How much revision do your year 10 dc do during holidays/school days?

None and did amazing

Neither of my DDs did anything like as much work as Green's school suggests and they both did very well. They worked hard, but they were also allowed to have a life.

If you need to work those kind of hours to get the top grades, then you're not really top grade material and will struggle at university where you're much mores elf directed.

There are countries where those kinds of hours are expected. They have sky high suicide rates. Not something to aspire to.

My year 10 DS is at a what ever you want to call it, but sought after, high achieving normal comp in London. He usually has tests after half term and not particularly academic but he has actually of his own accord done some revising this half term. He likes flash cards (which never worked for me, I was more notes notes notes) but I would say not more than an hour a day probably

Both DH and my families live overseas so we always travelled to visit them during school holidays. Much more important to us than additional school work. Their high achieving private school didn’t set holiday homework so that both students and teachers had a proper break.

I was a hard worker at school at university. I got top grades in both. But life doesn’t necessarily reward hard work, and it is a disservice to young people to make out that that hard work will get you places, and that getting top marks at school and university will reward you in later life. Working smarter, not harder is a better mindset.

[quote GreenLakes]@daisypond

I would dispute that ‘having to’ work hard is ever a bad thing! Success in life tends to depend on hard work and it is only right that this is taught and expected in school.

Too many schools ime have a culture of low standards and low expectations.

We are seeing now with schools like Michaela (where students are expected to complete 3 hours of study each evening in year 10 and more in year 11 and give up their smartphones in the run-up to GCSEs) that an ethos of hard work and effort can be encouraged in all schools and it will pay dividends in results![/quote]
Pff, look, I mean, working hard at school isn't an end in itself, it's a means to an end, that end being, ultimately, some sort of career, be that in industry, business, academia, the public sector, wherever.

And whatever career it is that you end up in, particularly outside the very most junior ranks, you'll primarily learn the ropes from people rather than books, and most of the key opportunities for progression will turn on interactions with people, be it finding or being a mentor; managing and being managed; selling; negotiating; influencing and persuading; networking; building relationships; drawing on your list of contacts; etc etc etc.

I guarantee you that a 3 hour a night revision habit in the October of year 10 is seriously detrimental to building up the skillset needed to do any of the above. Per one of the above posts it'll turn you into some kind of dreadful Gollum-like creature. it's absolute fucking madness, so far outside of societal norms that you'll just never be able to see eye to eye with anyone who's had a halfway normal upbringing.

IMHO, of course.

Hmmmm. I think there's somehting wrong with the system/school if that's what's needed.

I

We are seeing now with schools like Michaela (where students are expected to complete 3 hours of study each evening in year 10 and more in year 11 and give up their smartphones in the run-up to GCSEs) that an ethos of hard work and effort can be encouraged in all schools and it will pay dividends in results!

And what other 'dividends' may we be seeing in the future with kids put under so much pressure. We've acknowledged that adults need a decent work/life balance to ensure good mental health and wellbeing - surely this is just as important for children (if not more so). I wonder how long it will be before these youngsters suffer total breakdown?

Certainly, children should be doing their best at school and work hard, but not to the detriment of everything else!

@GreenLakes - you’ve made similar comments on several threads. How does your DC’s school protect mental health, out of school hours hobbies (ie sport is good for health, team work etc), time for the children to see friends and family and relaxation.

@daisypond

I would dispute that ‘having to’ work hard is ever a bad thing! Success in life tends to depend on hard work and it is only right that this is taught and expected in school.

Too many schools ime have a culture of low standards and low expectations.

We are seeing now with schools like Michaela (where students are expected to complete 3 hours of study each evening in year 10 and more in year 11 and give up their smartphones in the run-up to GCSEs) that an ethos of hard work and effort can be encouraged in all schools and it will pay dividends in results!

Having to work that hard in y10 at GCSE level might indicate either poor teaching by the school, lack of academic ability by the pupil or poor mental health by either pupil or parent. My DC went to inner-city comprehensives - not in-demand leafy ones - and got A* in 13 subjects. They didn’t do revision in y10. My DC spent over 20 hours a week outside school on their hobby all the way through school.

