London prep school with low level of homework

[imarshmallowyou]

Dear members, I have a daughter (3) and a son (1) for whom I'm in the process of selecting a west London prep school(s). One thing that I notice in many of the academically successful preps is that they seem to give a rather high level of homework almost every day. Nightly reading aside, they seem to give further (writing, math etc) homework even from the reception or Y1 and for that young age and the amount builds up to quite a lot as they get older. Those with not a lot of homework seems to have noticeably less impressive leavers destination.

I appreciate that opinions on the homework may differ from different parents. But personally I'd like to ideally find an academically successful prep with low level of homework (other than reading) at least until the age of Y3-Y4.

So I wanted to reach out to the other parents to see 1) if they know such school for us in west London and 2) if they have kids with a significant amount of homework, how they find it in terms of its efficacy, pressure on young kids and juggling that with other activities, family time etc.

Thank you in advance for kindly sharing your experience with me, the beginner in school hunting :)

Prep as in private and goes to the 11+ or common entrance?

They will all have a lot of homework as they thrive or not depending on their 11+ results which is getting more competitive year on year. You need to look for a through school that goes to 18 - they tend to give less homework as they don't have to leap the hurdle of the 11+.

I think you’ll struggle to find a school in that area which doesn’t give a lot of homework. As previous poster said at 11/13 your kids will be competing for senior school places and it really is massively competitive - my friends son sat for 10 schools 😮

Try the preps attached to a secondary school, liken Harrodian? or Kew Green Prep which is supposedly more relaxed re homework?

Have you looked at St James in Kensington? My friends children go there and they seem really happy with the way the school manages pressure. It is a good alternative to some of the more frenzied west London options and when my children are older I will definitely look at it. There is automatic entry to senior schools which I think helps but girls in my friends year are applying to other secondaries too. I can’t comment on the homework, but can ask my friend. I don’t think they layer it on though.

The Thomas s group of schools don’t have a lot of homework in the early years

Bute House (contrary to expectations with its reputation as probably the most academic London girls' prep school) gives relatively little homework until 11+ prep time in Years 5 and 6. A teacher from there told me recent research is showing that homework makes little difference to academic achievement, its main benefit is for kids to discuss school with parents so their homework is quite short tasks and often involve the parents.

11+ prep time in Years 5 and 6

The 11+ is at the start of year 6. Prep usually starts in year 4

Bet the prep schools that set less homework just have student bodies who are getting more tutoring outside of school.

If you want your child to have more of a balanced out-of-school lifestyle, isn't it a bit odd to be worrying about "less impressive leavers' destinations"? At the end of the day, the secondary schools that the kids are going on to will surely all be perfectly good schools.

Those with not a lot of homework seems to have noticeably less impressive leavers destination.

I didn't spot this in the initial post. Isn't that a barn door obvious association? Those with more homework will attract parents happy to push for the 11+, who will tutor more, and get into the more academic schools. You can't really have it both ways unfortunately - nice and relaxed and then sail into the top school .

Try a state primary. I teach year 5. There is no expectation above reading.

OP - I think you are misinformed, or confusing things.
I live in the area, and have female children in these top academic preps. Plus have a lot of fiends in most of the neighbouring schools.

Here is the thing. In single sex schools - the homework level varies greatly between boys/girls.

Boys preps mostly work to 7/8+ - and in that have no choice but to front load a lot. It’s a sad situation but it’s how it is.
So - in top boys schools it’s true - there is a lot of homework, and holiday work. And exams from early on.

Girls schools work to 11+. So they have a lot more time. In those - even the Top academic ones - the isn’t the same amount of homework as in boys. Typically - untill Y4 - there is daily reading in earlier ages (tapers off once free readers), and then a piece on a weekend that doesn’t take more than 15-20min. At least it shouldn’t as per school guidance.
There is also, in some school a list of spelling words - some give it for weekend, some during the week to write the few words every day to memorise them by end of week.
Mine never did that and spent 5 min on one day.
So - untill girls reach Y5 - there isn’t really much home work.
Then, in Y5 work at school understandably picks up in prepping for exams and eventual senior school transition.
But even then - my elder only had maybe twice a week some things that were due the same week. And spent more time on the weekend.
Learning time management was important at that time as guidelines often said - not to spend 15/30 min on something and that was a challenge. But a good skill to learn.

However - I will say something else here. Having been in this schooling system for a while now - I think choosing a school by the perceived amount of homework - is not the best approach.
All schools have homework - state schools in the area just as well. And not less than preps. It’s driven both by schools need for kids to pass Sats and parents desire for kids to be competitive for private secondaries.
But - if you chose a perceived ‘lower’ pressure school - say QueensGate, or St.James - and you actually have a kid with a good academic potential - than that child will not be able to really flourish.
And won’t get her a good chance at 11+ to find the best secondary that works for her.
All schools would feed you a party line that they try to stretch all kids to their potential.
But in reality - it’s hard to teach to one kid’s different ability. So there is more focus on the middle of the class.
And that middle of the class ability would be very different in selective vs less academic schools.

