Very little homework in Year 10

[Dancergirl]

Dd has just started Year 10 and so far they have had very little homework. In some subjects they don't seem to stick to the homework timetable and give it out when due. Some evenings she's had nothing to do at all.

Is this normal? Or are they just easing them in gently? She's at an academic girls' school and do iGCSEs for some subjects.

This doesn't sound right to me. Are you absolutely sure that so little homework has been set? Or are they starting off with ISAs and controlled assessments, during which DD's school doesn't set homework?

What are ISAs? Dd hasn't said anything about controlled assessments.

ISA - Individual skills assignment. They do them in science.

It might be a little too early in the curriculum for them, but these are the two reasons why DD's homework slackened off a little. At DD's school they start the new academic year at the end of June, so by October they have done two months of the syllabus already (July and September).

DS1 is Y10 as well,a selective Indi. They are doing some IGCSE as well. His homework is similar to Y9 at the moment, 2-3 pieces a day. It is normal , sometimes a teacher missed the homework time. But he generally has someting to do every day. It's not as much as I had thought, as it normally only takes him 30 mintues to an hour per day.

But there are some difference, they seems to have started to do some GCSE practice papers either at school or at home now.

I would suggest you keep monitoring, if this continues, maybe you can have a talk to the teacher.

Thanks, I am pretty sure they also started the iGCSE course in some subjects at the end of Year 9.

Unfortunately dd seems to have some poor teachers this year too. The Maths teacher is new to the school and can't keep control in lessons, some of the girls disrupt the class, make a lot of noise and answer back. Chemistry teacher - dd says he treats them like Year 7s, the work is very basic and he isn't setting any homework.

Sorry off the original topic but I'm a bit worried.

That's not very good indeed. I would suppose the school normally put their most experienced staffs in Y10&11, as these are the most important 2 years for school's performance.

DS1 had a new teacher who can't contol the class in Y8 as well, then he resigned after a term, which is a relief for us, although I was sorry for him.

Definitely getting homework here. Nothing that can't be managed, but regular in all subjects - some subjects only 15 mins, but geography is a nightmare and it's time consuming. DD using two lunchtimes a week to keep up with art (knew she would have to), but is happy to do so as she's thoroughly enjoying it.

School have said if they genuinely have no homework, they should put time aside to revise/check over that they've done in last few days.

DD is also in Y10. Homework had been fairly consistent, but tends to turn up weds onwards.
This week has been relatively light but only because they have end of topic maths and science tests.
As an aside, DDs maths tutor was looking over her last test and commented that the questions were harder than previous GCSE questions on the same topic.
It's really starting to hit home now that our DC are expected to meet higher standards for the same qualification.

How much is not very much?

DS is in Y10 and has had some homework, including revision for mini-tests, but not huge amounts. It seems to be quite manageable. I can't remember if it's less than DD had at that time, but it is definitely way less than she is getting now in Y12!

Actually, I think part of the reason it is manageable is that DS is not doing Art which took hours (although she enjoyed it) of DD's time!

DD1 seems to have loads of homework - biology recently took her 5 hours to complete! Over the course of a couple of days. DD2 seems to have much less - she's doing art and I haven't seen her do anything yet! Should I be worried?! Both in year 10.

Sandy, I would be worried about the Art. DD had friends at other schools whose Art teachers were much less well-organised and on top of things than hers and they had a nightmare getting stuff done at the end. Is it possible to get a timetable of when things are due in (projects done during the years count towards final marks.

I teach MFL and have been setting one set of vocab to learn (eg 12-15 words or a verb) plus one piece of written work (write a paragraph on work done in class or half a dozen sentences to practise a grammar point) per week for year 10/11.

If that's any help. I do think learning vocab is key in MFL GCSE tho and it's hard to do that in lesson. It may be that other subjects can cover much of the work necessary in lessons.

BTW only the biggest faculties will be able to designate specific teachers to KS4; everyone in my fac teaches KS3 and KS4.

Sandy, my dd is also y10 and by far the most hw she's had so far is for art, she's doing hours every week of it so I would question a school not sending any for art.

Overall she's getting a fair amount but not loads - science is fairly heavy as she's taking all 3. She does prob an hour a week per subject (apart from art!)

Dd doesn't seem exactly overtaxed either. First drama assessment this week though.

DD1 has less homework than DD2 in Yr8 - but she is being worked very, very hard in class. She does also do a lot of her homework in break and lunch, especially MFL vocab revision which works best with her and her group learning and then testing each other. What she does get to take home is often GCSE exam questions so that she can get used to the style of question she can expect on whatever subject matter she is working on in class.

I don't think it's a bad thing at all that the majority of the work is done in school, to be honest. She's getting killer test scores, so the school must be doing it right.

This is very odd . DS is in Y7 and has 19 pieces of homework a fortnight(!)