Not intended to be a teacher bashing post, a serious question for a change.

My lad is in Year 8. He gets set Maths homework online, which he completes online, and the teachers can obviously then see it and assess it online.

But apparently he has to print it out and then stick it in his normal Maths book so that there is a paper record of his online homework.

Just struck me as odd that a paper record was still needed to record online work. Has he misunderstood the instructions, or is it some sort of audit/Ofsted thing?

Thought I’d ask on here before I check with the school – the answer is usually quicker here. And it may just be that the school is trying to prepare him for a civil service career of duplicating records for no obviously apparent reason 😉

I think it’s probably that the school is making the pupils keep learning folders or portfolios. Are they due an inspection soon?

I’m assuming that could be the reason – and I guess it ensures that there is a record in case the system ever died and all the electronic records were lost.

Inspectors don’t understand the internet. By printing and sticking in the teacher is giving the pupil the opportunity to be in charge of their learning. And proving that homework was set and done.

Lot easier to show jotters in a classroom than give access to edmodo or whatever.

I suppose it makes it easier if, say, they need to go over something in class – if lots of kids struggled with one section ?

Are you lot actually teachers? Far too little counting down to the holidays or praising Fridays for my liking.

😉

If seems daft to me. I expect its ofsted and their idiot disciples

Neither of my kids have had to do that.

If a teacher’s doing something that seems daft, it’s usually the school’s senior management team misinterpreting something Ofsted has said. Or, Ofsted has said something daft.

I guarantee (I’m a teacher) that it’s the heads decision in preparation for Ofsted.

We have to document everything lately. Seems like more of an admin job than actual teaching.

If that’s the case, what’s the point in doing it online? Maybe pen and paper and hand the book in to mark?

Sounds like an Ofsted thing to show homework has been set and marked.

Some people need things in tangible form to properly remember or engage with them. There’s a lot of snooty comments on here but I bet half of you still print important documents and notes.

Homework is not a legal requirement in fact nor are we allowed to demand/track it.

It’s the heads choice or just a teacher who prefers to mark paper.

Homework is not a legal requirement in fact nor are we allowed to demand/track it.

So when my Daughter got detention as she forgot to get her homework planner signed that was wrong of the school?

The online system helps the teacher set, record and mark the homework. Printing it out and sticking it in a jotted helps your son to reflect on his learning (if only by reminding him what he has covered). It also emphasises the importance of the homework to the pupils in the class who have not done it (they feel left out while the sticking is going on).
And Inspectors will like the paper record.

Homework can’t be enforced.

We can talk about its importance and how it helps secure learning but not demand that it is completed and returned.

It’s about making it a positive thing to do. It’s also about realising that weekends are the only time some of our children see their other parent.

So when my Daughter got detention as she forgot to get her homework planner signed that was wrong of the school?

It sounded like MoseyMTB might be one of those scumsucking thick OFSTED bastards you all seem to hate for trying to make sure your kids get a half decent education.

It sounded like MoseyMTB might be one of those scumsucking thick OFSTED bastards you all some seem to hate for trying to make sure your kids get a half decent education.

😀

We can talk about its importance and how it helps secure learning but not demand that it is completed and returned.

Some schools seem to think otherwise.

Drac. Did the school send out a home school agreement that homework would be set and completed?

Either way it is 100% non statutory

Drac. Did the school send out a home school agreement that homework would be set and completed?

Ermmm! Possibly I can’t recall though. I don’t mind to be honest it does help kids learn and she always does her homework anyway.

I give the children who don’t complete their homework at home the opportunity to do it at lunch. Most stay and do it. The kids who I teach are very young though and often not doing homework is down to their parents not them.

Anyway… Having homework kept online would be completely ignored by OFSTED (although they might be interested to know there is an online portal for completing homework). The inspection regime has been streamlined quite a bit, so the school needs to be able to provide everything to the inspector when they arrive.

The other reason could be a financial/environmental one. Let’s say the schol has 1,000 pupils who all get a piece of maths homework every week. Saves 1,000 pieces of paper every week. Nearly 40,000 over the year. That said, the idea of kids doing maths worksheet type stuff is alien to me, we’re pretty much banned at our school except for when some accuracy is needed like geometry.

Check the home/school agreement about homework policy. If you’ve signed it this year, don’t sign it next year. Simples!

Chances are the school is gearing up for its inspection, and knows that OFSTED inspectors will have a specific mandate for what areas within the school plan they are supposed to be keelhauling supporting it in; as a critical friend, so to speak.