Thank you so much for your replies. I read a lot on MN, but this was the first time I posted and I was wondering if anyone would reply for me. Also, being new to the area I don't know many mums around that have been through these things already. It's amazing to receive all these messages and I feel a huge support from this community.

I think I got a bit nervous when I saw many school's homework guidelines saying 'reading + 20-30 minutes of other work every night' at Year1, Year2, and that parents need to sign off the work every night. I had expected at least that level of homework, but just not that young age but more around Y5 for 11+ prep.

I thought that would be about an hour's time each evening at a young age. And it would be something like I pick them up at 18:00 (on the days I work) and get home at 18:20ish, and I have about an hour between that and their bedtime, to cover dinner, some down time, the kids playing with each other a bit,,, AND homework. And I just couldn't work out how it's meant to be possible. And on the days I don't work, if I pick them up earlier, I wanted to take them to some extra curricular activities, but I'm not sure if we could really do that if there's that much of home work.

Another thing that worried me was the impression that the homework needs to be finished for the day after it's given, most of the time. Then, if there are other family commitments some evenings, my DCs would have to do the homework maybe in the car, or by going to bed late or by getting up early in the morning to do it..?

Also, I'm not so sure how it works in reality, but if the home work is not personalised (different difficulty level for different child), serving particular purposes that can't be covered in the class, given meaningful and thorough feedback and etc, I personally doubt the efficacy of it. So the thought of becoming a slave to homework each evening, when I don't even really believe in it, got me nervous.

But having read your messages and speaking to more friends about this, it looks like it may be something I should learn to live with rather than trying to avoid, especially if I plan to sit them for 11+. (And if I sit my DS for 7+ well homework is just one of many pressure he will have to be under..).

So, my next question is.. what would be the best way to manage it (let's say before their 11+ pre starts, so maybe between reception and Y4..)? DCs attending homework club on the days I pick them up late? Give up on some after school activities? Homework while having dinner? Maybe getting up earlier to do it? If you have a family commitment (i.e, birthday etc) one evening, can they skip the homework and tell the teacher the next day? Or should I still find time to do it somehow?

Thanks again in advance..!

OP - you are getting way way ahead of yourself. You don’t need to decide how your currently 1yo boy will be doing homework.

But what you need to budget for - both state and private schools - is that you will need to hire help for pick-ups.
You can’t have kids stay at school till 18:00. It’s not only that schools aren’t set up for that. It’s also that 4/5/6 yos can’t have such long days.

Normally - kids at YR finish about 3-3:30... and most too tired for many after school activities. So - most would have, maybe none, or one of those.
As they get older - more activities get added. But still - as they need days with no activities for down time.
Then some kids will have weekend activities as there is more time then...
Weekends will also be filled with birthday parties for their many classmates...

As to adult /family activities during the weekdays - this is very unlikely.
Most kids get tired while at school and need to be in bed by 7:30-8:30...
That makes family gatherings with adults harder.

If you are coming from a culture where those family gatherings happen on the week days - you’ll end up adapting to the English schedule eventually.... everybody does. It’s the reality of life here.

But back to homework - most younger kids do their reading homework either before dinner - so - anytime between 4:30-6:30....
Or if it’s done with working parents - then before bedtime...
And weekend homework - as your schedule allows.

Older kids - and certainly by Y5 - kids should do their homework independently. So - you don’t need to sit with them.

My ds1 doesn't go to a prep school but a academic state school in London.

He is year 1 he gets 1 book to read throughout the week. 2 sets of phonics, writing, editing sentences and a full a4 page of math. Then daily tasks.

I felt this was a lot especially as we work. We do a big chunk at weekends and then split it in small chunks daily.

He still has after school activities. He also attends after school club 2 days a week. It's exhausting but they adapt. He has a hot lunch so dinners are usually something quick and easy.

I'm dread ds2 starting in September as he still feels quite young.

My experience of friends with dds at preps and some (usually church) primary schools is that they expect reading and a maths sheet every night from either YR or Y1, and it ramps up from then.

I see a lot of kids doing homework while waiting for siblings to finish their extracurricular activities, either in the car or in waiting rooms.

This is one reason why we went with a state primary that has no holiday homework and very little otherwise (15 minutes a week in Y2, goes up to an hour a week in Y6). We are aiming for selective secondaries - I’m hoping that it all works out but will know in February!

OP, DS goes to an academic London prep school and he doesn't spend more than 20-30 minutes a day on reading/projects. It's really not too bad and we do it just after school pickup.

I completely agree with @Jsku - you need to have an after school pickup nanny (ideally someone who can also read with the child daily) for YR-Y2. By Y3, they prefer to stay in after school clubs, and usually get their homework done (if any) in the club as well.

Where I am in west London - two state schools - one Church, and one top ranked state - had more homework during the week in earlier years than my prep-educated kids.

It’s probably school dependent.

OP, you will work out a system that works for your family. But be warned that there is a disconnect between wanting the "most impressive" secondary school and wanting a balanced primary school age lifestyle with lots of time for family commitments and stuff. If you want your kids in a hothouse secondary school they will probably have to be hothoused. Even if you find a school that is less pressured and does not set as much homework, you will probably just have to make up the difference with tutoring instead.