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 .

So, really we want to please both sides, those that want the academics and those that want some academic Maths/Eng and life skills/ trade.
But this creates a two tier system that makes some people froth

It only creates a two tier system if those jobs are valued differently.

I’d agree with a different system where children are taught they way they learn best but somethings should be taught at home and not rely on the school system

Cookery
Sewing
Budgeting
Household chores
Basic interaction and social skills
Emotional skills
Resilience
Relationships

All part of parenting schools wouldn’t be involved if parent did their job property

Totally agree GreenTulips

Unfortunately, because everyone is expected to attend uni, gain a degree these jobs are valued as less.
Schools or colleges will have to teach life skills for those kids who haven't been taught at home.

I certainly don't think it should be like this, but it is and won't change until attitudes to education change.

My DD is in year 11.She is doing well but struggling to keep up with homework and revision.The course content has gone up and all children had to choose 10 subjects.Children who can cram will do well.Dd will be OK.
W
She is trying to choose her A levels but school has stifled her interest exception for Art.Unfirtunatly due to the changes to the A level system the only art taught in colleges near us is fine art (portrates,landscape and still life.).
She's distraught,her option is to do an extended diploma I art but she knows that even if she does Art as a degree the lack of other A levels will limit job choices later.
She was interested in so much until the GCSE treadmill sweated it out of her.
This kind of pressure now means that many schools are beginning the GCSE course in year 9 to cover all content so the pressures for children start earlier.

What kind of art does she want to do? Painting and still life seems fairly essential?

I agree it needs to change, a lot of it is pointless, but some of it gives children ideas of what career path is for them. Parents need to help children work out what they want to do and help them along that path. There is just too much social crap to navigate, subjects they hate, subjects they struggle with and can't get any extra help with so they feel stupid. Parents need to think outside the box a bit with highschool and look at what options there are. Traditional high school, a college that is the same thing just not in a usual setting or a trade school. High school was pointless for me, and a waste of a few years I could have been doing something else. My brother was academic and did really well. Some kids are just not ready to study in high school and need to grow up a bit, my husband failed high school and when he was ready to study and knew what he wanted to do he did it, and now has his master's in taxation along with a few other degrees. For many kids high school is just a few years of torture that does not get them ready for being adults.

Specialisation at age 16 through A-Levels is in my opinion outdated and hurts students who mature later. We're living overseas right now and if still here when DCs are in secondary I will put them in either IB or American/Canadian systems. The world is changing and I want my DCs to have a broad exposure to subjects. They can narrow when they are older and have a more clear view of their skills and interests.

Interesting where I am in Asia the trend in international schools including British schools is massively away from A-Levels, a number of schools have switched to IB in the past 5 years but no new A-Level programs have opened.

So, really we want to please both sides, those that want the academics and those that want some academic Maths/Eng and life skills/ trade.
But this creates a two tier system that makes some people froth

A two tier system would be fine if people fell into two groups, academic/non-academic. But they don't. It's a continuum, with most people somewhere in the middle. So you will always have more people that the system doesn't quite fit. Most people will either be in an academic system which is a little too academic for their taste, or a non-academic system which isn't academic enough for them.

Hardly surprising that the OP's son is bored and hating school when he's getting the none to subtle message from his Mum that school is crap and she hated it too.

Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?

One of.my dcs is at a school where they do both IB and A levels. A levels the choice for most kids. The IB is good for breadth, a levels better for depth.

One of.my dcs is at a school where they do both IB and A levels. A levels the choice for most kids. The IB is good for breadth, a levels better for depth.

In the modern economy I believe breadth is a better choice when it comes to education. Depth can be achieved at university and post-graduate. I want my DCs to have a wider range of skills so they can adapt.

I can't think of anything that students with a levels can't do that IB can, so I think it's down to personal preference. They all seem to end up going to the same universities.

If you do French, English, and History at A-Level and discover a passion for math or science at an internship at age 17, how are you going to get accepted onto a relevant course with those subjects?

Better not to narrow too early in my opinion.

I agree there are an awful lot of problems within the school system. Stop pressurizing teachers with all the tests and paperwork and let them teach!

I have one in infant school and one home educated. I don't agree at all that the home ed community has narrow views. There is such a vast array of different people home educating there are lots of different opinions and viewpoints. I have to say my daughter's school is great but her brother does have access to a much wider group of people, a wider range of activities and environments. However it takes a lot of work for the parents to access all of this. School while being more limited is 'ready-made' for parents.

