My son is in year 7 and definitely since Easter he has received very little homework and any he does get is over and done with in 10 minutes. He gets 2 homeworks a week approx. I have looked on different websites and the average for year 7 is about one hour I believe.
He got 3 level 5s in primary school and his targets were set at 6c which he is more than capable of achieving but for some reason this year he is not motivated and his grades have dropped.
I've sent a letter in to the headmaster and head of year saying I am concerned about the lack of homework as they said at the open evening there would a big drive on it his year. I think if he is not achieving his potential he needs homework to remain more focused and to reinforce what he has done in class?
The head of year phoned me and said she was very surprised and was he writing all his homework down in his journal? I said if he wasn't there were no comments from teachers to say he wasn't doing it. Basically she didn't accept that the school wasn't giving enough homework and said it was my son's lack of motivation that was the problem.
I also wanted to know what strategies the school have for clever boys who are not motivated enough.
If things don't improve I will be going into see the headmaster next half term. I was always afraid of this happening when my son went to secondary school. His report was fairly good and said he was on target and working reasonbly well but when I actually speak to the teachers they paint a very different picture. I wonder whether they are careful what they put in reports as the headteacher has to sign them?
He was definitely motivated in primary and was quite competitive.
Sorry for such a long winded post. Would welcome any advice from secondary school teachers out there.