How much homework does your Y7 grammar/independent child get?

DS is in Y9 at grammar and seems to do about 20-30 minutes maybe four times a week max - although he says he does a lot of it at school during breaks. In Y7 it was probably about the same, certainly no more. There's been months when there seemed to be virtually none.

TBH I've been surprised, and expected much more. No problems with his progress though, and I don't really see why they should have to give lots of HW just for the sake of it.

I expect it will probably increase with GCSEs.

We are NOT applying for our local Grammar because of homework issues. DS is a cellist and pianist and cannot cope with large amount of homework on top. I know of another gr 8 pianist who has gone to this Grammar and has given up the piano (he was on a music scholarship) because of lack of time to practise. Madness!

Dd passed her 11+ with no tuition. Still shocked about that one! The grammar school apparently sends quite little homework out in the first year. I used to get quite a lot from my comp as I remember and I did loads of revision and practice for my gcses and a levels. I used to hate art it took forever and then the teacher would tell you it was s@&£ anyway!

I think the pass rate is higher than it should be because allot of the children passing the 11 plus have been heavily tutored and should not be taking it ...and there are allot of naturally bright children who should be taking it who are not even sitting the 11 plus ....(see newspaper article below) Money seems to be buying places at a Grammar school rather than children with real natural ability being offered places ...

• Clip from paper article

Entrance exams are almost the worst way to select students academically,’ Dr Ray told a Sunday newspaper.
‘They don’t really get to the heart of pupils’ potential.
'They don’t really tell you how that pupil thinks and almost all of them can be tutored for, which gives a very unfair advantage to those who are tutored.

...My daughter is in Yr 7 in an average secondary school - I was a little concerned that she would not be stretched (hence why she sat the Independent school tests as a fall back)...boy was I in for a surprise when I was informed that 28 of an intake of 60 were in the top set and are referred to as whizz kids (there was due to be 3 sets of 20)....my daughter was G & T at her old school ...she wont get anywhere near the G & T list at the average secondary ...I guess there must be 12-16 children who are brighter than she is - all these children would have easily passed the 11 plus most are working at high level 6 low 7 already which is GCSE grade C/D at just 11 years old ....

What you will find is that your child will be extremely tired when they start Grammar school my two nieces were ...I have a friend whose son is at Grammar school started this year and again he is very tired...some of them have long journey's, they are also having to manage themselves as well as being stretched with new subjects etc ...My 14 year old niece still goes to bed at 8pm now ...

Lots of children pass the 11 plus these day's (allot with the aid of a tutor). Fewer pupils manage to get gifted and talented when undertaking CATS tests...

My niece has just finished her GCSE's at one of the top 20 Grammar Schools in the country...she's not sharp or quick but she's extremely self motivated and diligent.... she didn't need a tutor to get into the school either... and as it happens it was her nearest school and walk-able from home - I'm not sure whether her M & D would have sent her to the school had she needed to travel along way ...but she would have succeeded at any school because she was self motivated ....

9 A* and A .... but the amount of homework she was doing was unbelievable....

Will be interesting to see what happens when the word "Grammar" disappears out of the school names when they all turn into Academy's in the next 2 years.... which is what is happening with my niece's school....

Hulababy - sounds like a lovely headteacher ...

I feel really sorry for some of these children with 1.5-2 hours plus homework a night at 11 years old! When do they fit in relaxing, extra curricular stuff, seeing friends?!?

Dd is at an independent girls school.
Gets less homework than in y6 and def less that end of y5/start if y 6 in run up to entrance exams in January.

Officially it's 2-3 pieces a night, each 20 min or so long. Varies though as some take far less time and sometimes none at all. One is reading own book so can do as much as they want. Some take far longer, often as done as poster or leaflet or maybe art - dd likes this stuff and takes time with them with presentation or on computer.

She has had assessment week so had a fair bit of revision then - that took longer. And languages is normally learning vocab.

I dd like the HT's email prior to half term though. She said settling In That first half term and finding their feet was tiring enough and they were to do no homework over half term and just relax and have fun :)

Usually about 30 minutes per night in Year 7 at DSs independent school.

I used to get 1 hour of homework per night in Yr 7 but that was at boarding school some 37 years ago.

