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?

Doesn't things like parenting and financing come under PHSE these days?
At my school it was given a different name (Home , Health and Community I think).
We did various 'life' skills in that subject.
Sex education - including learning about contraception, consent, discussions about abortion, a bit about baby care etc.
We did financial knowledge. A brief guide to politics.
We did what I suppose was economics and productivity and how different countries economic situation related. We did an activity once where the class was divided into 4 groups and we had to make paper bags from newspaper. Some groups would then be given better equipment - scissors to cut the paper rather than tearing, a glue stick each rather than one between 6 etc.
It was to teach that having better resources meant you could produce better quality and more product than the group with no equipment.
We did those (hated 🙂) group team building exercises. You know building a giraffe out of newspaper while blindfolded etc. They would mix us up into non-friendship groups so we had to learn how to communicate, work together, get along etc with people we didn't know well or not even like.
We watched "When The Wind Blows" and discussed nuclear war.
It was actually my favourite subject at school.
Does the modern PHSE curriculum not include similar subjects?

But if school taught basic parenting, then when would people learn actual stuff? Then where would the engineers, doctors etc be?

It sounds like people want to bring back secondary moderns and grammar schools. Those at secondary moderns can be taught life skills and woodwork and cooking, while those at grammar schools whose parents have taught life skills and had them tutored to pass the 11+ crack on with GCSEs as they are now.

Maybe that is the answer! Perhaps "one size fits all" comps aren't the answer after all?

@Badbadbunny Personally I think comprehensives are the way forward, but I don't think non-academic DC should be taking 10 GCSEs from a limited choice, because that's all the school can afford to offer and it fits into the timetable.

I think Maths needs to be re-thought. A practical Maths GCSE which only involved things that we need to know in life would be good for those who struggle with Maths, (obviously this GCSEs wouldn't be suitable for those wanting to study science A levels) and there should be a Maths qualification for over 16's who enjoy maths but are not able enough for A'level Maths.

There is a ‘functional skills’ maths gcse already.
It was to teach that having better resources meant you could produce better quality and more product than the group with no equipment.
I learned that very well through school: most working class kids understand it. It’s a shame this kind of lesson isn’t more common among those who have it all, along with understanding the resentments of those who don’t. It could be valuable for building practicality both in work and for the wider social implications.

@RosaGallica that's it - I don't know if that type of activity is included in the modern PHSE curriculum and if it isn't - why not?

Most of this stuff should be taught in the family environment but families are so busy these days. I think cooking is a really important one as people turn to convenience/ready meals for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner

My dc school taught economics in year 4 which has been brilliant and really sparked my dc interest in money management and even politics (chancellors budget etc). It can be done but the problem is that these extracurricular stuff takes time away from the core teaching

I think cooking and money management are good skills worth spending time on

@LynetteScavo

Personally I think comprehensives are the way forward, but I don't think non-academic DC should be taking 10 GCSEs from a limited choice, because that's all the school can afford to offer and it fits into the timetable.

The point is that a single school can't possibly cater to everyone at all levels. When grammars were scrapped in the 60s, the promise was "a grammar education for all", so the whole ethos of comps is a concentration on academic education, which just doesn't suit a huge proportion of the population who are more suited to practical things. It was sold on the back of the problem of pupils in secondary moderns not being offered the more academic subjects and often not being offered the chance to do O levels at all. We went too far the other way and huge numbers of non academic/more practical pupils have been badly let down by the comp system.

The point is that a single school can't possibly cater to everyone at all levels.

Maybe they could with more ££££?