Primary school curriculum concerns

[Lola36]

My DS is in his final year of primary and I'm concerned he's not doing enough core work and is doing things like music and drama, arts and crafts, outdoor visits and outdoor play rather than maths and english and learning to focus and complete tasks before he moves up to high school after the summer. I feel if I raise my concerns with the head she becomes defensive and suggests we do homeschooling, which we do do on a Friday with him. I'm concerned that the school has more emphasis on wellbeing and less on knowing times tables, how to construct sentences, am I really behind the times? I understand the essence of the CofE but I am concerned that the kids are being let down by not being taught, rather they set their activities, for instance last week he was cleaning out the school gym cupboard and I can understand that this could be a lesson in responsibility and good behaviour but it's the balance between activities like this or playing in the local woods for the morning, and more traditional learning activities that I'm concerned about. I will address the head and the parent council when the meetings come up but just wondered if anyone else was feeling similar with their kids' schooling in Scotland?

Do you have knowledge of the second level curriculum? Also, maths and numeracy and literacy will be daily on the timetable. I'd ask for a meeting with the teacher first so you can be aware of what is actually being taught.

@Staggie no I don't have knowledge of the second level curriculum. We're doing home schooling but we don't have any teaching experience. I will ask for a meeting, thanks. We're keeping my DS at home today for schooling because yesterday he said that they'd done music/ drama in the morning, gone for a community hall visit, and done arts and crafts in the afternoon. That's been a couple of days now where there's been no mention of maths or literacy. I know I shouldn't go on just what he says and I will ask the teacher but, in my past experience, we've questioned the curriculum only to be told it's not structured and the kids decide what to do so it's difficult to say what they'll be doing on any given day. Thanks

Why are you keeping your DC at home and yet are concerned about them missing out on lessons?

Seems to me that sending them in every day would go a long way towards resolving that issue.

@RSintes good point, I think I have lost faith in the school so I should either have meetings to find out what they're learning or consider changing schools. I feel they're not doing the lessons they need to at school and that's why I see it as my problem, and therefore a balance of home schooling and school is a good fix. The head of the school said she would recommend home schooling if possible as it's one on one teaching.

I’m a bit concerned too, I have a DC the same age in Scotland. I just get numeracy and literacy books to make sure she’s keeping up. She likes doing them. I wouldn’t keep her home from school though because she’ll miss out on the whole social aspect of school which is just as important imo.

@uhtredbebbanburg sure, it's only on Fridays we home school. 'Flexi Fridays' is a movement which I understand that a number of families across the country are part of. So the kids get a good majority of their week in school benefitting from the social aspects etc. but on a Friday spending it out of school in a way that the family feels adds to the kids' education, whether that's a visit or outdoor learning or workbooks/ home projects. We use this time to cover aspects of maths and literacy through workbooks and visits.

But is your child actually behind.
Find the end of year expectations for his year group. I’m in England so not sure if Scotland's are slightly different. Have school expressed concerns that he is not achieving what they would hope?
To be honest your set up sounds unusual (have school agreed to him missing and being home educated on a regular basis?)
Personally I’d be more concerned if they weren’t doing all the things you mention. There’s more to life than maths.
school should’ve providing a fully rounded education. Including music, art, drama etc. In England it is a compulsory part of the curriculum.
Odd days where they haven’t done maths isn’t going to do any harm either. How nice that they’re getting to go on trips after being locked up during the pandemic!
I don’t really agree with your attitude myself but definitely start by working out if he’s actually struggling or behind before you start complaining. I’ll tell you now that school will not be changing their curriculum on your day so.

Changing schools for one term before he moves to secondary is completely pointless. I find it odd you haven't spoken to the school more about your concerns regarding Maths and English.

@Smartiepants79 I don't know if they're behind. I've asked before but with the CofE it's not rated accordingly to levels in the class, it's the individual pupil's expectations, but I don't know how to read this. In other words, they may be doing well, according to what their teacher thinks they can achieve but that doesn't relate to any standards.
The school actively encouraged to us to homeschool on Fridays and even suggested Thursdays aswell.
I understand that a well rounded curriculum is important and I'm all for studying music, arts, I'm an artist myself but I also feel that balance is important.
Another example was a Monday afternoon when the kids' were given the option to bring in their electronic devices to play on, such as phones and ipads. I understand it was a treat afternoon for the kids but didn't feel it was a particularly appropriate use of school time, to play video games and watch online content. Maybe I'm just really old school!

