Lessons you had in school that you’re not sure still happens

[Soubriquet]

I remember doing cookery, woodworking and something with a solder iron. I can still remember the smell of the solder burning.

I did those in year 7. I also remember having to rush to local supermarket with my parents cos I needed last minute ingredients for my cookery lessons

My dd is in year 8 but she doesn’t do any of these lessons

Loving this thread!

Did anyone study "Classics" ie Greek and Roman mythology? It was a standard period every week at my early 70s secondary school for first and second year. I enjoyed it but seems an odd inclusion in the curriculum.

Both my secondaries had "House Activities" on Wednesday afternoons. This was a double period of hobby type stuff- photography, trampolining, orienteering, embroidery, cross country running, pottery etc. Usually led by teachers who had it as a hobby.

My kids who are early 20s did cooking in year 6 and woodworking.
They also had swimming lessons at another school which seems to be a thing of the past now.

Brilliant to hear!😊

Swimming is still part of the NC I think - certainly my dc did it in primary school and now in secondary school yr 7.

In high school we did actual experiments (disecting things, using bunsen burners etc), but I think they just watch the teacher now.

I learnt to wire a plug in y7 Physics. I don't think either of my 20ish yo children did that.

They did sew in primary and secondary.

I learnt to touch type in my A level years, but only because I took business studies and the teacher offered it as an extra. It's the reason it takes me a lot less time to do things at work than my colleagues who don't use all of their fingers to type. 😅

I did modular art for GCSE so did screen printing on fabrics, calligraphy and taking and developing black and white photographs. That was fab.

i did - in the late 90s! In y7 we could carry on or switch to Latin or a second MFL. My school was highly unusual though, I don’t know anyone else my age who was offered those two subjects at their school.

Sorry, that should read that we did classics in y7, then in y8 could switch to Latin or French/german.

I loved Latin. It was a very useful subject fir understanding language.

Primary school in the 60's - country dancing; folk singing sometimes in other languages (anyone remember Kalinka?); sewing, knitting, and cross stitch.

Secondary school in the 70's - gingham apron, school skirt, blouse, knitted cardigan (basically make your own uniform). Did the plug thing and also learnt how to make a lamp.
Thankfully in the top set so I didn't have to do homecraft - bedmaking, dusting, washing and ironing. There were rooms set up for you to practice.
Favourite O level subjects were Geology and Politics which were unusual at the time and probably still are.

I think we had to embroider our name too. We had to embroider our name on our PE skirt as well. I was lucky as a friend was really good at cooking and using a sewing machine so she helped me finish my apron off at her house.

@Fgfgfg Every secondary pupil in Scotland still does Scottish country dancing for PE during December! They all hate it but are secretly pleased once they go to ceilidhs at weddings, Uni etc as it's so much fun ( when it's not with your fellow pupils!)

I saw a clip of some Scottish kids doing the dancing. It looked great.
Dance lessons in my day (80s in England) was all interpretive stuff like "lets pretend to be a tree waving in the wind".
Oh I hated it.
I think I might have enjoyed some actual dancing.

Oh it was awful i mean it looks fab and we can now cope at a wedding if there is a celidh, however there was the whole rigmarole of being picked or worse "ladies choice" and being refused, i am scarred 😂

Aye boys lined up one side ,girls the other
Horrific for all us teens1970s

I’m in my sixties and when I started school we were taught to read using the ITA system. It was an experimental reading scheme that was absolutely awful as I could already read properly before I began school and had to unlearn in order to learn the strange system

i had library lessons, when we were taught about how libraries classify books, That was a bit odd too

in senior school we learnt macrame along with a lot of other crafts

Absolutley horrific 😳😀

Mine is doing cookery at the moment.

She's making pizza swirls next week. But hasn't given me the list of ingredients yet.

They don't do textiles in her school.

But photography. Is an option.

Computing/ it is also one of the ones they do.

Not sure on the rest.

Oh I forgot about macrame. Did you have to make the shockingly bad plant hanger for the ubiquitous spider plant?

@Coffeeishot @TheSalvadorsStickbymebaby oh dear 🙁
I have always wanted to know about dancing lessons in the Pride and Prejudice/Bridgerton era. Presumably all the girls in a neighborhood got together and were taught the dances but the blokes must have had to learn them too.
Surely they wouldn't have had teenage boys and girls learning together in that era?

That’s the one

They should still be doing these things in Design and Technology. My year 7 does.

the secondary schools were looking at for September all do cooking, a couple do sewing, all do some sort of DT. The difference is you now pay the school and they provide the ingredients so no more carrying a wicker basket laden with ingredients across town on two buses each way!!

Have you never seen her timetable before or asked her what she does in school?! Maybe it’s just my DD but she tells me about every lesson she’s had that day!

they should still be doing it themselves, certainly the schools we looked at the desks all had Bunsen burners and they'd got kids in using it. and our primary kids did some dissection last term!!