The National Curriculum.

[seeker]

People complain about it all the time.

Which bits of it do they not want their children to learn?

I am sorry mrz, you are quite right you did not use the phrase it was mini ( and I see it quoted in your post) I made a genuine mistake.

So mini - all I said to mrz really applies to you ..... your attitude is beyond my belief. I guess you are not a teacher ( or at least hope not)

I don't think anyone is seriously using the term to run down bright children. Don't be so prickly.

Of course I could say mrz , as you think my DS is not suitable for your teaching, and you would preferme to keep himout of the state system your view is the one expressed by mini .If I am wrong about that, then please clarify.

I joke about wonder boy to DS. It often takes the wind out of his sails. I don't want a precocious big headed brat.

You are still mistaken jabed ...I quoted your use of the phrase and only you

In my own experience state schoolteachers arerarely able todifferentiate for higher ability because they are too busy supporting those at the other end. all very commendable I am sure.

Of course looking at it the other way, by being able to differntiate quickly and establish that DC are not suitable for our particular school is cost effective and saves empotional drain on all in trying. It means people can move on quickly and find a place where they can fit it. Soonest is always best in such situations as DC need to settle and be stable.

Actually, he has a great sense of humour and doesn't take himself seriously, is that not one of the signs of a bright child, early humour, Jabed?

I apologised mrz. I take it you lack the grace to accept?

OK fine. I was wrong to say said what you did not . However you clearly want to milk the situation.

Now the state system is to play pass the parcel with bright children and children with special needs, LD, behavioural problems and psych issues.

Christ the roads will be busy.

Actually mini, my DS is very able but he is not precociousin any sense that you seem to want to use the word. He is quite sensitve to the needs of others and often will play down his own ability to allow then to feel they can achieve ( even though he may have done more).

He does not need wind taking from his sails. He isnt big headed. In fact we do not make a big deal of his ability and he probably has litle idea of how far ahead he really is. Which is good. I believe in slow education.

So you see, he does not need to be called wonder boy. Yes I am prickly where my own DS is concerned. I have been here too often and been called names like whizz kid and computer brain - and it isn t nice!

"I was wrong to say said what you did not"

Could I have that in English?

Quod numquam doctore. Gratias agimus Deo, non pro privato elit.

MIni - go boil your head. You are a bright woman, I am sure you can use the redundancy of the English language to fill in the words I missed out. Dont play sillies. Its childish.

I bet your child loves it when you call him wonder boy. I wonder what he will say when he grows old enough to tell you what he thinks in a full and frank exchange of adult views? If he is as bright as you say, I suspect he is quite hurt really but plays along - after all you are mus mum and he loves you.

I dont have to do that.

Yes Jabed you were wrong to say what you did but as the only time I have used the phrase was in quoting you after you made the accusation it could hardly be a genuine mistake could it.

I was educated in a state SM , everyone knows that here. A good example of the paucity of state education, I am very much the boy in the corner with a book from amazon - self taught.

above to mini.

to me, sorry didn't realise too busy boiling my head.

I was IQ tested because I was a bored malcontent disrupting the class can't you tell. No sitting in corners with books for me. In fact most of the library content was boring so I gave that a miss. I'm too old for amazon but I did pinch all my father engineering books and my mothers Jackie Collins.

Actually I loved school, it was a hoot most of the time and sometimes long before we had the NC the teachers actually used to teach us something sporadically depending upon their own idiosyncratic likes and dislikes.

Some teachers were better than others obv but on the whole NC is and could be a great way of raising standards. Needs tweaking that's all.

One of the greatest lessons I learned in school was boredom toleration and how to get on for myself.
It was clearmy teachers consideredme a " wonder boy" and a " whizz kid"
(yes thats what they called me in the same way as you use it I am sure - to take the wind from the sails of the upstart who was better than he should be).

I could not be a malcontent or disruptive - mother would have given me a thick ear for being a trouble maker and my father would have been severe in his censure too. So I got on with it quietly.

Its no bug deal to be a malcontent disruptive influence - bored or not. No one likes a trouble maker.

It was clear mine thought I was a nuisance at times but my state school teachers didn't give up on me and kick me out before lunch time. In fact I spent a great deal of time sat in the head of upper schools office.....not because I was naughty but because he was head of history and he knew I was interested in history.

This is the great thing about state schools, they do accept children as they find them and for the most part work with that to achieve the best possible outcome. That can't be said of the attitude and selection within private schools can it?

So yeah, the national curriculum. As I've experienced it, it's an improvement on what I used to fanny about doing in primary school for sure. Maths at secondary is beyond what I did at GCSE, but some subjects seem a lot more 'topic' based and I'm less keen on that. (ie., you could be doing a module on Healthy Lifestyles in French, German, Biology, RE and English....). Whilst I'm not keen on Gove's list of Books Wot Are Good, I think there's room for a more rigorous approach in English, and this has been my impression of teaching first year students from both sectors.

I have taught in both sectors and am now a private tutor. The NC provides a useful structure to ensure that learning is broad, teaches skills and is rigorous. Most teachers are able to use their own creativity and talents to embrace DC's interests while still covering the NC requirements. Class size and behaviours matter, but ... the big question is ... who knows what children need to know in this ever changing world and job markets?

I wish schools would teach to learn instead of teaching to tests. Its revision time at our school and I've spent the whole of Christmas teaching my son what the school should have taught him.

I think that PHSE, citizenship should be taught at home and takes valuable time form reading, writing and Maths.