Give children a good, basic education in a wide variety of subjects so that they can find what they're truly passionate about. A good level of English and Maths is always going to be important (English more-so) and there are certainly benefits to understanding basic biology and geography in everyday life.

I agree with @GreenTulips above that the likes of: Cookery, Sewing,
Budgeting, Household chores, Basic interaction and social skills, Emotional skills, Resilience, Relationships etc. should be taught/nurtured at home and not be the responsibility for teachers.

As for exams, I'm of mixed opinion. I think that too much focus on studying to pass exams (rather than to gain a genuine understanding of the topic) is counter-productive. I do, however, have a slight issue with those that complain about the 'pressure of exams'.

My stepdaughter did year 6 SATs last year and the sheer hysteria from some of the parents was borderline laughable. These aren't tiny children, these are kids about to start high-school where they will be regularly tested and expected to manage their work/homework independently.

The idea that they can't cope with basic testing, on what they've already been taught, and that it's somehow 'unfair' to test them (and there were a number of angry parents marching up the school complaining that their child was 'stressed' and been crying) is, in my opinion ridiculous. Asides from academia, the education system helps prepare children for life outside of education. If kids aren't resilient enough to cope with, from memory, four hours of tests over a week without going into meltdown then we're failing as parents.

If Pythagoras's theorem is pointless then so is growing a potato. I have never grown a potato in my life, what a pointless skill.

What is the point in learning to read? After leaving school I never read a book again. Youtube has everything I need to know.

What is the point in learning maths I have a google/calculator on my phone, I will never do multiplication in my head ever again.

What is the point in learning first aid, I have never used it in my life.

I had a passion for racing F1 cars, school fund my 'education' in driving million pound cars.

If parents don't see the value of a decent education and expect schools to just parent their children, then perhaps adoption is a better option?

I remember being taught lots about history but nothing about today's world.
I can read, write and do simple sums at the age of 34, everything else I was taught I have forgotten.

Fazackerly
She likes drawing and is good.She likes to experiment with texture,different materials and some 3D items,printing.
Everyone doing Art should know how to draw but they have done the prep for that at GCSE.My dds issue is that it 2 years of just these 3 topics and if the second year work on show for the open day was an example of good work then we were both a bit shaken.

The A level exhibition at dcs school was fantastic. A lot depends on the teachers.

What is all the looking down on plumbers?!! My OH is a plumbing and heating engineer- he is incredibly clever, using physics and maths constantly in his job. He has skills I can only dream of and earns more than me ( I'm a teacher).

My hairdresser has his own business and is incredibly successful, together with (His words) no stress, an ability to do what he likes at work when he likes and be surrounded by who he likes. I know who I would swap jobs with.

My 2 eldest DC are incredibly academic and both want to go to university. I will encourage both, of course, but I do not see it as the be all and end all to be academic and wish society didn't have this skewed Vision of what is ' worthy'. Interestingly, their father ( ex H) a consultant in the health sector, would like nothing better than to be a gardner.

Oh and to say that OH left school at 16.

Meanwhile, I loved learning and reading and had a great time at uni etc, but if I had had the opportunity/ people actually talking to me about life choices I would love to be doing something far more creative- interior design/ crafting/ costume design. It's still not encouraged to this day.

@SileneOliveira unbelievably rude and clearly haven't read the whole thread! I am expressing how I feel here , not to my son in any way. Perhaps if you want an opinion read the whole thread!

They should bring back home economics, I completely agree with that. Many children leave school unable to run a household, pay bills, look after finances generally etc. I know I did but it was ok because I understood algebra . Never used any secondary school maths in my life, ever. My DP does but he chose to be an engineer so maths is important for him. I honestly think GCSE maths should be optional but I am an English teacher so perhaps biased .

I just think once you know the basics of maths the rest really doesn’t matter. Science is important though, we all should have an understanding of our own bodies and the world we live in.

Agreed very few have a clue what they want from life at 14 but most people change career a few times anyway, it’s not a big deal.

@Walkingdeadfangirl what an absolutely ridiculous remark! Never once have I said I don't think education is important . It's how it's done that I don't like and I'm entitled to an opinion as are you .

Two most useful subjects for me were Typing and Economics. I think they should be compulsory!