How much work should year 11 be doing?

[SummerDuck]

So DS2 is going into year 11 next year and is probably your typical bright but lazy teenager. Very capable of achieving a good number of 8s and 9s next year with effort but equally would be happy to scrape by if left to his own devices.

Me and DH have agreed that we want to implement some more structure to his studying next year- i.e. handing over his phone when he gets in from school until some homework and revision has been completed.

What we can’t agree on is how much work he should be doing. I’m inclined to say he should be starting with 2.5 hours of homework/revision on school nights and then 3 hours a day at weekends, but DH thinks this is far too little.

So to parents of DC who have just left year 11- how much work did your DC aiming for top grades do?

I think that's pretty horrendous if I'm honest.

I've got a 16 year old who has just gone through GCSES. I'm a little apprehensive about results day, but whatever happens I won't ever wish that I'd given him that kind of childhood. There's more to life.

The disturbing thing is that this is for GCSEs, which matter so little, as long as you do well enough to do A levels. If it were the last few months of A levels with a place on a prestigious course at stake it might be more understandable. Plus he would be a bit older and the content more challenging. God knows what these parents have in store for the poor kid in Y12 and Y13.

Your poor poor child.

@SummerDuck you and your partner actually sicken me. Your poor child. What you are doing is awful. I hope you are looking forward to being estranged from your child in the future and I hope he actually does. When is he supposed to be a child, socialise with friends, do extra curricular activities? Have a lie in? All normal teenage things. Why are 8s and 9s so important?
Most nice, normal, caring parents and would be happy if their child does their best and is also happy with their life.
I cannot begin to understand how any parent would treat their child this way. Most would support and help but what your doing is verging on dictatorship

As a teacher of nearly two decades, this is insane.

I've seen kids break and end up having to take time off school because of such punitive schedules.

And how is this a compromise? You've gone from 2.5 hours every evening to 3 hours every evening and added an extra hour on Sunday. That's not a compromise, that's just shuffling your batshit schedule around.

Wow @SummerDuck agree with others, that is a harsh and frankly unsustainable schedule.

Agree with @pintery - if this were in the run-up to A levels and top grades were needed to get into Oxford, well maybe - with the student's agreement. But for GCSEs?

DS2 got a 6 in his Spanish. He could have got a higher grade but he chose to focus on other subjects and also other activities (very sporty). That's fine. He will never ever need to have attained an 8 in his Spanish GCSE. But he will have managed to keep his MH on an even keel through a stressful time by continuing to play football and train athletics.

Please please rethink this. There is a reason everyone posting here has said the proposed schedule is not a good idea.

Aside from the whole hours thing already mentioned my daughter used her phone for revising.

You tube science videos
Quizlet

There are plenty of useful resources other than pen and paper

Utterly bonkers. I say this as a parent of first year university students and secondary teacher. The most likely outcome of this ridiculous regime will be rebellion and under achievement.

Someone upthread queried if the ops ds was a competitive swimmer. To be honest, if he was, he'd have to also cut sleeping, eating and shitting out of his schedule - there wouldn't be time.

Ime some do get straight As. All the way through. Then go on to be absolutely useless employees because their grades don't match their personality. Or they're rocking in the corner.

The other thing is that GCSEs are a good warm up for A levels, in terms of resilience, finding out what works and what doesn't, what's important and what's not, how to prioritise your time, manage your phone habits and motivate yourself. You are giving him no chance at all to develop these independent study skills, which he will need in spades in Y12, Y13 and especially at university. You are also teaching him that you think he's incapable of making good decisions, that you don't trust him and don't value his or his teachers' opinions about the courses he is taking and how much work they require (which they know more about than you do). It's really a recipe for disaster in so many ways, please don't do it.

He might work as hard as is humanly possible and not get 8s and 9s in all his assessments. Particularly in English and humanities, you'd expect students to get better as the year progresses.

DD got a 6 in English Lit in her Year 11 mocks and then a 9 in GCSEs. She steadily improved throughout the year and the 6 was a good grade at the time she got it! Under your scheme she'd probably have been put under house arrest.

Can I also ask why getting all 8s and 9s (which is only achieved by a minority of students) is so important? What's he planning to do next? Unless it's something like medicine or vetinary science he really doesn't "need" them - especially if he's only getting them as a result of spending large quantities of time revising.

But your DH is presumably not 15 and has chosen his career understanding the workload required?

Interesting that you don't mention how many hours a week you work ...

