General Chat

Julie Anne, Jacqie, what on earth do children go to school for? 1 to get an education, 2 to learn a little discipline 3 to get an insiight of the big wide world, when they leave school. If the parents cant teach discipline to their children, what kind of example is it to talk of assaulting a teacher? Teachers are on a losing wicket if the kids dont learn, they get it in the neck, if they try to teach, firmly, people with views like yours, make things worse for them. Things have gone bad since kids can attack teachers, with their parents backing.

karen i know what you mean,when my children were in primary school(four of them at the sane time but different years)they had to do 1hourof english homework ie spelling,maths and reading, and one hour of welsh homework ie reading and spelling(we live in wales) every night you can imagine how much homework myself and my husband had to plough through after a long day in work, i agree its to much for young children to do a few hours a week is plenty

What do you do, Julie Anne, do you put on pointy boots and kick 'em in the ... yes, well...

dont take the kids out of school , sort out the teacher, then if that dont work then take um out of school, you have to fight or itll be same in other schools , my son has teachers who are awful the way they speak, but i think most of um are wise to me going there if they start i dont have problem if hes playing up, they can tell him off but to pick on kids for trivial stuff like home work when they have reason gets me mad, or if the kid asks for help and the teacher shouts i get evil

i'm mad too ggrrrr and talking of taking kids out of school,i don't think people should but i've got the school newsletter today and they are closed next thursday for the election then they have a day off for the fleet review at the end of june and then another for the teachers to plan the autumn term!!!!

karen id complain 8 year old or 14 i wouldnt expect a teacher to speak in that way to kids, they want respect but treat kids like they are beneath them, makes me so mad

actually Wendy i'm a very quiet and shy person but when something makes me angry....get out of the way cause i BLOW

Karen I am, shall I do the homework and then it saves any hassle ? :-))

Wendy be afraid .....very afraid

If I were you Karen, I would have punched that teacher on the nose by now, so it's a good job I'm not...

Karen - I think I'm scared of you. xx

Peter and Wendy, i'm all for discipline,in my opinon schools are far too easy on some things but my daughter has 100% attendance,has never been late with her homework and she is only 8 years old. i feel that she could have said that she would let her off this time but if it happened again then she would have to go to the detention room. oh and something else they are supposed to get the homework on mondays but the maths teacher sometimes forgets and they get it on tuesdays---isn't it funny how she doesn't mind handing it out late but god forbid it be handed in late. and whilst i'm ranting the teacher doesn't even mark it the kids have to mark their own rant over...................... for now

Yeah he went to far, she's only 8, when I was 11 a teacher shouted at me for not doing my homework, but this was because he had been shouting at 2 boys who weren't behaving and didn't change his tone to talk to me, my mum was told about this and she had a good go at the teacher, he didn't shout at me again. And we used to have homework on a Friday so we actually had time to do it. Also we didn't have SATS and I don't see why kids have em now, only GCSE's count towards getting a job anyway. AL

I'm glad I don't have kids - nothing is worth living that life over again for! And on the subject of taking holidays during term time because they're cheaper - all I can say is if it wasn't for the kindness of an aunt in the West country, my sister and I wouldn't have had a holiday anywhere, let alone abroad. But if my Mum couldn't take her annual leave at an appropriate time, then we couldn't, and didn't go.

If my daughter ever has time off school on a Friday when the homework is handed out , I always ask the teacher for homework to take home on the following Monday when she returns. We then make sure that she does the homework and can hand it in the next day. Then ahgain I am married to a teacher, so we are pretty hot on getting things done as soon as possible so that life can be enjoyed. My husband says that there should be no homework, everything should get covered in class and just things like spellings or reading need to be done at home. I think the teacher was using your daughter as an example to the others. Louise

I have an 8 yr old son..he gets the same amount of homework..but boys will be boys ...sometimes it doesnt reach home..his teachers are very good and never pressure the kids.... I think this is very harsh and a phone call to the head should be made..or a visit to the teacher .... Anita :)

I agree the teacher went too far. In the circumstances I, too, would be very cross.

Have to agree with Ann here on the subject of holidays in term time. I teach in a secondary school and if a child is on holiday for two weeks of term time they miss 6 hours of teaching time in my subject. I can cover a complete topic in that time. Also, if there is coursework involved (years 10 and 11) the whole situation becomes ridiculous. Ann is right: the only person who suffers is the child. My school also has the policy that as the child has been removed from its education by the parent, we will not set or mark any work for them in that time. It is up to the child to catch up on 2 weeks' work when they return. Going back to the original question, however, I do feel that the teacher was harsh on your daughter as she is only 8, but as said in a previous reply, this will probably be the first and last time her homework is ever incomplete. It is a pain though, marking work that comes in late. Teachers have to plan their marking time, as well as their teaching time, to maintain the continuity of lessons. Janice

Hi Karen I agree, children do have to much homework too early and in the long run, I don't believe it makes any difference at all!!! She is ONLY 8!! My daughter's had no homework until they went to Middle School at 10 years and are equal to all their friends who went to other schools and had loads of homework from an early age. In fact the other kids are sick to death of homework, while my kids are quite happy to do it. As for taking the kids out of school for a holiday - go for it. Life is a balance - your children aren't going to fail their GCSE's because they had a two week holiday. Tammy

I am fed up with homework. I spent years of my life doing it and now I have to help my kids do theirs! It's not fair. It also seems rather arbitrary regarding the amount and the teachers' attitudes too. My elder son when in year 4 at primary didn't get any feedback or marks on any homework, though he did it all. At the end of the year, nothing. In year 5 he got a certificate to say he'd done all his homework for the year. In year 6 he had spellings, maths & English. My younger son in year 4 had a project to complete over a half-term, which I think is too long a time period for children of his age - and as someone said earlier, it just showed which parents had been on the internet/to the local library to do the research. Now the poor chap is doing boosters 3 nights a week after school, plus science revision, spellings, maths & English every week for the ****ing SATS. I think by the time he's finished school he will never want to see an exam paper again. I hate this education as a way of drilling things into children so they can regurgitate them into an acceptable form for the examiners. That's no way to teach anyone to THINK! GGGRRR. Rant over. nell