What's the reaction to the guidelines on homework issued by Education Secretary David Blunkett? Jim Greenhalf reports.

Rachel Ward's day at Thorpe Middle School, Idle, starts at 8.45am. It ends at 3.30pm.

But even after a six-and-a-quarter-hour day, 13-year-old Rachel goes home and does up to two hours' homework Monday to Friday, plus another three hours at weekends.

"I think it's right we get homework, it's just how much. There should be less set, I think," she told the T&A.

Rachel, who takes part in after-school activities as well, admits to feeling tired towards the end of her working week of nearly 45 hours.

Like all the pupils in the school, she has a student planner booklet which, among other things, contains a homework diary and weekly planner and plenty of space for comments by parents and teachers.

In other words, pupils' work in and outside school is regularly monitored. This sort of system, or a variation on it, is commonplace in schools these days.

And yet Education Secretary David Blunkett fears that children may be spending too much time unregulated by the disciplines of homework, and has issued guidelines on how much time should be spent doing homework. This ranges from 20 minutes a day at the youngest end to up to two-and-a-half hours a day at the oldest.

On average a child spends up to 15 years at school for 40 or more weeks each year, six hours or more per day, five days a week. Looked at in this way, isn't homework an unfair, even an unnecessary, imposition?

Bruce Berry, head of Belle Vue Boys, an upper school of 450 pupils aged between 13 and 18, doesn't think so. "Homework develops independent study skills," he said. "If somebody is good enough to go to university, they have to be capable of independent study.

"We have homework clubs available at lunchtime in the school, and the library is open after school for a period of time for research. We also have a reading club at 8.15 am before school starts at 8.45. As pupils get nearer their GCSE exams, demands on them get greater because of course work," he added.

One of the big differences of the many changes to education since I was at school is the assessment of course work as part of the GCSE, which didn't exist 40-odd years ago.

"They have to get the required number of pieces of course work in place before they sit the exam," Mr Berry explained. "In maths, for example, they have to carry out a number of investigations which can be very open-ended and time-consuming."

Teachers who have to set and mark homework see Mr Blunkett's guidelines as yet more bureaucracy falling on them at a time when the Education Secretary has spoken of taking steps to reduce paper work.

Alan Davey, secretary of the Bradford branch of the National Association of Head Teachers, accused the Government of interference. He said the guidelines could over-burden teachers and pupils, especially pupils with out-of-school commitments such as Asian boys who are expected to spend time at their local mosque learning the Koran.

Chris Miloney, a middle school convenor, told the T&A: "You have to create a climate where children are encouraged to work on their own initiative rather than through rigid guidelines. It's better to give children the motivation to do their homework."

David Blunkett would not disagree. However, he knows that motivation has to be learned by good example, usually from parents taking a genuine interest in their children's learning. The Education Secretary said on BBC radio yesterday that the purpose of the guidelines was to narrow the gap between children who enjoyed home support and the thousands of under-achievers left to their own devices.

Leslie and Diane Bell, of Hutton Terrace, Eccleshill, are examples of the former. They especially devote a period every night to their seven-year-old daughter's reading.

"We feel we have to do that with Lauren's reading because not enough time was spent in the classroom listening to her reading. I doubt she would be anywhere near as good as she is if she didn't spend half-an-hour a night reading with us, although they've just started a reading hour at her school (Cavendish First) and we are delighted," Mrs Bell told the T&A.

She is more concerned about her 11-year-old son Daryl. He goes to Hutton Middle School, which is due to close under the Schools Review.

"He doesn't bring much homework home - a bit of maths and English. He brings a homework diary home for me to look at. They do have a homework club at school, but he's not stretched enough. He should have maths three times a week and English three times a week. It's not consistent," she added.

The head teacher of Rachel Ward's school, Brendan Grant, says homework itself is not the issue. "What worries me is whether there is quality rather than just quantity," he said.

"It would be quite wrong to give the amount of homework that Rachel gets to another child. Homework has got to be meaningful. The homework we set is linked to what we do in school; it's not something extra that's just bolted on."

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