A moment of calm

This is South Norwood Lake this afternoon. It looks peaceful, and on a weekday it is. Today, however, the benches scattered around it and the paths around it seemed full of mothers worried about ... homework.

For Sunday is homework day. Today I have assisted in the creation of African masks and the spelling of "ie" words. I have assisted in the building of pseudo-Lego as a reward for finishing a mental arithmetic game. And I know that local parents are not only fretting about getting their children to finish their homework but also discussing the nature and quantity of the tasks set,

As a secondary teacher I tended not to think about the desireability or otherwise of homework. But all the children at the heart of today's discussions were of Primary age - some of them very young indeed. So as we walked round Norwood Lake on a sunny Sunday, this was what we talked about.

Homework.