Forum topic:

Homework (This topic is now closed however you can still read the responses to it, below.

Tell us what schools are doing that is working well regarding homework given to children with SEN?
What could be done differently by schools regarding homework?

Feedback from Mike Turner, SEN Strategic Manager within the Local Authority

In the first half of Autumn 2009, we asked parents and carers to comment on homework for children and young people with SEN. Thank you to those parents and carers who have posted comments to date and for the positive nature of the suggestions made.

What you told us
- the importance of dialogue with the school about the demands of homework on children with SEN, and flexible responses to understand need.
-the effective use of Teaching Assistants to ensure that the child understands the activity, it is achievable and related to the whole class activity.

More generally, the posts reflect a parental view that homework could perhaps be thought of as 'learning activities to be shared between parent and child' (especially at primary school).

What we will do
1)This summary will be highlighted as a news item on the Education and Individual Services website: EIS
2) The summary will also be shared with the Learning Support Service to better inform their work with schools.
3) We will bring this topic back to the forum in 12 months time to enable parents and carers to comment further.

My child is in year 2 main stream primary school. Her homework is set by her Teaching Assistant in line with the class topic or a specific skill she is working on. This works really well. In the early days her homework was the same as the rest of the class and we did what we could with it at home.