Is homework legally enforceable in state secondary school? | Mumsnet (2024)

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

say this to clarify that this specific thing I am asking about need not negatively affect other pupils.

Well if he hasn't done the research for the next day's lesson and the teacher has to waste time explaining stuff to him, or he hasn't done his bit for a group project etc, it could well impart on other pupils learning.

Do you mean: Can the police be sent round if your child doesn’t do his homework?! No!

If your DS didn’t do my homework though, he’d find that there were a number of occasions where he couldn’t participate in the next lesson - if I’ve set reading homework, it’s so we can begin the next lesson with a discussion of what’s been read; if I’ve set a written task, we might begin a lesson with some peer or self-assessment of that. So his learning and progress would be negatively affected in the sense that he’d then miss out on chunks of subsequent lessons.

I say this to clarify that this specific thing I am asking about need not negatively affect other pupils.

Except it does if your child doesn't write the essay I set for homework, and doesn't do it in detention either. Because then someone else plays the same game...

...and the upshot is that I now have set essays in lesson time instead so I now have less direct input time.

I think school can enforce it's own expectations, including detentions if work is not done.

My DD2 had almost no energy left after school, but luckily her schools set limited homework for lower sets, and then the pandemic came anyway.

Unless your DC has SEN I suspect you need to find a way round this, as just refusing homework won't end well.

Options as I see them (if no SEN)
. Use a homework club in school for homework
. Don't fight at home but let school impose whatever sanctions are necessary
. Talk to school about any other ideas they may have
. Look to move schools to one with a different approach
. (Home Ed)

I had a long commute (first/last stop on the bus route even though school was the nearest grammar) and left the house around 7am and didn't get home til after 5pm, often later if bus broke down/terrible city centre traffic.

I was knackered and year 7 and 8 hardly did any homework, and yes, I was frequently in detention. I'd got my sh*t together by year 9.

OP what year is he in? Pretty sure my school had 20 mins per subject per week in year 7, up to an hour per subject per week at gcse.

At my son's school if this is repeated behaviour they try to intervene to see why it isn't being completed. There is a homework club immediately after school meaning children can work together just like they would if they were at home. It would start with detention then intervention. But they would be required to do homework and submit it. Unless there is SEN at play then the intervention comes in earlier.

Secondly, doing homework and getting into the routine of it means they improve their research skills and as they get into their GCSE years they do revision for tests and improve their grades which in turn gives them more options.

Thirdly, how is it dominating your evenings? What time does your child get out of school? Mine were out at 3.10pm, how long is the journey home? Mine were home at 3.35, that leaves a lot of time until they go to bed. Homework should be completed easily, if it isn't then the child needs to talk to the teacher about why it is taking them all evening. And yes mine did sports so not just home with all the free time in the world.

Not doing homework in y7/8 is one thing but he needs to be able to revise by the time that important tests like gcse come around. Universities often require pre reading of future lessons so he may not be able to access uni if he still resists in future.

As the others have said try and work out what the problem is. If it’s doing school work at home then he needs to complete homework at school eg homework club. If the homework is too hard then you need to provide a note saying that he’s worked on it for 30 minutes and that is all he could get done. I assume that he has a quiet place to study and that there’s a routine time (after dinner here)

Presumably you've signed a behaviour contract with the school? This states expectations (which would normally include homework) and the sanctions if those expectations aren't met.

I don't think homework is legally enforceable (as in, you're not going to have police knocking on the door if he doesn't do it!) but there will probably be consequences at school if he refuses to do homework. This will likely involve him having to stay in at lunchtimes to get the work done. This would probably be easier for you, but pretty miserable for him.