@wesriut sure, I was more thinking about my DD who is in primary 4 and will still have 3 years of primary school. I agree there's no point in moving my DS.
I have had meetings in the past with the school about my DC's progress but I've kind of been put off because the last time we went in, and we questioned why they didn't follow a set curriculum (we didn't understand the CforE at this point) the head said, 'why don't you go and become a teacher?' so basically saying, if we were disappointed in what was being taught at school, we should teach it ourselves.

Are they including literacy and numeracy within the other activities/learning? It sounds like learning through play has been incorporated into the whole school, rather than just Nursery/P1.

You need to speak with the teacher.

Which council are are you in?

@EVHead Fife

Is the Friday thing allowed in Scotland? First I've heard of it and it's interesting to say the least.

Do kids finish at lunchtime on Fridays in Fife?

Try using RIGOR maths with him. This is the expected level at end of P7. The photo is the Feb work. Follow them on Twitter for updates.

@hilbil21 this is from the mygov.scot website. 'Flexi schooling
Some parents may wish to home educate, but arrange for their child to attend school on a part-time basis. This is flexi schooling. To do this, you may need the local council's consent.
The local council should consider each request on its own merit. Each local council and school gets to decide if they can support the request or not.'
I think I was given the go ahead also because there was at least one other child already doing Flexi Fridays within the school so it wasn't anything new.

@EVHead no

Oh that is good to know. Thank you

@stargirl1701 thank you!

The HT doesn't like you. It's very odd to suggest two days of this flexi schooling business. And the comment about becoming a teacher was rude.
the school seems very casual compared to my dc's experience of primary in Scotland.
The teacher does indeed have standards to use to assess the pupils, have you read the actual outcomes and experiences contained within the CFE documentation? All online. If you have younger dc I would consider moving primaries (any chance of a house move? Or catchment faith school?) and when you move put trust in the school, don't take your dc out every Friday and then complain when the school does some fun stuff on other days.

@Snowontheblow I haven't read the actual outcomes and experiences contained within the CFE documentation, I'll look it up.
I'll consider moving school for my DD but I do have reservations about doing this because I was always of the thought that you should never do this unless there was terrible bullying, because it's important to get through to your child that you can't just chop and change whenever you feel like it and I'm of the belief that you should go to the school in the catchment. We can't afford or want to move. I will address my issue with the teacher. I just wanted to find out on this forum, if others are having a similar experience of primary schooling in Scotland so I could get a bigger picture, rather it just feeling like I have a big chip on my shoulder and am being unreasonable.

@Snowontheblow I think the school is quite casual in it's approach, the head is relatively new, a few years in the role and she's changing it up, which is good, although there have been some changes which some of the parents of the school haven't been completely on board with, like using first names instead of Ms, Mr so the pupils call their teachers by their first names. I'm not bothered by this at all but I'm just using as an example of the changes the head is bringing to create a school which is very relaxed, she acts like a friend to the kids, which is good and inclusivity and wellbeing is at the forefront, which is, again, very good, because it's so important that kids are made to feel happy at school and that every child has potential.

Wow that is a very unusual approach for a Scottish primary school. I couldn't be bothered with that personally. Not great preparation for secondary either.
Moving primary school once isn't chopping and changing. It's also a good lesson to teach your children to move on to something different if that is what's best for them.

Absolutely agree with snow and it sounds like your relationship with this school is bad, and there’s no respect there so think it’s a good idea to move the younger one anywhere else! Flexi schooling is become more common - if you can give your kids 1:1 attention to support their learning and access and interpret appropriate materials then that’ll benefit them, they’re in big classes and all children love more attention.

no, it doesn’t sound that typical for a school, I do agree there is a well-being focus but not to the exclusion of academic subjects.

Have at look at these @Lola36 education.gov.scot/Documents/numeracy-maths-eo.pdf
You'd be looking for level 2 in p6/7, some might be in level 3 but mostly that is the early years of secondary.