School calls for end to 'depressing' homework

One of London's leading state schools has cut the amount of homework given to pupils with a view to scrapping it altogether.

Teachers at Tiffin boys' school in Kingston - labelled "outstanding" by Ofsted inspectors last year - believe extra evening work made learning depressing for children.

Now students will be encouraged to watch educational television programmes, play sport, listen to music or focus on other extra-curricular activities instead.

Gary James, the deputy head, said Year 7 parents had been notified of the changes.

"We felt that homework was taking over," he said. "We had boys doing three or four hours a night at the expense of sports, music practice or simply having fun. Something is not right when a boy can't sit down and watch a nature documentary on TV because he is too busy doing maths.

"Ultimately I don't think we should set homework at all."

Pupils in years seven to 11 now have just one 40-minute assignment a night plus 20 minutes of independent study, which they can use to play music, do sport or anything else that they feel might help their education. Suggested activities include watching a television documentary or visiting an art gallery.

Homework schedules of three or four hours a night are common at high-achieving schools, even for pupils aged 11 and 12. The Government recommends 45 to 90 minutes for that age, rising to a maximum of two and a half hours for older pupils. Martin Johnson, deputy general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, has called for an end to homework in primary schools and a scaling-back at secondary level.

He said homework had been "mindlessly lauded by successive governments and pushy parents".

"All too often homework tasks are mechanistic and repetitive," he added. "Rarely do they encourage the freerange research and independent learning skills that employers would like to see."

Tiffin boys' school is not the only secondary school cutting back on traditional practice.

At Brighton College, a leading coeducational independent school, there is a bigger emphasis on independent study with pupils learning at their own pace and focusing on what interests them most.

Richard Cairns, the headmaster, has also decided to teach less and to hold lessons at times that suit pupils best.

The school used to have lessons virtually non-stop from 9.15am until 5.30pm. Now there are activity slots from 11am to 1pm twice a week and from 4pm to 5.30pm every day.

"We actually cut five lessons off the week and gave that time to enrichment activities - sport, public speaking and so forth," he said.

"Because the pupils had an outlet for their energies beyond the classroom, they were actually much more focused in the classroom."