Is homework legally enforceable in state secondary school?

Only in some places; where I work has had HT this week, where I live it’s next week.

Of course it’s not legally enforceable, but what I will say as someone with children applying for sixth forms - their attendance behaviour, and positive/negative points all contribute to whether they’re likely to be accepted for post-16 courses.

I guess as long as they turn up for any sanctions it doesn’t really matter. I would question why your kid’s homework impacts on you, though.

Home schooling is an option for individuals who would like to remove their precious children from what they think is the idiosy of education.

@Firecarrier not all kids have intrinsic motivation so getting into a routine of daily homework and being taught study skills is highly beneficial before they reach Yr 10.
I get it, you produce perfect children so why even post asking the question?

but the fact remains, the school can legally impose detentions and exclusions he he does not comply

There’s a state school near me that finish at 5. The last 2 hours are homework. No one does homework at home. Their results are 5rh best in the country.

Highly unlikely to have a TA at secondary. Also many state schools finish from 2.30pm onwards so is really only a few hours, not a full day

@Firecarrier

No there is legal requirement to do homework.
But if you your DC wants to go to college, uni or many professions doing work at home and being able to utilise the skills that homework instills, its worth doing.

Also Don't use this argument on teachers they have better things to do,
By all means go after HT and SLT.

And just FYI the Homework is his to do, if he is having problems doing it talk to the teachers, SENDCO, HoY etc.

There are a lot of us ex teachers (and current ones) that think the same).

And they have a TA so there's two of them.

Very unlikely in secondary school.

I'd ask the school about its homework policy (or it might be available online).

My children's secondary school had a strict policy in years 7 and 8. They had homework for 3 subjects a night (there was a weekly rota). They were told not to spend more than 20 minutes per subject. So they spent a maximum of one hour a night on homework, and less if some was done over the weekend.

That sounded reasonable to me and was never a problem.

I don't understand the need for this. Is there insufficient time and resource to cover the curriculum during a normal school day, being as they've are there all day ?. And they have a TA so there's two of them.

My middle daughter went to a private school and altho it was a slightly longer day , which also included a 15 minute afternoon break, there was no homework or threat of detention. The school transport left at a set time, be on it.

On the other hand my 15 year old son , who goes to state school, is threatened with all sorts of dire consequences if he dare miss a deadline.

They now have a game of seeing how much they can do on the bus home and then have a teams meeting to go over the rest - distraction being supplied by the girls in bikini tops ( I have no idea what their parents think ) . Apparently the record is 34 minutes to get it all done. This is signalled by a few choice phrases of Klingon. They've even started using American spelling and phrases to wind the teacher up, who accuses them of using AI and occasionally I get a phone call at work. This is all hilariously funny of course.

I did asked my husband to have a word but I didn't mean in Klingon.

As long as his grades are OK and he's safe and happy I'm cool with that but the homework thing is a nonsense as you should be able to do your job in the time you're paid to. I can only assume its a form of control mechanism, apparently lost on a bunch of 15 nearly 16 year olds, who are more interested in other extra curricula activities.

Talk to the head of year. If your dc struggles to focus on homework then there will be options. Ds knows that he can go in and do his homework at lunchtime somewhere quiet and the teachers know how anxious it makes him. Knowing that there is that flexibility means that he then generally does do it at home but I can say to him 'oh well if you don't do it now you can go and work in Mr Jones's room and do it at lunchtime' it stops the argument and takes the heat out of it. He then generally decides that maybe doing it at home is better. Also remembering that it doesn't always have to be good. It just needs to be done.

This.

You need to check your schools behaviour policy. It will be on their website. You / your son will have been asked to agree to these policy on accepting a place in school - whether you were aware of that or not.

If your son does not do homework, I would expect to find him in detention frequency. (And yes keeping him back after school - same day or otherwise - without you needing to give specific permission is allowed by government.).

In the end he could face fixed term and then permanent exclusion for multiple breaches of the behaviour policy. To reach permanent exclusion the head has to show he has breached the behaviour policy frequently (no homework would do this) and to allow him to return would be detrimental to others (teachers and others above have identified why this would apply.)

So no it is not 'illegal' however it will put his place in school ar risk.

Your child's school doesn't sound particularly strict to me, getting detention for not doing your homework seems fair enough. You won't be doing your child any favours socially or academically by telling their school they won't be doing any homework. School rules and systems are there for a reason - try not to be 'that parent'!

Obviously a school can't take a child to court for not doing homework however it is an important part of learning. Done properly (well thought out then marked and meaningful developmental feedback given) it reinforces learning and develop self motivation + study skills in children ready for exams etc.

You can choose to not do it or support it but he won't get treated differently to other students so sanctions will stay the same. It will go down as debit points/red in Class Charts.
If they use C2/C3/C4 and it is an ongoing choice not to do it the he will end up in teacher/weekly/SLT detention and will be flagged on reports as red/unsatisfactory.
You'll look like a parent who doesn't care - they'll look like a lazy student.

FWIW I agree with you. I do however make sure my two get it done/toe the line as for some schools, it's a hill to die on. My own students - the policy is to log it so parents are told then issue a teacher detention. Sometimes I chase it. Sometimes I give extensions. I can say that for weaker students - those that are not regularly doing homework are the same who do badly on their tests but that doesn't mean a causation. More likely that literacy issues mean they are struggling to access either.

The school can enforce detentions/exclusions for not following expectations.

But maybe if you talk to them then a direct head on confrontation would not be necessary?

Obviously, if he doesn't do any prep, that will impact hugely on his education and that of the rest of his class, and at the end of the line, on his exam results, and life chances.

What about the Homework Act (Secondary) 2004??

People need to keep up with legislative changes

I mean that we often have an influx of posts from teenagers during the school holidays! I'm not convinced that this is a post by a parent. I'm a teacher BTW so definitely understand your point!

So your child got a detention for not doing homework and you want to go kick off about it ????
Don’t be a dick

Of course it's not legally enforceable. Do you really think the courts are full of kids being prosecuted by their schools for not writing an essay on oxbow lakes?

However equally the school is free to set whatever punishment for not completing homework they want - detention, isolation. Maybe even expulsion, though that would be quite unusual.

Do you really think your teachers are setting you homework because they love marking it so much though? Use your common sense - homework reinforces learning. Better learning equals better GCSE grades equals better sixth form options equals better post school options - do you not want a decent job earning decent money?

Don’t forget academic achievement often involves hard work. Rather than magic or the teachers doing their jobs properly

Doubt it’s legally enforceable no. If l was the school then l wouldn’t see the point in debating it but there are consequences. So would officially advise that it’s at your / your child’s risk if they don’t fulfil their potential and are always lagging behind. It’s not fair for the rest of the class to wait whilst your child reads what they should have done or the teacher explains it to them.