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Secondary education

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Original poster

bright year 9 struggling in school

60 replies

Mmmbacon · 18/01/2015 18:03

Dd is quite bright and well capable of a and b's but her Christmas test results are disgracefully all c and ds

She is already doing after school homework and study club but hasn't had the desired effect,

Her maths for exp went from 90's last year to 55 this year, she has no reason not to be getting A's in maths as I do maths grinds as a side line,

Any advice on how to get her to buckle down, really struggling with her as although behaviour is ok when she is not with us she is different child, caught shoplifting once etc,

She had traumatic exp few years back, diagnosed with ptsd, but psychologist recently very happy with her,

She wants to become a teacher so needs to really buckle down now to have a chance

OP posts:
Pensionerpeep · 20/01/2015 00:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SugarPlumTree · 20/01/2015 07:31

I think she is utterly knackered and you are seeing that reflected in her grades.

Unexpected · 20/01/2015 08:49

Poor girl sounds exhausted to me. I have a DS in Yr9, at one of the top performing comps in the country, and he seems to have hardly any homework at all! We would be lucky if he did two hours a week! I appreciate our school is slightly unusual in having gone in the opposite direction but it seems to work for them. For GCSE, there really is no need to be doing two hours a night in Yr9.

I know you said you love your daughter and are proud of her but your language and phrasing suggests otherwise. You seem to think that the only options are that she is lazy, distracted or uninterested, not that she is crying out for help, of which the shoplifting seems to be a classic sign. I hope she is not aware of your thoughts and that she actually feels you are supporting her.

Speak to her teachers, cut back on the after-school homework, let her keep her activities up, make sure she is sleeping enough and eating properly, and if she really needs maths tutoring pay for someone else to do it - teaching your own child is mostly a recipe for disaster!

Phoenixfrights · 20/01/2015 16:41

Personally I think anything more than 5 hrs per week of any kind of homework is too much. I certainly never did more than that and did very well. Is the school doing its job properly, is what I am wondering here.

Original poster
Mmmbacon · 20/01/2015 21:23

Ok, so school came back with recommending 9-11 hours per week of homework plus revision, so Dr bang in the middle of those guides, year head said she thinks dd is either dumbing down or genuinely hasn't a notion on how to study effectively, and possibility of both,
so she is going to make appt with school councillor for dd and see what next term brings,

Would still like to hear from other year 9 parents to compare as I am still questioning now if two hours is too much or normal at this age, particularly as head said she recommends 15+ for year tenConfused maybe this is norm but seems an awful lot,

OP posts:
Hakluyt · 20/01/2015 21:35

Utterly ridiculous!

I have an able year 9 and he does an absolute maximum average of an hour a day, usually less. Nothing at all on Friday- he does two after school clubs, and nothing on Saturday- sport. He sets aside a couple of hours on a Sunday in case he needs it but usually he doesn't. He is always on top of his homework.

His sister as in a very well regarded grammar school and she wasn't doing that sort of homework timetable until GCSE year.

Is she doing work that is set, and marked and returned? What sort of marks is she getting for it? Are all her friends working the same sort of hours?

pointythings · 20/01/2015 21:36

My DD is on course for As and A* in all her subjects and has no more than 5-6 hours of homework a week. She revises during break and lunch and then tops up at home, so she's doing nowhere near as much as your DD is. I think your DD's school is not teaching effectively if they think a Yr9 needs this much homework. Towards Yr10 the focus should be on revision and independent working/research as well.

Original poster
Mmmbacon · 20/01/2015 21:57

Ok so back to maths as that is bone of contention with me, dd didn't understand school work and admittedly after lecture from me for not asking for help she came home and asked for help, so went through everything with her, made sure she understood homework, and corrected it for her, she went to school and I asked what teacher said etc and dd said she didn't look at it never mind correct, Mark or ask if anyone had any difficulty!

