Saturday detention and inflexible school.

There are (at least) 2 'real problems'. One of them is that your DS appears to be getting no support at school for his problem - either severe disaffection, or a SpLD. The other one is that he appears to be getting no support at home for the same. You clearly regard your 'commitment' to scouts as more important than what should be your commitment to your son. That's very sad.

As the boy is a keen Scout, I'd go with the line that one way of keeping the Promise to do his best would be to get organised and get rhs homework done on time.

soul2000 my DD is dyslexic and dyspraxic and finds it very hard to organise herself. So she has to work harder and smarter to do so. I could do it for her but then she would not learn how to cope with her weakness. She goes to uni next year, I won't be there to do it for her. So I have to stay on her case, facilitate her with coping mechanisms, but also not let up. Lack of organisational skills isn't an excuse, it's a challenge they have to overcome.

Rainbow - what sanctions do you have in place for missed homework? (I may have missed this somewhere in the thread)

You are right Really Tired. Her mother has a wall chart in the kitchen with
DDs lessons on it as well her homework and what day each homework is due. She has been doing this since her DD was Yr 7 and her DD missed doing her homework a few times ending up having a few detentions.

On occasions her DD has told me she ended up doing her homework on the school bus in 30 minutes because she had forgotten which lessons she had that day.

The school is a girls grammar school and they are constantly telling her to get organized and wake up, her form tutor yes Even in Yr 12 is always reminding her to write down her homework required for the next day.

"Maths Chemistry French English, she got 7 As and 3 Bs at Gcse. Her organisation skills are awful, she is 17 and she needs constant help from her mother on organisation skills. She never knows which homework is due
or what homework has been set.

Her mother is constantly pulling her hair out trying to get her DD to organize herself."

Prehpas mummy has to stand back and let her daughter fail. Otherwise what will happen when this girl gets to uni.

Englishteacher. Ime schools don't use the techniques I suggested to encourage kids to do homework.
Yes consequences for bad behaviour are sometime necessary but they don't need to be on a weekend. There is no reason for that.

What school does your sont go to? I like their disciplined and fair approach, perhaps I will send my son there when he is old enough.

Talking about organisation. My cousins DD yr 12 doing 4 As levels in
Maths Chemistry French English, she got 7 As and 3 Bs at Gcse. Her organisation skills are awful, she is 17 and she needs constant help from her mother on organisation skills. She never knows which homework is due
or what homework has been set.

Her mother is constantly pulling her hair out trying to get her DD to organize herself.

Some people no matter how bright they are or how old they are are just
crap at organisation and therefore need help.

Rewards for work done well, project work and all that someone up thread suggested are already done in schools. There needs to be consequences for not doing your work.
I would have thought public transport was an option, but then I work in a school that many of our students travel a long way for - on public transport. It's one of the reasons my form room is open for them at lunch time if they want to get on with some work.
Many year 7 and 8s do need help with organisation. It's different to primary school where they stay in the same place with the same teacher.

Is it private school?

My children keep a rolling list of homework pinned on the kitchen notice board with when it's due and roughly how long they think it'll take. It's incredibly helpful because I can keep an subtle eye without interfering, and they can see at a glance if the work is piling up.

Yes they do - but you are making massive assumptions about what the school does and doesn't do for its pupils.

The fact is that the OPs son has consistently failed to hand in homework. Other children are manage. It's not up to the school to make exceptions for one child, it's up to the child to hand in his/her homework. If you think Saturday detention is 'a joke' and wouldn't follow the school rules then hopefully you wouldn't impose yourself or your child on that particular school and would send your child to another school.

Wow. It sounds like all the adults in this scenario are putting their energies into being right, not solving the problem. Your DC has a problem with homework and he is still quite young. he needs help. No point in people saying 'He shouldn't'. He does. No shame in needing help at times. Don't we all.

Ditch the feud with the school. FWIW, I think their inflexibility isn't helping. As pastoral carers themselves, they must see that you can't renege on your responsibility to your scout troupe and that their suggestions of public transport aren't a viable solution.But he has to do the detention, because he knew the score. And he has to do the extra hour in recognition of how his behaviour is disrupting so many lives, not just his own.

