How much work is your secondary school child expected to do? (y7 particularly)

[StarsAndSnow]

dd is 11. if she was 2 months younger she would still be in y6
her high school are setting their weekly tasks. they are expected to stick to their regular timetable, doing 4 to 5 hours of work a day. dd is really struggling with this, with organising and motivating herself.

she has easy access to teachers and they are very responsive to emails and help a lot but these are crazy times, my younger children are expected to practice times tables, spellings, keep reading and just do 'some' work. in comparison this just seems an enormous ask of dd11

so id like to know if its just because she is now in secondary and this is the norm?

thanks

It's great that as a year seven she has that level of commitment from her school, which I presume is likely indicative of the least of the provision across the full secondary.

If each subject wasn't setting 'enough' work to keep up to date with the curriculum, or keep children busy, people would be complaining. If teachers only set one or two things, but not a week's worth, people would question why and what they were doing.

Anecdotally, lots of schools and individual teachers don't expect (as in trust or believe) that all the work will get done. Some are setting it and not challenging those who don't do it. Some are outright saying not to worry yourself over it
You could ask them and they might be sympathetic to your dd. You could treat her like she's in primary school; you know her best.

Many year sevens shoud be able to log on on to see the work and get on with it independently (it's been designed that way). I doubt many can motivate themselves indefinitely without any other support to work for four or five hours non stop, but they can take breaks and do other activities.

I have a year seven child...expected to do six hours of school work a day...we've got loads. It's a challenge for sure and we're doing the best we can...I've read lots of posts on here where parents haven't heard a word from their dcs school...that would be much worse imo.

My daughter is year 7. For key subjects like maths and English she has about 4 hours each a week. She is also struggling to motivate and organize herself. It's a very different scenario to being taught at school and then just managing homework.

I am encouraging her, helping her to plan, emphasizing that the organisational skills she is learning will stand her in good stead etc. But equally I am not getting too stressed if she is not doing everything she should. Its fair to say she is not enjoying this!

Oh she's definitely expected to do it. We had an email today as she had one maths task outstanding.

I understand it needs setting but it just seems so much to me

DS is year 7 and a summer birthday so still 11 too - his school is following their usual timetable with either work sent through or live lessons. The expectation is work is submitted by the end of the timetabled lesson so it’s been quite busy but fairly easy for him to stick to the routine.

My year 7 child is also following a full timetable.

I've got y7 and y4. We do 9-12 and then they watch something vaguely educational (classic film or documentary) for an hour or two over lunch then they can play all afternoon. The 9-12 includes Joe Wicks PE and some reading at the end, so the Y7 only does just over 2hrs of set work from school. The school is very understanding about different kids' abilities to cope with homeschooling and aren't putting any pressure on but there's stuff to do for those who want/need it. I mainly 'school' the younger one and Y7 does his own stuff on the computer but I check it over and plan the work each day with him. I wouldn't expect him to do a full day and nor could I supervise it as I have to get my own job done, squeezed into the afternoon and evenings. This works for us, just do what works for you. Don't feel pressured, there's enough to deal with right now! But a certain amount of structure and discipline can help.

My school is setting 3 hours per day for KS3.

Ds is Y7 and has been advised by his state secondary to aim for 3 hours per day. There's not a lot of checks on what work he's actually done although if he was not accessing it at all they'd call.
Dd in y10 at the same school has been advised to do 4 hours per day and has work to submit with more expectation and contact from teachers.
This feels about right, they're both doing it, the school is outstanding if that
Makes any difference (though def not perfect)

Our school is expecting 2 hours worth a week per subject. It was more, but they have eased up.

Like @Pinkdelight3 I have one child in Y7 and one in Y4. My elder child was overwhelmed with work when the schools first closed but her school has listened to parents and pupils and scaled back to a more manageable amount. I think they’ve done the right thing and it means she’s doing a good amount of work but without too much stress or pressure.

My younger daughter’s school has been great from the start, providing us with plenty of material to work with but staying very relaxed, no pressure. As far as I’m concerned my children’s mental wellbeing is my priority at the moment and that means backing off from school work when necessary. I’m very glad neither school is insisting on full timetables.

That’s not to say I haven’t had a few wobbles about my elder daughter not doing enough but I know her abilities, both academic and mental/emotional, and I think we’ve found a good balance.

My DD (Y7j is being set lessons following the usual timetable. She's working 8.40-3.15 each day. Some lessons are easier than others. Games/PE is generally Joe Wicks or an online yoga session. Some English lessons are simply 'read for 1 hour'.
To be honest, the structure suits her. And it helps her keep occupied while DH and I are both working. She chills a bit once she's finished school and then we do fun stuff once I've finished work.
I don't think there's a system that works perfectly for everyone. One size does not fit all.

Ours works out as a full timetable but is set fortnightly so they can work through it as they wish. The term SLT is using is 'expected but not compulsory'. They also have one assessed task per subject per fortnight on which they get marking and feedback.

Having a nosy through what other subjects have set, not all lessons will take an hour so maybe 4/4.5 hours a day I reckon.

My son is in year 7 and is expected to do 2.5 hours a day. It's broken down into 30 mins reading, 30 mins English, 30 mins Maths, then a two other subjects a day. He does Joe Wicks every week day on top of this and is managing fine and isn't stressed.

My school is setting work in relation to the normal timetable - so 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

I must be over thinking it then. It just seems so much for her, especially as I can't help her all day and her siblings are playing so she feels like she's missing out

My Ds is 11 and year 7. He is set work for every lesson but can do it in any order he likes.
It's set monday and expected in by 4pm on Friday. But he should be doing 5 hours a day.

He basically sits and gets on with it. I pop in often to see how he's doing, and at the end of the lesson time check that he's finished. If he finishes early he goes on to the next lesson and can maybe finish early for the day.

DD is year 3 and is doing about 2 hrs of work a day.

Hmmm. I'm worried now...

My DSS is 12 and insists that her work doesn't really have a deadline. It's all in Welsh so I can't understand it. She's spending about one hour a day on it, if that.

However, she is helping her 5yo sister to read and do her work, which is just gorgeous to see.

I think at year 7, they can still catch up in the new school year? Or am I being too hopeful there?

I am a Yr 7 tutor - the pupils at my school are offered a full timetable but their engagement is variable from 100% to 0 - average seems to be about 4 lessons per day. This style of learning seems to suit some but others cannot cope with the expectation to be organised and self-motivated. Not surprisingly, they choose their favourite subjects more often than not and avoid subjects they find hard/boring. They complain that they are being set too much work and it is too hard - I think lots of teachers were initially trying to follow the curriculum at the same pace as classroom teaching, but are now slowing down.

Op have you spoken to the school. Thst is an unrealistic ic amount of work for a child to do at home in what is a deeply strange and unsettling situsiton. It's very unfair on children who live in difficult home situations and for that reason teachers will know that many won't do it.

DD is year 7. She has been set work for two weeks at a time. It covers as many tasks as they would have lessons in that two weeks. She is working for around 5 hours a day...

DS isn't year 7, but his school expect KS3 to do around 3 hours per day. For KS4 they expect 4-5 hours.

My daughter is year 9 and isn't set that much to be honest - she does about an hour a day on average. Some days she doesn't do any but will do a bit more the next day. Her school have rung to check up and she's on track with it all.

I’m a teacher and whilst we set a full timetable of work we would hate to think of any student being miserable because they have too much.
When I set work it’s more to provide something structured for dc to do whilst at home. I have told my students not to work too hard and to leave the work if they need a break.
Much more important to have fun and relax. Health and happiness come first.