It's every child's dream and one school has turned it into a reality by banning homework for primary pupils.

The 175 pupils at Inverlochy Primary School in Fort William are exempt from out of class study and the majority of parents are behind the decision.

A successful trial period led to a homework referendum among pupils and parents.

Predictably, 80% of children enthusiastically backed the no homework proposal but more surprisingly most parents (60%) agreed.

Children are encouraged to read books and comics outside school hours, as well as playing and spending time with their families.

Barry Hutchison, whose daughter Mia attends the school, backed the decision.

"My daughter started primary school at the same time as her big brother started secondary school and Mia's homework in primary one was vastly more than my son had in first year," he said.

"I think high school breaks you in gently to homework anyway so I see no problem in kids not having homework through primary school and then starting the gentle process of breaking in into secondary school."

Highland Council has no official policy on the decision and allows school management and parents to shape how institutions are run in the area.

A spokesman for the local authority said: "Highland Council has a devolved school management system in our schools.

"The authority does not have a Highland-wide 'no homework' policy in place - this is something that Inverlochy Primary School is trialling in their school."

The Highland school is not the first to trial a no-homework policy.

A US study in 2001 - and another 2006 -into the effects of homework on children found there was very little correlation between the amount of homework and achievement in elementary school and only a moderate correlation in middle school.

A number of schools in England already allow children to avoid the extra study, while reduced or zero extra study is practised in other European countries.

France

Four years ago, French President Francois Hollande proposed banning homework as part of a series of policies designed to reform the French educational system.

He focused on the impact of inequality and said poorer children were less likely to be able to complete their study.

Germany

A high school in North Rhine-Westphalia decided to do away with homework in 2012 to help pupils unwind.

Head teacher at Elsa-Brandstrom, Brigitte Fontein, told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that generally "no child would be having their free time dominated by doing school work".

Finland

The Finnish system is often held up as an example of how to successfully reduce homework. Many schools have either no homework or less than two hours a week. Children also have less class time and are encouraged to be creative in school when not be taught directly.

United States

A number of attempts have been made by schools in North America. In 2015, a New York institution stopped asking children to work on maths problems and English essays at home.

Many parents reacted angrily with frustration of their own, and some have even begun setting their own homework assignments.

In 2011, Los Angeles school board set a policy that homework could not count for more than 10% of a student's grade. This was later upped to 20% after parental concerns.

Canada

The College de Saint-Ambroise, a school in Quebec, banned outside study for kids in grade one through six for a year in 2014.