Have you ever challenged the sheer volume of homework your child gets at parents evening?

[jewel1968]

And if so how was it met. Any tips? My child is getting way too much I think.

I brought up the issue of time spent on each piece at the end of last term with the Head of Year. There must have been some communication among teachers and for a couple of weeks some of them made a point of saying how long a piece should take. DS took no notice (or just couldn't work out how to work in that timeframe) and it made no difference. He gets essays back saying 'very good, but you couldn't do this in a 30 min exam', yet I think unless someone SHOWS him how to construct any essay in 30 mins, and show him a 'stock answer', he's never going to improve.
For him it's partly his ASD but also I'm thinking it's a bit of general brainwashing from the school about striving for your best. Kids seem to be under so much pressure all the time. And there are some kids who are massively high-achievers, so it makes the bar quite high for everyone. Parents' evening in two weeks and - without being confrontational - I really want to get the point across that I don't want DS to be under unnecessary stress.

Can I just ask: in schools where they have a homework timetable (presumably) and only allow so much per subject per night - how do the various teachers co-ordinate that? In my DS's school handbook there is criteria about how many hours per night according to year but there's no way on earth they stick to it or monitor it. It's random and disorganised and has been since the very start of Year 7. I'm damn sure the maths teacher doesn't consult with the history teacher, etc etc. I'm pretty sure some of them don't even know themselves what they're going to do and make it up at the end of the lesson. I never expected to find myself yelling 'fgs, do the bare bloody minimum and hand it in'!

She performs well in exams and has no problems with timings. I think it is as 'striving for your best' culture that results in her producing more and more. And i agree a timetable would help as then there would be some understanding across the year.

DD's school is haphazard for most subjects wrt homework. The only one which is consistent is maths. But I think I prefer that to them being given homework 'because the timetable says they have to' that is meaningless or 'busy work'. The homework DD does get is useful - it is really clear what the purpose of it is.

@deepflatflyer at my children's old school the history teacher didn't have to consult the maths teacher because there was a published homework timetable. Each year the teachers knew when they would be able to set homework for each class and I assume they planned their lessons accordingly.

The school was also very clear that they didn't want children to spend more on their homework than the set limit. That was partly because they didn't want them spending their whole evenings doing homework and partly because it gave them a better view of how well each child was doing.

At your DD’s age I would advise telling her that there is a diminishing return from time spent getting homework even close to perfect. She should direct her energies to competing with herself in fitting as much homework as possible in say 1hr30 minutes per day. Then, as she is highly motivated, she could spend the rest of the time she wants to work on doing additional reading, devising and answering questions on the class topics, extra maths, vocabulary learning, watching a film in the language she is learning or whatever she is interested in. Tell her that is a more effective way to higher standards.

@sendsummer I will try that. I have tried a version of what you describe but not as specific as what you suggest. I spoke to various teachers and asked them on average how much time should she spend per week on their subject. They all said roughly an hour. She is doing 12 subjects. She says that some of the teachers are not factoring in that sometimes some of the teachers will tell the class to learn something that hasn't been covered in class and then do an exercise on the topic. The learning time is not included in their one hour estimate.

@deepflatflyer that kind of communication between teachers wouldnt be possible but shouldnt be necessary. We have a homework timetable where the pupils are told which night they should be completing each subject's homework and as teachers we then work out when to set it. E.g. if I have a class I see on a monday and a friday and they are supposed to do their homework on a Wednesday I will set it on the monday to take in on the Friday. If we see them consecutive days we set it after the 2nd lesson of the week so they have 6 days to complete it

I dont expect my pupils to take longer than the allocate time they are given but I also set reasonable tasks. If they cant complete it then I would he talking to them about that - I have had the discussion with many first year pupils about not needing to use 10 different colours etc etc...

I know very well it wouldn’t be possible - I was being facetious. And without a homework timetable, teachers don’t know what other calls there are on the kids’ time. Problem is our school is just so disorganised. So we swim against the tide all the time... I’m going to mention this again at parents’ eve next week. I can see myself becoming more and more rebellious ...

I was just answering your question - there's no need to be so snippy.

I have a dd in y11 she spends about 1 hour a day and likely 2 -3 weekends holiday. She is dyslexic and writes slow but from feedback of friends I think this is pretty average in their school

Ours are all on their portal. So if a teacher sets homework they can see what else the children have been set. Ds says sometimes they’ve been given homework and the class will say they’ve had a lot set, the teacher has gone on and looked and has then set it to be handed in at a later date. I didn’t think I’d like that, but it has really worked and now in year 10, he has about an hour a night. Some nights he has none, and others it’s just reading. He’s in mostly top sets, predicted all B’s, some A’s if he pushes it, so even the top students aren’t given a load to do. I like it a lot, because he doesn’t stress about it, there’s no 3 hours that have to be done for tomorrow worries. Also it must work- they are the top performing school in the county (state).

What does their homework policy say? Have they not given guidance on how long to spend per subject? My DDs boarded and prep was a set time. So the teachers actually understood the time that was available and the timetable was adhered to. As a result they did lots of extra activities and didn’t focus solely on academics. It was healthier I think.

What is she actually producing in 3-4 hours? Surely the teachers must know the work she hands in has taken too long? I, actually, would talk to individual teachers to see if they understand the problem. Are they marking and monitoring this homework?

She shouldn’t be doing 12 GCSEs either. 10 is normal these days. Who needs 12? Didn’t the school give advice on this? It cannot be helping to overload the subjects either.

I would not say Bs is top set or top student territory. That sounds like coasting to me. Are they not graded 1-9 now?

She was doing 13 subjects but dropped one. She is a very able student and whilst the teachers recognise the effort they seem to see it as a positive and so encourages it. I have spoken to her about planning the homework and limiting the time she spends on it and she stuck to it. Let's see how long it lasts.

She seems to enjoy studying and always has enjoyed it but I think recently it has tipped into something else. I am afraid we are like chalk and cheese in that regard but I guess it takes all sorts. Thanks for all the advice

And I looked for the homework policy but could not find it on the website

Use of homework timetables depends on the school/teachers. With my DS, there was a timetable, but sadly many teachers just ignored it and set homework as and when they wanted. They had the show my homework app, but again, some teachers didn't use it - they'd either just mention it in the lesson or send out an email afterwards. All systems like that depend on the teachers complying rather than doing their own thing.

BubblesBuddy In Wales so A-G still for us!
He was a total coaster anyway, and would be capable of A’s across the board (according to his teachers, exam results, hence top set), however he started suffering with anxiety after a death of a child in our family last year, so it was felt that the expectation of getting A’s, was something that could be taken away, by moving doing his predictions, and therefore the pressure, which he should easily get. So we are basically on all B’s and anything above is a bonus :)

Oh! I’m really sorry about that. It just sounded a bit odd for top set.

I still think it’s folly to take more than 10 GCSEs. No university wants this. 10 at top grades is better than 12 with lower grades.

Apparently homework policies are no longer mandatory (ofsted don’t require them) but I think good schools should communicate expectations to parents so it’s a shame they are silent on this as they are setting homework.

@BubblesBuddy I agree with you about numbers of subjects and it is contributing to overwork. She is predicted mostly 9s with a couple of 8s. She is an overworked. Have tried the - it's a marathon not a sprint argument. I think I am having some success.