This year there are two homework clubs, a Junior Homework Club for 2nd and 3rd class pupils and a Senior Homework Club for 4th, 5th and 6th class pupils.
The Junior Homework Club is supervised by 3rd class teacher, Susan, 2nd class teacher, Maeve and SNAs Lynsey and Helen. The Junior Homework Club is on every week on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. One teacher and one SNA take the club on Mondays and Wednesdays, the other teacher and SNA take the club on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The club runs from 2.30pm - 3.10 pm each day. Pupils wishing to take part in the club must fill an application form (available from the office). All pupils must bring their library book to read when they finish their homework.
The Junior Homework Club provides a quiet and supportive environment for pupils to complete homework, with help available if needed. It also provides a training in good work and study habits for pupils.
It is not the responsibility of those supervising the Junior Homework Club to check that a pupil attending has all his homework completed correctly. Therefore parents/guardians need to continue do the following:
- check that the homework is completed,
- listen to your son reading each evening,
- sign his homework journal.
The Senior Homework Club follows the same approach as the Junior Homework Club, outlined above except for the following points:
It is supervised by Mark (Principal) and is on every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday. It runs from 2.30 - 3.15 pm (though some 6th class pupils choose to stay until 3.30 or 3.45 pm to complete homework). From January 2013 the club runs from 2.30 - 3.30 pm for all pupils. On the occasions where Mark is unavailable the club is supervised by Barry (Deputy Principal).
There is no application for the Senior Homework Club. As many pupils are engaged in other after-school activities, both at school and in the community, all 4th, 5th and 6th class pupils are welcome to attend if and when they feel they would benefit from the club.
However, in instances where a non-homework club attending pupil is not completing homework satisfactorily he will be required to attend the club to assist him reach the expected standard. Parents/guardians will be consulted in such instances. Parents/guardians may also request that their son attend the Senior Homework Club.
Different views abound in educational circles on the usefulness or otherwise of homework. In Larriers we believe that learning how to study and how to do homework properly, while in primary school, is something of a necessary evil to meet the demands of second level education. Rightly or wrongly (and I think wrongly) how well a young person today does in the Leaving Certificate has a major impact on the quality of life s/he can expect to have thereafter. It's a bad game, but we have to get better at it. Put simply, the better our lads can do the homework now, the better they'll get on in the long run.
Over the last decade almost all aspects of our school have improved significantly, to the benefit of our pupils and the community. Getting the Homework Policy right, however, is one of our remaining challenges. It is for this reason that we have now decided to commit significant time, energy and resources from our after-school activities to meeting this challenge.
Mark (Principal )
October 3rd, 2012
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