Maintaining quality of work at secondary

[krisE]

My DD1 has always done very well at school and is very bright, but can have a 'that will do' attitude.
She moved to secondary school in September, and after a positive start, we have seen a very definite slide in the quality of her work.
Homework has become very scruffy, poorly presented and 'minimalist'. Origionally, when she moved to secondary, we thought we would try the 'you need to be independent, the ball is in your court' approach and therefore trusted her to complete her homework to the best of her ability.
This, evidently is not working so now we are asking to see every piece of homework, and making her redo/ improve anything that we do not think is her best.
Obviously this is causing a great deal of friction, because as far as she is concerned if it is good enough for the teacher we should back off.

Why is the school letting her get away with it? If you look at her books, her Sept/ Oct work is so much more 'careful' than it is now. Should we make an appointment with the school and insist they are harder on her, or is that being really pushy?
HELP!

I would make an appointment to see the school and talk to them. She will have a tutor or Head of Year that you can speak to. Also, remember that neatness is not the be all and end all in High School (I am a High School teacher) and we are far more interested in content and in meeting specific targets. For example, I might set a homework that expects them to use quotations and use 6 key words (character, plot, narrative etc, etc). I will also look at other criteria but I am really keen that they master one or two particular skills.

Your daughter is likely to react negatively at being challenged. Why not turn it around (with the school's help) and offer rewards for work that is praised by teachers in their comments?. If you ride her too hard she will rebel and, also, will then struggle when forced to work alone at College or when you are not around. She needs to work hard for herself, not to please you.