Vordaman A Tory idea on maths.

[chasingthedevils]

Concentrate on 3rs till 11; then concentrate on what child is good at.

Sopme people never get MATHS....I do in a fairly limited way

[inkyfingers]

'What a child is good at?' So drop the key subjects that help us function in society - ability to communicate - written and verbal and ability to handle numbers is necessary for all time. I finally gave up maths at 17 after resitting O level and still use mental maths in many situations.

It's the less able who will want to give up these subjects at 11, just the ones who need to keep going with it. Maybe with some effort they might 'get Maths' to their advantage and help with future jobs/interviews etc. If they are good at science or drama or history or design technology they will definitely need maths and English.

[chasingthedevils]

sorry I did not reply earlier Inky

well, teachers say they can spot likely crim children at 5, so if the schools have had children for 6 years; they will know what they are likely to be good at. education is about LIFE as well as jobs.

I heard on here about a 5 year old who had run in 3 school races and come last in all 3 and was distressed/ What stupid teachers . The parents complained. You dont crucify 5 year olds. You find what they are adept at

[inkyfingers]

Why not? You could have groups in schools are who allowed to give up subjects because they don't like them and have nascent criminal tendencies.

Giving up maths at 11 means they will have a very low standard of maths into adulthood and many jobs will be closed to them, but they won't mind because they didn't like the subject anyway(?)

Most 5 year olds should be reassured that they are good at some things, and not all are sporty. Losing 3 races is not crucifixion. None of my 3 won many races at primary at all (usually at back). But sports day is great for a child who IS sporty and doesn't like academic subjects...

Actually I saw a 12 year old boy at his school races this summer. He took twice as long as all the others to do the 800m and at the end his class were cheering him on and a TA decided to run alongside him for the last half. I hope he learnt something from the experience and he showed me his determination to see it through.

I don't think we'll be agreeing on much here .

[chill1243]

I think competition for competitions sake is pointless. Leavei it to X-factor

[reallytired]

Why is someone with a third class maths degree advising the governant on educational policy.

I think Carole Vordaman should stick with being a TV presenter.

Children vary a lot with the mathematical ablity. I think children shoud be allowed to drop maths once they have got to level 7 of the national curriculum.

It would improve discipline no end to have more choice in schools and to cater for children's ablity. Prehaps less academic children could learn maths through vocational applications. You can learn maths effectively without having "official" maths lessons. It requires strong planning to sneak in the learning of maths to the less moviated.

[witchwithallthetrimmings]

would you say this about reading and writing?. Children may get maths at different ages but anybody who says she never "got maths" but is well educated in other respects has imo been badly taught and allowed to give up. Would you allow a child to give up on reading if they were not reading chapter books by 9 or 10. No because reading is a life skill. Maths is the same

[reallytired]

How are extra years of bad teaching going to teach someone functional numeracy skills. I think people with low mathematical ablity need a different approach to learn basic numeracy. They need to harass different parts of their brain to learn numeracy. Calling a lesson "maths" can evoke anxiety.

Dyscalcula is real. Some people learn maths really easily where as teaching maths to some people is like flogging a dead horse. There was a horizon programme a couple of days ago that showed you could explain dyscalicua looking at brain scans.

[mrz]

I think the present system moves children on before some have a basic understanding.
The National Numeracy Strategy had children doing a week on something then they might not encounter that again for another term or even another year ... and the message was don't worry they will meet it again next year!
Lets make sure all children are secure in basic number skills before we rush them to the next stage