School being really horrible about dds dancing

namechangesrme - my DD is at a very high achieving academically secondary school, with a strict homework policy. However they sent a note to all her teachers to be "understanding" about homework before Christmas, and have repeated to me "just to let them know" if she is finding it stressful; as she is a Cathedral Chorister. Especially at Christmas this tends to mean she has a lot of services, concerts and rehearsals; the school are very understanding about the homework that doesn't get done or gets done late.

Secondary school is harder and needs you to decided on the individuals priorities, but for some students it is not always the homework that comes first.

Sorry - nor that anything school related is work and relevant for your future.

(Computer ate half a sentence)

How about giving up the extra maths

Absolutely not the case that I don't believe in extra curricular activities nor. I am happy to pm details off the thread but am not going to put them on the thread as they would out me.

I would have said no guides. Guides or dancing, you choose, but school cannot suffer for an extra curricular.

Freddie, your assumption seems to be that anything that is organised by the school is "work" and relevant for your future, and that nothing that is done outside school can be regarded as a work commitment or be of value for your future career.

In the case of gifted musicians/dancers/gymnasts, this is not going to be true. There is simply no way most schools can provide teaching on the level they require and learning has to be done when you're young.

As a parent of such a child, you need to balance their need for the kind of tuition that caters for their special gift and the need to keep up with the schoolwork in order to have qualifications to fall back on if they want to go into something different when they are older.

Even as an academic, I would have been seriously disadvantaged if I had not put as much effort into out of school learning as I did into my homework; merely following the curriculum would not have provided me with the skills I needed.

When it comes to university application extracurricular stuff is very important. The people who play an instrument, are good at a sport or other activity, will always have the edge on the people who do nothing outside their school work.

According to DD's head teacher anyway.

As for rehearsing for 2 hours after school at a primary school - ridiculous.

It's Tuesdats that we don't do homework too! Dd dances from 4.15pm - 7.15pm each Tuesday.

As a year six teacher I think they are being unreasonable, and I wouldn't think anymore of it!

Freddie.

I think you are probably a minority as many dc that do extra curricular activities outside school can get really good and this takes priority.

If my dd had been academic at all, or top of the class, it may have been different. But some of these kids decide their extra curricular activities are what they want to do with their lives, so they become their curricular activities, my dd is one of these.

I have to say that we didn't allow dd to join guides as we felt it would have been too much on top of her dance/drama commitments & school.

She was not willing to drop a class and indeed wanted to do extra dance so guides was a no no.

Ledkr my kids do have a balance and do many and varied activities outside school and my two eldest are about to graduate.

I just would have prioritised homework over two out of school activities on the same night.

But I seem to be in the minority.

My dd is also in year 6 but their leavers play is being rehearsed in school time. Oddly enough loads of kids with main parts keep missing rehearsals due to sports matches

Dd dances and dies drama & singing as her regular commitments take priority. Sometimes that jeans she has to make hard choices eg she mussed auditions for a show she would have liked I have been in because it clashed with rehearsals for a show she had already commited to. She told her school music teacher that she couldn't sing in the choir at the music festival because it ckashed with another class. She has passed up the opportunity to move up into an auditioned dance group because of her ballet exam class.

The key I think is giving enough notice and not letting people down.

Same day homework isn't dive here either. Dd wants to audition for college at 16 so it us important to her.

At primary level, I wouldn't prioritise homework over dancing - not at the level this child appears to be at. Also, it sounds as if there is homework set every other day of the week (over the top, if you ask me) so presumably she can complete that.
I no longer run an after-school club (do it at lunchtime instead) as there were so many children who would only attend on-and-off due to other commitments including play-dates. So no, ledkr, your dd won't be the only one unable to make these rehearsals.

Namechange

Thats an awful lot of homework. I don't think we would have fit all that in a month, let alone a week. I really have never come across this before, and never in the holidays.

OP.
I'm pretty sure that homework isn't compulsory anyway. You can refuse to sign the home/school agreement if you want to. Mine never received much and always managed, except for dd and they were fine with her not having any. Some of the other dcs didn't see why she didn't get any but its up to the parents and it doesn't always suit everyone.

N/c fail. Just as well I've not posted the thread I was going to start yet.

[oops]

No. I think you should have prioritised homework over guides or dancing.

That's what I would have done.

And my children have all had homework every weeknight, and from P4 every weekend plus projects and other work to complete in the holidays.

What does DD want to do? If it's dancing and Guides, I'd tell the school to stuff off (and I'm usually big on o-operating with schools even when they're being a bit silly).

But it is simply not on to require an after school attendance from a child who cannot comply. If she had applied/auditioned for the part, then I'd say she has to prioritise the play. But as she didn't, then the school should be grateful she can make most of the rehearsals.

Or give year 6 a break from SATS and rehearse during the school day?

I'm sorry, I misunderstood. I thought she was in the school play voluntarily.

By preparing ds for life I meant that if he makes a commitment then he has to see it through and a commitment to the school is an important one and shouldn't be taken lightly as it may mean letting down friends who rely on him.