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Homework must be a family affair
Teachers have urged parents to help children with homework – even when they struggle with the questions.
Despite changes in the curriculum and the range of subjects taught, there are lots of questions we should all know the answer to.
However, only one in five parents could answer questions taken from GCSE papers, according to research by the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Despite this, teachers say helping children find the answers themselves is more important.
And schools across the county are doing more than ever to get parents involved in their child's education.
Andy Wilson, assistant headteacher of Sir Christopher Hatton School in Wellingborough, said: "In our lives, we are always asked questions we can't answer.
"Rather than give the wrong answer, the parent should say: 'let's look at this together.'
"I would get my kid to show what they thought and then I would work with them to find the answer."
Like schools across the county, Sir Christopher Hatton is developing a website which displays pupils' timetables, attendance, syllabus, homework and progress.
Parents will be able to log in to the website and check what subjects their child is studying and what their homework is.
Mr Wilson said: "They will be able to see what work has been set and keep up to date clearly with what is going on."
All schools must have a similar website up and running by September.
Kettering Buccleuch Academy held a study group for parents yesterday.
English teacher Phil Henton taught parents of pupils taking GCSE English a year early about how the exam is structured, what the pupils are expected to do and how best to revise.
The hour-long session was a trial, but the school will provide more if there is demand.
Mr Henton said: "A lot of parents want to help their children but they have to rely on their kids telling them what they need help with."
Of 20 students taking the exam, 15 sets of parents had said they would attend.
Mr Henton said: "With Manchester United playing AC Milan on television, I think that's pretty good.
"It's about getting parents interested in their children's education and learning about how they can help."
In the poll of 500 parents of schoolchildren for Britannica Online, dads scored better than mums, answering on average 27 per cent of questions correctly.
This compares with mothers who answered only 12 per cent right.
Parents in East Anglia were top of the class with 31 per cent right answers, compared with 13 per cent in the South East, 12.5 per cent in the South West and 11 per cent in the North.
Test yourself and see if you could still pass. Here are some of the questions Britannica Online asked parents:
Q: What is the name given to the lines on a synoptic chart?
A: Isobars
Q: What is the total number of degrees in the angles of an octagon?
A: 360 degrees
Q: What is the point inside the earth where the pressure from an earthquake is released?
A: The focus
Q: What is the unit of force?
A: Newton (N)
Q: How many chromosomes are found in each human body cell?
A: 46
Q: What did Crick and Watson discover in 1953?
A: DNA
Q: Which gas has the highest concentration in air?
A: Nitrogen
Q: Who was the first Labour Prime Minister?
A: Ramsay MacDonald
Q: What was the Nazi Party in Germany first called?
A: The German Workers Party
Q: Which measure of average can have more than one value?
A: Mode
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Monday 13 February 2012
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