Homework Support Project

Homework Project Report


1. Purpose of the report

2. Methodology

3. Findings

4. Recommendations

5. Evaluation

6. Final Conclusion

7. Appendix


1. Purpose of the report
The report identifies the role Nottinghamshire Libraries could play in providing homework support. The work was undertaken by members of the Learning Support Team and Children and Youth Team in liaison with other Development Teams and District Managers.



2. Methodology
The project evaluated existing homework provision and examined models for extending provision across the whole county, including the development of new ‘homework clubs’ and a ‘virtual’ service.


2.1 Evaluated the Homework Centre at Kirkby-in-Ashfield Library
Discussions were held with the Homework Centre Assistant, library staff and the Learning Support Team who have worked at the Centre. Feedback was collected from children and young people who use the Centre as well as from their parents and teachers. We also analysed statistics of use.


2.2 Identified existing homework provision across the County
• Working with Extended Services Coordinators and School Librarians we conducted a survey of 283 state schools across Nottinghamshire to identify which schools ran homework clubs.
• We contacted Extended Services Co-ordinators and COG members about homework support provided by other agencies including the voluntary and private sectors. This information has helped to map provision across the county.
• We contacted Youth Centres where Newlink PCs have been located.


2.3 Identified potential partners
• We examined the Community Scoping documents as well as questionnaires sent out to COG members and Extended Services Coordinators. We also contacted Sure Start and Youth Centres where Newlink PCs have been located. This information has enabled us to identify and contact organisations with a view to potential partnership working.


2.4 Identified libraries with the greatest social need
• We examined evidence of social deprivation in the community served by each library to identify where the need for homework support was greatest and where efforts should be concentrated. Decisions were based on information from each library’s community profile and ‘The Condition of Nottinghamshire 2009’ report.
• Library Managers and District Managers were asked to complete an audit for all libraries in their area to determine what facilities were available to offer effective homework support.


2.5 Investigated models of homework support including the option of providing ‘virtual’ support
We examined 172 library authorities in England and Wales for evidence of good practice both in providing ‘homework clubs’ and ‘virtual’ support.



3. Findings

3.1 The Homework Centre at Kirkby-in-Ashfield Library
The Centre has fulfilled a need for supporting children and young people in an area of high social deprivation for 12 years. However some revisions need to be made.
• Current opening hours are not compatible with the revised opening hours at Kirkby Library.
• A number of issues regarding health and safety were identified, including staffing ratios, cover for absence and the need for enhanced CRB checks.
• Ongoing liaison with schools over planned homework topics is essential to ensure relevant resources are available.
• Ongoing promotion is needed to ensure numbers attending the Centre remain constant.
• There is a need for ‘topic pack’ material that is difficult to find in printed or online resources to be produced at an appropriate level for the age of the child, e.g. local studies material.


3.2 Existing homework provision across the County
Although only 84 schools out of the 283 contacted responded to the questionnaire, of those, the majority were very positive about working with the library service to develop homework support.
• 31 schools already run a homework club with a further 14 schools considering setting one up. Despite having their own clubs 29 of these schools could see the benefits of supporting homework provision through the library service.
• A number of agencies offer homework support e.g. YMCA in Mansfield, however, they are willing to work with the library service to ensure joint promotion and to avoid duplication.


3.3 Potential partners
A number of agencies are willing to work with the library service to promote homework support to children and parents/carers. This could take the form of promoting the homework offer, recruiting potential volunteers or giving guidance to parents/carers on how to help their children with homework.
• 26 Children’s Centres have Newlinc PCs. These could be used as a way of promoting homework provision to parents with school age children. Links between libraries and Children’s Centres are currently being investigated by the Community & Inclusion Team.
• 25 Youth Clubs have Newlinc PCs, although use in some is very low. There is scope for more promotional work with these agencies to develop homework support.
• Detached Youth Service has a county fleet of mobiles that could link in to homework support in areas that do not have access to a library.
• ‘Headspace’ will be based in the new Worksop library. We could work with them as a way of involving young people in decision making.
• ‘Blue Skies Community Initiative’ operates in the Retford area working with rural schools. Links could be made to support children who do not have access to a static library.
• Ethnicity, Culture & Achievement (ECAS) are aware of current homework provision and direct children to library services. There is scope for further promotional work with this team.
• The Head of Virtual Learning for Looked After Children is keen to work with the library service. The Children and Youth Team are currently preparing training for looked after children, which could incorporate homework support.



