How much extra work do your Yr5/6 DC do at home?

Dakotajacks · 2023-07-26T15:16:57+00:00

There is the usual mix of kids & parents in DS’s class. Some are really laid back and the regular homework is a stretch. Other DCs seem to be pushed hard already, with regular tutors and workbook cramming. DS is bright enough. He does the basic set homework, but nothing more so that he has time for play/his own interests. So he’s not especially pushed. We think it’s the school’s job to teach him, not ours! Are we a bit naive, and will he fall behind or is it the norm to boost DCs’ progress with a bit of extra push?

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Paddingtonthebear · 26/07/2023 16:18

Just finished Y5 but apart from a weekly maths task that takes about 10 mins, there is no homework at our school

TeenDivided · 26/07/2023 16:19

Non grammar area.

At that age I did some extra maths with my DDs in the summer holidays, not to get ahead but to catch up / keep skills live.
Also the library Reading Challenge.

Mintearo7 · 26/07/2023 17:13

A friend who’s DC has just done year 7 was just saying the primary didn’t prepare the kids properly because homework wasn’t compulsory. Basically they regret not doing as much homework as they could have because it’s made the secondary settle in a bit of a shock. It depends on the schools really.

Pepperama · 26/07/2023 18:05

Hasn’t done any extra work during primary apart from occasionally and reluctantly a worksheet or spelling, if I made him. Teacher always said he was totally fine and they seemed to repeat everything over and over anyway so I didn’t see the point

Busornobus67 · 26/07/2023 19:04

Wish had done more in y5 as y6 was a bit of a cram.
And i think reading skills dropped off a bit. As had been getting greater deoth but just scraped it on sats.
Would really depend on the child. Anything below greater depth i would try to push up.
As many kids have been pushed by school (who werent that bright) but have gotten GD through the repetition. So if your kid is capable you want to ensure they are one of those.
Dd will also be set in y7 for maths.
but i think writing is also used to predict gxse grades so i would have put more focus on getting that .

TheShorestAnswerIsDoing · 26/07/2023 19:53

Approx 1 h per day. 15 min of moaning and fussing around substracted equals realistically... 45min
Plus he reads.

merryhouse · 26/07/2023 21:28

Will you be aiming for selective secondary? If so, then apparently - however ridiculous it sounds - it is not the school's job to teach them (the entrance exams test things that are not on the primary national curriculum).

If you're not in a grammar area then a reasonable school should be doing enough. (With the proviso that part of that may be asking you to do certain things, standard homework or more depending on child.)

We did very little homework in Y5/Y6. Not much in Y8/9 either, come to think of it. And apparently S1 used to do "all his homework" at school even later than that. (S2 had more essay subjects so was more obviously working in the evenings.)

I put my energy into the hobbies I wanted them to have ;-)

Fudgewomble · 26/07/2023 21:32

DC1 sat highly competitive entry 11+ exams to private secondary school so he had 2x tutors and did extra work (probably 4 hours a week total) . DC2 at same school via 7+ and does absolutely nothing extra now going into year 6. He’s going to get the shock of his life in yr7 and he knows it!

DanceMumTaxi · 26/07/2023 21:41

Ds just finished yr 5 and just does normal weekly homework which is a maths task and then either spellings or a grammar task. There should also a reading task but he does this in school because he has time. He’s been greater depth since reception and we don’t do any extra with him. But he is a really good reader and he reads every night in bed. He loves reading and devours books. I think this has really helped in school. He is bright, but I’ve got no doubt that reading so much has helped his writing. His preference is maths and he’s really very good at it, but the reading has massively helped with everything else.

DanceMumTaxi · 26/07/2023 21:42

We’re not in a grammar area though and ds will go to our local high school.

RudsyFarmer · 26/07/2023 21:42

I have to say we do do extra work and it shows. I started to realise over lockdowns how much help I could offer the children educationally by encouraging ‘little and often’ learning. My eldest is now one of the top in his year group.

The children read daily. It’s the first thing they do when they wake up over the holidays. I’m doing tiimes tables and time telling with the little one across the summer and a 11+ software with my older child as he is taking an exam in the Autumn. He also has tutoring once a week.

Once the exam is over we will start to prepare for SATS. He is hoping to do the same career as his father which requires pure maths and high attainment in the Sciences. I know he might change his mind once he gets to his options but I want to give him the best opportunity to follow whatever career path he chooses.

Original poster

Dakotajacks · 26/07/2023 21:45

He has a little more than that: spellings, alternating weekly writing/comprehension or maths piece and the usual reading, but that’s about it. No science and the maths is mostly routine.

