What I’ve Learned From Sitting Beside Kids At Homework Clubs

By Stacey Shortall

When I first developed and started volunteering in low-decile primary schools at Homework Clubs, I thought I was there to help children with reading and maths. And, yes, we do plenty of that. But what I have learned goes far beyond schoolwork.

Homework cCubs have shown me that what children really need is not just answers on a page - it’s encouragement, patience, and the belief that they can succeed. Many of the children who come to Homework Clubs carry heavy loads. Some live in families stretched by poverty, housing insecurity, or parents working multiple jobs. Others speak English as a second language, or despite the best efforts of their families, have experienced stress and instability at home.

Sitting beside them, I see first-hand how much resilience it takes just to show up.

The inequalities evident in Homework Clubs are not isolated. They are everywhere.

• One in five New Zealand children lives in poverty. That’s over 200,000 young people starting life at a disadvantage.

• When the Ministry of Education piloted its new NCEA Level 1 literacy and numeracy standards, just 2% of students in decile one schools passed the writing assessment, compared with 62% in decile ten schools.

• Thousands of children change schools per year because of housing instability - losing friendships, routines, and learning progress.

• Māori and Pasifika students are less likely to meet literacy and numeracy benchmarks by Year 8, despite the same potential as their peers, and this disparity continues.

These are not just statistics. They are the children I sit alongside every week.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that children flourish when someone believes in them. I’ll never forget a boy who, after weeks of struggling, finally managed to read a full page of his book aloud.. His face lit up. But what struck me most was when he whispered: “I didn’t think I could do it.”

Moments like that remind me that confidence can be as important as curriculum. And that every child deserves someone in their corner. When he worked with me so that I successfully read a few sentences from a book in Tongan, I was reminded that I also needed him in mine.

Homework Clubs have also taught me about the power of community. Parents, volunteers, teachers, and kids all come together in these weekly sessions. They provide not just learning, but connection and belonging.

In a time when families are stretched thin, Homework Clubs prove that small acts of help can add up to big change for everyone involved.

Homework Clubs have also opened my eyes to inequality in New Zealand. Too many children are falling through the cracks of our education and employment systems, not because of lack of ability, but because of lack of opportunity.

When a child cannot access a quiet space to study, or the internet to research, or an adult to answer their questions, they are not on a level playing field with those who can. And unless we intervene, those disadvantages accumulate over a lifetime.

Volunteering in Homework Clubs has taught me humility too. While I may bring skills, the children bring determination, laughter, and dreams for the future. They have taught me as much as I have ever taught them.

All that I have learned from Homework Clubs is simple but profound: small interventions can change lives. A couple of hours a week. A listening ear. A word of encouragement. A chance to learn something new from a child, through their eyes. These things seem small. But for a child, they can be the difference between disengagement and achievement. And, for a volunteer, they can be the difference between pointlessness and purpose.

We cannot afford to let talent and potential slip away. Every child who falls behind represents lost opportunity for them, and for New Zealand as a whole. If we want a fairer country, we must start where inequality begins: in childhood. Homework Clubs are not the whole solution, but they are a step in the right direction.

Real change doesn’t always happen in courts, boardrooms, or government offices. Sometimes it happens at a table after school, where a child discovers they are capable of more than they imagined. And a volunteer remembers that they should never stop learning either. Now that is some homework worth sharing.