Secondary school homework

[seeker]

My dd is starting secondary school in September. She has a lot of outside school interests and I am worried that she will have to give a lot of them up to fit in the homework. Have your dcs had the same problem?

Don't stress about it now. It depends very much on the child and the school. At some schools homework in reality is simply a myth, and the little they get set can mostly be completed very quickly - often in a quick session in the library after school, or during form periods.

At other schools homework is far more onerous, and time demanding.

One thing: do check how long homework should take, and make sure she sticks to it. Some hardworking conscientious (girls especially) can sometimes find themselves spending far, far longer than expected on homeworks - with no real benefit except for the erosion of their freetime.

Make sure she has a dedicated space in which to complete her homework, and encourage her to develop a routine for doing homework efficiently and promptly.

IMO the most important homeworks to spend time on are regular time spent learning vocab for languages, and any research/prep for the next lesson. As failure to complete these promptly and thoroughly will hinder her learning and progressing.

No - one DS at independent, one at local comprehensive. Neither ever had much homework until GCSE coursework came in. DS2 had friends at his school who were training in elite sports squads for professional football/Olympics and they managed the work without difficulty - getting good GCSEs at the end.

I've found (3 now gone/going through secondary) that they hit them quite hard with homework in the first few weeks but that it often drops off. Don't panic if it seems heavy at first. Also make sure they are prioritising - some work won't have to be in for a week - there's no need to do it all in one night but don't let it slide either. It's quite a skill balancing it all.

Good look.

look?? Good Luck.

You might have to prioritise if she finds it hard going. I tutor children after school and one of my biggest bug-bears is that they have so many other actitivies that their school work often suffers. True, I see mainly children who are needing help but many seem to have frantic after-school lives that would exhaust anyone!

IMO one or two after school things are enough, but you will need to see how it goes.