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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to seriously question whether these teens actually go to a good school?

81 replies

MyNameIsKenAdams · 21/02/2014 21:45

Great Ofsted rating. Faith school. Aged 13-15. Some examples,
Not knowing which set they are in
Not knowing which sets are higher than others (have some sort of bizarre letter rating system)
Thinking it takes six hours to cook a chicken
Not knowing what I.C.T stands for even though they take classes in it
One of them (15) saying they want to be a Police Person when they grow up
One of them (15) saying the Harry Potter books are too complicated
Being unable to locate eastern Asia on a map

Plus more that I couldnt list

I dont hang around a lot of teens so ive no real idea but I am genuinely baffled at the lack of concrete knowledge between them.

Aibu or just expecting too much?

OP posts:
kitchensinkmum · 21/02/2014 21:47

I think school teach mostly useless info these days . Academic school or struggling schools all teach same garbage nothing useful . Unless these kids are having you on ?

AnythingNotEverything · 21/02/2014 21:48

This actually doesn't surprise me. I have a teen.

Why is it relevant that it's a faith school?

Original poster
MyNameIsKenAdams · 21/02/2014 21:48

Just incase anyone asked if it was a state or private. Plus, the faoth schools round our way are always higher in the league tables.

OP posts:
serenshiningstar · 21/02/2014 21:50

Ummm ...I can't see the problem with the first two, at all.

Police person: PC way of policeman/woman? Actually they're all just - well, not knowing something! HP is complicated. I like it for that reason. But if you don't like complicated stuff then you won't like HP, I suppose.

trampstamp · 21/02/2014 21:50

Yes I have a teen according to his teachers he is quite bright I caught him trying to warm his socks in the microwave once

Also he hate 12 oranges in one sitting he thought he get his 5 a day for the week in one go

Mostly teenage boys are very silly no matter how bright

Oh and my nephew pretend he was a Barbour when his dad was out of the shop and tried to cut someone's hair Confused

ohmymimi · 21/02/2014 21:55

tramp stamp - did he offer to wax it after the trim?

spindoctorofaethelred · 21/02/2014 21:58

Nothing wrong with not knowing which sets are which. That's the point of the random letters!

There is no value in Gisele knowing she has been ranked as worse at Chemistry than Darren. Especially not for Gisele. So long as the teachers remember which set is which, and I am sure they do, all is well. Some kids won't be able to assure their gran that they're in the top set, but on the other hand, some others won't be ashamed of the fact they aren't.

kitnkaboodle · 21/02/2014 22:00

If it's a faith school, then presumably there are kids there of that faith regardless of ability. It isn't as if it's a grammar or other school that selects on ability.

You're gonna get kids of all levels of ability. Perhaps these ones are not that bright

And I don't see any problem with wanting to be a police ...er .. person What's the issue with that?

serenshiningstar · 21/02/2014 22:01

The school I went to never set we were mixed ability right the way through.

EvilTwins · 21/02/2014 22:02

Am confused as to why you needed to know which sets they're in... The chicken thing - have they needed to cook one? I still need to look of recipes for stuff and I'm not a teenager. ICT - again, why do they need to? Possibly it's never occurred to them Grin

I teach teenagers and am often astounded both by things they don't know and by things they do know.

CromeYellow · 21/02/2014 22:03

It's the parents responsibility to ensure their children can cook, it's their influence that determines whether their kid will read. They may be stupid but that's not necessarily the schools fault, we're all products of genetics, parenting and home environment, school is only a small factor.

complexnumber · 21/02/2014 22:08

I went to a very 'good' school that is often mentioned on the Secondary education threads.

I would have had no idea where Eastern Asia was, also I was a bit of a cunt at school.

hth

spindoctorofaethelred · 21/02/2014 22:10

Actually, I have no idea how long it takes to cook a chicken, either. We're veggies, so it's never been relevant.

YoureBeingASillyBilly · 21/02/2014 22:13

Chicken would take 6 hours in a slow cooker.

IneedAwittierNickname · 21/02/2014 22:20

I said police person once. I mentioned that my male cousin was thinking about becoming a police man. One of the women I was with (who's known for being uber feminist if that makes sense) snapped at me, "you can't call them police men, women can do the job too you know" I was a bit confused (mainly because my cousin is a man, so the fact that you can also get police women was irrelevant IMO) and co consequently for flustered, couldn't remember the
word 'officer' and opted instead for police person.

Also.don't see the.problem with not knowing which set is which!

lastnightIwenttoManderley · 21/02/2014 22:24

Chuckles at ohmyminis cunningly concealed joke... :)

IHeartKingThistle · 21/02/2014 22:29

Many schools have a policy of randomly naming sets so they don't know what set they are in relative to others. Surely you can see the sense of that?

Bunbaker · 21/02/2014 22:31

"The school I went to never set we were mixed ability right the way through."

How on earth can a teacher teach mixed ability maths in year 9 for example? I don't see how that can work.

DD is in the top set and one of her friends is in a lower set. They don't even cover the same topics.

LaurieFairyCake · 21/02/2014 22:32

There's nothing wrong with police person

It could be a fucking big chicken

LaurieFairyCake · 21/02/2014 22:33

Half of British adults don't know who David Cameron is.

Why bother picking on teenagers when adults are dim as mince.

nova1111 · 21/02/2014 22:37

My 8 year old knows most of this.

The only one she wouldn't know is how to cook a chicken.

Even though the sets are polar bears, penquins etc - they all know which ones are higher.

Half the class I would say now read Harry Potter. She's on the 4th book.

She can find Asia, Africa, Europe on a globe.

She's not even "high end". She's sort of just above average.

I work in IT and she frequently tells me it's "ICT".

But she wouldn't know how long you put a chicken in the oven.

NitramAtTheKrap · 21/02/2014 22:39

Our sets at school were random colours. EVERYONE knew what the order was. It wasn't rocket science to figure it out.

In fact they were in primary school. We were only 9/10 but we all knew...

breatheslowly · 21/02/2014 22:45

Giving sets names rather than numbers is quite common. Though most pupils would know which were high and low if they were actually setted by ability. We had to come up with names for science sets based on famous scientists. We were not allowed to call the bottom set Planck.

LynetteScavo · 21/02/2014 22:45

DS goes to a "Good" faith school. (I actually think it's a great school)

Not knowing which set they are in - DS pretends he doesn't know which set he is in. I checked at parents evening; he is in top sets.

Not knowing which sets are higher than others (have some sort of bizarre letter rating system) DS couldn't care less about sets.

Thinking it takes six hours to cook a chicken It does if you use a timer or slow cooker.

Not knowing what I.C.T stands for even though they take classes in it Do they still call it ICT?

One of them (15) saying they want to be a Police Person when they grow up This is a 15yo, who was probably trying to be PC.

One of them (15) saying the Harry Potter books are too complicated.

Being unable to locate eastern Asia on a map I know primary school teacher who can't locate Eastern Asia on a map. I know primary school teachers who have asked me to show them where the north pole is on a globe. Maybe they didn't go to good schools.

There are reasons teenagers live with parents and go to school......and if they really wanted to cook a chicken, most come with instructions on....now if they couldn't work out how long in total the chicken would need to cook due to weight.....

Ubik1 · 21/02/2014 22:50

they're teenagrs

you're an adult and by default the enemy

they won't answer your qustions seriously

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