Daughter going to local grammar school, can anyone tell me about the curriculum?

[LadyMaryofDownt0n]

As title, first child going to grammar school/seminary ed & I haven't a clue what lies ahead. I know the subjects but not what's being taught exactly. I'd like to know so I can help did plan ahead.

She likes learning & i am keen for her to keep the momentum over summer.

PerspicaciaTick , the joy of things like Khan Academy is you do not have to have the skills yourself.
Career wise dd will be competing on a world stage. There are other countries where the attitudes to education are totally different from the UK.
Also, science, maths, history and all the things studied at school tells us about the world we live in. It is fascinating. It strikes me as odd not to want to find out as much as you can or to not teach your children as much as you can simply because someone in some government office has planned out a curriculum and decided this is not the time to teach them. If children are finding the subjects not fun to learn, it is because the education system has made it so. Hence all the more reason to take ownership of their education and start teaching them yourself.

Soon many ways of announcing your child is going to grammar school!

So many ways.....

There are other countries where the attitudes to education are totally different from the UK.

But there are very few countries which advocate working several hours per day during the summer holidays for an 11 year old. Those which do aren't actually that successful on the world stage.

Agree with previous posters that this level of academic pressure leads to rapid burn out.

The most successful students I see at university did not get rushed into doing GCSE maths in primary school and nor did they have formal study programmes through their school holidays. They often have a wide range of interests beyond academic ones - drama, sports, music, politics etc - which they have developed through their childhoods.

Also, science, maths, history and all the things studied at school tells us about the world we live in.

Agreed - but we prefer to do things in the holidays that the school can't do (like trips to museums, theatres, historic sites, wildlife experiences such as bat walks) rather than sit in front of a computer trying to duplicate what will be taught at school.

But in any case - especially if the child might have spent a lot of last summer being tutored for 11 - she should enjoy the summer break. A child who loves learning doesn't have to start early on the curriculum. Take her to the library/bookshop for free choice; maybe see if she can do things with a local wildlife/conservation group or something of that type; or go to Maplin and find some age-appropriate electronics kits to play with. And/or a drama workshop, or learn to sail ..... whatever she'd enjoy(these are all the sort of things my DD would do in the holidays around this age - NOT all crammed into the same summer I hasten to add!)

oh, that's odd - I thought I'd posted first to ask what 'seminary ed' meant as I've not heard that term applied to education in the UK since the days of Miss Minchin. Hence starting 'Anyway...'

Rest, fun and relaxation is the best preparation. The curriculum at the grammar is exactly the same as the comps in our Area (with the exception of ds1 school which is the only one to do latin). In my experience it's better that they start their new school well rested and ready to learn.

But there are very few countries which advocate working several hours per day during the summer holidays for an 11 year old.

Yes, I agree, several hours every day would be too much. I personally would do less than half of that for a 13 year old and only if you have child who likes learning.

I will go with what dd wants to do. I'm sorry if you do not believe she does, just because you do not know any children like this.

There are lots of children who do a lot more work over the summer holidays, its just that if a child is into playing a musical instrument or sports, its seen as OK. I know children who will be spending a number of hours every day playing a violin at this age. I do not think it will put them off music. Orchestras are full of people who did not want to take a break from practice over summer when they were children.

JustRichmal if your DD likes learning so much why does she need all the parental input? DC who like learning enough to shun the more usual and more relaxing summer holiday pursuits should be well able to find their way themselves by Y9 and if she isn't capable of finding her own material then I'd draw the conclusion that she actually isn't that keen.

its just that if a child is into playing a musical instrument or sports, its seen as OK
I had been wondering about that JustRichmal. It is true that the continued routine and discipline of practice for music or sports or dance during holidays are accepted.
I do think though that it is different for academic learning since it is not about establishing muscle memory but the importance for the developing brain of time for free thoughts, relaxation, self directed interests and exploration as well of course as being sociable or bored. At most a parent could give pointers to a few website or access to books for a younger DC who is very keen to read or whatever but then leave them to it.
I agree with goodbyestranger, if by year 9 your DD is still needing direction from you despite being keen then that sounds as though she may be lagging behind in learning autonomy and probably would benefit from a good break from organised work.

goodbyestranger She says she is. I have been teaching her for many years and just likes someone to go through things with her. I have always liked making maths and science fun for her and still enjoy teaching her. If she does Khan Academy, she will do that by herself. She could also watch Crash Course by herself, but we like them as a family and so all watch them.
However, this is not really what you are asking, but are rather trying to prove I am wrong in teaching her. As you do not know either myself or my daughter, I do not think you can make that judgement, If you have come to the conclusion teaching over summer would not be best for your child, that is fine, but I do not think that you can generalized to your decision as a parent to all parents. I know my child and am doing what I think is in her best interest. Some people want to leave their child:s education entirely to the school. I do not.
The OP was asking what she could do to teach her dd over the summer and so I was giving a perspective on what I do.

I have to say having looked at khanacadamy I've not been impressed. Ds1 is fairly geeky and I think he'd be bored rigid doing that. The fun seems to be missing.