3.4 Libraries with the greatest social need
The responses from District and Library Managers indicated that:
• 35 libraries had some level of social deprivation.
• 10 of these, Bilsthorpe, Bircotes, Carlton-in-Lindrick, Forest Town, Ladybrook, Langold, Mansfield Woodhouse, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Warsop and Worksop, were identified as having the greatest social need and therefore a higher level of homework support may be needed.
• 4 of the 10 libraries stated that children’s PCs were not well used after school.
• 6 of the 10 showed an increase in the number of homework enquiries as opposed to the trend for a decline in other libraries. Carlton-in-Lindrick, where local staff established a homework club in 2009, showed a rise in enquiries from 20 to 138.
• 2 of the 10 libraries have neither a photocopier nor scanner, which may cause problems if children need be able to take away information from reference books.


3.5 Models of homework support including ‘homework clubs’.
• Of the 172 library authorities we looked at 41 ran homework clubs in at least one of their libraries. The majority of these are run by dedicated homework club staff; some are recruited specifically for the post, while others are existing library staff timetabled to cover the core club opening times. To reflect the specialist nature of the work most pay homework club staff on a higher scale. E.g. Shropshire pays Higher Level Teaching Assistant (Hay Grade 8), Islington offer SO1 while others pay the equivalent of Teaching Assistants or Learning Support Assistants.
• 55 authorities offer access to online subscription resources
• 35 have links to homework related websites
• 8 have obvious homework links to the ‘Ask Libraries’ service
• 3 have access to downloadable ‘topic packs’ produced by librarians.


3.6 Providing virtual homework support.
Many schools are moving towards ‘Moodle Virtual Learning Environments’ where students access and complete homework online. In addition to student access, there is password protected staff access to lesson plans and schemes of work. Parents can also access the site to see future homework assignments. Of the schools who responded to the survey:
• 51 schools currently have their own Virtual Learning Environment, with a further 15 expected to have a website up and running in the near future.
• 59 schools would consider having a link to the library website through the school website, enabling children with a library card to access library resources through school PCs. A further 5 schools would consider having a link but required more information.
• 69 schools would allow library staff to provide training to children in accessing a virtual homework support service with a further 4 schools willing to consider it after more information was given.
• The Nottinghamshire Learning Centre, which caters for the authority’s out of school provision for 5-16 year olds and the specialist Behaviour, Emotional and Social Difficulties provision, use the Fronter VLE, as do several of the County’s schools. There may be scope for investigating use of the library virtual support by these agencies.
• Links can be set up to relevant websites on the library gateway. A team would be needed to identify and monitor these websites.
• ‘Topic packs’ can be produced and accessed as downloadable PDF files to provide age appropriate material on difficult to find topics, e.g. local studies material aimed at adults. A team would be needed to create and monitor these packs.


4. Recommendations
If the recommendations are accepted a Homework Support Task and Finish Group should be set up to deliver them. This group should consist of members from the Learning Support Team, Information Team and Children’s and Youth Team plus a representative from Locst. Other members from development teams could be co-opted onto the group as required. Claire Brown should also be involved on relevant items regarding training. The role of the group is to oversee strategy delivery and to monitor quality.


4.1 The Core offer
All libraries to provide an appropriate environment for homework support.
• Access to printed and online resources.
• A designated space where children can work. Depending on the size of the library, this may be one table and chair.
• Free printing and photocopying for homework. Limited to 5 sheets per person.
• All libraries to have access to virtual homework support.


4.1.1 Kirkby Homework Centre
Maintain the Homework Centre at Kirkby. Reduce opening hours to 3.30-5.30 on all four nights. The 1.5 hours saved to be used by the Homework Centre Assistant to take on extra duties identified by the Learning Support Team.