Beginning to think it is more school than homework or ddSad

OP posts:
titchy · 20/01/2015 22:05

Give the teacher a chance - you can't expect her to drop everything and mark the he immediately!

Armpitt · 20/01/2015 22:07

2 hours a night for year 9 sounds DULL and too much
its Two years until her exams!!

Armpitt · 20/01/2015 22:08

OP you sound a tad obsessed about her work
No wonder she is rebelling

leave her alone a bit and give her a break

Original poster
Mmmbacon · 20/01/2015 22:10

I don't titchy but surely if homework is to reinforce school learning, then before moving on to next level you check that the class as a whole tried homework and ask if there were any problems before ploughing on?

OP posts:
Hakluyt · 20/01/2015 22:16

Is homework usually marked?

Original poster
Mmmbacon · 20/01/2015 22:20

Armpit 2 hours a night is what dd does BUT having double checked after everyone else saying it's loads school confirmed 9-11 hours a week for her year recommended increasing to 15+ next year,

Her Christmas Card read almost entirely of can do better, capable of more, disappointing effort, so while I might sound obsessed now I am generally very relaxed, never had to worry about dd school work until this year, and suddenly we find ourselves in uncharted territory,

OP posts:
titchy · 20/01/2015 22:22

That's way too much - she'll be burnt out way before she sits her GCSEs.

TheFallenMadonna · 20/01/2015 22:24

I wouldn't be marking homework if I was expected to set that much! That is bonkers. And unnecessary. Presumably if she is getting grades rather than levels, she is starting GCSE courses now? My year 9s are not where they will be in Year 11, and I don't expect them to be.

Hakluyt · 20/01/2015 22:34

I think I'm confused. Is she actually set enough homework to take 2 hours a night?

Original poster
Mmmbacon · 20/01/2015 22:42

Madonna tbh I'm beginning to think I haven't a clue,communication with school doesn't seem to be great unless it's to-do with dd missing days, then they said last year that they wouldn't be streaming them into ability classes, but this year is completely different class mix, she is getting graded out of 100 which confuses me even more as they are different grades to Irish grades and don't even get me started on stars, So I just correct them in my head back to a1 a2 then b123 as I am too old in the tooth to be bothered!!!

OP posts:
Armpitt · 20/01/2015 22:43

how do you know all the test results? what is 55? 55%?

Original poster
Mmmbacon · 20/01/2015 22:56

They held Christmas tests and ccorrected papers were then sent home after holidays to be signed accompanied by the teachers comments, 55 is 55% so a c3 at home and borderline to a passing d grade, no idea about UK too late at night to work out! And I've already lost part of my anonymity to this thread saying grinds so can admit I'm actually a bit clueless which isn't helping matters

OP posts:
Hakluyt · 20/01/2015 23:00

You can't possibly translate the grades like that- it's an entirely different mqrking scheme. Are the as and bs and ds she's getting gcse grades? Because if they are, of course she's not getting As in year 9!

Original poster
Mmmbacon · 20/01/2015 23:02

Sorry haklyut, homework is between 60-90 mins a night with study of half an hour to an hour On top, I know Dr is avid reader so she reads during this time aswell

Actually another question, is it normal for year 9 to have a whole class dedicated to free reading?

Someone else asked if homework I'd always corrected and answer seems to be random spot checks during week so homework has to be done by due date, but they do seem to be corrected at some stage

OP posts:
Armpitt · 20/01/2015 23:05

agree - grades move about all over the place depending on quality of answers

Armpitt · 20/01/2015 23:05

i would take in a set of books every two weeks to mark a couple of homeworks

TheFallenMadonna · 20/01/2015 23:07

Percentages are not very meaningful in terms of summative assessment. It depends on the demand of the test! To be blunt, in year 9 I want someone who is well focused in class and who gives the independent work I set, either for homework or in class, their best shot. Then I can work out where their strengths and weaknesses are and work on that. Crazy amounts of revision is not the way to develop understanding, skills or very crucially enjoyment of a subject.