Is homework legally enforceable in state secondary school?

Homework is often a way of consolidating a student's learning in a particular topic area and it's used as a means of seeing if the the student can apply what they've learned to a different situation.

This is extended learning. Merely regurgitating facts is not a pathway to good grades. Being able to manipulate the facts is the way to get good grades... ask any grammar school.

Knew a family of five children where they were home educated all the way through.
Appalling manners, no self awareness and no motivation whatsoever.

My DS gets a detention if he doesn't complete homework after one extension. I can't be relaxed about this as I get app notifications if he doesn't do it. He doesn't want to do detentions but he does sometimes lack the organisation skills to get the correct homework in on the correct day.
I do kind of see the home school contract as a gotcha, a school with hundreds of children can't negotiate with every parent on what their child will do. My child works well without a blazer, but we've agreed he'll wear one like everyone else. I think he should do his homework, it's generally useful stuff consolidating the learning in class. There probably are kids in the school who'll make it to Oxford without doing homework but my DS will have a better chance if he does it.

@Charlie2121 very true. There are never any parental grumbles about whether a detention is fair/uniform rules/homework load/behaviour policies etc.at DDs PS. It requires massive parental buy in and you can choose the school that best suits your personal values.

It sounds like you're going to have to home-educate this one as well.

This is one reason why I favour PS over the state option.

Having all the parents fully engaged and supportive of what a school is doing makes a huge difference.

I don't really know what you mean by legally enforceable...I suppose the question is, are detentions legally enforceable? If a detention is given out for not doing homework, what actually happens if your dc refuses to attend the detention?

Why send your child to school if you disagree with the school's policies and wish to educate your son according to your own views? If you wish to do things differently, then home educate him.

You can say he isn't doing it. They can apply their sanctions. The sensible thing would be to discuss the problems with the school. I would imagine that if your child does not do any homework they will have difficulty completing their exams. They will need to work at home at some point.

DC have generally done homework I’ve been pretty relaxed if they’ve taken their foot of the pedal. I’ve no idea on the legal position but I’ve always allowed my DC to find their way. No homework in primary and do what worked for them in secondary. Top sets, achieving, exemplary behaviour no detentions ever. Good relationship with the school, no antagonism on either side and happy children.

I don’t get people using home school contracts as a gotcha? It’s a basis for a conversation if something is out of whack. It makes sense to focus on the output not the input and not be officious if you don’t think of education as a factory.

My parents were the same and had 4 children, 2 with PHDs, an Oxford graduate and all gainfully employed with happy families of their own.

OP is right in believing that some homework is fairly useless, but schools are a package deal.

If you believe homework is optional, then what about dress code, sports day, prize giving etc? And you will often be set pointless work by your boss later in life.

If you believe that school just trains you for the 'matrix' and stifles creativity, then go ahead and home ed.

It would be far better to just make a quick effort on homework you regard as pointless and focus on what you regard as important. But you had better be a really good judge.

Homework is often unpopular with pupils and occasionally with parents. But doing it gets your children used to doing things they don't want to do, which stands them in very good stead for work, because there are always parts of a career you like less than other parts. Why don't you withdraw him from school and Home Educate him OP. I think that would suit you and the school much better.

If you want your child to access state funded education, then you accept the terms of the school - eg abide by uniform and homework guidelines, along with other policies.

Don't want to engage with them on this? Don't use it.

Although I find homework a pain in the arse, it really does help reinforce learning.
If your child ends up at university, they will need to be able to study in their own spare time.
If you are struggling because you are busy in the evenings, could you put your child in a homework club straight after school?

Ah. Sparx I assume? Bane of our household too!

I loathe homework. The only merit to it is in Y10 & Y11 to prepare them for research for GCSEs but even then I dislike it.
We tell them to get a good like balance doing sports, leisure etc, and then set them down much homework that they are burnt out.
I remember my eldest DGD getting decimal multiplications in a 12 by 12 grid. She was meant to do all 144 of them. Why?! What's the point? It's the same freaking sun with different numbers. I told her to do 10 and then wrote on the paper that did not need to do another 134 to prove she understood it!!
Kids who don't get home till 6.30 due to childcare struggle to get it done. Homework sucks!

It very much depends on what the homework is and what the kids are like. When I was teaching in a very well known grammar school, hw was exceptionally helpful because I could teach the skills in class, start them off on the task and address any issues then get them to do the bulk of it for hw. It meant I wasn’t wasting class time on writing. On the other hand, when I was teaching in a very challenging school this same approach wasn’t possible because we would never have seen their books again. As such, it tended to be from pre-made booklets which didn’t necessarily match up perfectly with what we had been doing that day and I’m not sure the kids got much out of it.

It’s not legally enforceable, no, but most parents sign a contract with the school before the child starts - this most likely includes a bit about hw expectations. If you are breaking that contract then the school can reasonably suggest you look for somewhere else

So he did get a detention ???!
And op has ‘done her research’ so I guess my 27 years in teaching is woefully inferior !!

@Rosesanddaisies1

It is legally enforceable for a child to attend school and can impose a prison sentence on the parents. https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/7084230.truants-parents-face-jail/

Why do we not hear more of that?

Years and years ago we were lightly threatened [to frighten DC perhaps] with sanctions including court though we were working with the authorities.

The DC's all managed to get degrees!

A friend took this to extreme telling her DCs that she was off to court for their truanting. Packed her small bag - weeping and wailing with DH - and went off for two weeks in Mallorca 😂

This

Not only a Home Educator, but a teacher in Further Education who has interesting views on students with mental health issues.

@Firecarrier as others have said, no, homework isn't "legally" enforceable. The agreement the family signed with the school regarding behaviour however will have consequences if broken.

It would probably be best for everyone concerned if you brushed up on your SpaG and home educated this one as well tbf. Your views on students at your FE place with mental health issues are fucking abhorrent btw.

@Bluevelvetsofa it comes across that the OP only brought those areas in go show how much more knowledgeable and superior they are compared to the rest of us!

You asked whether homework is legally enforceable and it would appear that, legally, it’s not.

If you signed a home/school agreement, I imagine there are sanctions that apply if the agreement is ignored.

If you value education and work in education, I’m not sure why you would want to ignore what you’ve signed up to, but that’s your choice and I think your question has been answered.

It would seem that your choices are to allow him to ignore homework and any impact it might have on progress and accept sanctions, if applied; to carry on doing homework as before; to limit the amount of time homework takes; to withdraw from school and home educate.

You seem to be irritated with posters who have suggested that homework is a demonstration of sometimes doing things we’d prefer not to, because that’s what most people have to do, at least for some of the time. You weren’t initially asking a question about the methodology or pedagogy of education and learning.

As soon as I saw you spell rigid as ridgid in the OP I knew you'd be a home educator 🤣

Ah, you are one of THOSE parents bringing up one of THOSE children. For your sake I hope he doesn't grow into one of THOSE children who decide YOUR rules aren't enforceable either. And the fact that your other, home educated children are all obviously perfect adults by now, so you know which rules can be broken without untoward consequences, is absolutely no guarantee that this one will follow the same, obedient, path.

Children really do need to learn that sometimes, seemingly (to them) pointless things need to just be done. It's a really valuable lesson. Doing a piece of homework can sometimes shed light on a misunderstanding from a lesson that wasn't spotted.