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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

DD’s homework

42 replies

Rollergirl11 · 24/01/2018 18:37

DD is in Year 7 and is still adjusting to the ridiculous amounts of homework she is set (around 12 pieces per week).

Her Maths teacher told them in class today that they would have homework tonight to be handed in tomorrow and he would put it up on Show My Homework. DD has been checking all afternoon and he has literally just put it up now. They are to spend an hour doing it and it is due in tomorrow in class. I think it is unfair to ask a child to be doing homework until 7.30 in the evening for the following day. This teacher does this all the time. He won’t accept it if your child has not been able to do the homework (as he’s put it up so late and they have clubs they have to go to) and either gives detentions or makes the pupils do the homework in their lunch break.

Does this sound reasonable?

OP posts:

Pengggwn · 24/01/2018 18:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RedSkyAtNight · 24/01/2018 18:43

I don't think it's that unreasonable for a secondary school child to be dong homework at 7.30pm.

The short notice, the amount of time that has to be spent on it is totally unreasonable! Is this a very "academic" school? My DD is in Year 7, and gets 7-8 pieces of homework at week which are meant to take 30 minutes each.

Original poster

Rollergirl11 · 24/01/2018 18:52

DD is quite often doing homework at 7.30 and I don’t mind that as such. But I do mind her doing it at that time because of the poor time management and unbending expectation of the teacher.

It is a fairly high achieving school and they do expect a lot from their pupils. Certainly when I have spoken to other Mum’s with children at other schools they don’t get as much homework. This teacher has a particularly extreme teaching style and homework is always due in the following day and is always an hour long. The children are utterly terrified of him.

OP posts:

JJPP123 · 24/01/2018 18:54

I think the homework should be set by the end of the school day. Doing homework at 7.30 isn't that unreasonable but the window of opportunity he's left for it to be completed is too small In this case.

Pengggwn · 24/01/2018 18:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheCowWentMoo · 24/01/2018 19:11

I think its very unfair, it penalises the hard working students who will worry about when it is set and worry about how they will do it in time.
If every teacher did this she would either have to go to bed late, affecting her work the next day or by do the homework, affecting her work so it's a no win situation. What if she struggles with It? She has not time to get help, homework should be set to allow students to organise themselves properly, at least 48 hrs I think. Or if it is to be done for the next day it needs to be hort and set in the lesson, he's only 11!

TheCowWentMoo · 24/01/2018 19:13

I don't thinking homework at 7.30pm is unreasonable but that should be the dc's choice I.e the homework should be set far enough in advance so the child can organise themselves and do the homework when they want, they should have a choice about when they start homework at that age.

FucksBizz · 24/01/2018 19:13

Personally, I think that is unreasonable. It's a tough year, year 7, your DD will be under lots of pressure and she doesn't need him adding to it with his unrealistic expectations . She sounds like a conscientious young lady.

I'd be annoyed if my work emailed me a task at 7.30 and expected it to be done by the morning, why should it be any different just because she's 11/12?

If I were you I'd speak to the teacher and say she's very stressed and this is contributing. Is there anyway he could set the homework earlier?

It's an old fashioned opinion, but I think schools should do away with these online systems all together. They should set homework in class time then kids wouldn't have to be constantly checking the portal. I think this is an encroachment on home life a step to far. But that's irrelevant to the OP.

Alansdeepbath · 24/01/2018 19:24

I’m a teacher and I set homework on a Monday with a deadline of Friday. They can attend homework club any lunchtime they wish if they don’t want to take it home to do. That way there is no need for excuses and I am being fair to my pupils. I think the teacher is being unreasonable, but is probably under pressure which is why they are behaving this way...

Original poster

Rollergirl11 · 24/01/2018 19:28

This teacher sets homework in every lesson and it is always due in for the next lesson which generally speaking is the next day as they have Maths 4 times per week. So she usually has at least 3 lots of Maths homework every week. Asking him to give them 3 days to do it would not be something that he would consider.

DD is conscientious to a fault and it does stress her out. As it is there are about 4 of them all talking on their phones right now trying to get the task done as it is very hard and they are all too scared to leave the work incomplete or get anything wrong as he will shout at them in class tomorrow!

I am angry and frustrated on her behalf.

OP posts:

HarryDresdensLeatherDuster · 24/01/2018 19:35

I am gobsmacked by the number of people saying that homework needs a longer turnaround than one night. Every school I have ever worked in, children have work set one day to hand in the next and most year groups have two subjects a night with maybe three at the weekend. There have always been strict guidelines from the school on how long each piece should take, however, as well as a timetable of subjects for each year group.