4.1.2 Websites
• Set up ‘homework help’ pages for relevant websites on the Children’s Library Gateway, divided into Key Stage 2 (primary age 7-11) and Key Stage 3 (secondary age 11-13).
• Set up links to websites for GCSE (age 14-16) and ‘A’ Level (age 16-18) students through the adult library homepage.
• Set up links for parents on both the children’s and adult gateways to promote the service and offer tips for helping their children with homework, safe surfing etc.
• Learning Support Team to be responsible for identifying, monitoring, adding and updating websites in consultation with Information Team.
• All staff to contribute suggestions for relevant websites.
• The Homework Centre Assistant at Kirkby to monitor websites with children to assess suitability and ease of use.
• Consider joint working with other library authorities e.g. Leicestershire to share content.
• Timescale – to coincide with re-launch of website in August 2010
• Information Team to have oversight of the homework portal


4.1.3 Online Resources
• Create ‘homework help’ pages for links to online subscription resources.
• Create ‘homework help’ pages for links to downloadable ‘topic packs’ as PDF files. Files to have a watermark to prevent children handing them in as their own work.
• The Homework Centre Assistant at Kirkby to produce ‘topic packs’ as identified by the Learning Support Team.


4.1.4 Links to school websites
• Set up a link on schools’ websites and Moodles to the library gateway, giving them access to Nelib, recommended websites, online resources, Ask Libraries etc.
• Create a webpage of links to school websites that children can access from Newlink PCs.


4.1.5 Training
• All front line staff to be given basic training by the Learning Support Team on homework enquiry techniques plus use of websites, online subscription resources, ‘topic packs’ and Ask Libraries.







4.2 The Advanced Offer

4.2.1 Homework Clubs
• Set up Homework Clubs in the 10 libraries identified as having the greatest level of social need on a 5 year rolling programme. Review after each phase.

• Clubs to be:
o held in an appropriate area of the library
o aimed at 8-13 year olds
o run for 1-1.5 hours per session, depending on the size of the library and local circumstances.
o held one or two nights a week, depending on the size of the library and local circumstances, term time only.
• Consider establishing Homework Clubs in the remaining 25 libraries identified as having high levels of social deprivation at the end of the 5-year programme.


4.2.1.1 Staffing
• Kirkby Homework Centre to be double staffed at all times. Guidelines for staffing ratio for 7-16 year olds is 1:15
• Homework Clubs to be single staffed using existing library staff, timetabled at set times to be dedicated ‘Homework Helpers’.
• Explore the possibility of recruiting volunteers to work alongside staff in Kirkby and the other Homework Clubs to meet demand.
• All Homework Clubs and Kirkby Homework Centre staff to have enhanced CRB checks. The current cost for this is £36 per person. CRB checks are free for volunteers.
• Homework Club staff to receive advanced training from Learning Support Team.
• A list to be drawn up of library assistants who have received training and have enhanced CRB checks, who are willing to provide cover for absences at Kirkby Homework Centre and the 10 proposed new Homework Clubs.
• A rota to be drawn up of Learning Support Team Librarians to provide back-up cover for absences of Homework Centre and Homework Club staff.



4.2.1.2 Resources
• Each Club to have a ‘toolbox’ of equipment, e.g. calculator, compass, ruler, pencils, handwriting pens, paper, memory stick etc. Estimated cost of £400 for all 10 clubs to be funded through Learning Support Team budget.
• Each Club to have a core reference collection e.g. dictionary, thesaurus, student atlas etc. Estimated total cost of £300 to be funded through Learning Team budget.
• Learning Support Team to be responsible for ordering all ‘toolbox’ supplies and for distributing them to relevant Clubs, to allow for cost savings through bulk buying.
• Learning Support Team working with Resources Team to be responsible for core reference collection.
• In addition, a small selection of stock (between 10-50 titles depending on size of library) to be leased from Education Library Service with unlimited exchanges, at the cost of £2.90 per item. Leasing stock in this way ensures the Homework Clubs always have resources relevant to current curriculum topics. Total cost for 10 libraries would be £319 - £1595, depending on the number of titles. As each item will be exchanged every time the curriculum topic changes this represents better value for money than investing in a general homework collection which would lie dormant for most of the year.
• ELS stock to be selected by Learning Support Team with input from Homework Club staff.


