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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

6 year old ds kept in school to finish work at home time - whaddya reckon?

36 replies

newknifenewslain · 15/10/2007 19:08

I need objectivity here because I think I've already decided I don't like ds's new teacher's teaching style. I think the set homework is unimaginative and excessive and there is a lot of pressure to get considerable amounts of homework done; they lose their playtime on Tuesday if it isn't finished (earlier thread of mine)

Today the class were let out at just after 3.15 when finish time is 3.10 but ds did not appear. I discovered that he was finishing work along with another boy. He was sat at the table without his coat or book bag, with chairs up on the table around him.

I asked if he had misbehaved or whether he had chosen to stay and finish and was told that he needed to finish this piece of work. I was also reminded that we were a few mins late this morning (dd was ill and had to stay off school but both her brothers went in).

Now, as a result of all this Felix missed his friends that we walk home with and play in the park with after school - our mini ritual.

I won't say what I think yet, want to hearyour opinions please

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annh · 15/10/2007 19:13

I think it is completely unacceptable to keep children of that age in to complete homework. The school day is quite long enough and it is far more important to get some fresh air and release some energy on the way home than finish off some piece of work. The teacher has also taken advantage of the fact that you collect your children yourself and walk them home - suppose your child was being collected by a childminder, you were rushing for a bus, he had a dentist appointment or a music lesson?

sarah573 · 15/10/2007 19:13

If hes naughty then fair enough keep him in at playtime to do his work. But at 6 years old keeping him after school for any reason I don't think is on!

And to make a child stay for extra time to do his work if he hasn't been misbehaving - sorry but I would be livid!

juuule · 15/10/2007 19:14

I wouldn't allow it. If he needs to finish that particular piece of work then let him bring it home and finish it. Although to be honest, I wouldn't be that happy with that either but would be okay with it very occassionally.
It's as important for him to have the walk home with his friends as it is for him to do his schoolwork. Same with the playtime thing. If he is not completing the work and the rest of the class are then I would think he might be having a problem. I'd expect the teacher to contact me and we could discuss how best to approach the difficulty.

DANCESwithHughJackman · 15/10/2007 19:15

Not acceptable. End of school day is end of school day. He could be kept in at lunchtime for morning work not finished or afternoon work could be the next day's lunchtime if the teacher feels that strongly but no WAY at the end of the day.

millie99 · 15/10/2007 19:16

I would be cross particularly as it sounds as though the teacher didn't come out to say "XXX won't be long, he's just finishing something off for me" (and even then I'd be a bit cross-he's 6 fgs)

Quadrophenia · 15/10/2007 19:16

I don't think it is acceptable to keep a child of this age in at the end of a school day. Different if it's lunch time or playtime and with good reason, but ultimately then end of the day is the end of the day. what if you had to be somewhere else to collect another child, as used to be the case with me.

LadyOfTheFlowers · 15/10/2007 19:17

I may be wrong, but I think you will find they have absolutlely no right, possibly by law, to do this without your prior permission....

LazyLinePUMPKINJane · 15/10/2007 19:18

I would not be happy.

noonar · 15/10/2007 19:19

gosh. i teach year 5 and even at that age i'd never keep anyone behind after school. you're not allowed to.

if a child that is not concentrating during lessons, then she should be speaking to you about it.

littlerach · 15/10/2007 19:20

Dd1 is 6, and if they don't finish a piece of work then they finisj it the following morning before school starts.
This seems fair enough, as it doesn't interupt their day.
But after school seems tough.
Dd1 gets the school bus home, so I'd be furious if that happened.

noonar · 15/10/2007 19:20

um, this isnt a private school, by any chance, is it?

jamila169 · 15/10/2007 19:20

Totally totally wrong - if the teacher is going to keep anyone after school then they should be giving you 24 hours written notice, not just randomly keeping kids there - If its a regular occurrance then the teacher should be looking at her lesson planning as obviously she is not giving the kids enough time to do the work.
Lisa x

MrsWeasley · 15/10/2007 19:21

I would ask why he hadnt finished it in class, if too much talking, messing around then I'd have a word with DS about that, but if he worked well and still didnt finish I would express my concerns to the teacher about the length of time being allowed and suggest that he be allowed to take home any unfinished work rather than being kept in late. That way I could keep an eye on the work being set.

