Homework not good enough?

[AnotherNameChanges]

When I was at school, if I rushed my homework or did a bad job of it, I got a bad mark, and if it was a good teacher, some feedbac to help me next time.
End of.

My son (yr6), gets quite a bit of homework (regular state school not private). He gets about 30mins of maths homework each week, 30ins of English homework, and 30 mins writing (where he writes about things he's read). He always does it. Sometimes he does it well, sometimes he rushes, but he always does it. (And he's a competitive athlete in so with training each night and competitions all weekend, it's not always easy to fit it in, but he does).

A couple of weeks ago his teacher made him stay in at lunch to re-do his writing work as 'it wasn't good enough'. So the next time he had this homework I sat with him and helped him. I tried my best. I've got a PhD so I can write. But, he was told again it wasn't good enough and this time he was asked to re-do it at home, as well as all this week's homework, and re-submit.

He was a bit upset because he's honestly trying. This week I helped him again with the re-subkitted work and the new homework that's been set. I'm don't doing it for him, just trying to help him where I am guessing he's gone wrong (largely not writing enough. Not putting capital letters, full stops etc... I think...), But, I can't see what he's doing majorly wrong and have asked the teacher 'if its not good enough again can you please explain what he needs to do'.

AIBU to think making a child re-do their homework is a bit mean. Why not just give them a poor mark and some feedback to help them improve for next time? He's only just turned 11 and has enough homework to do IMO without having to re-do what he's already done.

Apologies for the typos! I'm not re-doing the post though! Just give me a bad mark!!

i think feedback of “it’s not good enough” isn’t constructive or helpful. How is he meant to magically know what to do? (Unless he’s clearly putting in zero effort and a 5 minute rush job which doesn’t sound the case). I’d request a meeting with the teacher.

That was kind of my feeling too. He's so disheartened because after he was kept in at lunch (which was basically a punishment even though he did actually do his homework and it's not his fault it wasn't good enough! He did try!) he didn't want that to happen again, so he tried super hard the next week (and I helped him!) and still the teacher made him re-do it with no explanation why or what to work on , just saying it wasn't good enough gggrrrr..

Teacher's response definitely not good enough! Ask for a model answer, together with an explanation of why it is good. When I taught GCSE, I used to prepare these for lower ability groups. They found them helpful.

'Please Sir/Miss, model the outcome you want.'

No full stops and capital letters would be majorly wrong and prevent your child from reaching even Working Towards age-related expectations at the end of Year 6. They are a Year One objective for writing. The teacher is probably tearing his/her hair out trying to get the class to use them consistently and there will have been some form of verbal feedback given re the expectations which, with writing moderation a possibility, will be constantly reinforced.

I am an (ex) teacher. That's shockingly bad feedback, and I'd be letting the teacher know that your son won't be repeating work without details on what exactly he needs to do to improve. Grrrr!

As if any teacher has time to do all that! I don’t believe a word a word of it.
Nice try op but must try harder.

It's been a while since my kids were at primary but what are his current writing targets ? When my kids were primary they had 2 or 3 targets in writing that were stuck inside their writing book that they were working towards. Capital letters and full stops is usually a Reception/Year 1 target.
After he does his writing homework, does he reread what he's written? Full stops would be an easy correction to make.

"Not good enough" is unhelpful. She needs to be specific and say things like that his last piece of work at school had XYZ where as this doesn't or his handwriting in class is much neater. Did he plan his writing like at school? When my kids were at primary, creative writing was a whole week process (they did Big Write) which involved planning in the previous days. I'm not a teacher so can't be more specific but I know that dc completed the week's work on a Friday and a new one started on Mondays. Their creative writing was marked in the format of "2 stars and a wish" 2 things that they did well (stars) and 1 thing that the teacher wanted to see next time (wish) That might not be a format that is used now but it makes sense.

For the writing homework, they have been keeping a book (or several now as it fills up!) Since year which they write on every week about the books they've read at home. He's always handed it in every week and had it ticked off and been given his star or smiley or whatever. Never before has the teacher passed any comment. It is only now recently that his teacher has started saying it's not good enough. Which is weird because he used to write two lines and call it a day, but this year he's been spending at least the expected half hour on it, and writing quite a bit. He's pretty despondent and said he just won't do it anymore if the teacher makes him do it again! I've said he can't just give up and he needs to ask the teacher what's wrong with what he's done and how to improve. I have also now dropped an email asking. Not being good enough isn't a great message for any kid IMO.

