Lots of homework set but never ever marked - is this usual for secondary?

[homeworkhellraiser]

DD has just moved up to secondary so this is all new to us. They are set a lot of homework - in my (I admit totally uninformed) opinion it is far too much. DD has SEN so finds this hard and it is a real battle to get through it all and causes a lot of stress at home. Added to that the school is very quick to give detentions if work isn't done/completed or is forgotten etc so a lot of the children (not just my DD) get stressed about this.

However, despite all this not a single piece of her homework has been marked.
Why is so much set if it isn't even looked at? All this pain and stress and no feedback whatsoever. Is this normal? And, if so, can anyone explain the rationale - it is steadily making my DD increasingly stressed and hate school and learning even more.

Not excusing the no marking, but every school I've worked in has a directive that says core subjects must give a piece of homework a week (often something ridiculous like an hour's work) and others once a fortnight, so yes, it's way too much, especially for Y7.

It often also happens that teachers are taken to task if homework isn't set that often (especially if an online system is being used to inform parents of homework, like Teams).

In reality, teachers have very little time to actually look at the homework in class and zero time to mark this on top of all the other marking they have to do, so many times it is forgotten. I try to carve out 5-10min/ week to mark homework in class with the kids - sometimes it doesn't happen, because other things take over. I always get round to it eventually, but it may not be on the due day, but I know many of my colleagues struggle to find the time to just set the work in the first place, let alone make time for it in the space of a lesson.

So that's the reality, sadly.

Are you sure that it isn’t being marked in class? It is pretty common for kids just to sit there when you’re going through stuff, unfortunately.

Honestly this sounds a bit sad. I have no doubt whatsoever that it's not teachers fault in anyway that homework isn't marked, but the current situation sounds like such a massive downgrade on my secondary school experience 25 years ago.

We got homework for every subject every week (maybe not art and DT, but the rest we did). And we got feedback (a mark and maybe a comment) at the same lesson the following week. Without fail. It gave such a lot of encouragement and held us all accountable for actually knowing the work.

What has happened to the resourcing in schools over the last 25 years that this is no longer possible? I went to a state grammar. It was a good school but not particularly special or anything.

Peer assessment
Self assessment
Used for a discussion
Verbal feedback
Flipped learning
Consolidation
There are lots of types of homework and ways to give feedback - if it is appropriate to do so.

Thanks for the replies - it is really interesting to see how homework is used. I think some of the things mentioned sound good - but why so much of it? Surely you don't need to do 40 mins work to consolidate work. It all seems such a slog.

Because a lot of SLT don't have children, or children that age. They are the ones making the decisions.

Same here. So much stress and zero in return . Annoying

Exactly the same here, year 7 SEN child assigned stupid amounts of homework, never marked . But what really annoys me is the lack of time given. Elaborate art project assigned at 6pm on a Friday due in Monday is just a pisstake. Not only supplies needed but child needs lots of help and time to complete. Great if you have all weekend/plenty of funds but for me a nightmare.

I would personally be contacting the school if my child was finding homework stressful - particularly if SEN.

Many many ways in which homework is damaging rather than useful - my question would be - what else could the child be doing in that time. They could be playing physically outside - running/ jumping/ exercising/ they could be relaxing with family, enjoying hobbies - they could be seeing friends, doing drama/ art/ cycling.

We as parents need to push back at schools that give homework for sake of it. None of these things are set in stone as 'valuable' - it' is jsust what our current society/ culture deems valuable.

We don’t mark work we assess work. We then address errors and misconceptions in class.

My DS is Yr 8, has asd and adhd so homework is a huge battle. He doesn't get that much but like you I don't see any of it being marked.

I know for a fact that some is wrong but I can only explain it to him so many times before he gets really upset so if he's just not getting it I let him answer as best he can expecting the teacher to see his mistakes and help him. If this has happened it hasn't worked because he still can't do it.

I've contacted the senco, no explanation so far. I'll chase it at parents evening but really I've given up hope of him learning much at school and teach the basics myself.

OP be aware that your dc can drop some subjects to create less homework and give free periods during the day when they can do homework in school. Far better to do well in fewer subjects than do 10 and fail.

In the 2 secondary schools that I have worked in, the subject teachers don't even look at the homework. Maths, English and Science are done on an app and other subjects are done using knowledge organisers. The tutors just check that there is some work in their homework books under the correct date. That is it. Pointless for many students.

@Risslan your DS sounds very like mine with their homework. That is great that you dropped some subjects - was it easy to arrange this? I have been thinking the same that DD is spread too think and would do better doing less subjects and having more time to get through the work. I think the school will say she can't do this though.

@waterrat I totally agree that too much homework is damaging. My DD has pretty poor mental health and I'm sure doing less homework and having more time to do exercise, get out and about, or just relax would be much more beneficial for her. And then the work she did do she would be able to concentrate on better.

Dd had a ridiculous amount of homework in year 7. I did give feedback to the school and others did too. It did lessen after a while. Even during her A levels she wasn't as ridiculously overloaded as she was in Year 7 and she got good grades so it didn't harm her. Funnily enough a friend had a similar experience at another local school. Worth giving feedback.

I remember in the week before Easter holidays of year 7 dd being given 5 large projects to do over the holidays. Not just smaller homework but projects. I fed this back on a survey the school gave out and the Head responded. He agreed it was a lot. Probably was more amenable as I also provided some excellent feedback about other aspects of the school

Marking and feedback are not interchangeable words. comprehensive feedback can be given with very little marking taking place. I’d check the school’s marking policy before storming in & demanding an explanation.

It sounds like they are setting too much. Many schools are (very sensibly) moving away from setting lots of written homework that needs marking by the teacher and moving towards online homework tasks and things which can be quickly peer-marked in class, then setting a bigger marked written homework once or twice per half term or at the end of a unit of work.