, S., & Milton, P. (2009). Transforming classrooms through social, academic, and intellectual engagement. “What did you do in school today?” research series: Report number one. Toronto: Canadian Education Association.

Explainers of the Tell Them From Me measures have been produced in collaboration with The Learning Bar. The Tell Them From Me measures are provided by, and remain the intellectual property of, The Learning Bar. The explainers can also be found online within the Tell Them From Me portal . Tell Them From Me and TTFM are trademarks of The Learning Bar.

• Student engagement and wellbeing
• Tell Them From Me

Business Unit:

• Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation