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Original poster

DS (year 11) can't get any revision done due to homework

35 replies

Kazzyhoward · 19/04/2018 11:06

DS is currently getting 3/4 hours of normal homework per evening, and about 10 hours each weekend, and hasn't been able to do any revision since Easter. Last weekend was the DofE Bronze assessed expedition so he couldn't do anything. Last weekend this month is the DofE Silver practice expedition, so that's Friday-Sunday out of action.

Is it reasonable for the teachers to continue giving "normal" homework of such high amounts when they are so close to the GCSE's? They don't get any "revision" leave as they're still in school to the Friday, with exams starting the following week. What's worse is that teachers are giving it one day to be handed in the next, so DS can't even try to schedule it, so every time he "plans" to do some revision, he gets another long homework which takes up all his time.

Main culprits are History, Geography and Res Mat where the teachers seem to be panicking that they've not finished the course and are suddenly giving loads of homework, when over the last couple of years, they've had virtually nothing (maybe an hour per subject per week) - some of the homework is very time-consuming such as projects and all of it has to be handed in for marking at very short notice (typically next lesson which is often the next day).

He's starting to think about just not doing it and doing revision instead, his rationale being that he'd be better simply not being able to answer the odd question that they've not yet done/mastered, thus losing minimal marks, as opposed to not being able to revise another subject at all (such as biology) and potentially losing marks on most questions due to lack of revision.

Any opinions as to whether to prioritise revision over all subjects or follow teacher homework on selected topics only?

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MaisyPops · 01/05/2018 20:21

It sounds like incompetent management, not just poor individual teachers.

Get your child through as much as you can and then write a formal complaint.

I know of teachers who are still completing content last minute. I roll.my eyes and feel for the students every time i hear it.

Malbecfan · 01/05/2018 19:23

I understand completely why you have withdrawn him, but FGS, his school seems pretty useless. Those of us teaching the new qualifications have been let down monumentally by the awarding bodies, the people who publish resources etc etc, but to schedule D of E now is ludicrous.

For context, I have just seen my year 11s for the last time today although I am giving them some revision slots between now and their exam during their study leave if they want them. The revision guide to my exam board was published this week (I kid you not), so I haven't bothered getting one. The main publisher of revision and practice material in my subject has pushed my board's publication book back by months. Those of us who are in a Facebook group are placing bets as to within how many hours before the exam it actually appears, such is their lack of urgency. I have 2 D of E expeditions scheduled this month, but these are for year 9. Year 11 did their silver expeditions back last September. I wasn't allowed to do anything with year 11 that could distract them from their studies.

In your position, I would be writing to the Head and Chair of Governors with a timeline. For your DS to put in almost 2 years of work and then to withdraw due to incompetent planning on the part of their staff is indefensible.

titchy · 01/05/2018 09:22

Wow! That is utterly shit OP. Letter to Head and Governors time?

Oratory1 · 01/05/2018 08:58

The variation in schools grasp of the new gcse s is enormous

Oratory1 · 01/05/2018 08:57

Well done I’m sure you’ve made the right choices - I’m also sure you won’t be the only ones with schools in this position and feel so sorry for those who don’t have parents as in the ball as you.

Original poster
Kazzyhoward · 01/05/2018 08:50

As an update. Silver DOFE expedition happened last weekend without DS - we had a telephone conversation with the teacher/leader who couldn't understand why we were concerned and tried desperately to persuade us to let him go.

Today, DS told us that less than 10 pupils did it (over 40 were in the preparation lessons and groups set up) and that it was a fiasco as the planned groups had to be re-formed due to the amount of people who'd pulled out, meaning 8 groups had to be re-formed into just 2 groups with some duplicated equipment, some missing equipment, some groups got lost because the pupils who'd planned the route didn't do it. DS was so glad he didn't do it.

Res Mat has been dropped as it descended into total farce because some of the electrical components required (and asked for/ordered several weeks ago) were still not available in the last few days before the deadline for handing the finished item in for marking. Rather than handing in something which was nowhere near finished, we have withdrawn him.

Likewise with History - teacher was absent last week and didn't provide any cover work, lessons were supervised by a games teacher who had nothing to give them. We withdrew him from History on Friday.

So, problems solved, taking 2 fewer GCSEs but massive relief he can actually get on with revision now rather than being messed around by incompetent teachers.

