homework during GCSEs? AIBU?

[HattiFattner]

My DD is top set in everything, Y10, doing fast track GCSEs in several subjects. Yet still being loaded with homework.

On Thursday, she has biology GCSE, which counts 30% of her final mark. SHe also has history mock today, and Statistics mock on Wednesday. Last night she got over 2.5 hours of homework as well.

I raised this during recent parents evening when they were writing mocks and getting 4 hours hw some nights, (my DD is a grafter, and so this is not 2 hours of hw and 2 hours of procrastination - its 4 hours of hw)

Thismorning Ive written to the head of year to complain about homework - if she was Y11, she'd be getting study leave, now she si doing a full days work, coming home to a couple of hours of hw and then having to study deep into the evening. I cannot see that this is right or acceptable that last night she had to choose which was more imoortant to her: he biolocy, her hstory mock or her homework, which will earn her detention if she doesnt do it.

Does seem to be poor planning on part of school. We have DD in year 11 who is taking GCSE's now. Still a fair amount of homework but most if it is now revision based for forthcoming exams.

Study leave will start in May here

If she finishes school mid afternoon, she should have time to do it all, no?

My dd is 8 and gets about 4hrs of homework every afternoon and the school would laugh in your face and send you packing if you complained.But then I'm abroad where parents don't think they know better than teachers.

What is this study leave? We never got that. Tsk.

If she is being "fast tracked" (does this mean doing exams early?) then I guess the homework+the mocks is why. The price you pay and all that.

she gets home at 4. Has a snack and changes clothes, starts HW at 4:30. Works until 7, eats, relaxes for an hour, then back to the books......until 10.

So a working day of 8am to 10pm?

Yes that sounds about normal for a child that grafts, I've got 2. One in year 10 and 1 in yr 13. But the hw tends to come in fits and starts. You may find it quietens down for a few days so she gets a break next week.
My dd was up till 11pm last night but this weekend she should be able to have a break. It really is down to them to plan their time, both my girls manage to fit in work, ballet and a bit of fun.
I thought gcse's were tough for dd 1 but believe me a levels are even harder and much much more work.
My job is to provide food, clean up after them and minimise any stress!!!! they do a few chores like cleaning their own room but I don't ask for as much as I did and I don't expect it either.

Too much, probably a waste of breath moaning. Ensure she hands in the absolute bear minimum not have to waste time in detention and concentrate on her exams.

That clearly should be bare minimum.
Dyslexia and posting about education is a bad mixture.
I suspect fast tracking is a practice that causes differences of opinion amongst the staff. Some may not wish to change their planning and reduce work loads.
Unfortunately this means you and your daughter have to find a way of doing so.
Easy for those of us who spent our entire school careers avoiding HW like the plague, but getting good enough marks in assessments that the teachers could only steam quietly.
Very much harder for hard working compliant types who don't already know the art of cutting corners.

My kids don't get anything like 4 hours homework. It sounds excessive, much more like the work load for sixth form (1 to 2 hours for every taught hour). They don't need to do anything like that much to cover the syllabus. They should also be giving her time to do past papers etc.

hmmm....mixed opinions then. I dont object to homework per se.......but the high volumes in the weeks they do their GCSEs just doesnt seem right.

ANyway, I have written and asked them to review their policy - 'tis the best I can do for now.

Especially loading extra HW for misbehaviour of classmates in RE.......that one took the proverbial biscuit, and I think was the thing that finally made me act.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Since at DD1s school RE is compulsory and misbehaviour therefore very likely. I would complain about that one too!
I would certainly have complained if innocent parties had got in trouble for my behaviour in RE.
I'm an Atheist and had a very dim view of our CofE centric lessons.

This is the price you pay for the school trying to squeeze the maximum number of GCSEs possible out of every student. This is aggravated by dividing up GCSE courses into modules and examining them through the academic year. This all takes place against a background where all the other subject teachers are still applying pressure. This is because they are terrified that there might be a dip in the results in their subject. Hence they don't cut back on the amount of hwk they set.

The whole system needs a complete overhaul. Education should be exactly that educating, not craming to certify on a given day. Coursework should be abolished and all GCSEs should be examined in May/June of Y11,with resits in Jan of y12 if necessary. You should not be able to take them early. No-one needs more than 7 or 8 GCSEs, it is only done by schools desparate to up their point scores.

