To expect my Yr 9 DD to do 2hrs homework a night.

[sunshield]

My year 9 daughter is at present only doing about 45 minutes a night homework (she refuses to do anymore). she is getting away doing so little at the moment. The school expects year 9 girls to do between 8-10 hours homework a week DD is spending less than half of that time on homework.

The school sent a letter out to parents asking 'how much time does your daughter spend on her homework' I sent the letter back saying less than 4 hours per week DD was sent to the year head for a dressing down. DD is no calling me every name under the sun (being very rude). She is saying all her friends spend the same amount of time on their homework and that being dressed down by the year head was unfair. The school expects pupils to achieve A /* or level8/9 grades for GCSE so she was told in no uncertain terms by the year head that 45 minutes a night on homework was unacceptable. This is in contrast to her elder year 10 sister who always does/did over 2 hours a night homework (both are at the same school) even her year 7 brother does 1 hour a night .

Am I correct to ban her from using her computer (except for school work) until she can prove she has spent two hours on her homework that night.

Mellojello - I agree with you about academic achievement being important and also agree about the 2 hour thing. It seems very arbitary and it is important to leave something in reserve for exams. I'd rather my kids became absorbed in a homework task until they'd finished, and then stopped.

During term time most of my medical school class wouldn't study that hard, every night. Those who coped best with the work volume were those who had other interests (lots of athletes and musicians in the cohort), had the energy to step it up when they had to and who knew how to study effectively. I was always in the top two in my school academically and 2 hours a night at 14 years seems excessive to me. The most important thing I got from school was exposure to a lot of sports so that when the uni work did get harder I knew how to unwind and regroup without imploding.

This issue sums up all that is wrong with our countries attitude to work. The time something takes is utterly immaterial. It is the output that matters.

This attitude is why there is a real struggle to get decent part time jobs. Eg must spend x time to deliver something even if a particular individual can deliver it much faster.

I'm amazed at the responses on this thread.If the school expects this level of work and the student isn't conforming there should be consequences.Its a sign that the school cares.I moved my dd in year 9 from the local comp, because she had no consistent homework regime and the teachers all said she was working hard, when I knew she wasn't.She was amazed the the amount of homework her friends did in the new school and now does hours of work a night (GCSE year) and is expected 11 A*'s.However i do feel that independent or selective schools can sometimes encourage ( particularly girls school) to do nothing but work .Sometimes students can become too obsessive.
These current children will be battling for jobs against very well qualified multinational ethnicities in years to come.With the attitude of the parents on this thread ,just because we're English,we will not be entitled to decent jobs in the future.I feel sorry for these students not being taught how to work really hard in school.Judging by my local experience comps. are really being allowed to destroy future lives by expecting very little from their pupils.

My Y9 DD does about 30 mins to 45 mins a day and she's G&T and high-achieving. Some kids work better and faster than others.

dd, year 10, does her homework on the tube on the way home, (sometimes stood up), from her school that only does academic lessons 3 days per week. Her year have already done 1 GCSE and doing another later on this term. Both she is expecting an A* for.

Dd has only glanced through the work on the one she is taking later this term and the other she spent about 4 hours on the Sunday before preparing. Dd works all day Saturday and 1 evening per week as well as during the school day occasionally and has activities every night but Friday and a full diary of activities on Sunday.

Have you asked the school what the 2 hours per night is all about.

From my limited understanding of getting into university I was under the impression that whilst academically they like you to show A*s they also like you to show other interests, hobbies, clubs etc. Again from my limited knowledge I understand Stagecoach, the after school theatre schools give UCAS points in their exams as well as LAMDA, ISTD dance exams etc when you get to the higher grades.

Dd is statemented dyslexic and has ADD so the idea of sitting down for 2 hours with a book in front of her would fill her with dread and boredom.

I was under the impression that whilst academically they like you to show As they also like you to show other interests, hobbies, clubs etc*

For some people - those things are incompatible. I don't know what I would have got if I hadn't studied hard. But studying hard made it difficult to do clubs and hobbies.

You can't do a controlled experiment - A-Levels in particular are a one shot thing. I had virtually no life at boarding school - but it was also the kind of school where sport was the main focus as well as academic achievement. If you weren't sporty...or musical,there was nothing for you.

"
From my limited understanding of getting into university I was under the impression that whilst academically they like you to show A*s they also like you to show other interests, hobbies, clubs etc. "

Sorry, no this is wrong. It's grades that matter. Nothing else, unless sometimes if it is something directly related to the course you want to study. Extra curriculars carry no weight at all.

Extra curriculars carry no weight at all.

Um, I think you'll find they do when it comes to getting an offer from highly competitive Russell Group courses.

I have a DD in year 9 at a grammar. I think she probably does do about 8 hours of homework a week altogether although a lot this is at the weekend and I think that a lot of it is on non academic subjects (art, RM etc) and writing long essays for English as these are her main interests.

I personally don't feel that it is a good idea to time how long it takes to do homework at any age. If they get good marks particularly in exams then that is what matters ultimately. Also, by the time they get to year 9, if they aren't motivated to work hard to do well it is perhaps counterproductive to try and make them.

"Um, I think you'll find they do when it comes to getting an offer from highly competitive Russell Group courses."

If they are directly related to your course, and if you can make an effective link in your personal statement- but otherwise they don't care about your county level hockey or drama club.

