How much homework in Grammar compared to State schools?

[Nena7]

Hi,
Anyone who can give an indication of how much homework you receive at a Grammar school, compared to a State school, generally, especially in Year 7?

I know it's a big step up up from Primary wherever you go, and that the schools vary individually, but as a general rule?

How much time does your child spend on homework a day/week?

Thank you!

DS got about 2 to 3 hours a night (Grammar) in yr 7. This actually tailed off a bit in yrs 8 and 9 for some reason then was ramped up to 3 hours a night in the GCSE/A level years

I thought Grammar schools were state schools?

DD1's comp says 5hrs/week KS3, and 10hrs KS4.
DD1 now y11 has always needed longer than the guidelines though.

It depends on the individual school of either type. My DD was getting roughly an hour per evening in yr7 (GS). She was used to this amount from her primary anyway so it wasn't that big a deal - the major change was that it didn't all have to be done by the next day which is great if they can self-schedule but hard if they leave it all till sunday evening. Some kids spend longer on work than the school actually wants them to - if you find your yr7 is spending 2-3 hours you might want to check whether that's what they're really meant to be doing - a good school will actually want them to have a life, time for extra-curricular activities and sleep! Once you get further up, the amount will depend on what subjects they do for GCSE - some have more coursework than others (art and the tech subjects particularly)

Grammar schools are state schools tooooooo.

Ours is a comp/academy - 6 hours per subject per half term is our guideline. That includes some subjects like maths that set a bit every week, and other subjects like history that set a project per half term.

Thank you for your answers.

I apologise for the incorrect use of terms, I trust you can figure out what I mean.

You can often look at the homework policy of individual schools on their websites. It varies so much from school to school that it's impossible to generalise.

It's also something you can ask at open evenings or if you have a tour of the schools you're interested in.

I think that you might have to be aware that in grammar schools some children will have been extensively tutored to get there but not really grammar school standard. Therefore these children can take a lot longer over homework and not be able to breeze through it in the way that some of the others can. Homework policies tend to be an average expectation and if a child is taking a lot longer, this should be a cause for concern and flagged up with the school. Also, some teachers tend to set more than others. In year 7 mine had 1 hour per night in total and 3 subjects. This was done at a set time as it was at boarding school. Many of the pupils were grammar school standard.

The other thing to be aware of is that some 'homework' will be to finish classwork, so some kids don't get left with so much to do in the evening as others if they get down to it in school. And others will do a fair bit in breaktimes or on the way home.

Oh, and another thing. If a school gives a time limit- stick to it. 30 minutes a subject? Timer on, 30 minutes, then stop. Otherwise the school has no idea of whether the homework policy is working or not.

Yes - unless it's a project type thing that the child is really into and actually enjoying doing more of.

26 hours over 2 weeks (2 week timetable).

Schools may suggest 30 minutes, but when quizzed, one English teacher at the previous school reckoned that dyslexic DS needed to spend "at least an hour" to avoid very low grades.

Blimey, my DD2 is in year 8 grammar, no way does she do hours of homework

"Schools may suggest 30 minutes, but when quizzed, one English teacher at the previous school reckoned that dyslexic DS needed to spend "at least an hour" to avoid very low grades."

That sounds like a teacher who isn't supporting your child's special needs to me.

Any school that needs its yeqr 7s to be doing 2/3 hours of homework a night is doing something wrong. What are they doing all day, ffs?

2/3 hours in year 11 with GCSEs coming up, certainly. But year 7?

Worth looking at how many lessons the schools have per day as that can give a guide to the number of pieces per night (worst case scenario and teachers break their own policy and set on the 'wrong' night...). So the grammar Ds might have gone to has 6 lessons per day with up to 4 hwks, one of the comps has 5 lessons per day with 3 hwks, the other comp and the independent he ended up at have 4.5 lessons per day with 3 hwks.

Somw grammars will claim to give less hmwk than non grammars as they get more done in class time (they claim). Personally I think they all vary so much it's impossible to generalise. Some schools also go for lots ofextended projects rather than nightly hmwks.

Grammar here and we get up to 3 pieces a day. Some times that takes 20 mins, no more than an hour a day. Homework is mostly done after school in the school library. No homework over the weekends so far.

DS1 is at a grammar. He gets homework in between 1 and 3 subjects per day. He is supposed to do 60-90 minutes per day. Some homework is done quickly. It's all in his planner and he is keeping on top of it.

It varies from school to school.

DD1 is at a grammar, and she got less homework in year 7 than she did iat her private junior school.

Once they get to GCSE, it ramps up for everyone, of course.

I disagree with setting a timer for 30 minutes. The child needs to do what is set and would get into trouble for not completing it.

If you think your child is taking too long or getting too much homework, then talk to the teachers about it. Don't leave it to an 11 year old to explain about his mum's timer idea.

If it says 30 minutes then the child need to focus for 30 minutes then stop. A note in the planner to explain.

Timer didn't work with Ds (AS). Just distressed him listening to it tick away. Sure it works with other children though.

It's annoying and wrong if schools only set "finish class work " types of hmwk because the less able or quick children get more and more demoralised at having to do more hmwk than their peers.

The child needs to do what is set and would get into trouble for not completing it.

They absolutely shouldn't get in trouble if they've spent an appropriate amount of time - which should be indicated by the school at each level - and have been working properly during that time. DD's school specifically advises that they should do as much as they can in the time they're supposed to spend on it. (a) the teacher needs to know if someone is struggling and spending longer than they should - you may mask a problem by forcing them to complete a task which is beyond them to do in the time. (b) some kids are too perfectionist and may spend longer than is good for them. If they claim in yr7 to need to spend hours each evening and it's impacting on the time available for other activities and sleep, that's not at all in their interests. (c) sometimes teachers simply overestimate the time something will take.

One of the main purposes of homework in the lower years is to teach the child how to manage their time - focus on something and get it done to the best of their ability in the time available. They'll be doing exams and controlled assessments in limited time in the future, they need to learn this skill.

As Hak said, in KS3 they all have planners which you're supposed to sign, so you can use this to communicate with the teacher.

I wouldn't set an actual timer either - just be aware if they're spending too long.