"NOW for your homework..." Words calculated to elicit groans, deflation of spirits and a tirade of complaints: "But sir, Miss Meaney gave us loads"; "But we've a test tomorrow in German"; "But sir, kick-off's tonight at 7.30 p.m.

While it's relatively rare for pupils to welcome or enjoy homework, sometimes they are perfectly justified in decrying it. The very best of teachers with a myriad other things to do can occasionally set a piece of homework for no other reason other than it's the designated night to do so.

Homework of the "finish page-63" variety sometimes merely complies with a timetabled diktat rather than serving any valid pedagogic purpose, like consolidating the work of the lesson.

As Dr Kevin Williams, a lecturer at the Mater Dei Institute of Education in Dublin says: "Homework has a pedagogic purpose. It should not be an after-thought at the end of the lesson. Nor should it be given simply to satisfy the wishes of parents or to comply with a rule which stipulates the setting of homework on a specified day".

The value to the pupil of a given homework is often largely determined by the extent and speed with which a teacher gives the pupil feedback. If the pupil invests a lot of time in doing homework but the teacher does not have the time to assess that work properly and relatively soon after its completion, that homework can have little impact on pupils' learning and may quite literally have been a waste of time.

A miserly tick at the end of a piece of work is rarely enough. Real feedback is required. Constructive comments are important. Pupils who don't receive adequate feedback from previous work can understandably lose their motivation to invest time and energy in further learning.

Most second-level teachers, especially those teaching subjects like English, history or religion, would find it impossible to see - let alone read and assess - a piece of written homework from each of their many pupils every week. Were they to do so they'd have absolutely no social or family life of their own.

Experienced teachers manage this problem by varying the tasks set so they don't face a nightly mountain of marking. For instance, they can set homework that varies between written, oral and reading tasks, or get pupils to prepare posters, role-plays or class presentations.

Most of these can be checked and graded in class. Other valid strategies can include getting pupils to mark certain kinds of homework themselves or having pupils grade each other's work, with checks built in for honesty and accountability. Scanning the class and picking on pupils at random can also be an effective way to check homework is being done and keeping pupils attentive.

Copying or cogging homework is a venerable pupils' tradition. If undetected and repeated, it can seriously undermine a pupil's learning and development. Cogging is a symptom. As with any problem - medical, mechanical or educational - the sooner the symptoms are addressed the better, the less damage will be done and the greater are the pupil's chances of recovery.

In subjects like maths, even a short spell of undetected copying can create a hellish ordeal for the pupils if they are to clamber back to being where they were meant to be. Pupils don't often see the difficulties they're creating for themselves which is why parents and teachers are rightly vigilant.

In Ireland, the task of assessing homework is often referred to as "correcting". While this constitutes one aspect of this frequently-boring activity, "correcting" can have connotations of a put-down. Few humans - adults and children alike - enjoy being "corrected". The primary task of marking homework is to assess it so that homework becomes a diagnostic tool in the pupils' learning.

WHILE some mistakes can be corrected, good teachers know that to correct every mistake can be counter-productive and undermine pupils' confidence. Parents need to alert teachers if pupils are losing confidence due to over-zealous "correcting".

According to Professor Desmond Swan, head of the Education Department at UCD, "the value of homework is not self-evident".

He believes that each school ought to have a written homework policy that parents, pupils and teachers are fully aware of. It shouldn't gather dust in a file but be a tool used daily for learning.

Parents need to be clear about what is expected of them regarding homework. This should include a commitment on their part to provide their children with a space conducive to learning.

The policy should state what homework is intended to achieve, what time should be set aside for it and on what day homework in different subjects is to be set.