To say thank fuck for Nicola Sturgeon

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I can't stand her anti English stance, but at least one political leader is doing something for the refugees...

I have a clock face thing on my fridge made by my son for practice and it says P3 on it. Friends child just gone into P3 but started doing time before the summer holidays. I do remember being at the latter end of primary school (mid to late 70's) and the teacher being shocked that one if the girls didn't know how to tell the time, but that was pre digital age so I think we got telling the time more easily.

I don't understand the "free" care for the elderly. Here in Fife is costs us nearly 2k a month to keep dad in a pretty bog standard care home. The staff are lovely but there aren't enough of them and use sessional workers to plug the gaps. Constant new people giving intimate personal care for those who are frightened, bewildered and need some continuity.

Suddenly understanding why every Scottish person I know is either moving south of the border, or sending their children to private school. I am really shocked to see the extent of the disaster.

Lightbulb

Yes, the Councils implement policies but they don't set them.

I have taken advice from Govan law Centre and a number of experienced Charities and it would seem that, as each Council is able to implement as they see fit, it is very difficult to get anything done about such issues.

The Scottish Government allows this system to continue.
They have had control of Education for 8 years and it is a DISASTER
from the 3 year olds helping to 'set their own curriculum' at nursery to the 18 year olds not getting college and Uni places whilst English/EU/ NonEU do.

DS is in P4 and can read a clock face, I'm sure he started learning it in P2.

I'm really happy with the primary school my kids are at. I'm a bit worried about secondary though as the new exams seem a total shambles.

We are told what reading age our kids are, they do some kind of test can't remember what it's called and they also do MALT Maths testing once a year. the kids don't know they're being tested though, it's just a worksheet to them and the parents don't know it's happening in advance so there's no preparation.

I'm not very happy that they're talking about bringing in SATS style testing as that sounds stressful for the teachers and pupils, although it does sound like more accountability is needed in some schools.

Alibabs, you know a very limited pool of Scottish people clearly.
It takes more than a decent curriculum to lift young people out of a life of poverty. I wish I knew what the answer is. But it's always easier to blame "bad" schools rather than the problems in society.
I don't know how successful an independent Scotland would be, but I'd do just about anything to get away from Tory rule.

Analogue clock reading is notoriously difficult for many children- especially for those with dyslexia. Also children are not exposed to an analogue clock face in everyday life now.

I wouldn't hesitate to send my children to private school but I just can't afford it.

Child led learning has to be the biggest load of waffling shite ever.

Suddenly understanding why every Scottish person I know is either moving south of the border, or sending their children to private school.

Both of them?

See it could be better but compared to what people face in England it's small beer.

Yes the single police service has problems but it is still providing a really good service every day against a backdrop of huge funding cuts - they have saved the equivalent of three former police service budgets already.

Education - I'm delighted by the primary education my children have received so far. Their education is much more varied and interesting than mine was with a strong backbone of the three R's. Again it's not perfect. But I was educated by s revolving door of supply teachers armed with text books in my South London secondary so perhaps anything is better in comparison.

There's so much vitriol and hyperbole in political argument up here and in the back of my mind I'm skashs thinking: 'careful what you wish for...'
A relative works in early years in London and the sheer weight of admin/ box ticking/report writing means she had very little time to actually teach.

The clock reading is just an example, but does illustrate a lack of understanding of what a quarter or half looks like. Equally, children struggled with the basics of adding 3 figure numbers, and subtracting, dividing and multiplying smaller numbers. That is probably backed up by the figure quoted earlier about the failure in life maths exams later on.

"That matches with what my high school friend said. The pupils did not know how to do simple arithmetic or how to use a clockface to tell the time."

Few people I'd blame here and the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon are pretty far down the list.

So sick of the attitude that the school is the be all and end all of the childs education. DD4 went to nursery in arguably one of the most run-down disadvantaged areas in the city with a high ratio of non-english speaking children and came out confident, more independent and ready to learn. If you're child is in Pwhatever and can't read a clockface, buy them a bloody watch and practice it with them. Want to know what reading level your child is at? Sit them down and read a fucking book with them. Worried they don't get enough homework? Ask them what they learned at school today and engage them in discussion.

Find out what they want to learn about and let them thrive in it. I absolutely detest the attitude that learning is done at school and is the job of the teacher, and now Nicola Sturgeon too! Those of you bitching, what have you actively done to make your childs school better oh no I forgot, the mumsnet way is to try everything possible to get them into a "better" school and let the naice middle class teacher take it from there.