I would send a note in with his work saying that he spent X amount of time on it and as far as you are concerned he did his best, Then say that you would like her to contact you to talk through where he is going wrong in order that he can be prepared to move to secondary school.

*Since year 1 which they write in every week about the books they've read at home.

Oh my gosh my typos!! Sorry! And on a thread about written English too ...

Tbh, while the feedback isn't great, it's shocking that at that age he doesn't know (or care about?) the fundamentals of punctuation.
You do need to speak to the teacher- if only to ascertain how his basic SpaG skills are going to improve before secondary school.

I would assume in the absence of feedback she has explained in class what is expected of them for the writing homework. Perhaps it may be a good idea for him to write down any verbal instructions given regarding homework. She may not feedback is required if he hasn't completed it in the manner she instructed and is simply asking for him to do that?

Ask to meet with the teacher and explain how discouraging this is. Explain your son is at loss to know how to meet the targets and ask for clarification and examples.

But at the same time, it sounds like shockingly poor work if he isn't getting basic punctuation right and teacher may have decided to stage a stand off for this reason.

He's not dyslexic is he?

I remember very little about my school homework (it was a LONG time ago) but I do have very clear memories of spending ages on some English, and getting it ripped to shreds. So I gave up trying, and got mountains of praise on the next one. Lost all faith in that teacher.

Geez people are as cold and judged here as on the food related aibus!! It kind of depends op, children can fail to relay everything that happens with teachers, so it depends on what he was told. The teacher should definitely have told him exactly what was wrong and I agree with you, he shouldn’t need to redo-the only thing is if he was told it before maybe the teacher had no choice? Btw I feel your pain op, I’ve a 15yo who still finds punctuation and grammar tough!

I think if the teacher is going to comment at all, it should be with specific targets.
If she is making him doing it again, I'd guess it is very below standard in a number of ways, too many for her to enumerate, and she's probably quite annoyed he's not doing his best work. What has she said when he's asked her what he can do to improve? It's highly unlikely that he doesn't know.

I'm guessing the presentation is scrappy, making it look like like it was dashed off carelessly , last minute, with basic mistakes. She obviously thinks he can do way better. It is a SATs year, and the expectation is legible and joined handwriting, correct punctuation and mostly correct spelling. Is there a good reason why he's not doing all that?

If he really doesn't know how to improve, then do ask for a meeting to discuss it, but don't go in all guns blazing, as you only have DS's version of events so far.

I think you are being ridiculous thinking it’s hard to get an hour and a half’s homework done in a week. If his sport/training doesn’t allow that then he is doing FAR too much extracurricular. Get school right first then add after school activities.

No full stops and capital letters in year 6?! No wonder the teacher is saying not good enough. If he is generally working at expected level, then all the things in his normal writing at school (a lot more technique and grammar features than FS and CL) is probably what the teacher is expecting.

Well, I'd say that you probably need to help him with punctuation and capitalisation. Unless he has a learning difficulty, he should know it by 10 - 11 years old. Sorry, that's not meant to sound judgy.

The teacher's response is poor, indeed and it'll definitely be worth getting a more informative answer. If the teacher doesn't bother, request a meeting and if there's still no joy, complain.

Contact the teacher by email, if you are able to, so as to have a paper trail.

The OP did not say “no full stops or capital letters,” she said “not putting” full stops and capital letters, which could potentially mean that he left them out in one or two places.

Not using capital letters or full stops correctly in Y6 suggests dyslexia. Either that, or he’s rushing it in a half-arsed way as he’s too busy with his extra-curricular activities. Oh, and you shouldn’t be doing his homework with him. I would arrange a meeting at the teacher’s convenience to talk through any issues. He will be in secondary in seven months time and needs to find strategies now to support himself in his learning.

I would make a Year 6 child re-do homework for no capital letters or full stops, and/or poor handwriting (unless there was a specific need regarding this), BUT I would state this specifically, rather than 'not good enough'. That's far too vague! I would clarify with the teacher what he/she means by this.

My son (yr6), gets quite a bit of homework (regular state school not private). He gets about 30mins of maths homework each week, 30ins of English homework, and 30 mins writing (where he writes about things he's read). He always does it. Sometimes he does it well, sometimes he rushes, but he always does it. (And he's a competitive athlete in so with training each night and competitions all weekend, it's not always easy to fit it in, but he does).

I can't believe that you think 30 minutes maths and English constitutes 'quite a bit of homework' for a state school to set in year 6. How on earth will he cope in secondary school next year, if finding time to complete his homework is a struggle now, because doing sport every evening and weekend won't mean he doesn't have to do it.