If you could re-imagine the secondary school system, what would it look like?

[EveSix]

If you could rip up the way secondary schools are structured, and start again, with a view to create truly inclusive learning communities in which all could thrive and fulfil their unique potential, what would it look like?

How large would schools be?
How might catchments work?
Where would resources be allocated and funding spent?
What about the curriculum?

You can plot changes commensurate with the level of taxation you feel comfortable with / the percentage allocated to schools; if you feel education is worth a greater bite of the cherry of taxation, you can suggest more comprehensive reform.

I'm not feeling brilliantly imaginative at the moment, but I'll kick off: as a parent of a DC with SEN who finds school an utter sensory overwhelm, I would like to see secondary schools shrink to the size of medium sized primary schools. I think young people often do well in smaller settings where they are known to all staff.

A 'stages not ages' approach to learning in some areas of the curriculum, such as Maths and English, especially in areas with a high level of language need, ensuring the needs of EAL learners are met.

I think each school should have a sufficiently staffed resource base where learners who require learning support are able to work in an environment which supports their learning needs.

I'd love to see a new take on qualifications to complement traditional GCSEs, with a much easier availability of academically suitable alternatives, preventing pupils from essentially being set up to fail.

Increased options for PE: so many young people properly hate PE, and never really recover any sense of joy or pleasure in exercise after secondary school. It's a massive missed opportunity for public health. I'd like to see competitive sports for those who are that way inclined, as well as gentler options for those who loathe coerced exercise or team sports: yoga, pilates, walking orienteering, gym, aerobics, zumba, archery or darts, pool, fitness theory, Nordic walking or just a regular walk in the neighbourhood.

Anyone else?

In Scotland you either apply for an out of catchment place (but would be unlikely to get it in an over subscribed school) or go private.

Streaming in every subject, in all years, two sorts of maths qualifications- basic Arithmetic and then more complex mathematics
More practical subjects
every one taught life skills, for boys and girls
eg cooking a proper meal from scratch.

Basic house maintenance, importance of ventilation mending and sewing.

@Barbadossunset every "catchment" school should be comphensive and equally good with the same curriculum so there should be no reason for someone to not send their child there.
There should be a few exceptions allowed - for example if a family move across town into another catchment but their child only has a term or year left in that school then the child can stay at that school if that's what the parent wants.

I would like to see a greater choice of schools (maybe from age 13) - some bigger, some smaller, some more STEM-focused, some with more of a Steiner feel (without the ideology), some more artsy. But with a genuine choice, not dependent on catchment.

I would like to see all schools put dignity and respect at the heart of what they do. IME the scale of state schools mean that school is a harsh experience for a lot of kids.

Totally agree with scrapping exams, and spending a lot more proportionately on education.

No uniform.

My DC's school is fantastic. Big school running "schools with a school". A bit like houses. Teachers within each "school" get to know the students well and it feels less daunting. Mixing across the different schools happens as children get older and more subjects on offer.
Not a lot of homework and what is set is very research/project focused. They seem to do well at nurturing curiosity and independent thinking.
A couple of years in there is a change/choice in PE with a split in competitive sports and more fun sounding exercise.
GCSEs start earlier and wider range of subjects taken.
They have a shirt/tie traditional uniform but don't seem upright about it, certainly kids seem to get away with adapting it/teenage expression. I think uniform is great as a leveller but could be more casual polo shirts.

I love some of the suggestions on here, like links/integration in the local community. I also wish there was scope to learn outside the classroom more/school trips etc.

Gillstuck, I love the idea of teaching drawing skills. Drawing is one of the great loves of my life, and I think that, as a skill, it is cognitively turbocharged, enhancing so many other areas of learning and human experience.

Siren, I just thought I hadn't seen anyone suggest later starts, but then I saw your post. I agree; my teen DC is a different person at 7am to the one who emerges at 8.30. A 9.30 start to the school day would revolutionise many families sense of well-being!

Lots of suggestions for life skills and things which would loosely fall under the umbrella of home economics, perhaps? Not sure what it could be called, but yes, something that encompasses banking, insurance, taxation, right through to how to pay bills and manage household maintenance tasks would be so useful.

