Ban Homework

School Homework.

Plans are currently afoot in England to outlaw school Homework. And the greater majority members of my family would wholeheartedly agree. Especially my late, well educated and highly qualified parents.

When I arrived home after a daily 75 minute in total, yomp + train ride + bicycle ride, I was expected to eat, quickly, then help out on the farm. Mucking out a pig sty, loading Sugar Beet, operating the bale elevator, mowing orchard grass, ploughing a field etc., etc. Never considered chores but instead, as an emerging adult, an honour and a privilege. Also of course an enviable education as well.

Dad used to say that if a teacher can't cram everything into us we needed to know within the weekly 35 hour school attention time then they had chosen the wrong career.

I was unimpressed by a Geography teacher marking my homework 4 out of 10 when I had mistakenly handed in work intended for the History teacher. Proving that as suspected they rarely even read the work. Thus by the time I was 15 I doggedly refused to turn in any homework at all. For which I was frequently awarded Detentions. "The dog ate my homework, Sir!" Doesn't cut ice for long.

Our Grammar school, being governed by exceptionally stupid people, operated a system of Tuesdays being half school days. With the lost time compensated by Saturday morning school.

School closed at 12:30 on Tuesdays. Therefore too late for me to run for a mile and a half to catch the midday train home. Thereby forcing me to wait for the 16:45 which would have taken me home after a full day of school anyway. The same totally unnecessary aberration for Saturdays too. Upon reflection over six decades later, it beggars belief that custodians of me and my fellow pupils' lives and futures could be quite so stupid!

Thereby messing up the week, the family week-end etc., even further. Adding another two and a half hours travel time each week too. Moronic!

The downside for teachers was that Detentions were conducted on Tuesday afternoons.

Detentions had to be supervised by teachers of course and often the only delinquent pupils were those who had refused to turn in homework. Farmers' sons then. Farms?! In rural Norfolk?! Who would believe such a thing?!!!

So teachers' penchant for dishing out Detentions soon evaporated. Thus resorting to metering instant physical violence instead. The infamous, dreaded Slipper (Gym shoe) or even the cane, and I can still show the scars to prove it. Though only to sympathetic, gentle and caring ladies.

We kids taught our teachers much. Especially about life, about common sense and of course train timetables.

Eventually Tuesday along with Saturday half day schooling was abandoned. Had it not been I think a second Norfolk Kett's rebellion might have ensued.

Mistral's commitment:
Bringing benefits of computerisation to our RAC industry - without the commonly associated problems.

Close and return to previous page