Not making the task set available to children until 6.30pm is completely unreasonable though. I would email the tutor and ask for a homework timetable and see what is meant to be happening then take it from there.

Pengggwn · 24/01/2018 19:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FucksBizz · 24/01/2018 19:37

If he shouts at them tomorrow I'd be going in without a doubt. I was conscientious to a fault too as a child, still am actually, and I remember how stressful this sort of situation would make me. Not nice at all.
In my personal experience I find that teachers tend to be excessively strict with Year 7s and then relax a little as they progress, not that that helps you at all right now.

I'd be annoyed to. The evenings are for relaxing, or doing homework if she chooses, but the choice has been taken away by this teacher setting it so late. She needs time to rest and destress, Year 7 is hard enough as it is, I'd be concerned about her anxiety levels if this is a regular thing.

HarryDresdensLeatherDuster · 24/01/2018 19:39

Alansdeepbath can I ask how on earth that works having 5 days to complete homework? Surely the tasks are to consolidate work/assess understanding of work done in a lesson or preparation for a following lesson? If it can take all week aren't the tasks irrelevant to the current learning? Our children would have work for other subjects to do every night so you would effectively be stealing homework time from another department! This would cause a war in my school! And, oh the parental complaints!!

FucksBizz · 24/01/2018 19:39

The issue here isn't that it's due tomorrow, that's normal. The issue is that it's been set so late.

Pengggwn · 24/01/2018 19:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HarryDresdensLeatherDuster · 24/01/2018 19:43

Was that to me? My comment about the turnaround was to pps who had expressed horror at it being set one day for the next. I commented on the unreasonableness of the time of it becoming available in my post too.

FucksBizz · 24/01/2018 19:45

Harry

No, no. My apologies. It popped into my head and I posted again before reading other replies.

HarryDresdensLeatherDuster · 24/01/2018 19:48

But surely you have moved on in those 2 - 3 days?

Some tasks do lend themselves to an extended period and, as children get older, they need to learn to manage their time appropriately, but surely many tasks have to be completed before moving on e.g planning something to write the next day, researching something to use the next day. If the tasks are irrelevant to the current learning, surely it is just setting homework for the sake of it?

MaisyPops · 24/01/2018 19:50

I'm not excusing the late upload however I would say that how reasonable it is to sanction depends on if it is issued in class.

E.g. we have a homework system. I set all homework in class and give out thr task in class. Consequently on the rare occasion i forget to upload it or set it a day late (week turnaround on lots of mine) then that's no excuse. They have planners and i went through it in class and they have the stuff required.

If the task is only available online (e.g. material is only given digitally, no sheets etc) then the teacher is very unreasonable to sanction.

slithytove · 24/01/2018 20:05

How many classes does she have each day? 4-5?

Imagine if they all did this, the poor kid would be working till 11pm, assuming no other commitments.

I don’t think it’s a reasonable ask.

Ihatemarmite123 · 24/01/2018 20:07

Setting it late in the day and due the next day is unfair. As a teacher I wouldn't give less than 48 hours unless I wanted a ton of complaints or it was something very small

sirfredfredgeorge · 24/01/2018 20:10

they need to learn to manage their time appropriately

And the teacher needs to learn to give the homework in the lesson, not wait until 7pm, if the teacher can't manage their time sufficiently then how does he expect the child too - perhaps the child has mapped out 4pm to 7pm as homework time, because after that the library is closed and their home in unsuitable to work.

Even if 1 day turn around for homework is appropriate, homework needs to be set by when it should be set, and not appear at some random time.

Cauliflowersqueeze · 24/01/2018 20:13

I think it’s completely unreasonable and that all homework should have 2 nights minimum to complete it.
I would raise it with the head of Maths.

ivenoideawhatimdoing · 24/01/2018 20:16

I would let her do it tonight but would send an email tomorrow saying if the homework is submitted at the following time the next lesson then you will be saying she will spend half an hour on it and then submitting it.

She's eleven and a little girl, what is her bedtime? 9pm?

She's working until 8:30 at night, getting stressed out about pointless homework that her teacher can't be arsed to upload until late evening.

If he has an issue he should take it up with you, he's being an self absorbed arse. If they HAVE to find the time to do it that evening then he HAS to find the time to upload it before the end of play, their time is just as important as his.

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