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winewolfhowls · 25/04/2018 10:59

I'm also shocked at the Weimar unit being started now - crazy! are you sure this is the case?

tumpymummy · 23/04/2018 23:55

At DS's school he did bronze d of E last year. They don't do silver at all. Then Year 12 he can do gold if he wants. There's no way he would be doing dfe at the moment.

Peachypeaches · 23/04/2018 20:58

I’m so shocked about the Resistant Materials project, my son started his in October. It sounds like something has gone very wrong at the school. I’d also take him out of the DofE, it’s madness doing expeditions during exam season.

Clavinova · 21/04/2018 15:40

This company run Silver D of E expeditions if you can't make the school dates:

www.adventure-expeditions.net/individuals-d-of-e/open-silver-expeditions/

Oratory1 · 21/04/2018 15:19

You know you don’t have to do all three d if e. A lot of schools do bronze then skip silver and go straight on to gold. If he wants to do it Could he drop the silver then pick up gold in sixth form

DumbledoresApprentice · 21/04/2018 12:52

I’m a history teacher. It’s not acceptable for them to only be starting Germany now. It’s 30% of the course and the only way to finish the course will be with huge amounts of homework. That’s hugely unfair on the students but at this stage it doesn’t sound like they have any other choice but to do what they can to keep up with the work as best as they can.
I’m in a couple of history teacher groups on Facebook and I’ve been shocked by number of people I’ve seen on there saying that they spent the whole of year 10 on just one of the three papers. I think a lot of schools and teachers have been totally overwhelmed by the changes to the specification this year. It’s really not fair but I don’t think your DS’s situation is that unusual this year.

Annebronte · 21/04/2018 09:50

Definitely pull him out of D of E. GCSEs need to be the priority now, especially in his circumstances.

AChickenCalledKorma · 20/04/2018 17:13

I'm absolutely gobsmacked to hear that a secondary school teacher even contemplated doing a DofE expedition during the actual exam season. That's seriously shambolic. I think in your position I'd be seeking a meeting with his tutor/head of year (whoever is your normal contact point), setting out exactly what's going on in history, geography and Res mat and not leaving until they have some constructive suggestions for damage limitation.

Bluesmartiesarebest · 20/04/2018 15:19

Your DS’s school has some seriously crap teachers - but you already know that. The priority has to be the GCSE exams above everything else and getting the best grades possible at the more ‘academic’ subjects.

I think you should tell the geography/d of e teacher that if DS can’t do his silver award next year that he is withdrawing from the whole scheme immediately. The d of e is not essential as none of my DCs bothered with it and they all went on to RG universities followed by professional careers. I agree with pp that the res mat subject can be dropped unless it is likely to be an A level choice in which case either history or geography could be sacrificed instead.

Does DS intend to choose res mat, history or geography for A levels? If so, could he change schools?

stickerrocks · 20/04/2018 14:47

Which subjects is he planning to take next? needs to prioritise these first along with English & maths to ensure he can move on from GCSEs. Then I would abandon DofE. He may enjoy it, but as others have said, his exams are far more important at this stage and he can do it elsewhere. Resistant materials could have been completed ages ago, so the teacher is being unreasonable. I would suggest you ask for a meeting with his H of Y to discuss your concerns. DD is still finishing the syllabus for physics, but everything else is pure revision.

brainmelt · 20/04/2018 12:30

In History, they've only just started an entire module, being Weimar/Germany

Shock and Angry at this. I'm sorry OP but that's really bad of them. Weimar/ Germany is huge. I hope he can manage Flowers At this point he should not do the homework that he feels doesn't help his revision.

LadyLance · 20/04/2018 10:52

To be fair to his teachers, it is their first time teaching the new syllabus and in many subjects things have changed drastically. I don't think yours is the only school where teachers have struggled to finish the course content. However, it does seem like the resistant materials teacher has messed up, and if it's not a subject important to his future then it seems like madness to devote 10 extra hours a week to it. I think if you/he are serious about dropping it, then you'll probably have to approach the school about this BUT schools allowing pupils to drop GCSE subjects is pretty rare.

The problem is that while clearly some of this is down to his teachers, ultimately, it's him who will suffer if he gets poor grades so I think you/he have to work out how to make things work. If that means sacrificing certain subjects then fair enough but personally I would sacrifice DofE first- it is in no way comparable to GCSEs, and doing it or not won't have the real, serious impact on his future that getting less good GCSEs could.

I think you have to let go of ideas of blame and fairness at this stage and work out a plan to move forwards which will enable him to get the grades he needs to move on to the next stage of his education. However, if he wants to stay on until sixth form, you both probably need to be careful not to damage your relationship with the school too much.