I would also question teh safety aspect of chairs being put on tables whislt children were still working.

My DS is 6 (7 next week) in year 2 and he has only had 1 piece of homework which was just2 question "How many squares can you see in the pattern etc!" oh and so far this year he has only had 3 spellings to learn!

LadyOfTheFlowers · 15/10/2007 19:22

There you do, see.
They are not allowed to!!

LadyOfTheFlowers · 15/10/2007 19:23

8go even, not do

RubberDuck · 15/10/2007 19:33

Losing playtime for unfinished homework?! Homework is strictly optional at our school (although they do earn homework merits if they do it - simply a piece of card with "well done" on it) and they get 2 pieces of homework a week (an A4 sheet usually that takes 10-15 mins to work through) plus spellings (nine words a week) and reading books (a book a night). Ds1 is 6 years old.

Original poster

newknifenewslain · 15/10/2007 19:35

Pretty unanimous then

My issues are thus;

Play and socialising are as important at this age as opportunities to study.

I have a 4 year old as well as dd who were kept waiting when they were both tired and it was about to rain. Often I have to fly like a blue arsed fly to get places after school.

I was given no explanation or notice initially.

I agree with comments on appropriateness at age 6 and also how the teacher is planning work schedule if work is not being finished.

She did say he had not misbehaved.

I think this kind of handling of the situation makes study unpleasant and a huuuuge turn off to children. Bad early experiences like this maketh not the conscientious teenage student!

The only thing we are guilty of is not being in school on time - and today was not the only occasion. However, as I have said before, this is only sometimes due to Felix being awkaward and more often to do with something unavoidable or my depression making me rather ineffectual of a morning.

OP posts:

SSSandy2 · 15/10/2007 19:36

can't be ideal for the teacher, staying on longer than necessary either so should think you'll be able to find a different solution for this one.

RubberDuck · 15/10/2007 19:38

I'd raise it with the head, seriously. I do think that's well out of order - both losing playtime and staying after school. Good god - what sort of break does the poor boy get?! Especially if he's got a pile of work waiting for him at home.

Primary school should be enjoyable... this is where kids need to get a love of learning from, if they haven't got it by year 6 you've pretty much turned them off learning for life

ivykaty44 · 15/10/2007 19:51

Unacceptable behaviour for a variatey of reasons - one being what if you had another child from another school to pick up and this made you late? Think of the consequences.

This teacher is acting in a very silly way and could be putting others at risk. This really needs to be explained in a clear and simple way

Original poster

newknifenewslain · 15/10/2007 20:16

Also, need to note that this was class work from today's teaching. We did the homework after a struggle and lots of being bored witless!

OP posts:

Hulababy · 15/10/2007 20:21

Even at secondary level I was only ever allowed to keep children behind - for misbehaviour generally - for a maximum of 10 minutes, without prior written letter re. dentention given out 24 hours ahead of time.

Totally inappropriate at 6yo, and not good practise. Don't agree with missing break time as punishment either, unless the bad behaviour is at break time, or child is highly likely to continue with poor behaviour out there.

Carbonel · 15/10/2007 20:24

I agree, totally unacceptable.

Sounds to me like they are cramming them for SATS already and something I would want to put a stop to it RIGHT NOW

thankfully my dd (Yr 2) does not do SATS and has no homework except 10 spellings a week (and reading which she loves so is no chore and only really gets done when I remember or she wants to )

cornsilk · 15/10/2007 20:24

I'm totally gobsmacked!
I would be really cross. Ask to see the head, teacher sounds like a control freak.
If your ds hasn't completed the work and it isn't because he was misbehaving then why wasn't he able to complete it? Has the teacher unrealistic expectations for 6 year olds?

RubberDuck · 15/10/2007 20:28

ALSO, for the sake of your ds, I'd start a kitchen timer of 15mins before you do homework. When the timer goes, no matter how much he's done, stop there and write at the bottom that you consider 15 mins of homework more than enough for a 6 year old and the rest wasn't completed because it was tedious and dull

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