It is exactly this attitude that leads to a complete breakdown by 18.

Frankly, it’s bordering on abusive.

Just remember that when they apply for university they need to show that they have other interests as well as homework (it's probably not still section 5 of the UCCA form I know but same idea) and when they apply for jobs at the end of uni the employers will see lots of fantastic grades so need to see a rounded, interested person with hobbies, interests etc, good with people, skills etc.

Also if you keep dcs locked up too much now I promise you when they go to uni they will just go nuts and not know when to stop/draw the line.

My DS just did his homework each week ( I think they set about 10 hrs worth) and then added revision in before mocks. After Easter he was probably doing a couple of hours most weekday evenings and 3-4 hrs on weekend days, although that still included any homework that had been set.

I have young adult dc, graduated and in the workplace.
Both are doing extremely well, and both have received particular commendations from their Managers this week, coincidently.

<Not a boastful Mum post, just relevant to this thread>

Both of the commendations have come from them transferring the skills they learned through part time jobs and through all the activities they did in Scouts over the years .... dealing with the public.....problem solving..... reacting to a situation where something had happened at work that was unexpected and not planned......dynamic risk assessing........ solving the issues 'on the go' as they worked.

Two completely separate and very different jobs.

Nobody at work could give a monkeys if the GCSE grade was an A or a C for any particular subject. EVERYONE is impressed by their "soft skills" and ability to manage a situation. None of that was learned by their parents chaining them to a desk to sit and look at books for hours every night after school.

The UK school system is very different to other countries. In a lot of places, DC are continually assessed over the whole year. For GCSEs in England it's usually just the exams and then specific pieces of assessed coursework that matter. So they could do 0 homework and fail every class test but if they pulled out all the stops for their assessed coursework and the actual exam, they can still do brilliantly.

You don't need to be doing hours of homework and studying in English schools. If the child is bright it's generally enough to attend the classes, pay attention, do the required homework. You don't need loads of extra study on top, because you can just regurgitate what's been done in class and that's enough for a good grade.

I am struggling with the opposite of this because we are abroad and I'm not used to the system where they have to consolidate and revise their own learning constantly, where the homework is basically ignored, and the only final exams are in the upper years, but the amount of times they put their hand up in class (!) goes into their final grade.

He will have Friday evening and two weekend afternoons off and we have also agreed he can have the occasional Saturday morning off if he maintains straight 8s and 9s in his assessments.

It is incredibly difficult in my subject to get 8 and 9 early on, because the skills build over time. This is cruel.

Your ds will rebel at some point & then not do any homework or revision. You are putting too much pressure on him. Let him choose what he does, as long as he does his homework up to mocks & then after there are usually revision sessions at school. Doing things your way could mean he could end up failing due to being burnt & stressed out.

The times are insane, sorry but they are. Taking his phone away is also insane. My son does the main part of his revision using his phone as recommended by the school using various websites, apps, videos, online past papers and flashcards. When will he have time to socialise? Rest? These are just as important. He will be burnt out by Christmas

None of my DC did any independent revision. They paid attention in school and did all homework set (which would included revision of topics covered) One achieved top grades, one achieved slightly lower than we hoped for. One aced their GCSEs in a way I still can't believe (not top grades, but they far exceeding what I might have ever hoped for)

I'd go with what the school suggests. I think my DCs school recommended two hours of homework a night (GCSEs are so spoon feed this would include revision given to them) unless your DS really enjoys going over work and revision (I've met a few teenagers who actually do!)

I got all Astars apart from 1 A in my GCSEs, admittedly some time ago now so not completely comparable. I didn't do anywhere like that amount of work. I went to my boyfriend's house nearly every evening from 8pm-10pm for a start.

A bright student will do well keeping up with homework and then revising for mocks and from around Easter for the proper exams. I honestly wouldn't have known how to fill all that time at GCSE.

You say year 11 is 'nose to the grindstone' but assuming he goes on to uni, there are many more important exam years ahead. You don't want burn out. You also want him to take some responsibility for his learning.

As others have said, I wouldn't want that work schedule as an adult. I see your husband does though, which probably impacts his thinking.

I think that is far too much. I’d have thought that just doing set homework until after Christmas would be fine. Then maybe an hour each evening Monday to Friday from January onwards, with weekends off. However, my youngest dc will set his own revision schedule ( going into year 11 september) which may differ from what I have said. Self discipline is not something that can be forced by parents, teens need to develop that skill themselves so they are ready for A levels and university.