Original poster
Kazzyhoward · 20/04/2018 10:47

Are you sure that the homework isn't the revision? They won't be learning new stuff this close to an exam surely?

Yep, they are. In History, they've only just started an entire module, being Weimar/Germany. That's an entire exam paper in itself, 1 out of the 3 papers. It's as if the teacher forgot there were 3 papers. He spent the entire year 10 doing the first paper, then the first 2 terms of year 11 doing the second paper. Now he's trying to cram the work for the 3rd paper into just 5 school weeks, hence why he's giving them so much homework to try to get through the course. Not quite as bad with Geography but very similar situation.

It's not the whole year either. When I look at Show my homework, it's clear that the other teachers are far more advanced, and have been right through the last year or two, now just setting revision homeworks. I think he's just been very unlucky to have 3 teachers who've got themselves go far behind and now all expecting too much of their classes to try to cram in the last few weeks.

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Heratnumber7 · 20/04/2018 09:57

Are you sure that the homework isn't the revision?
They won't be learning new stuff this close to an exam surely?
If they are, then thats the issue, not the homework.
And I'm pretty sure guy can't do bronze and silver DofE at the same time. Pull him out of the silver.

Oratory1 · 20/04/2018 09:40

Agree drop a subject (res mat) or even two. DS dropped graphics after mocks to focus on other subjects and gained loads of time and also lost stress ! And focus on those he needs for future A levels etc. We are focusing on those he needs to pass but is in danger of failing (English) and those he wants to take for A levels. The others have been sacrificed and he is just doing enough to ensure a decent pass.

teenagerparent · 20/04/2018 09:35

He doesn't have to do DofE through the school, there is no age limit just that you have to stop at 25. Find another group he can do it through ( probably cheaper too ) The local Scouts/Cadets etc may let him join them for his expeditions.
Log in to DofE online make sure the rest of his stuff is being signed off correctly then do that bit with someone else.
Schools are rubbish at providing DofE and rarely do any of it correctly, and tell parents all sorts of incorrect infomation. DofE themselves may be able to help you find a local group he can join to get it finished after his exams.

Original poster
Kazzyhoward · 20/04/2018 09:34

I can't see teachers being hugely sympathetic if he's struggling to fit things in due to spending time on DofE expeditions.

The teacher who is leading the DofE, is the geography teacher who's behind and giving shed-loads of homework. (Then again, he's also the one to blame for the DofE foul ups last year). He's also the same guy who refuses to let them do the silver in the "wrong" year. The only concession he's made is moving the Silver assessed expedition until after the GCSE's have finished - his original date was the start of June right in the middle of the GCSE's and he only moved it because a few of the entrants actually had exams on the same Friday as day 1 of the expedition (he didn't realise anyone had any exams that day and was quite prepared to go ahead with pupils having exams on Monday, the day after!).

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Original poster
Kazzyhoward · 20/04/2018 09:28

You can ask the school for permission to let your DS do the silver next year, and if they try the "wrong year" crap you can point out that they're happy to let him sit the Bronze in the "wrong" year, so...

Yes, we've tried, but no, they won't budge.

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Original poster
Kazzyhoward · 20/04/2018 09:25

As for revising the other subjects you are left to help him cram, you really should not have left it this late.

It's content, not revision that he's being given. He/we were on top of things right up to Easter. He's never had this much homework before, never had homework given one day for handing in the next, etc. and has been doing revision ever since Christmas. It was all planned out on a spreadsheet that he prepared over Christmas holidays and which he was following, but it's all gone pear-shaped now and he's getting really stressed about it. Stupid thing is that neither his history nor geography teacher have given much homework over the past couple of years, and it seems they've only just realised how far behind they are, hence giving stupid amounts of homework at far too late in the day. I think if it had been just one subject behind, it's cope-able, but 3 all giving enormous amounts isn't.

I think he's resigned himself to sacrificing ResMat and Geography and just concentrating on history. In fact, he's asking about completely dropping Res Mat as they have only just started making the project and the teacher has dropped the bombshell that they're expected to go into the tech rooms every lunchtime and a hour after school every day to actually make the thing. (I first emailed the teacher in January asking when they'd actually start making it, and have emailed a few times since as I was in growing despair as every week passed and they still hadn't been given any materials to start making it!)

I just don't know how the teachers could have messed up their planning so badly. It's not as if any of them have been off ill etc. In all his other subjects, they finished the syllabus by Christmas and have been doing revision since the first week back in January.

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