I taught French for many years, and I am horrified to see the situation prevailing in many schools now. Schools attempt to have MFL taught in the least amount of time possible, as soon as there is a chance of a grade C, students are entered for GCSE. By the time I took O Level French I could read novels in French, and had voluntarily read several. Now I would be extremely lucky (and probably in a Public School) not to have been 'bunged in' for GCSE at the earliest opportunity. After which there would be no more MFL teaching.Thus I would never have been able to gain the skills/knowledge necessary to progress my French to the stage where I could read a novel.

So OP it is the system at fault, perhaps you should address your complaints to Michael Gove.

HattiFattner I think its very poor planning of the school to have mocks and real GCSEs at the same time. If one of my DCs was in the same situation I would encourage them to ask class teachers for extensions on homework and concentrate on the exam work. If teachers weren't sympathetic I would certainly write and complain. At my DCs school the different departments always seemed to coordinate the workload so that there wasn't a pile up of conflicting things. There is a difference between balancing a workload and being put under ridiculous pressure.

A normal working day is 9 - 5. Assuming your child is at school 9-3.00 that is 5 hours (take out an hour for breaks / lunch)

She works from 4.30 to 7, then has at least an hour off so 2.5 hours so say se has 7-8.30 for dinner and to relax she then does 8.30 - 10, another 1.5 hours, so only 1 hour longer than if she was working in Tesco or an office.

Since when are 15 year olds supposed to do the equivalent of working in tesco If you are working hard at school/revising and doing homework you need a break or you stop taking in information properly.

'I think its very poor planning of the school to have mocks and real GCSEs at the same time.'

That often happens as the exam hall is set up and therefore it makes it logistically easier to get a bunch of exams done at the same time. It is made worse by early entry/ examining module by module/ frequent resits. The number of individual papers sat has gone up exponentially.See my last post.

If she is doing fast-track GCSEs, surely an integral part of this is lots of homework?

If she can't hack the pace, then she should be taking her GCSEs over two years and not be fast-tracking them.

Rennie,

The chaos from the examination system is being removed. Current Year 9s (not fast-tracked ones) will be sitting all their GCSEs at the end of Year 11. Current Year 10s will be sitting 60% of their modules at the end of Year 11.

There are controlled assessments, done in class, that contribute to the final marks, but these are nothing like the old coursework.

Sounds way too much homework even without the exams. Learning how to prioritise ruthlessly is a life skill. The biology is the real thing and should be top priority, the mock doesn't matter (it's feedback or her as much as for the teachers) and if she's normally a grafter, surely the teacher will accept a written request to hand in the homework late? The teachers will be expecting her to learn to prioritise. Surely no need to complain.

I don't think my sons have EVER had 2.5 hours of homework in one evening, including when the eldest was doing 5 A levels.

Bucharest - 4 hours homework for an 8 year old?

Is it to make up for the substandard teaching at school?

Haziedoll - lol

hard working kids always will work hard, my second son needs dragging away from his books - be thankful for those mercies - the oldest is allergic to homework
y11s will not have study leave at the moment, not y12s or y13s - all arwe doing exams and still getting homework.
BTW tomorrows exam is worth 25% not 30 - good luck to your dd

I am amazed at some of the comments on this thread. Our ds goes to one of the most academic schools in the UK. He is in L6 now but has 11 A*s and one A at GCSE/IGCE. He did three in Y10 and the rest in Y11. The mocks were at this time of the year and reflected the real thing. I don't remember any overlaps with mocks and the real thing. Even in Y10 when he did three early the mocks/GCSE's took precedence. I don't remember the school ever being unreasonable but then I don't remember ds killing himself either. Certainly in Y11 he didn't do anything for his mocks until the last few days of the Xmas holiday and throughout his school career at the school from the age of 8 I don't think he ever did unreasonable amounts of homework - certainly not four hours at the prep end as some posters have claimed.

Actually though, faced with the real thing, a mock and ordinary homework I don't think there is a choice. The real thing takes precedence, followed by the mock, then the homework. That's how one prioritises as an adult and it's a very useful skill for them to learn.

Our dd is top average and will probably get about 9 GCSE's with a mixture of B's, A's and a few A*s. She will probably put in as much effort as DS for that and we will be every bit as proud.

Haziedoll- you got it!

I stropped and stropped at the beginning and said things like "harump- the teacher gets paid to teach my child, I do not."

Realised was banging my head against a brick wall and now we get on with it.And believe me, we parents are far more terrified when the kids don't do the homework than they are, because it's us who get called in to explain ourselves. (did it just this morning, because dd forgot maths book)