To think school is just crap

[moanymoaner]

I mean why in 2019 are we still teaching children the same generic subjects , making them choose what they want for a future at 14 when they care about nothing and making them sit exams at 15/16 that they will have to rely on for jobs for the rest of their lives!!

As time goes on the more appealing home Ed is becoming , if nothing else than my children being victims of other people's horrors!

I'm genuinely interested in people's thoughts around it . Also I'm not by any means dissing teachers , it's government policy not teachers .

[ShaggyRug]

@moanymoaner but the vast majority don’t get bullied. Yes bullying is horrid, but that’s no reason to assume that will happen to every child. Many love the social aspect of school and even more so, it’s often the only reason some kids enjoy school.

[greybluegeometry]

Yeah, I agree there are a lot of problems with schools. Where I am, most kids start school at 3, are tested when they start and the teachers career will be based on how far along s/he gets them in formal learning by the end of the year, and on the the kids ability to sit still and shut up. At three.

And the amount of homework my FIVE year old gets is obscene. I am thinking of just refusing to do it, tbh.

As long as teacher's careers succeed or fail by their ability to get kids through exams, the school system will be based around tests and not about the child as an individual.

I could cry about how bad things are here for young children. I would NEVER have moved my kids here if I had realised what it is like.

[PlainSpeakingStraightTalking]

But - you're right OP, I could bang on for hours about the failings of the education system, my favourite lament being the academy system. I can rant for days on that !

Ideally, by Y9 its obvious whether a child is academic or vocational, in my world they 'd be split three ways, similar to the old secondary modern systems:

• Pure academic route for those wanting to go to university
  
• Vocational for those who are hands on and practical
  
• Then the midway for those who aren't ever going to be elite high achievers, middle management if you like.
  

I'd also abolish the ridiculous (and yes they are ridiculous) uni courses that have zero hopes of a career, and are really vocational subjects and bring back the polys.

[titchy]

Kazzy computing is programming, and most kids don't need to learn programming at school, though I agree it should be an option, but there very few teachers able to teach programming.

The sort of skills you think they need though they already have - Most kids know how a computer works without formal lessons! From early primary age!

40 years ago you were either O level or CSE. Now everyone gets the same qualification. The good pass grade is available to all, higher or foundation.

Gove has managed to fuck a few things up - no tiers in English, no single science, and passed up a great opportunity to reform maths. But overall the same qualification gained regardless of state, private, bottom set, top set, is a massive improvement. A real leveller.

[moanymoaner]

@TeenTimesTwo I don't think "it's really not rocket science " it's fair. Some people have a really hard time learning how to budget properly and end up in endless debt young through lack of being able to budget property.

[moanymoaner]

@ShaggyRug I think more kids get bullied to some degree than we realise actually. It's at an all time high with cyber bullying being so terrible these days .

[Fartingisfun]

My kids were at a crap traditional school and I moved them to two very different UTCs.

It was a bit wild and and a bit different but we were desperate.

Best decision I ever made. One of them now at uni studyung science and hoping to become a teacher and the other sitting on great offers to start Uni in September.

To be clear, the youngest was never expected to achieve uni so the change really helped to achieve full potential.

My husband used to think all I lived for was arguing with schools.... now it's all air kisses with the teachers.

[moanymoaner]

@Fazackerley he doesn't hate it , he just sort of gets on with it. I don't just mean my son I can just use him as an example of how school isn't one size fits all and I think it needs a re shape!

[EducatingArti]

I actually think the current sciences GCSE syllabus has a lot of really useful stuff in it that will help students understand lots of current important issues that will affect their lives ( genetic testing, sources of energy and their pros and cons, different types of pollution and how they affect humans and other living things etc as well as the basics of how scientific testing and publishing works, the importance of peer review etc) and make them less likely to fall for the vast amount of rubbish that finds its way onto the internet and other media pretending to be valid science. Absolutely essential in my view.

[Lovemusic33]

All the thing mentioned...

