Things you wish they’d taught you in school

[IrishJP]

Inspired by a couple of threads, and recent things that have happened in my life,
What kinds of things do you wish school had taught you that they didn’t?
I feel I learnt a lot of things I’ve never needed, like algebra (although I appreciate that’s relevant in some careers)
But I feel there should’ve been more ‘life’ lessons, that would have been far more useful.

i finished school mid 2000s and don’t have DC so appreciate that schooling may have changed and perhaps some of these things are being taught now.

Heres what I think they should’ve taught.

1. Budgeting and money management
2. information on benefits, tax, NI Contributions, employment rights etc
3. Useful cookery (I learnt to make random fancy dishes but didn’t know how to scramble eggs)
4. Basic DIY (I did some woodwork/metalwork but again made random things like a jigsaw and metal jetting) but couldn’t have put s shelf up or wallpapered a room
5. Everyday sewing (again I did some textiles where we learnt how to tiedye but I couldn’t sew a button on)

The academic side of schooling is absolutely vital but I just feel like there’s some stuff that isn’t needed until you go in to more specialised subjects at a later age, and some very ‘basic’ life skills would be a lot more useful.

Have I missed anything? Or for anyone who does have school aged DC are they teaching these things now?

This was exactly why my DD got utterly fed up with textiles. She enjoyed actually making the clothes and wanted to learn more about actual sewing techniques. She did not want to produce reams of promotional waffle about the concept of her design and the market at which she was aiming it.

Yy to diy, employment rights, tax etc.
But also:
Basic business administration , investments/shares/the stock market

Wth?

Investments and the stock market? How niche.

Some of the suggestions on here are mind blowing. Information on most area can be found online for those interested, especially considering those concerned are digital natives.

This sounds similar to what we had in school. It always seemed crazy having to come up with ideas and then test them out or 'concepts' for a design like a bag rather than learning proper cooking and sewing skills.

How to buy a house
the difference between employed and self employed (and advantages/disadvantages ie tricky to have kids when self employed as no maternity leave)
how to do your own accounts
what happens at menopause!

A much bigger variety of subjects, opening doors to further education and on to higher education and the career options that are there. We had careers advice but nothing aspirational if you didn’t know what you wanted to do if you were female it was go to college and become beauty therapist, or hairdresser and if you were a boy go to college and become a builder or a plumber.

My parents/grandparents were there to teach me the “life skills” equally at school age I just wouldn’t have been ready to learn them or seen the relevance. It isn’t until you want to put a shelf up that you need to know or want to know how to put a shelf up.

@TheSnootiestFox I suppose with your experience it shows that people don't know whether school should be a place where children are taught life skills or a place where they are being taught subjects that can lead to a job/career.
Your description of 'Food Tech' sounds like they want to encourage jobs in the food industry. I know someone who did Food Tech at college (probably called something different because it would have been the early 80s) and has worked in jobs including being a primary school dinner lady, working in a department store cafe and working for a company who created and tested things like different coatings for Bird's Eye Chicken.
That's what the government wants - people with 'qualifications' who can become good workers.
Personally I think it should be a mix of the two. If learning how to cook starts with simple recipes right from Reception and carries on all through the school years by the time they've reached the end of Year 9 they should be able to plan, budget and cook 1001 dishes and then the Food Tech GCSE should be for those who do want it to lead into a related job.

I’ve recently had twins and I constantly felt I knew nothing about what was going on in my body! I think the full biology of the female body plus the things that happen during pregnancy would be really helpful. I bet 90%+ of people are either pregnant or have a pregnant partner during their lifetime so it would be beneficial to most 😊
I’m a Maths teacher so I’m not gonna say everything learnt is pointless, algebra is great for problem solving, but I do think the curriculum could be amended to include some things that are more frequently used in life. For example, some teachers do teach taxes and such when teaching percentages, but it would be better to have that and mortgage and loans built in so that it’s revised regularly and students have a more intrinsic understanding of how they work and how quickly they can escalate.
I also agree on sewing, it would be great to have learned to make a decent piece of clothing and to repair something instead of making a pencil case and a mask 😊

Nobody under 16 needs to be doing anything career related at all imo. That's what colleges and universities are for. Under 16s need good basic skills to look after themselves and others. All kids are in education until 18 now anyway so let the food tech specialists teach the development work and people like me crack on with the future mums/dads/carers. The amount of people that openly admit that they can't cook is a National scandal!

@TheSnootiestFox personally I think 16+ is too late for vocational/career based education for a lot of teens.
14+ is much better. I really like the concept of the 14+ UTCs and many colleges have a specialist 14-16 unit where it's a mix of GCSEs and vocational qualifications.
Many teens are 'over' school by 14 and want a more goal related education.
They will have been at school for 10 years by 14. Plenty of time to learn 'life skills' including cookery.
I think your Food Tech lessons (the designing products, testing recipes out etc) actually sound cool and I would have really enjoyed doing a subject like that at GCSE.

@TheSnootiestFox also they don't have to be in education until 18.
That is actually an incorrect piece of information that schools like to churn out.

They have to be in education, a traineeship or an apprenticeship. All of which can provide subject specific training that secondary schools are not equipped to provide.

@TheSnootiestFox or be working full time while doing some 'training' that the government doesn't check up on.

But that's hardly the aspirational choice though, is it? I had typed out a lovely long reply before and lost it 🤣 basically saying that I'm 50 and have changed direction twice since my first degree.

I've encouraged my firstborn who is Summer born so picked options at 13, to keep his options open as long as possible with ebacc subjects. He's not that academic but I certainly don't want him pigeon holed into the 'you're thick so you're doing DT' category that I saw so many kids pushed into. If you only do a vocational subject then that's what you're trained in and that's that. At least with a broader education you've got choices later on.

Just my opinion of course but I really think 14 is too young to choose the path for the rest of your life.

@TheSnootiestFox sorry but we will have to agree to disagree but 16 is too late for many teens.
Very few people know what they want to 'do' at 14 but they know what interests them, what they enjoy, what they are good at - and they are completely 'over' school by then.

@TheSnootiestFox and I have never heard anyone say that "Doing DT means you're thick" thing. That's shocking if a former teacher (you) thinks that.

self worth

I play rugby with three architects, they all studied DT at GCSE.

Ah I’m in Scotland, not sure it is here

Nope, not me, but the SLT is charge of timetabling that drop challenging kids into Food/DT/PE because they're 'easy.'

Which leads to problem classes and options that kids won't touch with a bargepole despite having natural talent. You could maybe do with a day or two in a state comp....

In a northern state comp?

@Simonjt exactly...I know several architects, designers etc.
They would have done DT too.

@TheSnootiestFox isn't the curriculum the same whether it's a comp up north or a comp somewhere else?

More practical and useful things about savings, finances, investing, running a household, using tools, childcare, child psychology and development, first aid , relationships, speaking and communication, conflict resolution.

I think I had a business math class, was the first girl ever in the school mid 70s that took power mechanics and wood shop. Was able to earn some extra cash fixing lawnmowers. Always had an entrepreneurial spirit.

Two yes, one nottinghamshire, so midlands. Odd question though as we do not have county specific GCSE courses, students in the south studying AQA DT will be on the same course as someone in Liverpool.