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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:

MongerTruffle · 24/01/2018 20:17

2-3 pieces of homework a night isn't ridiculous in secondary school, but they should have been given more time to do it.

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.
This isn't normal, even in a high-achieving school. You need to complain about him to the school.

BadPolicy · 24/01/2018 20:23

If it's not being set until 7, then students are really only getting 12-14 hours to complete it, maybe a bit longer if it's a PM lesson.

Pengggwn · 24/01/2018 20:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Valerrie · 24/01/2018 20:30

As a teacher, I will never understand those teachers who feel the need to make their pupils "utterly terrified" of them.

This is unreasonable. I'd be raising it immediately and if they put my child in detention for this, they wouldn't be doing it. I feel strongly about homework - yes, in year 7 I agree with them having to do it. However, that short notice? Nope.

TeenTimesTwo · 24/01/2018 20:39

I think it is unreasonable.

Pupils should be allowed time to do extra curricular activities, and that means that they may have 1 or 2 nights a week when they don't have to do homework. Setting homework to be done for the next day isn't reasonable imo. And neither is only putting it up on the portal after 6pm!

My DD2 is y8. She doesn't get enough h/w in my opinion (only a couple of pieces a week), but either way there is no way she could be doing maths at 7pm. She is simply too tired after a day at school.

jelliebelly · 24/01/2018 20:46

My ds is in yr7 at a pretty academic independent school and doesn’t get anywhere near that amount of homework and nothing less than 48 hrs to complete- how do they mange to fit in any sport/music/other commitments? That aside this teacher needs calling out to the head - 4 x 1hr maths homework per week is utter madness.

Sprinklestar · 24/01/2018 20:52

What happens if every teacher they have in a day does this?

Alpacaandgo · 24/01/2018 20:53

Totally unreasonable. The homework should be set by end if the school day at the latest. My dd had a club tonight from 6.30 to 8.30, so got home at almost 9. No way would she be then doing an hour of homework as that's bedtime. I would expect her to have it done before the club but if the teacher isn't making it available until early evening it is very unreasonable to expect it to be done by the next day.

MaisyPops · 24/01/2018 21:13

The homework should be set by end if the school day at the latest
As a teacher, my issues with the teacher in the OP are the sheer quantity of homework set and the short turn around.

some expectations on here for online platforms is a bit excessive (e.g. sometimes i'll adapt homework mid lesson and spend longer on task 2 and set task 3 for homework whereas i wasn't originally going to do homework until Thursday so preloaded isn't always possible)

I set my homeworks with a 5-7 day turn around. If someone complained that I set it at 5pm/6pm that night online or 830 the following morning after I had already spend 10 minutes going through it, giving out resources, taking questions etc then that would annoy me. Sometimes we have the best of intentions but take yesterday. Taught a full day with no PPA and had duty. End of the day and a stressed y11 student turned up and was with me for over an hour. To be honest, my concern at hometime was the upset and stressed child needing support, not making sure (hypothetically) a worksheet given out and explained in class was uploaded in case someone was annoyed they couldn't see a 2nd copy of it at 4pm.

The teacher is wrong for routinly setting excessive homework. I think that is a massive issue worth raising with school.

Fruitloopcowabunga · 24/01/2018 21:17

Totally unreasonable and I too would be furious. Your DD might well have an extra-curricular activity (music, Guides, sport - all good for her) that means she's out till later eg my DS is at music till 9.30 twice a week - would he be expected to then come in and do the homework. It should be set in the lesson and more than 1 evening allowed to do it. I would raise it with school.

cunningartificer · 24/01/2018 21:31

As a headteacher, I’d be unhappy if my staff were doing this. Homework set in the lesson, ie “at the end of this lesson you will know how to do this” fine. Homework set to be done over a few days, fine (no module of work should mean it’s irrelevant in a couple of days).

As a teacher I never set homework for the next day unless it is a brief homework set in lesson time. I like to give students the opportunity to organise their own time. I don’t set homework on Friday for Monday because as a parent I know what weekends can be like.

On the other hand I think homework should be looked at and responded to before other homework of the same type is set,or what’s the point?

Have a word with school just to remind them of the reality of bedtime. In a nice way.

But you’re not being unreasonable!

Originalfoogirl · 24/01/2018 21:57

I would talk to the teacher or the head and if they were totally unbending, frankly I’d do it for her and make sure I caught her up with anything she couldn’t do, in our own time. Life’s too short to stress them out at that age.

PenelopeStoppit · 24/01/2018 22:07

Schools often have homework timetables for teachers to follow so overloading isn't an issue and so parents and carers know what homework should be set and when. I would ask the HOY or your daughter's form tutor about this and if it doesn't exist raise it at a parents' forum or whatever the equivalent is. It won't be only your child who is having difficulties and the issue needs to be addressed appropriately.

Cauliflowersqueeze · 24/01/2018 22:15

Homework timetables are crap. A lot more hassle than they are worth.

Systemoverload99 · 24/01/2018 22:24

In maths you would normally be doing the topic for the week so a one day turn around isn’t necessary.

I think the comment up thread saying that you checked at 6 is a good one.

My daughter has clubs after school, she didn’t get in today until 730. She did finish one piece of homework but that was by 8 as then she was relaxing before bed.

TheCowWentMoo · 24/01/2018 23:08

In maths surely there's no homework that's irrelevant 48hrs later? Dont you need to revisit a topic 24hrs after learning it to consplidate it in your mind? 48hrs seems the perfect homework turnaround. I highly doubt any parent would complain about a teacher setting 3 days to do homework

MaisyPops · 25/01/2018 06:44

Homework timetables are crap. A lot more hassle than they are worth.
I hate them with a passion.

Why would I want to give y7 25-30 mins homework a week just because the timetable says so when I could set them a better, more rigorous piece taking 45-50 mins every fortnight and give them a week to complete it?
It'a homework calendars that have caused issues with pointless homework being set in my school (usually from half termly homework.menus designed like a nandos menu) because some parents complained that not all subjects were setting enough. So there was pressure put on staff to just set something because that way parnets see things when they go online and some were complaining (usually the type who think amount of homework = how challenging school is). I tend to loosely follow it but still stick to my principles on what i'll set. It works for kids and if a parent of a child I teach wants to discuss it witj me then I'll happily have a chat with them and explain how 'missing' a week of homework is becaude they've just done a bigger, more challenging piece.

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