That aside, I think you need to help him set up structures for his homework. If you get heavily involved for a couple of weeks, that's probably all he needs to get him on the right road.
Sort him out with a regular time and place. Somewhere quiet.
Sit with him, get his homework diary out and go through it.
Ask what's needed in by tomorrow, and what is for later in the week. Suggest he prioritises stuff due in sooner, and get him to choose which piece to do.
Compliment him every time he makes a right decision.
Ask which pieces he understands best and see if he can quickly cross off a couple.
If he has vocab, test him on it.
If he has online research, set a timer for him to print out a few sheets and work on them, so he doesn't spend an hour on you tube instead not that my DC have ever done such a thing
If he doesn't understand something, get him to text a friend and see if they can advise.
If he has an essay, ask him to tell you a bit about what he knows about the subject already and then suggest he starts making notes on what he's told you.
Can DS1 help at all - with maths or vocab testing?

Can you agree a reward he gets afterwards for each piece completed? My DC get to watch programmes they're not usually allowed. The argument is that if they are mature enough to do such good homework, on time and without fuss, then they're mature enough to watch Bad Education or something similar.

Do you show interest in pieces he's done? I nab DC's books sometimes to see what score they got for essays I think they did well, or for maths they tore their hair out over, and discuss it with them. That's always a good time to sneak in a 'See - when you work hard you get good results' or a 'stick at it and your grade will improve.'
DS1 went from bottom of class 4/20 in one test to full marks in a couple of weeks because once the tantrums were over 'wish I'd never chosen this subject' he got on with it. But he needed help.

Some KS3 pupils need help organising their homework, especially if they've not had much in primary school. Most teachers understand this. When I have a Y7 tutor group, I write notes in planners and liaise with teachers if there are problems.

In the case of the OP, it seems that the child is choosing not to do homework because it's 'boring' and the parents are letting it go. Some parents would see that as wrong and think that the parents should ensure homework is done (I am one of those parents). Some think the child will learn the hard way. This one isn't learning because he is getting one message from school (do your homework) and another from home (Oh, you haven't done your homework. Never mind, go to Scouts). If he had to do his homework before going on the computer or going to Scouts, I suspect the OP would have an easier time and not be arguing with the school.

Detentions are also a deterrent to others - if children see others getting away with breaking the rules, more will try it. As teachers, we are berated by the leadership team when parents complain about too little homework being set. We all need to do as we're told here or find different schools that suit our feelings about homework. And, yes, homework may not get you a good job, but a good work ethic may help you to keep one.

Majority of teachers use the same techniques. Teachers who are genuinely interesting and engaging get much more respect and children want to work harder for them.
I think Saturday detention is a joke and would not take my child in.

You went to this particular school Thants?

Someone said earlier that years 7 and 8 need help in organising their homework. Really? The homework is set, the children know when it is to be handed in. Surely they are now old enough to sort it out for themselves. The OP's son doesn't seem to care whether he does his homework or not; at least she hasn't said so.

How long is this detention op?

Sirchenjin I went to school they don't...

homework does not get you a good job

I think you are massively missing the point OP.

How is your son ever going to get qualifications if he doesn't put in the work?

What does he plan to do when he leaves school. How does he want to live his life as an adult?

Does he want to rent or buy his own place, furnish it and heat it? Does he want a TV, maybe a computer (as he likes them so much), a mobile phone.

Does he eventually want to learn to drive and own a car and cover all the expenses involved in running it? Does he want to be able to go out with his friends, go on holiday, buy new clothes and treats for himself and his loved ones?

How is he going to fund his life when he is older, if he cannot get work due to a lack of education?

Talk to him. Make the changes now, before it's too late.

Our students do missed or extra work in detentions. Tempting to have them do the filing and sorting but we usually end up teaching them. Last year some of my Y11s used to stay behind on detention night to do their homework because they wanted someone to look at what they were doing. Many children manage homework with no or little parental involvement. Many others would love it if a parent took an interest. One of my Y10s said her mum had agreed to sit at the kitchen table with her every evening and this term, she is flying - after limited progress in year 9, she is developing a work ethic and really wants to do well.

What is the point of detentions if the pupil is just going to sit there and do nothing. Surely try to make the detention of benefit to the pupil not as i said early as some sort of retribution.

If you use detention let there be some benefit to the pupil though learning.