We encourage students to use the Moodle, or intranet to complete their homework. Although it can be helpful to encourage a paper copy to allow students the opportunity of peer-to-peer reflection; this is a current hot topic method of assessment.

Check the home/school agreement about homework policy. If you’ve signed it this year, don’t sign it next year. Simples!

I’ve not been offered one to sign this year. She had done her homework but didn’t get us to sign her book to say it was done. Because her book wasn’t signed she got detention.

Printing also allows those children without computer / internet access to be accommodated (teacher can quietly give out sheet or they do it at break/after school club etc).

Sounds like a head’s choice to evidence homework.

We all know, that given an hour of effort, teachers time would be better spent on many, many other things than issuing and marking homework, especially through primary and early secondary.

Why do we assume that a school working day is not long enough and that our children should have a working day as long as many adults? 😕

We have done it since teachers became Michael Gove’s favourite target till NHS workers got arsey. Our own fault, daring to suggest the cuts were harming quality of education. See the “blob” for evidence.

We have done it since teachers became Michael Gove’s favourite target till NHS workers got arsey.

🙄

Its probably OFSTED.

But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t make sense to print it out. Say the teacher wanted students to try question 3 again in class. Or the teacher wanted to circulate talking to students about problems they had with the home, they might all of course done different home work each week

Also even without OFSTED its not to crazy for all of a students work to be available on one place

Last week a student sent me their home work as a pdf from his microsoft surface. I printed it out but politely asked him to print it out for me in future

Oh and finally

the teachers can obviously then see it and assess it online.

Your not use to education software aren’t you. I worked in school that spent a fortune on electronic registration software, oh and a laptop for every member of staff to run it on

About a few months into its use I set out to find out if a girl in my tutor group was going to English regularly. After 2 hours of asking everyone how I went about this I was given the answer that the only person who could see if she went to English, was her English teacher. At a trade fair I asked the sales man of this software if this was true and he admitted it was. Of course a search for the information could be written, but we din’t have anyone who could do this.

So no I wouldn’t assume that the teacher gets a sensible view of the home work from the other side unless you’ve been specifically told that they do.

I have further similar stories of educational software

Not sure of this reflects more badly on the public or private sector

I’ve not been offered one to sign this year. She had done her homework but didn’t get us to sign her book to say it was done. Because her book wasn’t signed she got detention.

Then you are well within your rights to tell the school to **** itself. Although I’d question whether it was a tick box on a larger, more comprehensive pre-September document; might be worth checking tnis first…

“we’ve always done it that way.”

It’ll be in their policies I suspect when enrolling them to the school.

😈

I’m very used to education software. What you’re describing there is crap software – I’ve experienced similar in non-educational contexts, it’s certainly not exclusive to education, and nor is all education software like that. In fact there is some great software out there, so don’t put it all down because of your experiences with rubbish. In the context of what we were originally discussing, any educational software which doesn’t allow the teacher to see the student’s work to assess it is unfit for purpose (you could argue the same for your situation, though in that case there is a little wriggle room for the vendor).

If you were at my school I’d write you a search (out of professional embarrassment if nothing else) – but then I’d do my best to make sure we didn’t get rubbish software like that in the first place.

Wasn’t a dig at you lot drac!

Your not use to education software aren’t you. I worked in school that spent a fortune on electronic registration software, oh and a laptop for every member of staff to run it on
About a few months into its use I set out to find out if a girl in my tutor group was going to English regularly. After 2 hours of asking everyone how I went about this I was given the answer that the only person who could see if she went to English, was her English teacher. At a trade fair I asked the sales man of this software if this was true and he admitted it was. Of course a search for the information could be written, but we din’t have anyone who could do this.

I’d put money on the online maths homework being set on MyMaths (http://www.mymaths.co.uk/). Assuming the school hasn’t made a pig’s ear of setting it up, the teachers can see how pupils have answered individual questions and various other levels of information such as specific types of question that a proportion of the kids got wrong.

On attendance, I can see exactly which lessons individual students have attended, even if I have nothing to do with them. We have reports that will show me what percentage of each subject or lesson each student in my tutor group has attended. If you can’t, somebody in your school bought crap software.

Seemis. Is truly awful software, barely fit for purpose.

On attendance, I can see exactly which lessons individual students have attended, even if I have nothing to do with them. We have reports that will show me what percentage of each subject or lesson each student in my tutor group has attended. If you can’t, somebody in your school bought crap software.

Current job it does almost everything we can think of. But I think we wrote it

Yes the last place bought poor software. But surely selling registration software that bad is a bit naughty

100th, praise the baby Jesus that on track with learning is currently shelved!