My daughters are at a grammar school and they are actively encouraged to NOT work during any holidays until doing mocks and the real thing in year 11. Homework is deliberately never set in any holiday. Great at care at this school and still have superb results at GCSE and A Level. In year 10, as with most who have commented here, they revise for specific tests only and do normal homework the rest of the time. X

[quote GreenLakes]@puffyisgood

The school’s results are certainly not ‘fractionally better’! Results at GCSE and A level are some of the best in the country.

And it is certainly not just a case of cherry picking the middle class DC- the intake is very diverse. The only common denominator is that all DC are expected to work extremely hard.

There is no reason why more schools could not have the same expectations rather than accepting mediocrity.[/quote]
My "fractionally better" comment referred to these families who'll move to Gloucester when their kids are little hoping they'll end up going to say Pates GS, but after this will also sit the 11+ for say QEGS in Barnet, and happily move again if the kids get in there. The difference between Pates [20-th ish most Oxbridge admissions] and QEGS [10th-ish most] is indeed "fractional". But at least some of these creatures do indeed exist, unfortunately.

Also - if you tutor a kid up to the eyeballs & whip them into a 3-hour a night revision habit outside of exam season, they'll get near as damnit top grades whatever school they attend. Grammar schools have exactly the same class sizes and budgets etc as any of the states. Your chances of getting into say Oxbridge are slightly better if anything on average at a comprehensive because of contextual offers.

@puffyisgood

The school’s results are certainly not ‘fractionally better’! Results at GCSE and A level are some of the best in the country.

And it is certainly not just a case of cherry picking the middle class DC- the intake is very diverse. The only common denominator is that all DC are expected to work extremely hard.

There is no reason why more schools could not have the same expectations rather than accepting mediocrity.

[quote GreenLakes]@TeenMinusTests

Both DC are at a grammar. Most DC end up doing more work than the school’s expectations due to personal or parental choice.[/quote]
Riiigghhhtt.

I can personally recommend the elevenplusexams.co.uk forum, it's full of like-minded parents convincing each other that, yes, a 90 minutes each way multi-leg bus commute is healthy for an 11 year old and, no, it isn't at all strange to uproot the entire family from say Gloucestershire to Barnet if it means their eldest child [usually son] can get into a grammar school with fractionally superior post A level destinations.

She has a small amount to do over the holidays for tests in a couple of subjects but that’s about it. I’m not sure what revision she could do after only studying the course for 7 weeks max.

@TeenMinusTests

Both DC are at a grammar. Most DC end up doing more work than the school’s expectations due to personal or parental choice.

I wanted to be an ed psych 😭.

Those kids will burn out! 8-9 hours a day every holiday? When do they get to relax, do hobbies, socialise? Even in the holidays before mocks/public exams, mine only did probably 6 hours most days. We always made sure they had at least several half days off and if possible while ones here or there.

If DCs do their homework, and revise properly for tests and school exams that level of work is totally unnecessary and unproductive.

Neither of mine got below a 7 for their GCSEs, the majority being 9s, by working consistently

None whatsoever. They work hard on term time and do nothing weekends and holidays.
DS is got 4A* at a level. It's about working hard for intense periods, not soul crushing hours of study. If they want that they can go to Oxford and read English 😂😂
I'm an educational psychologist and would say that the level of study described above is detrimental to mental and physical health, which is a lot more important than results.

If someone needs that level of work to do well at GCSE I'd wonder if maybe they were more suitable for a different type of exam and look at Btecs/less exams/ different type of schooling etc.

Wow Green that's a crazy amount of work.

I was a teacher at a high achieving school and wouldn't set those levels. That isn't sustainable/great for mental health.

Also I'd be looking at better revision practices. Better to have a few 20mins focussed sessions with clear aim and interacrion with material than 6 hours of just trudging through it repeatedly.