How to help my year 7

[Redstrampoline]

Hello,
My son is 11 and in year 7. He seems to be having difficulty listening in lessons. He often comes home telling me that he misunderstood the homework or he did not realise there was any.

He complains that school is boring. I have tried to persuade him that if he listened properly and engaged with his lessons they would probably be more interesting.

He has never been disruptive, and he has never been in detention. His hearing and vision are both fine. I have given him a little book to write the homework down in, but this is useless if he is not listening well enough to know what he needs to write down.

Is this just fairly typical 11 year old behaviour and he will soon learn to listen and concentrate?
Is there anything I can do to help him?

Thank you

Surely he can check with a friend re. Homework.

Is it online as well? I know my kids school puts it all on Google classroom as well as being told in lesson

Isn’t homework on whatever portal the school uses?

The homework is occasionally put on Google Classroom but most of the time it isn't.

I am worried that his classmates would get a bit annoyed if he asked every day whether any homework had been set. I think there is a parents' evening soon, so I wondered about asking one of his teachers if they think there is anyting I can do to help him.

Is the work too hard for him or too easy? (Both can make you switch off)
Has he had any test marks back?
Adhd (inactive)?

Speak to the school about having something like Satchel and also putting it all on Teams.

Most secondaries now use apps for everything and there are staff, pupil and parent log ins.

Relying on children writing it all down is ridiculous in this day and age and very unfair on those with SENs that require scaffolding or would struggle to write things down fast.

My son still has problems with this and he is 15! Loads of children struggle to tune in to verbal instructions given to the whole class (especially if at the end of a lesson). You can try asking at parents’ evening whether teachers would be prepared to write homework on the board as well as just telling children what to do. I am a teacher and see this as best practice but in all honesty I don’t always have time. My son writes his in a little book and I encourage him to double check with the teacher if he has nothing to write. As for the being bored thing, I have given up expecting children to love learning for the sake of it. I try to share and model my own enthusiasm for my subject, but not all teenagers are going to follow. It’s work, it needs to be done, and as they get older they start to discover the parts they find interesting and/or are motivated to do well at for a particular career goal.

Raise it with his form tutor as a general problem. It could be that subject teachers aren't making what the homework is clear enough.

Ah OP

Secondary is hard, it is so so different from primary, and I am sure he is not the only one.

When I was a classroom teacher I used to put HW on a ppt slide and put it on the board for a decent while at the end of the lesson so everyone could write it down. In fact a lot of DC would take a pic of it (tho I realise that more schools now ban smartphones in lessons which would make this impossible).

Are there specific subjects where it is an issue? Is he getting any comeback for no HW - detentions etc? You could try emailing the teacher and asking them to send you the HW – I had a parent ask that once and it was not a problem for me.

Thank you very much for the replies. I appreciate all of your ideas and suggestions.

I think he is bored because sometimes school is just not what an 11 year old wants to do. I try to encourage a positive attitude, give him as much support as I can and help him to do any homework once he is aware of it. He has not really had any negative consequences yet. He is quiet and well behaved in lessons. I think he mainly flies under the radar. He did not complete the task he had been set for one lesson because he had misunderstood what was required. His teacher told him to do it overnight and hand it in today. I made sure that he did that and reminded him to find the teacher today to hand it in.

I think I will try to talk with a couple of teachers at parents' evening. We do not get an appointment with his form tutor as he does not actually teach him.

Thank you very much for all of your help.