I think its interesting how parents whose children are in Grammar schools somehow think that they have more homework because the pace of the classes is faster because their children have been selected on their ability to understand or to learn at a faster pace ...

There are no grammar schools in our borough (thankfully didnt have to worry about entry exams ) ...My DD did get offered a place at a selective independent school which we didn't take up (she scored very highly - no tutor) ...

Whilst this is very early day's - I'm now thankful that we didn't waste our money at this stage in her education (saves money for Uni) she is at a very average comprehensive but in a high achieving class in key subjects (small cohort of 60 ) - all working at level 6 and some level 7 on first term in year 7...they were not selected for their ability to learn...this was just their local school... They are being stretched but are obviously capable ...

There doesn't seem to be a great deal of homework that comes out ...occasionally a piece comes out that either stretches them or dd will state that they have not covered this yet (which I find odd)...but what they do brilliantly is have two maths classes in one day every two weeks and the first lesson is a revision lesson and the second lesson later that day is a test....so every two weeks they get a whole lesson to revise on what they have been taught and then they are assessed ...

So what I am trying to say is that learning in state comprehensives is fast moving too for high achievers ... at the moment without loads of homework but with a VERY good timetable which gives the children time to revise in school time ....

I look at the school hours of the selective schools in our area 8.30 till 4 or 4.30pm ..my daughter goes in at 8.30 but is out at 2.55pm and on Tuesday's does not go in until 9.20am because they have individual 15 minute mentor sessions one day each term for EVERY child ....

I think there is allot of pressure on grammar schools and selectives because of results which in turn puts pressure on children ...

My y7 boy is in a state academy, and checks clock is still working on his maths at five past ten. He got in at 4.30, and started on his homework pretty much straight away. He had a 20 min break on the phone to his mate (to talk through his maths homework) and another 20 min break for dinner. He's got no problem with the difficulty level, just the volume.

It's bloody ridiculous, IMO. He will stay up all night to finish, in terror at not being able to hand it it, but then be knackered for tomorrow. Not the best learning environment at all.

LaQueen,

Exactly the same at DS's comp...

Given that, for pupils at all schools, the 'end result' is GCSEs / A-levels, I suppose I don't see why it is a 'better school' if lessons go at a pace that can only be kept up with through a heavy homework load.

If the school can reach the same place in terms of final qualifications for pupils of a similar ability (ie corrected for the selective nature of grammars) through carefully-planned lessons at a pace that DOESN'T require huge amounts of homework to consolidate, is one school particularly 'better' than the other?

So if DS gets an A* in maths, or French, or Russian from his comp, does it matter that his lessons have been at a pace that have not required an onerous homework load to keep up, compared to a grammar that might have set 4x as much homework through racing through lessons ... but achieved the same results for its pupils?

It matters more to me that homework is meaningful, well-marked, and genuinely moves learning forward (or consolidates something very carefully) than the actual amount IYSWIM?

I don't think, in the whole seven years that DS was at senior school, that he missed one bit of homework... Nobody did.

laqueen the thing was at DSs school, the lessons went very fast and there was little repetition. Homework was necessary to make sure you started the next day fully understanding and remembering what you did the day before. A safety valve, if you like.

From memory, 30 min a night in y7, one hour in y8, 1.5 up to GCSE, after that, tough shit, you do what the teachers tell you to do.

At Uni ib his first year DS worked to 9pm most nights, had 9 am lectures every day including Saturday, but got sunday mornings off. Kids from schools where they worked less hard got a horrible shock when they all arrived.

Gobbin- interestingly DS and DD1 went through the same schools 2 academic years apart. DS never seemed to have much homework, DD1 always a lot more. Same teachers, two years difference. I think it depends on the child tbh.

My DS (now in Yr12) used to get next to no homework. We questioned this at parents eve butmall seemed happy with his progress.

Thought he'd have more during the GCSE years...nope, next to none. My husband would regularly be apoplectic about the lack of it. Still, at parents eve they seemed to be happy with his progress.

We pushed him with revision etc, gave him past papers/marked them for him and he got all As and Bs in his GCSEs (bang on his targets).

Now at college for 6th form, nearly at the end of term 1...and still very little homework. The constant online monitoring system that exists between home/college seems to suggest he's doing ok...We can only conclude that homework is somewhat passe these days.