Why Homework Help Is About More Than Just Homework

By Stacey Shortall

Across New Zealand, children are arriving at school hungry, tired, and struggling to keep up. Teachers are working harder than ever, but the effects of poverty, housing insecurity, and health inequities are plain to see in our classrooms.

One of the quiet tragedies is that many kids are falling behind in the basics – reading, writing, maths. And, that once a child slips behind, it becomes much harder to catch up. Too often, a gap in learning becomes a gap in life chances.

That’s where Homework Clubs come in.

For the past decade, through the Who Did You Help Today charitable trust, volunteers have been sitting alongside children in low-decile schools, helping them with homework and other learning that their school community seeks to prioritise. It sounds simple. But the impact is profound.

When a child has someone to patiently explain a maths problem, to listen as they sound out words, or to encourage them when they get stuck on the page of a book, something shifts. They feel seen. They feel capable. They feel learning is for them. They believe they can succeed.

Teachers tell us how this shows up in the classroom. Children who once kept their heads down are now putting up their hands. Parents tell us they feel more supported. Volunteers tell us they get back far more than they give, and how they learn so much from the awesome kids they meet.

Homework Clubs are about more than homework. They are about building confidence, connection, and aspiration. They show children that adults in their wider community believe in them. They remind volunteers of the potential and aspirations that sit in schools regardless of postcode. And these realisations can change the course of lives.

At a time when the cost of living is stretching families, and when education gaps are widening, Homework Clubs are one small, practical way to help. They are a reminder that, while we can’t solve every problem at once, we can each give a little time. And that time can help transform a child’s future and a volunteer’s perspectives.

So my challenge is simple: who could you help today? Maybe it starts with an hour a week, at a Homework Club near you.