Budgeting
Tax returns
Cooking
How to manage finances

These all involve maths, cooking involves maths and science.

I think the core subjects are important.

My dd chose business studies and this covers budgeting, tax returns and some politics (how it effects business).

I do agree that at the age of 14 most kids don’t have a clue what they want to do when they leave school, I encouraged my dd to take the subjects she is good at and enjoys.

[cardibach]

moany I would quite like them to be taught about food and ways of growing it yes , just general life skills
You don’t think this is the job of parents? School is, essentially, academic. That’s its point. We’ve lost sight of that. Life skills are the job of parents,but schools have taken on more and more of it. I’m not sure why.

[Mummyoflittledragon]

France has an interesting way of dealing with this. The bac. Children start the Lycee at 15 and pick options for the last 3 years. They do a broad based range of lessons majoring and minoring in different areas depending on the course chosen. So some will go for a scientific bac, some for a more literary one etc. Some bacs lead to vocational jobs, others to university and others to more manual work. All are expected to study the core subjects to 18 and everyone has to a MFL.

The issue with this is people change career paths. If you’ve studied one of the less desirable bacs because you didn’t learn easily at school, perhaps has undetected Sen or dyslexia then it must be difficult to change from manual labourer to business person.

[RomanyQueen1]

travel and tourism and business and let those who want to work in those industries start at entry level and work their way up.

Unless qualified what will they work up to.
I can promise you The leisure, Travel and Tourism public sector planners, managers, project leaders are Degree Qualified as are the College and University lecturers.
It's more than learning how to book holidays you know.

[pootleposeyperkin]

Financial education is on the curriculum under Citizenship. We do quite a lot with our year 9's and 10's.

[moanymoaner]

@cardibach yes I do think it is down to parents too, but they spend 30 hours a week at school often learning stuff they have no interest in and are not able to succeed in.
My biggest gripe is that we send them to school for around 15 years and some come out with low self esteem , few friends and no qualifications at all. How can this even happen.

[moanymoaner]

@lahndahntaahn yes I can believe it too!!

[cardibach]

30 hours a week at school often learning stuff they have no interest in and are not able to succeed in
Not all of them. And 30 hours out of a week is very, very low - even when you take our sleeping hours.

[cardibach]

And I don’t think you can blame the curriculum for their friends.

[moanymoaner]

@cardibach no not all but some , I know it's not the same everywhere by my DS spends 5 hours a week doing maths , 3 English , 3 welsh , 4 science so that's half his school week . The other half spent doing the other subjects , again which is fine if the child is doing well and enjoys them , but what if they don't ? They spend a huge amount of school years sitting either not enjoying it or not getting it .

[Busybusybust]

Good grief! How on earth will they learn science, budgeting, accounting if they don’t have a good level of numeracy or literacy?

Life is full of middle aged people in dead end jobs who wished they’d worked harder at school!

[JennyHolzersGhost]

You’re a parent OP. Life skills are your job. Teach your kids to cook, shop, budget, handle their own pocket money (finances). Take them to open their own bank account. Teach them about the concept of tax returns and household income.

Teachers can’t do it all, ffs.

[Babdoc]

I agree with a PP who said that life skills should be taught at home. School should provide a broad basic education in both arts and sciences, so children are able to choose which area to specialise in later, for their A levels and university.
If a child takes no interest in any subject, and leaves with no qualifications, I think that’s as much the child and their parents’ fault as it is the school’s. We need to stimulate our kids minds, and fire their enthusiasm for learning, right from babyhood.

[moanymoaner]

@Busybusybust or who wish school was right for them. I tried at school , but I didn't get it. Subjects moved so fast I didn't pick things up. I was called thick and accused of not listening . This still happens now to many pupils . I'm not thick I just found subjects hard to grasp and had no help .

[moanymoaner]

@cardibach I don't blame school for horrid children - I blame the parent I was merely pointing out that bad experiences with peers can have such a detrimental affect on young people .