Extension Tasks - What does your school call them and does it matter?

[barmaparma]

My son is a very able student in year 8, but rarely does any of the "Optional Extension Activities" that are set because they have the word optional attached to them. We were watching a tv programme the other day where a teenager was doing an "Extra Credit" activity. I asked DS if he'd be more inclined to do the tasks if his school used the same term and he said yes, "because it sounds like you're being rewarded for it rather than it just being extra work for the sake of it". I think it might play to his competitive instincts a bit more.

What do they call it in your school and do you think it matters?
I'd love to know if there's any research been done around this.

If the TV show was in the US they have grade point averages so extra credit does indeed give them extra points towards that average.

Ours are extension work too.

Our extension tasks are often titled 'stretch yourself' or 'challenge'. I agree the 'optional' would make a lot of kids less likely to bother.

We call them extension and it doesn’t matter what you call them, some kids will pack up when they’ve done they expected.

Essentially this is down to the sort of student your child is.
Some students will do the bare minimum they can get away with.
Some students will do the maximum and put 100% effort in, and do extra (unasked) as well as following good study habits like making revision notes as they go along and constantly revisiting previous topics.

I have one of each :) and calling the tasks something different will not make a difference (as it won't to your son, once he realises he doesn't actually get any extra credit).

DD in the lockdown is consistently working 5-6 hours a day (you can guess which type of student she is!). Some of her peers' parents are complaining that their children aren't set enough work as they finish it in an hour or so.

It may be against the current ethos (either the latest education trend, the school or department) to enforce the challenging materials.

We usually have to differentiate the work to allow it to be accessible by all children in the class. Without making the children too stressed or feel inferior/superior. This includes extension / challenge / whatever you wanna call it questions.

You may not like this answer or the agree with the reasoning behind it, but that's the reality of it.

I believe they are just simply called extension questions. My daughter does them most of the time as she likes to challenge herself but I doubt my son ever did them.