Aibu to think education at the moment is a race to the bottom?

[Bridgetjoneski]

I get there is a staffing crisis but I feel the bar has been set so low that if bright kids don't have clued in parents & guardians who have an insight into what's going on they will slip through the cracks.. My y7 has no homework more often than she does.. When she does it's literally 10 minutes..
Her school is a very mixed demographic & it seems they want all kids to tick all boxes, not stretching or expanding the curriculum.. It just feels it's a race to the bottom. And some parents very much seem to see school as a baby sitting service..

I think you just have to accept that you have to sign them up to various websites now. Try Dr Frost for Maths, Seneca for Science, we also have a DuoLingo subscription. You have to DiY it but at least there is great tech now and libraries are still free. Reading kindle a hit here too and there are free library apps. So whilst state education is challenged there are tons of free resources.
DDs state grammar has just lost a ton of the best teachers. But what can you do other than fill the gaps yourself.

Also once they get into GCSE sets it tends to get better in all schools. It is year 8 that I struggled the most with all of mine as they are in no man’s land and nobody seems to care what they are up to.

homework often is just a box ticking exercise anyway. Unless it adds something to the learning then it is pointless.

I would be focusing more on what is happening in the classroom rather than using homework as a judgement factor.

Well it's going to be school dependent surely. My Y8 has had homework set every day since Y7, his maths homework alone takes over an hour. The school has pretty high standards and performs very well (state, non selective).

My 7 year old never has homework but I'm not too bothered at her age. I don't disagree though although I don't think homework is the barometer to measure by - my 9 year old has a tutor as he's clearly falling through the cracks in his disruptive class.

My year 7 rarely has homework- I’m glad about it. I had 3 pieces a day at high school and it was ridiculous. He gets time to chill, meet friends and do his sports clubs and enjoy being 11.

you have a right to be concerned. What’s behaviour like in the school? You can contact school leaders and ask for a discussion. Maybe they’re thinking about increasing the rigour and expectations and what they need is a glimmer of hope that some parents will be supportive.

Think you’re getting y7 (ie age 11-12) mixed up with 7 year old.
Op I don’t think you can judge it based on homework alone. What else is happening at the school that makes you concerned? I do worry about the national state of education in general due to funding and teachers leaving in droves.

Secondary schools are very different from each other.

There are very selective grammar schools and they will be stretching their students.

There are massive comps where students will be in mixed ability groups.

There are failing schools where few students go because of their bad reputation and they struggle to get staff.

All schools are different.

I'm not sure it's a race to the bottom, but I do frequently become irritated by a one size fits all approach to learning and development. If a child shows aptitude in music or art, but not so much in maths and English, then nurture their passion and ability in those things and dial down the pressure to succeed in all areas. Accept that all children are different, with different interests and abilities. But that goes as much for parents as it does for teachers.

The thing about homework though is that it has got to be relevant and marked. In year 8 in one grammar DC had lots of pointless homework. Teachers were too busy with exam years. They did still have lots of tests in school so revision was far more relevant than homework.

When I was teaching we were told to always set homework because it was the key thing on which parents judged the school. It is just one element though.

How do her books look? Which topics are they covering? Can she tell me what she has learned in maths? Having a good conversation might set your mind at rest.

If not, contact the tutor or HOY? What’s the school homework policy? How much should she be doing? Most schools have a programme where homework is posted so you can check what she has been set every week, when it’s due and how long it should take. If this is empty, screenshot it and send it to school and ask why.

Homework is a nightmare as a teacher TBF ~ there are always kids who will never do it whatever sanctions you impose and parents who won’t support it. Other kids quickly pick up on that and slack off. Most teachers don’t want to spend the first ten minutes of every lesson chasing homework and setting sanctions. If you have a solution, let the teachers know!

I am not sure it is the school’s fault, it is the centralised education system insisting on Sats, GCSEs and the one size fits all. So if the insistence is that almost everyone has to pass maths and English at x level and bums on seats no matter what is the most important, then schools have to follow that.

7 years old or year 7?

Your school sounds like the exception not the rule

My year 7 has about 30 minutes of homework every day. Often it is revision because he seems to have a lot of tests.
It is all set online, and I can keep tabs on it from Google Classrooms.
Both he and I are impressed with his high school so far; he has challenging work, dozens of free clubs, gets rewarded for hard work and effort and his teachers really seem to know him.

It really depends on the school about homework. DC1 is in Year 8 and they have a lot of homework since Year 7. About 1-2 hours a day minimum.

But I agree about the race to the bottom. They have a lot of substitute teachers and she has had subjects where they have subs for a whole term.

@Araminta1003 DC1 is in a comp with a lot of homework. As far as I can tell, it's not marked. It's assigned to prepare for upcoming classes and revision. It's up to the parents to make sure they do them I think.

There's evidence that homework isn't very useful especially below ks4. As a parent of a year 7 you should be providing enriching experiences that are incidentally educational - for example, reading, learning about plants while gardening, going to age appropriate museum exhibitions and art galleries, watching documentaries, going to the theatre, day trips to historical sites etc. Some of that is expensive but some of it can be done cheaply or for free if you shop around. Don't feel you need to replicate/replace homework with homework-like stuff you find online.

I know my list all sounds very expensive and privileged but you can find cheap alternatives. If you don't have a garden, there are community volunteering gardening projects. Lots of museums charge free entry for kids. You can get books in a library or second hand shop.

If you're wondering why some demographics have better educational outcomes, it's all because of the above. Not quantity of homework.

Yes, this! I have been giving her extra bits at home, documentaries, she loves reading but I feel the school is barely scraping the surface...

My dd would love that, she actually enjoys homework 😁

The teacher shortage is a huge problem, since covid her teachers have had awful absenteeism & she has had lots of subs. Poor behaviour & some unmotivated children in the class. A couple of children still haven't a great grasp of English & take up a lot of time.

Year 7

Other posters have been kind but the question still begs.. did you not research the schools thoroughly?
And if from your research you felt this wasn't right for your child, did you start preparing them for 11 plus, scholarships/ burseries??
If not, why not?
Perhaps it was you inadvertently began the 'race to the bottom'
Schools can't replace active and involved parents sadly and the difference is huge.

Rather than being 'disappointed' with your free school, do you support in extra work for your child?

Could you perhaps broaden the curriculum?