To think DD can't do all this homework in 1 night?

[Ashor]

• timetable of her life schedule (this is actually homework set) and to write 500 words on why time management is important.
• 750 word essay.
• PowerPoint on cells.

In 1 night???

This annoys me a bit from the point of view of an extracurricular teacher.
Why do schools think it's ok to set large amounts of homework to be due in the very next day? What if the student has an extra curricular class?
I am a firm believer that students with extracurricular classes, sports and hobbies must learn to manage their time efficiently and prioritise their school work, but at the same time giving them less than 24 hrs notice to complete work is ridiculous and leaves students with outside classes and hobbies at a big disadvantage. Having something to focus on outside of school can be a positive; we all want our children to grow up to be well adjusted, well rounded individuals and part of that can include having an interest or hobby. , For some children it is more essential than for others - some may feel it is good for their mental and social wellbeing, others may struggle academically and enjoy channelling their energy into a different (no-academic) outlet and some may have a particular skill or talent that deserves to be nurtured. Some of these children will have have started their extracurricular hobby at a very young age (some as young as 3) and stuck at it over many years to the point at which they have become reasonably or very proficient, and it is a shame to see children dropping much loved hobbies during their GCSEs or A-Levels.
It is essential that students who do attend a regular club or class learn to make sure that they complete their homework during the free time that they do have, but schools giving homework to be in the very next day don't allow their students to do this. No child should have to give up hobbies for school exams - cut back to a realistic amount of hours per week, but not give up.

OP - are you certain that all of the pieces of homework were set on that particular day, or were some that your DD had put off until then, and that coupled with the extra work set ended up with a huge workload? Is this amount normal for her school (you don't say if it's a state or private school)? It seems like a lot to be set in one day to be returned the very next day, even for her age (and I have two daughters one has just taken A Levels, the other is Yr 10) and I would be a bit concerned if this was happening regularly.

It's not unreasonable. If she's doing 4 AS levels then she should expect to complete 20 hours of homework each week, alongside 20 hours of lessons, as she is in full time education (40 hours per week). She should have some study periods on her timetable to help her manage this.

I agree with dancingfeet :)

Doesn't sound like a lot.

At 16 i would guess she is not in back to back lessons all day, should be a study period as well as lunch break to start the work?

I remember if i had a lot one night i tried to get 1 or 2 pieces done in school, mainly so i didn't have to bring the books home!!

I have 2 doing A levels at the moment and would say that is a normal amount. Not large not small..

I'd double check when it was set as it doesn't give much flexibility to plan the work load.

Day with no free periods - or work set after them , other homework or other evening commitments and it suddendly doesn't seem managable. Even over two days there more chance of finding the time.

Depends on context - I think that would be beyond a Yr 7 but by Yr 12 that should be possible.

Most teachers wouldn't set an essay overnight so are you sure that the essay wasn't set a day or two before and your DD left it until the last minute? If she was then set the two other assignments it will then seem like a lot of work but it's of your DD's own doing.

The time management assignment and the cell PowerPoint should only take about an hour and a half (assuming the PowerPoint is intended to be a consolidation of knowledge activity rather than learning new material) and the other essay should be doable in another hour or so.

PPs saying she could do some work in her lunch break, you do realise it's called a lunch BREAK for a reason, right??

I think children get a rediculous amount of homework. They spend all day at school then they are to come home and study for another 2 to 3 hours a night and at the weekend! Ffs

@ElfridaEtAl

PPs saying she could do some work in her lunch break, you do realise it's called a lunch BREAK for a reason, right??

I used to eat lunch then work for the 2nd half of break so i could have my evenings free. Its up to individuals, but saying they didn't have enough time is not gonna sit with their teachers.

A levels they have plenty of free periods if they don't want to use their lunch break

PPs saying she could do some work in her lunch break, you do realise it's called a lunch BREAK for a reason, right??

I used to do this a lot - many other sixth formers around me did the same.

Though DC secondary school dinner is 30 minutes so not really an option.

@LazyPuppy Then I would advise using the free periods, which is what they are for, or at least what I used them for, rather than advising OP's daughter to use her break time.
Advising someone to use the time that's allocated as downtime to work isn't promoting a good or healthy work/life balance.

@ElfridaEtAl does it really matter whether the student works during lunch or free period, if she works during lunch she can relax during her free period or vice versa.