Dd starts yr7 in September- her focus this summer will be on fun and exploring her world however she sees fit. She will continue to train in her sport though but as she loves it she wouldn't be impressed if we told her to stop.

I'm not trying to establish anything JustRichmal. What works for you and your daughter works for you; end of. Although it's fair to say that you don't know yet if it will kill your DD's interest in learning and you'll end with a rebel on your hands. Alternatively she might just get worn out by all the additional work or interpret it as pressure, neither of which would help achievement in any way. One risk I think is that she might think she can't achieve without constant work. So I merely offered my perspective too, which is that I don't believe that it's in any way necessary or healthy for a child at any stage of their school career to have a scripted extra work regime plonked on them during the holidays. The fact that OP's child is off to a grammar doesn't make it and more necessary either, and since all my DC have gone to a grammar and most are out the other end I can fairly say that I can't think of any one of their friends who had a parent insisting on work through the holidays. In my view the holidays should be just that - holidays and I don't believe for one second that having a complete break from formal work does any harm at all, indeed quite the opposite. I think it would be hard to argue that my DC and their friends failed to achieve on account of messing around in the holidays, whatever measure you use.

any and

I agree with stranger. The saddest kids we know are the ones whose mothers took great pride in their achievements and happily "enjoyed" maths together. Roll on a few years and if these children don't excel, and worse still are passed by the ordinary kids they used to consider less able, they can have a problem. Their identity can be very much tied around their status as the clever kid in the class, and as well as them then not knowing who they are, they are not confident their parents will accept them for being "average".

(My DC are at a very selective school where roughly 50% go on to Oxbridge and a further two dozen to top American Universities. Here "average" can mean not getting A*s or not getting into Oxbridge. It is a high bar. Curiously my neighbour said last night, he knew 4 people who had been to the school, and none of them had suceeded later in life, indeed a couple were long term unemployed. This might say more about my neighbour and his friends, but I think that there can be a danger at very selective schools and Universities of losing your grounding. There are lots of attributes beyond academics that cause people to become sucessful. And indeed what is success.)

When I said sport, drama or music, I was not really talking about elite sport or orchestra music, but simply widening interests, and mixing with people from different backgrounds or with different abilities.

(Sendsummer - in answer to your question, teenagers taking 20 minutes or more of aerobic exercise each day is proven to be important for long term bone and cardiovascular strength adn weight control, and is, apparently, the single best thing that can be done to improve teenage sleep. Our experience is also that it helps with focus, discipline, team playing and resiliance. It can be quite a shock for academic kids used to being the best at everything, to find that sport takes effort, and that talent is differently distributed.)

Yes Needmoresleep you are right and music also has extra benefits as well. If a DC prefers reading and absorbing facts to playing sport or something creative then that is fine but my view is that their future life, personality and friendships. will be enhanced by focussing on non academic activities perhaps out of their comfort zone during the holidays.

and, as I said before, doing absolutely nothing for as much time as they want and need.

goodbyestrange, than you for those 3 separate scenarios of doom and gloom for my daughter.
The 6 weeks holiday is there so that children could help on farms when it was a much more rural economy, not as some well thought out strategy for learning.
It would be ineresesting to have some statistis

Opps,
As I was saying, it would be interesting to have some statistics rather than just anecdote or imagined scenarios.
Just may be dd will benefit from extra education over the long break. Could that be a possibility?

If you do not do work with your child over the holiday they could be unable to put the work in when it comes to A level, not get into the university they want, become disillusioned when they do not get 6 weeks of doing nothing every summer in their career, drop out and become homeless. Alternatively they may become so over confident at how little work they have to do to succeed they may become a dictator. I have no evidence for this, but then neither do you.

Gosh, JustRichmal- you don't have much faith in your child, do you?

I make sure mine read over the summer- and we have a tradition where I give them each a couple of books they probably wouldn't have thought of to read. They've always really enjoyed this. In fact, yesterday, my dd now 20 and at University said "I hope you've chosen my summer books"!!

I have no evidence for this, but then neither do you.

Not true actually. Every year I see high achieving students come into university. I get to know them very well in one-on-one meetings. Some of them come with me when I am doing outreach work in schools and talk to me about their own school years. So I do have statistics about what many very successful students did during their school years.

And in 20+ years in academia I have not yet had a student who did GCSE maths in primary school. (Though I've had many who undoubtedly could have done GCSE maths in primary.)

BTW nobody has advocated kids doing "nothing". Self-directed activities, reading, music, drama, sports are not "nothing".

esornep, you have statistics from talking to your students? Is that not just anecdote again or did you actually do some comparative study?

I think one problem of making sure your child does X, Y and Z means that when they need to self-direct at University, they can fall by the wayside and expect others to do everything for them.

As an example, rely on others to get them up for exams. To cook for them. To go over their work etc. My DD kindly reminded one student that an exam was on that afternoon but it turned out he was in London. He thought they exam was the next day. Quick sprint to Paddington ensued. Of course his parents could have made sure he knew what day the exam was........