Teacher defends her ‘no homework’ policy for primary school children

Brandy Young says parents have been enthusiastic supporters of her controversial decision

Ms Young stressed the importance of developing non-academic skills (Brandy Young )

A primary school teacher has defended her new "no homework" policy, saying it was in the best interest of her eight-year-old pupils.

In an interview with People, Brandy Young, a teacher at Godley Elementary School in Texas, said she had received full support from the school’s administrators, parents - and espeically the young students.

"They're excited, but they do understand that not having a homework packet doesn't mean learning ends when they leave [the] classroom," she said.

"I'm encouraging them to develop new skills and spend time with their families and find something that engages them."

The 29-year-old teacher wrote a letter to parents to announce there would be no formal homework for the coming school year, which started on 22 August, except the work that students had not completed during class.

Instead, Ms Young encouraged families to eat dinner and read together, let their children play outside and get them to bed early.

The letter was posted online by parent Samantha Gallagher and it quickly went viral, with more than 72,000 shares on Facebook.

Ms Young said it would have been "tremendous" to have experienced the same policy when she was at school.

She said the amount of homework for children today appeared to have increased.

"Any homework that's given just needs to be meaningful.

"The kids are so busy and they work hard days, and when they go home, they don't need busy work, let's just make sure we're not giving busy work," she said.