Basically get the work done at school then no work to be done at home.
At my school everyone worked during lunch break and free periods if needed. Then you didn't have to carry any work home

If she doesn't think she can do it all, tell her to prioritise the most important ones (that's an important life skill too) and plan how to negotiate an extension with her teacher for the one/s she can't do (another important life lesson).

Simple!

A quick google will provide all the salient points she needs to include in each of the topics

Now there's a way to save money on the education budget. Don't bother having teachers to actually teach the subject. Just hand out the essay title and tell 'em to Google it.

you do realise it's called a lunch BREAK for a reason, right??

Its a time management issue - students have a choice of using their breaks to do work that will allow them free time at home or having a full lunch break but having to do extra work at home.

When I was in sixth form our lunch break was 90 minutes to allow for 30 minutes to eat and then an hour for activities. Whenever I didn't have activities (running clubs for younger years, helping out with theatre rehearsals, doing clubs of my own) I would spend that hour in the library, along with many other students, to get a jump on my homework to free up that hour in my evening.

It's no different to running errands in your lunch break from work to save having to do them on the way home.

I refused to do any homework that wasn’t coursework as a teenager and got very good grades. I really will have no leg to stand on when my own get to this stage. The idea of wasting 3hours of your life on activities that really won’t help you to learn anything makes my blood boil 20 years later!

Most schools get teachers to agree when homework is issued so there isn't a backlog on one night - they are also given the homework more than 1 day in advance.

The first essay sounds like she needs it and 500 wds is 2 a4 sheets pretty much

I refused to do any homework that wasn’t coursework as a teenager and got very good grades

Me too

Hopefully mine will be able to do the same. I think it's about being able to discern what is really necessary without sacrificing your learning.

It depends how prepared she is for each element. The power point could take 10 minutes or more than an hour if she has to research the information. So it’s difficult to judge whether this is ‘too much’ for one evening without more information.

Agree with pps that sixth formers have lots of free periods. The clever ones at my school used to do a lot of their homework during these periods, while the rest went to McDonalds...

@Misslingoss

No need to be facetious.
I'm not suggesting for one moment that there is no teacher imput required. That would be ridiculous.
However, working independently and researching is surely an integral element of home work? To use the internet for some research (along with text books etc too) is an obvious tool to use. Where else do you think she's going to get the images of cells for the powerpoint presentation for example?
Just to be absolutely clear, I'm not suggesting plagarism in any form.

I think some people on here have forgotten how long an a-level piece can take, especially if you are unfamiliar with your subject and stopping to look things up or if you are drafting or formatting something.

That said, I don't think that this is an unrealistic amount of work to be set in a night, but I'm surprised by the deadlines, even with free periods. I'd have expected a bit longer to do an essay, unless she's been putting it off or they want a really raw score.

3h per night is typical in 6th form

6 or 7pm to 9 or 10pm is totally do-able.

Yep, completely bog standard. DD worked for 6 hours on essays at the weekend, then spent hours reading one her eng lit texts and then went back through the history they had done in the last few lesson (reread the chapters, googled some further info, made some additional notes and filed then read the next chapters in readiness for this week ) - so maybe 12 hours? Last night she did 4 hours. She has 3 hours of frees/lunch today where she is going to do revisit gov and pol from the last few weeks. Tonight she has an extra curricular activity so will do nothing, so tomorrow she will probably do another 4 or 5 hours. In her frees she is also doing work (she does about 9 hours per week doing sport so needs to use all her remaining time wisely) She's doing 4 A Levels so she's expecting about 50 hours per week (including taught lessons) plus intends to do her EPQ during school holidays..... we had a parent/student meeting where what's required was very clearly spelt out so no great surprise......at least it will keep her out of trouble 😁

In the very unlikely scenario she is given work on a Tuesday that needs to be given in on Wednesday she will simply negotiate an extension.

So the most important homework is clearly the Time management task...,, without it you are stuffed

I honestly think that my A levels were the hardest I ever worked. Very few free periods for those taking four subjects plus loads of consolidation / independent study / teacher assessed homework.

My school tells A level students to expect at 3 - 4 hours per subject per week on top of lesson time. And most students have extras they do too. When setting homework I aim to set between 1 and 2 hours of written homework each week and they have two teachers in my subject. I'd never set that much for over one night though, I tend to give it over a weekend where possible to allow the students some flexibility. I'm more than happy to negotiate deadlines with students who have genuinely conflicting commitments (including personal ones such as family weddings), provided they see me in advance.