Sorry happy to be corrected. A df does the uni intake interviews for her course and she is always amazed at how many young people who on paper have all the grades etc but who just cannot speak. They give one word responses and sit there with no conversational ability. She prefers the ones that can speak and have shown initiative and have a hobby they can chat about. They all have the same grades, the same amount of GCSEs and A levels.

She prefers the ones that can speak and have shown initiative and have a hobby they can chat about

That is almost discrimination - but in a subtle way. There are people who find it difficult to have a hobby for a variety of reasons (and I am sure many people on MN can understand that).

They may have worked really hard to get those grades. But - for whatever reason - not been able to develop themselves in other ways.

Absolutely, Orlando. That's why things like DofE carry no weight. Lots of candidates just aren't in a position to do things like that.

I think this is where "privilege" comes in.

How is it discrimination?

They may have worked really hard to get those grades. But - for whatever reason - not been able to develop themselves in other ways.

Those grades are the same as anyone else who is applying. The difference is one candidate has shown he / she could get those grades whilst having a Saturday job and other hobbies etc, the other has only got those grades because he/she has had to study longer for them.

I'm amazed at the responses on this thread.If the school expects this level of work and the student isn't conforming there should be consequences.Its a sign that the school cares

It's a sign that they care about league tables but not about their pupil's lives or mental health.

Two hours of homework a night is ridiculous. If that's what a pupil needs to achieve their goals, their goals are too high. We're not all cut out to be A* students, which is why the average grade is C.

I went to a comprehensive secondary school and spent perhaps 20 minutes a week on homework. I got seven A*s, two As and one B (for the exam I took two years early).

I then went to a selective, independent sixth form college and spent perhaps an hour a week on homework. I got three As - A*s hadn't been invented for A levels yet then.

School work always came easily to me and I have a fantastic short term memory, so never needed to spend much time on revision. The effort I put into my studies in no way correlated with my results, just like it doesn't for many students who slave away and still get Cs.

I can also confirm that no employer has ever given a shit about my GCSE or A level results - in fact, I was told by one that I had been rejected for a job because I was too high an achiever.

I would never, ever pressure my child in the way the OP and other posters are. If they're B / C / D grade students then taking away their childhood and forcing them to sit and study information, most of which they will never practically use, is an awful thing to do.

Extra curriculars may not be needed for university, but they are good for the soul, and therefore it is vital that a child has time, space and support for them. Raising a child is so much more than encouraging forcing a work ethic that says you must do two hours homework a night. Dancing, going to the cinema, learning to play guitar, cadets, rugby, spending time with your family, going to museums, meeting friends in the shopping mall, going to McDonalds are all absolutely essential to raising a well balanced, emotionally stable young person IMVHO.

Hell even Oxbridge encourage a life outside of studying. And for highly pressured degrees like medicine it's regarded as essential to have some down time.

Two candidates with the same grades. One comes from a family that has the spare cash for music lessons and DofE, one doesn't. Who should get the place?

Another two. One went to a school geared up for getting kids As, so had time for a Saturday job. One went to a school which has never sent a candidate to University, so had to put in lots of extra hours of school work- so no time for a Saturday job. Who should get the place?

The difference is one candidate has shown he / she could get those grades whilst having a Saturday job and other hobbies

Some people have caring responsibilities.
Some live in the country and can't access hobbies.
Some have no money and no parental support. So can't get / afford hobbies.

If they are directly related to your course, and if you can make an effective link in your personal statement- but otherwise they don't care about your county level hockey or drama club

A close friend of mine oversees admissions in an Oxbridge college and always says the same. Interestingly said friend's experience of Oxbridge students (for example the not insignificant numbers who experience MH problems, or are very bright in a narrow academic sense but very immature socially or emotionally) has made him fiercely opposed to the kind of pressure the OP describes. He is very laidback with his own DC, very into the importance of rest and fun etc.

But the flipside of that is, the vast majority of children, globally and historically, have not been able to continue with free education into their teens. Especially girls. They don't have quiet spaces to do schoolwork in the evenings.

The notion that homework is some kind of terrible burden to protect teenagers from is ridiculous, pandering nonsense. They are teenagers. They need to work.

There is a false dichotomy being set up here where happiness is presented as incompatible with hard work. This is a lie. This belief will screw up children's futures. Hard work is how you achieve happiness. Happiness is having choices and opportunities, and success in education is the most reliable way to get those.

it's not long since I was in school, and this was the expectation.

You get home from school at half past 3, you go do homework for 3 hours. You have your tea, get a shower, go to bed, get between 8 and a half hours sleep, get up, go to a breakfast club cram class thing, go straight to school.

I never did any of this - i learned more out of school than I ever did in school. Now, I want to go back. Did you know, students nowadays have the same mental stress levels as mental health patients in the 1950s? No? Give your DD a break, YABSU.

Some very high achieving super selective Grammar schools have abolished homework.

"The notion that homework is some kind of terrible burden to protect teenagers from is ridiculous, pandering nonsense. They are teenagers. They need to work."

They need to be busy. But two hours of homework in year 9 is unnecessary and I suspect, pointless. There are plenty of other things teenagers can be doing that are useful and purposeful. Not makework homework.

I think this thread may have moved on a bit, but...

At GCSE, we were expected to do about 2 hours a night. Sometimes it would more (as I did 2 art subjects) and sometimes I'd only have half an hour. Not an independent school, just a regular state.
I thought that was pretty standard

Is she actually getting the work done? Is it to s high standard, or could you perhaps ask her to go back and spend another half an hour on it to make it really great?