Homework Guidelines

At St Joachim’s School the purpose for homework is to:

encourage opportunities for the students to review and reinforce learning that is initiated in the classroom;
develop self-discipline and effective study habits that students require in secondary school and later in life; and
provide parents/caregivers with an opportunity to be directly involved in their child’s education.

At St Joachim’s we believe that homework should not cause family stress or jeopardize the right of children to enjoy a balanced lifestyle. Our approach supports the importance of family time, relaxation and play and acknowledges the varied outside of school hours’ activities in which the students participate.

Year Level	Amount of time that you may expect your child to spend on homework	Homework is likely to consist of the following activities
Prep	N/A	~ Reading to/with/by parents or caregivers.
Years 1 & 2	15 mins per day	~ Reading to/with/by parents or caregivers. ~ Preparations for oral presentations e.g. Show & Tell. ~ Review & reinforce sight words/spelling.
Year 3 & 4	Up to 30 mins per day Homework may be completed daily or over a weekly period.	~ Reading to/with/by parents or caregivers. ~ Preparations for oral presentations e.g. Show & Tell. ~ Review & reinforce multiplication/ division facts and spelling words.
Years 5 & 6	Up to but not more than 3 hours per week.	~ Independent daily reading ~ Review & reinforce multiplication/ division facts and spelling words. ~ May include extension of class work & working on assignments that are carried over from classroom work.

Homework – Roles and Responsibilities

Responsibilities of the students:

To always aim high and take pride in their work
To take responsibility for all necessary materials required for homework tasks
To bring completed homework to school by the due date
To talk to parents and teacher if having difficulty with homework

Responsibilities of the teachers:

To encourage self-responsibility on the part of the students
To communicate homework expectations to the students and parents
To ensure that the resources required for homework tasks are easily obtained by the students
To provide ways for parents to communicate with teachers about homework
To discuss homework practices with year level colleagues to ensure consistency at each year level
To ensure that no new concepts or skills are introduced through homework
To select homework tasks that reinforce classroom learning
To affirm positive attitudes to homework

Responsibilities of the Principal:

To ensure that homework expectations are consistent with the school’s homework guidelines
To facilitate the communication process between school and home and support home/school partnerships in relation to homework
To facilitate an annual review of the school’s homework guidelines

Parents and caregivers can help their children by:

Reading with/to their children or providing opportunities for independent reading
Encouraging their children to organise their time, gain independence in being responsible for their homework folders, diaries etc.
Helping their children to monitor the amount of time spent on completing homework, watching television, using social media, playing computer games and engaging in physical and other recreational activities
Affirming and celebrating their learning successes