OP posts:

Penguinandduck · 26/07/2023 21:48

None. DS has ASD/ADHD and often didn’t even manage the minimal homework set as it cause such meltdowns. He was behind in lots of things in yr 4/5 but by end of year six he managed to get “expected” in all his SATs so it had obviously sunk in somewhere along the line.

user1471474138 · 26/07/2023 21:48

Honestly nothing - school set homework v rarely and then only maybe 10-15 min per half term. I encouraged reading every night. Thought yr 7 would be a shock but but hasn’t even had much now, 30 mins math and English per week and occasional pieces in geography, history, French, science etc.
Achieved gd in all sats and is in set 1 for maths/English/science. Waiting to see if it all ramps up in yr 8

user1471474138 · 26/07/2023 21:50

We are in a Non grammar area though

DanceMumTaxi · 26/07/2023 21:51

But if he’s doing well, does he need to do more? Aside from the reading (which he chooses to do) my ds doesn’t do extra either, but is still at the top of his class. He’ll be in top sets when he gets to high school and then will probably have more homework and then revision in his older years. He plays 3 sports too, so I don’t see the need to do loads extra at the moment tbh. I can see how it might be different for those sitting entrance exams for highly competitive schools.

SummerDuck · 07/08/2023 07:59

I would expect a year 5/6 to be doing 1 hour minimum of homework/study a night and 2 hours a day at weekends m.

Newuser75 · 07/08/2023 08:25

SummerDuck · 07/08/2023 07:59

I would expect a year 5/6 to be doing 1 hour minimum of homework/study a night and 2 hours a day at weekends m.

Is that in preparation for 11+ or just in general?

yoshiblue · 07/08/2023 10:25

I've always done a bit extra with my son, but he's very capable in maths and the 'challenge' he gets at school is woeful. We are also in a grammar area, so since Yr 3 I've been doing some light prep across all areas. Takes 30-40 mins on a weekend, no more. He has plenty of time for his sports clubs and has started an instrument.

No matter what area I was in, I'd be building a daily reading habit and working on any area where he wasn't exceeding expectations. For us, he's dropped slightly in reading so that's where I'll be focusing.

He'll have a lot of work to complete as part of 11+ prep in Year 5, but plan to back off a bit in Year 6. I won't be pushing him on additional SATs prep outside what they school is giving him.

SamPoodle123 · 07/08/2023 11:43

I would say it depends on your circumstances. We know plenty of people who do extra and have tutors for their dc. Even though they aren't planning to do the 11+. We were quite laid back. Did the bare minimum for homework (never did the challenges and for example if it said read something a daily or write spelling daily, we only ever did it once). But this worked fine for my dc. If they needed to do more, I would have pushed more. We did this until end of year 5 when we decided to do the 11+ and then we got a tutor once a week and started atom learning, but then we stopped doing much of the basic homework, as the teachers said it was fine if she was doing 11+ Basically the homework would have just been busy work, as 11+ prep a lot more challenging. Now we know my ds will do 11+ so we have added a little atom learning to help start his prep and will continue this.

Isitthathardtobekind · 07/08/2023 12:03

DanceMumTaxi · 26/07/2023 21:41

Ds just finished yr 5 and just does normal weekly homework which is a maths task and then either spellings or a grammar task. There should also a reading task but he does this in school because he has time. He’s been greater depth since reception and we don’t do any extra with him. But he is a really good reader and he reads every night in bed. He loves reading and devours books. I think this has really helped in school. He is bright, but I’ve got no doubt that reading so much has helped his writing. His preference is maths and he’s really very good at it, but the reading has massively helped with everything else.

Same experience with my y7 daughter. We focused on reading. When young, it was mainly us reading to her rather than making her read. Once she got to y2, she was far more keen to read herself. She loves to read now and did well across the board in y6 and is top set in y7 maths. When they set further, I believe she will be in top sets for that too. She didn’t really do homework in primary at all as I wanted to focus on her having time to play, draw, dance and drama groups, and family time. I’m a teacher and believe homework at primary needs to be no more than reading and number bonds/tables.

She hasn’t found secondary homework a shock. They do it well in her school with a set daily schedule. 20mins includes reading which is great. It doesn’t feel like a job to her because she loves to read anyway.

Isitthathardtobekind · 07/08/2023 12:08

DanceMumTaxi · 26/07/2023 21:51

But if he’s doing well, does he need to do more? Aside from the reading (which he chooses to do) my ds doesn’t do extra either, but is still at the top of his class. He’ll be in top sets when he gets to high school and then will probably have more homework and then revision in his older years. He plays 3 sports too, so I don’t see the need to do loads extra at the moment tbh. I can see how it might be different for those sitting entrance exams for highly competitive schools.

I agree. Same experience with my daughter. Children are only young once. I wouldn’t want them sat at a table an hour a night and weekends working on school work. There are so many other things that are good for them.
However, my children had to go to before and after school care and had long days so perhaps if they were home at 3.30, I would feel a little different.

Doveyouknow · 07/08/2023 12:16

Nothing other than reading here for yr5/6. He got greater depth in his sats though so the absence of homework doesn't seem to have been an issue. We aren't in a grammar area though so no need to cram for the 11+.

Draconis · 07/08/2023 12:30

We've always done extra work. Signed up to online maths, lots of reading.
Practised timetables too and did the extra homework apps that school offered.
Maybe about 30 mins a day on a school day. Only reading at the weekend unless they wanted to do it.
Science and geography came from a general interest from books and documentaries and history from the horrible histories programmes and books.

I think it's a mistake to assume that all education should be the school's responsibility.