4.2.1.3 Promotion
• Kirkby Homework Centre and the 10 new Homework Clubs to be promoted in school assemblies by members of the Learning Support Team with input from local staff.
• Flyers and bookmarks with the ‘homework help’ offer, including a list of Homework Clubs and details of online resources and websites, to be given out in all libraries.
• ‘Homework help’ to be promoted through other County Council websites e.g. CYP, Foster Care, Education, Study Support, SEN, Nottinghamshire Out of School provision etc.


4.3 Ask Libraries
• Offer ‘homework help’ sessions to cover peak homework periods. Each session to be for 2 hours (3-5pm), 5 nights a week term-time only.
o Establish a rota of all librarians to staff these sessions with extra sessions provided by the Learning Team.
o Part time staff to cover 4 sessions per annum. Learning Support Team to cover 8 sessions per annum.
o Full time staff to cover 8 sessions per annum. Learning Support Team to cover 16 sessions per annum.
• Enquiries to link to normal Ask Libraries but be flagged up as homework. Simple ones to be dealt with by Ask Libraries staff, others to be passed through to the librarian on duty on the homework rota.
• Staff on the rota to work from normal base (Beeston, Retford, Newark, Arnold and Kirkby) to save on travelling time and expenses.
• Each base to have a selection of age-appropriate National Curriculum-related resources to help with enquiries.
• The idea of providing homework help is to not just to give children the answer but enough information so they can find the answer themselves. We do not want children to get the idea that we will do their homework for them! In addition to the homework query, the following information is needed to ensure appropriate information is given:
o Age of the child
o Ability of the child
o Deadline for handing in the homework
o Amount of work to be produced
o What the child already knows about the topic
This could be done:
o By local staff through the ‘asklibraries’ email on a specially designed form, similar to a CL74
o by local staff via telephone with a checklist of relevant questions to ask
• Consider the option for children and young people to access Ask Libraries Homework Help through online chat. Assurances may need to be given to parents about child security while using chat.
• Librarians staffing ‘homework help’ sessions to be given study support training to ensure they are familiar with age appropriate material.


4.4 Homework Doctor
• Librarians to do drop-in sessions at Kirkby Homework Centre and the 10 Homework Clubs to promote the service to children and parents/carers and assist with homework enquiries. Minimum of 30 sessions (1 per librarian) to be coordinated by the Learning Support Team.


4.5 Branding
• ‘Toolbox’ equipment to have ‘homework help’ logo
• Homework Club staff to wear ‘homework help’ T-shirts or badges to identify them.
• All Homework Clubs to be branded with corporate identity.



5. Evaluation
• Increased use of Newlinc PCs
• Increased uptake of Ask Libraries service
• Increased number of homework enquiries in all libraries as recorded on PIF form
• Increased library membership and borrowing
• Measure against the 5 MLA Generic Learning Outcomes
• Impact measures e.g. comments from children, parents, teachers to identify positive outcomes from attendance at Homework Clubs.
• Consider the Quality In Study Support (QISS) process to inform our code of practice. While formal public accreditation can be time consuming, using aspects of the self evaluation process without going for validation could encourage good practice and provide key indicators for evaluation.
The following websites give details of the QISS process:
http://www.qissnationaldatabase.org.uk/
http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/education/quality-in-study-support/Home.aspx



6. Final conclusion
Research has shown that Homework Clubs in public libraries offer a neutral and welcoming environment, providing support, encouragement and one to one attention. Homework Club staff make an important contribution to pupils' learning and achievement; they help foster self esteem and aspiration and increase confidence; they enable children to develop independent learning skills and improve literacy and numeracy. This is especially important to those children who do not receive this in the home or school environment. The example of Kirkby Homework Centre and those from other authorities suggests that even those schools that do run their own homework clubs actively encourage children to attend clubs run by the library.
Links with schools have shown that attending a homework club can encourage independent learning, improve the standard of a child’s work, increase their academic ability and encourage them to become regular library users. Clubs have also been found to contribute towards easing the transition from primary to secondary school and, because they attract a mix of pupils from different schools, they help towards integration and community cohesion.

While we appreciate that it may be difficult to set up Homework Clubs in the current climate, they are a proven way of delivering effective homework support and encouraging library use. The five year plan in the appendix enables us to manage the development of this service.