A relative works in early years in London and the sheer weight of admin/ box ticking/report writing means she had very little time to actually teach.
That is true. There must be a happy medium.

"P1 should do o'clock"

That's a bit ambitious when some of them come to school unable to count, nevermind write numbers.

I think there is probably a vast difference in experiences between different schools. It was always thus but the gaps seem wider not narrower. A lot of that isn't down to the school though. Education begins at home and often lack of parental input is the big contributor to lack of achievement. Long range study showed that the difference between children who have been read to and those that haven't is around 2 years in reading level within a short time of starting school....and no matter what is done in school that gap is never closed.

Child led learning has to be the biggest load of waffling shite ever.

Totally disagree. My 4 year old will happily tell you the ins and outs of how a car works, what the pistons do etc. She asked about it at nursery and they gave her a whole project on the basics. She added to this at home with her dad and myself and now has such a curiosity for how things work.

I pray that by the time she goes to high schools they are taking more and more of this kind of approach to learning. It riled me that I had to fight (along with lots of other students) to take two sciences instead of the mandatory french.

The world is completely changing, and very quickly too. I can barely remember the last time I had to write something with "neat" handwriting. I'd guarentee by the time they are doing exams it will almost all be typed anyway. I really can't believe some people thing messy handwriting (in 2015!!) is such a huge problem with their childs education

"Those of you bitching, what have you actively done to make your childs school better hmm oh no I forgot, the mumsnet way is to try everything possible to get them into a "better" school and let the naice middle class teacher take it from there."

I was chair of the PTA, regularly helped with reading at the school, helped out one set afternoon a week and accompanied lots of school trips too.

I don't really get involved now as I work full time.

For your information, I live in an inner city in an undesirable area.

Re:telling the time. My mother is nearly 70 and a maths teacher all her working life. She has always said they teach time too early and in her experience young children struggle with it. They don't usually grasp it until the upper years of primary.

There are over 30 children in both my children that are still at primary school. Do you honestly think 1 teacher (no classroom assistant) has time for each child to be leading their own learning? Might work with classes smaller than 15 children.

A chair of the PTA who makes no secrets that the only reason her child is there is because she can't afford to send them to private?

Wow that must've been fun for everyone else.

Who knows, her nursery teacher didn't seem to have much of a problem and she was contending with about half the class who barely spoke a lick of english.

By the time they are 10/11 they should be well on their way to beginning to lead their own learning anyway. If they can read and type, they can google. In a world where information about anything is at everyones fingertips I find it very strange that there are still people who are against learning in this way.

Why on earth do you think I would tell anyone at the school that I would send my children to private school.

I used to think the school was amazing (it truly was) but in the past 5 years standards have declined dramatically. I live in an SNP council, with an SNP Msp and now a SNP MP so I feel quite happy putting the blame at the feet of the SNP.

I also have 2 teenagers (one finished high school) so thank you for patronising me about how well 10 yr olds should be learning.

Hamiltoes

I am not 'bitching' I am raising awareness of real problems under CfE in Scotland and the lack of a legal framework to do anything about it.

My ds is Dyslexic, Dysgraphic, Dyscalculic, Dyspraxic and has been assessed as having ASD.
He has had 12 half hour sessions of SfL in 6 years and 'needs no more'.
He has no 'learning plan' - doesn't 'need one' apparently.
I DO work at home with him.
It doesn't magically 'make up' for ANY support at school and his experience of failure there, though.

We can all 'fill in the gaps' of poor primary provision by sitting at the kitchen table teaching the clock/times tables/ abcs etc.
(but not all parents will - what of those children?)
How do you do that Highers level?

4,000 fewer teachers.
Pass rates for Higher Maths re-set at 43% this year
IN Aberdeen alone:
36 primary vacancies, 19 secondary 9 Primary Headships, 2 secondary.

What about the college places?
Why is Scottish uptake (of the magic 'free' places) plummeting?

hamiltoes I look forward to your reassessment of primary education once your child is a few years into primary school.

Are you really saying we should plug the gaps of our increasingly shit education system ourselves?

The SNP can no longer blame everyone else. They have been in government long enough.

Our kids will have to compete on an international stage for jobs. We are utterly failing them and I don't knw what the fuck to do about it