Is this acceptable and what should I do?
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Thank you all for your replies and the welcome to this site.
I do not know of any homework guidelines published by the school apart from a very basic statements in the child's planner but I will enquire about this in my letter to the head teacher.
My initial reticence in raising this with the school again has been due to the head teacher making a sweeping statement thinking that my partner and I are dissatisfied with the school. My feeling is that having worked very hard to get into this school my child is not receiving the education that I had expected to be on offer from an over subscribed selective school
In addition to the homework not being marked in one science discipline,my child informs me that homework deadlines in other subjects are also very lax .Some of my child's peers are using this to not bother doing the homework at all,knowing that it is very unlikely that they will be asked to produce the work for examination or marking by the subject teachers.
The reply to my original letter sent towards the end of year Eight stated that these lax practices were going to be monitored but this has obviously not been taking place.
My worry is that whilst trying to keep my child motivated and used to working to deadlines,this is only coming from home and not from the school.
If this problem is not addressed now then Year Ten is going to be a very challenging year when apathy combines with hormones.
The problem remains on how to express this feeling to the school without causing huge offence.
I do not know of any homework guidelines published by the school apart from a very basic statements in the child's planner but I will enquire about this in my letter to the head teacher.
My initial reticence in raising this with the school again has been due to the head teacher making a sweeping statement thinking that my partner and I are dissatisfied with the school. My feeling is that having worked very hard to get into this school my child is not receiving the education that I had expected to be on offer from an over subscribed selective school
In addition to the homework not being marked in one science discipline,my child informs me that homework deadlines in other subjects are also very lax .Some of my child's peers are using this to not bother doing the homework at all,knowing that it is very unlikely that they will be asked to produce the work for examination or marking by the subject teachers.
The reply to my original letter sent towards the end of year Eight stated that these lax practices were going to be monitored but this has obviously not been taking place.
My worry is that whilst trying to keep my child motivated and used to working to deadlines,this is only coming from home and not from the school.
If this problem is not addressed now then Year Ten is going to be a very challenging year when apathy combines with hormones.
The problem remains on how to express this feeling to the school without causing huge offence.
Hi,
I can only judge by my experience of teaching in a GS - there should be a school policy - there may well be variation between subjects as some have fewer lessons a week -
My norm is to take books in most weeks - I mark homework in detail giving feedback and quickly check classwork e.g. has the pupil set out work properly? have answers been checked?
When conducting work samples it is easy to see if teachers are marking regularly as it's hard to 'fake' this!
I can only judge by my experience of teaching in a GS - there should be a school policy - there may well be variation between subjects as some have fewer lessons a week -
My norm is to take books in most weeks - I mark homework in detail giving feedback and quickly check classwork e.g. has the pupil set out work properly? have answers been checked?
When conducting work samples it is easy to see if teachers are marking regularly as it's hard to 'fake' this!
DS is at GS in Yr 7. He is set homework in most subjects every week and his books are taken in to mark at least once every fortnight. He is given a grade for his work and feedback on the aspects of the work that he did well or areas that need more work. The teacher also provides feedback on the work that he has done in class. The school provide half termly grades for each subject and it would be hard to see how they could do this if they didn't regularly see his work.
I agree that you should take the matter up again with the school, you shouldn't have to wait until the end of the year to discover that your child is struggling with any subject. It must also be very demotivating for the child to know that the work they are doing will not be seen by the teacher.
I agree that you should take the matter up again with the school, you shouldn't have to wait until the end of the year to discover that your child is struggling with any subject. It must also be very demotivating for the child to know that the work they are doing will not be seen by the teacher.
I've had a similar problem. My DD is in Y8, her maths book hasn't been marked since November and the work that was 'ticked' before that date was incorrect in places!
I wrote a letter to the Head and photocopied the offending pages of DD's exercise book. The Head immediately sent a letter back saying he was concerned and the matter would be investigated. I've since received a letter from the Maths teacher apologising and saying it won't happen again, but then she goes on to say that she marks in detail (obviously not true) and ticks the page to say that she has 'seen completed work'(what's the point in that if she's not marking it!!)...
I feel a year has been wasted and DD hasn't progressed at all. She got 5c at Y6 (83/100) her maths teacher says she is currently working towards 5a/6c... which I think is where she was this time last year!!
Shouldn't she be level 7 by now?
I really don't know where to go from here. I could just accept the apology and wait to see if things improve, or persue the matter further or I could just give up with the school and find a tutor...
I wrote a letter to the Head and photocopied the offending pages of DD's exercise book. The Head immediately sent a letter back saying he was concerned and the matter would be investigated. I've since received a letter from the Maths teacher apologising and saying it won't happen again, but then she goes on to say that she marks in detail (obviously not true) and ticks the page to say that she has 'seen completed work'(what's the point in that if she's not marking it!!)...
I feel a year has been wasted and DD hasn't progressed at all. She got 5c at Y6 (83/100) her maths teacher says she is currently working towards 5a/6c... which I think is where she was this time last year!!
Shouldn't she be level 7 by now?
I really don't know where to go from here. I could just accept the apology and wait to see if things improve, or persue the matter further or I could just give up with the school and find a tutor...