The Place of ‘traditional homework’ and its relationship to welbeing
Through our support of the Cheltenham Science Festival last week, Cheltenham Ladies’ College sponsored a talk on Mindfulness from the clinical psychologist Linda Blair, which was a sell-out event.
Following this talk, the Principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Ms Eve Jardine-Young, was interviewed by The Times newspaper, which was supportive of CLC’s stance that emphasis on this aspect of pupil welfare is equally as important as academic grades. The two are not mutually exclusive.
There was front page coverage with a rather eye-catching headline suggesting a homework ban at CLC, but also a more substantive leading editorial piece, concluding with the comment, “Fresh thinking is needed and is what Ms Jardine-Young seems to have in mind: less formal homework but not less learning”.
Ms Eve Jardine-Young said: “As part of our continuing innovations in and out of the classroom to ensure that we develop the best practice in the pupils as independent learners, we are reviewing the effectiveness and nature of homework, with a view to ensuring it is valuable and stimulating. Homework tasks should be interesting, challenging, varied and designed to foster a positive attitude to learning, ideally inspiring pupils to extend their curiosity beyond the limits of what is required.
“The wellbeing of pupils and staff has a direct bearing on the receptiveness of pupils as learners, and more broadly the quality of the engagement and interaction within the College community. We are making a whole-school commitment to developing this work further though our new Wellbeing programme, beginning in September, which will allow for a good deal of pupil involvement and partnership.”
Please find below a link to a new piece from Ms Eve Jardine-Young on our College website, which sets the context for the headline and summarises our holistic approach to pupil development.
www.cheltladiescollege.org/news/principals-reflections/summer-2015