Also a return to a very comprehensive citizenship education curriculum, where young people study the criminal justice system, electoral system and local / national government, national and global economics, ethics etc.

Replace geography with geopolitics - that is, fewer glacial moraines and more studying issues such as the land question in Israel and its ramifications.

Also, a compulsory class in personal finance.

Agree about the 9.30am start! Or maybe 9am start with a 90-minute lunch break to allow for clubs and band practice.

Each year group to have their own common room to hang out in, with individual lockers. And sofas. Come to think of it, some comfy chairs in the girls' bathroom might be nice, for chatting..... but now I'm really daydreaming...

Yes, foundation level courses would be great, and should be more readily available. It's been a bit like pulling teeth requesting information about equivalents at DC's school. If a child is clearly going to struggle to pass a GCSE, make something else available which they can succeed at.
Like DC said; "I'd rather work confidently toward X diploma with a good chance of passing and feeling proud of my small but significant for me achievement, than stress for two years to fail a Maths GCSE which literally everyone knew I was always going to fail."

I teach this in Scotland. It’s called Modern studies!

Heart, I wonder if there is a specific tangible benefit in making those key transition points at 6 and, crucially, 14 (as opposed to 11 / 12)? I imagine the gains in maturity and independence are great.

allpropertealstheft what happens if they don’t want to go to their nearest school? Is the child/children then denied education?
Would you allow home education?

Yes, definitely, although proper checks should be made by the local authority that the child is actually being educated!

Sock,
"There would also be classes just for enjoyment where pupils would be encouraged to try a variety of sports/arts with no purpose other than having fun."
I really think we really underestimate the importance of having the opportunity to do things just for the sheer enjoyment. We need to create those positive synaptic pathways where learning is associated with pleasure and enjoyable stimulation.

I want to be able to send DC to a school with the culture and ethos that suits them

A well-run school with a varied curriculum, suitable SEN provision, robust but humane behaviour policies, well-qualified teachers etc, following a revamped national assessment/exam system, should suit everyone. Since this is a thread for saying what we want schools to be like, that seems like a good aim. Rather than having different types of school, or just schools with different reputations, which are only good for certain kinds of children.

Geogteach, spot on. I wonder whether people realise this ‐that consecutive education ministers have not had any recent or relevant (if any) experience in education.

There are very few comments on here about PE.

We know we are a nation of unhealthy, unfit, overweight people.

I would combine the physical aspect of PE with some classroom based learning about health, maybe make the subject "health and fitness?"

I'd teach kids about how the body moves, why it does things/behaves in certain ways. How to get the best out of it and teach them about the importance of nutrition and how it helps both physical performance and how both can influence our mental well-being.

Homework, certainly in KS3, should be looking back over what you learned in your lessons for that subject each week.

I would combine the physical aspect of PE with some classroom based learning about health, maybe make the subject "health and fitness?"

I'd teach kids about how the body moves, why it does things/behaves in certain ways. How to get the best out of it and teach them about the importance of nutrition and how it helps both physical performance and how both can influence our mental well-being.

PE teachers do teach that sort of thing these days. Unfortunately some kids don't like PE or sport, whatever sport it is or however much they understand it's good for you! Much like many adults.

@Festivfrenzy · Today 19:39

Agree re small classes - 20 max. Parents to receive regular updates- maybe a couple of sentences each week rather than 5 mins per term

So to be clear, you want secondary school teachers who:
see about 120 odd kids a week
have tutor groups
are head of year or subject
put in place interventions
put on extracurricular activities

To write a weekly report for each child. If they spend about 5 minutes a week for 120 kids, that's 10 hours worth of writing a week, on top of day job, not accounting for responding to specific parent quibbles with that week's report.

bonkers

Squiblet, defo geopolitics! With a generous side of environmental studies.

Lots of countries like Scotland and Finland have systems where all pupils go to their local school. In Finland private education doesn’t exist. It’s not allowed.

If only, SocialistSally... But I think this represents a fundamental flaw in the UK education system; essentialist individualism and choice at all costs. Choice in a two-tier system (actually more like 3-tier if you factor in the schools which are only accessible through residence in prohibitively expensive catchment) does not serve the common good. And really, from where I'm standing, the common good is all we have and the only objective worth striving for.