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Secondary education

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Original poster

Is homework legally enforceable in state secondary school?

113 replies

Firecarrier · 16/02/2024 11:11

Would appreciate any factual answers regarding this.

I'm not particularly interested in debating the merits (or lack thereof) of homework, I have done lots of reading around this subject and my desire is to tell his high school that I will not permit our evenings to be dominated by homework when he has been there all day.

They have a rather ridgid system with class teams which sends us pie charts etc showing behaviour points etc.

Their system means a child will get a detention if they do not hand a piece of homework in.

For clarity, my son's behaviour in school is not in any question whatsoever and he is doing quite well, it is literally just the homework and possible consequences I am asking about. I say this to clarify that this specific thing I am asking about need not negatively affect other pupils.

I am in England if it makes any difference.

Thanks in advance!

OP posts:
Postapocalypticcowgirl · 17/02/2024 15:40

WRT travel, I also teach rurally, and our local council have cut the bus services they provide so many of our students have longer and/or more difficult journeys to school this year. As a school, there is nothing we can directly do about this. And we don't really want to change the way we have been teaching which mostly gets reasonable exam results due to this.

A lot of my Y12s use their longish journeys to complete work though!

Moglet4 · 17/02/2024 16:19

Midnightrunners · 16/02/2024 14:38

I don't understand the need for this. Is there insufficient time and resource to cover the curriculum during a normal school day, being as they've are there all day ?. And they have a TA so there's two of them.

My middle daughter went to a private school and altho it was a slightly longer day , which also included a 15 minute afternoon break, there was no homework or threat of detention. The school transport left at a set time, be on it.

On the other hand my 15 year old son , who goes to state school, is threatened with all sorts of dire consequences if he dare miss a deadline.

They now have a game of seeing how much they can do on the bus home and then have a teams meeting to go over the rest - distraction being supplied by the girls in bikini tops ( I have no idea what their parents think ) . Apparently the record is 34 minutes to get it all done. This is signalled by a few choice phrases of Klingon. They've even started using American spelling and phrases to wind the teacher up, who accuses them of using AI and occasionally I get a phone call at work. This is all hilariously funny of course.

I did asked my husband to have a word but I didn't mean in Klingon.

As long as his grades are OK and he's safe and happy I'm cool with that but the homework thing is a nonsense as you should be able to do your job in the time you're paid to. I can only assume its a form of control mechanism, apparently lost on a bunch of 15 nearly 16 year olds, who are more interested in other extra curricula activities.

Wow. You have clearly never set foot in a classroom or read the curriculum for a core subject. No, it is not possible to cover it all. It’s also not possible for many teachers (essay writing subjects in particular) to do their job in the time they’re paid to, not well anyway, which is why teachers work upwards of 15 hours a day 🙄

noblegiraffe · 17/02/2024 16:20

the homework thing is a nonsense as you should be able to do your job in the time you're paid to. I can only assume its a form of control mechanism

This is just obvious bollocks....

dapsnotplimsolls · 17/02/2024 16:21

Tinfoil hat time.

MrsHamlet · 17/02/2024 16:33

They've even started using American spelling and phrases to wind the teacher up, who accuses them of using AI and occasionally I get a phone call at work. This is all hilariously funny of course.

Hilarious. What cards they are.

Crackoncrackerjack · 17/02/2024 17:42

What a pile of shite

GreenWheat · 17/02/2024 18:03

I think if you don't agree with doing homework then most mainstream secondary schools aren't for you. It's a crap school if the homework at this stage is not supporting their classroom learning, which is what it's supposed to do. Honestly, if your expectation is that in Y9 or 10 they won't need to do additional work outside the classroom, then you probably need to seek out a niche private school with the same philosophy.

bouncingblob · 18/02/2024 09:46

I love these parents as a teacher due to the way my school deals with it.

We basically just say, "Sure, no problem, don't worry about the homework. However please note that this is likely to affect their future attainment."

And then of course little Timmy or Tina get to their GCSEs and are miles behind their peers, the parents come in screaming bloody murder, and we just smile and point to the fact they haven't done homework for five years, so what do they expect?

Unfortunately for the child the penny with the parents drops far too late and the damage has already been done.

FrippEnos · 18/02/2024 14:22

bouncingblob · 18/02/2024 09:46

I love these parents as a teacher due to the way my school deals with it.

We basically just say, "Sure, no problem, don't worry about the homework. However please note that this is likely to affect their future attainment."

And then of course little Timmy or Tina get to their GCSEs and are miles behind their peers, the parents come in screaming bloody murder, and we just smile and point to the fact they haven't done homework for five years, so what do they expect?

Unfortunately for the child the penny with the parents drops far too late and the damage has already been done.

This is how it should be dealt with, unfortunately in most state schools, the GCSE results are blamed on the teachers no matter how much effort the teacher puts in.

MrsLighthouse · 08/03/2024 21:15

With an SEN child l sometimes have to make a choice as to whether homework ( often a battle ) will disrupt the family as a whole and just don’t do it. I have said this to the school who don’t like it but grudgingly accept it. Also DS is dyslexic and struggles with English so l don’t force any Spanish homework on him as it’s too much. The Spanish teacher is angry but l haven’t been told at anytime that there will be sanctions over any of it. As long as l put in the teacher’s notes ( on Google Classroom ) that l’d made a decision about the homework, l wouldn’t expect a detention either. So l guess it’s not enforceable .

prh47bridge · 09/03/2024 07:44

MrsLighthouse · 08/03/2024 21:15

With an SEN child l sometimes have to make a choice as to whether homework ( often a battle ) will disrupt the family as a whole and just don’t do it. I have said this to the school who don’t like it but grudgingly accept it. Also DS is dyslexic and struggles with English so l don’t force any Spanish homework on him as it’s too much. The Spanish teacher is angry but l haven’t been told at anytime that there will be sanctions over any of it. As long as l put in the teacher’s notes ( on Google Classroom ) that l’d made a decision about the homework, l wouldn’t expect a detention either. So l guess it’s not enforceable .

The fact that your school is choosing not to impose any sanctions in your particular circumstances does not mean that it is not enforceable. If the school thought it was appropriate, they could impose sanctions.

cansu · 09/03/2024 08:21

Ultimately if your child doesn't do homework they may not do as well as they should. There are plenty of parents who would rather allow their kids to do what they want rather than what they need to do. That is their decision. The school may apply sanctions or they may take the view that it is up to you as their parent to support their lack of progress.

Woman2023 · 09/03/2024 11:36

How about you assess the homework and agree a time limit for each piece? He won't get in trouble for not doing it and won't spend ages on it.

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