Year 7 QE Boys

[peterrabbit]

Anyone with a Y7 boy in QE? Feedback from me is they've done a very good job of inducting the boys in first few days. DS is very happy. Lots of homework, meant to be 3 subjects a day at 30 minutes each but every one is about an hour. Also lots of logging on to online system to view and print homework and other stuff. The boys seem to help each other and DS has lots of friends. He's pragmatic about the workload and expectations but it is a massive change from primary school.

[Guest55]

Three hours homework is far too much - you need to tell the school.

[ToadMum]

First thought - is what is being set meant to take 30 minutes, but is having longer spent on it? Getting into the swing of secondary school homework can take a while.

[Stokers]

My DS is in Yr 7 and I'm pretty sure he's not spending 3 hours a night. He usually does one at lunchtime with a few friends (although apparently the Library frown on this and don't let them do too much) and will have two at home which he's normally finished by half five.

[ale21279]

That does sound a lot of homework, especially if it has to be in the next day - what if they have football, scouts, swimming or other activities in the evening?

[nyr]

From my recollection of Y7, the school does advise parents to make sure that their boy is not filling all his time with homework and to contact the school if he is taking much more than the suggested time. As Toadmum indicated, children have to learn to complete tasks in the given time frame, especially for open-ended work where the output could be a few paragraphs or, at the other extreme, years of research and a few theses.

Many kids in the more academic schools prefer to just sit down and study, something they are good at and comfortable with. At QE there is a strong emphasis on sports and other extra-curricular activities and, as Stokers stated, staff discourage boys from spending all their time in the library.

Y10 DS has always had a busy schedule of extra-curricular activities and he almost always manages to be on top of his homework. The boys have to learn to prioritise, by identifying and acting on immediate deliverables but still making sure that others are done by the later deadline.

[evmc]

My DS is enjoying QEB too and seems to have settled in well. He seems to be keeping on top of the work and said that he thought they'd been a bit kind in the first few days with some of the homework. He's looking forward to doing some of the other activities too which, as nyr says, the school is very supportive of. Maybe it takes some longer to get used to secondary school than others. That's probably the same in most schools.

[nyr]

Err.. DS is in Y11. Time has flown.

[kenyancowgirl]

peterrabbit - I suspect QE is like all secondary schools - if they say the homework should take 30 minutes, then 30 minutes is what your son should spend on it. If he hasn't finished it then that helps inform the teacher. I think the staff would want to know if he is spending double the time on it - either he doesn't understand it, or he needs help with his time management, as he will not cope when they ARE given an hour per subject, for example!

[Daogroupie]

Peter Rabbit,

Did your son have homework at primary school?

I know some primaries have a no homework policy. My dd's primary had homework and it was strictly enforced with no playtime if you did not do it.

I remember hearing a parent yelling at the teacher in the corridor (while i was helping at uniform shop) about the homework and how their student should not have to do it.

But the result of primary homework was that it was no big deal at secondary.

Do you have a homework diary that you sign about the homework? It really shouldn't be taking him twice as long as stated. Perhaps he is just not organising himself properly.

Have you looked over the task and how he is going about it? DG