Add a subject, bin a subject

[noblegiraffe]

Lots of cries of 'why aren't they taught X at school, it's really important' with the response 'what would you like to see binned to make the time for that?'
I would like to add all aspects of managing finances - mortgages, credit, car finance, gambling, loans, costs associated with owning/renting a home, savings, investments, interest rates, the general economy. I know it's supposedly done a bit in PSHE, but I'd want it done properly. With homework and tests.

In order to make space for this I would bin: KS3 Drama.

You don't have to bin a whole subject, so for example you could bin the study of poetry in English, or anything involving circuits from science, but you can't bin the study of oxbow lakes from Geography and replace it with learning Latin - they should take about the same time.

Without reading anyone else's suggestions I would also bin KS3 drama and replace it with a money management course - although that would need to carry on until the end of KS4. I'd run drama for one term per year for KS3 and make it more like a social skills session helping to iron out friendship issues and alter group dynamics and nurture empathy. So, it probably wouldn't be called drama but it could involve 'issues' and role playing.

I'd definitely add philosophy. Ethics and critical thinking are crucial. You have to teach people how to think better. It makes for a better society.

I'd let children drop music and art by Year 8. You usually know by then if you have a talent or interest in those subjects.

Seeing both my DDs struggle with and dislike geography, I'd ditch the curriculum that they have had to endure. They're not interested in earthquakes, tectonic plates, glaciers or volcanoes and I don't think much would be lost in their lives if they didn't hold that knowledge in future. I'd let pupils choose between human and physical geography.

I’m not sure how art is taught these days but my ds finds it boring. He’s learned about a couple of obscure uninspiring artists and his sketch book has some badly drawn faces and eyes. He’s done no painting or anything else really creative.
I would change it so it’s more about developing your own creativity and style. Do lots of painting, screen printing, pottery etc.
Art can be very therepeutic and can boost self esteem.

No way would I get rid of geography, history or three sciences. This is the basis of understanding our world.
Kids need exposure to a variety of subjects at ks3 so they’ll hopefully be inspired to follow a favourite subject so they can become geologists, astrophysicists, writers, designers, doctors, tech leaders, whatever.
The spark that lights their interest should be there.

Oh yes, I'd also teach them study skills in Year 7. How to do research, information literacy, how to revise, how to plan projects, how to organise themselves, how to take notes etc...

I’d have added a bit more at history and a bit less developing your own creativity, Live. But perhaps the balance has shifted since I was at school when it was all about developing your own creativity and style.

No, budgeting isn’t the same as finance. You can budget your incomings and outgoings without having a clue about finance or how it all works.

A lot of kids at school don’t even really understand that banks aren’t like Gringotts where there’s a box in a basement with all your money in it - I’ve had the conversation often enough!

But the argument still stands noblegiraffe, that is not something school should teach children. As adults we should be responsible and teach our children these skills.

Parents have to step up and parent, teachers are there for a different purpose.....we should respect that. Unfortunately many don't......it starts at nursery/reception with children arriving at school with no table manners/unable to use cutlery properly, with poor attention spans due to being "parented" by devices/the TV, not people and suddenly, the education system is meant to teach children these skills taking time away from the real reason they are in education.

Education is so important and unfortunately it has suffered greatly from all the changes foisted upon it......it needs a proper and considered shake up to ensure future generations are not being failed.

There’s the issue of whether parents would be capable of teaching it because they don’t have that knowledge themselves. General numeracy levels in the population also aren’t great.

It’s also not like cooking or DIY, teaching opportunities to explain pensions or tax or whatever don’t tend to crop up very often.

As long as you can type quickly does it matter how many fingers you use?

I only use 4 fingers on a keyboard and manage to type faster than most my own age, it just seems irrelevent to actually learn how to do it. Most kids use laptops at some point?

But a high level of numeracy isn't required for what you proposed (it would be more for budgeting) - it's using your common sense to realise that banks aren't like Gringotts/that there is no never ending magic money pot.

Maths covers things like interest/compound interest - how they knowledge is then applied is up to the individual.

Tax and pensions could be picked up in PSHE or during form time - but again, maths is a good place to introduce the idea of taxation through the use of percentages etc. Simplified explanation but that's the gist of things.

Could equally argue that tax and pensions and other wider issues pertaining to the world of work are best left to employers who can provide tailored information on the schemes available. Today's digital generation are perfectly capable of googling taxation/using gov.uk to get the info they need. Gov.uk is aimed at a reading level of no more then 12 years and some Depts who use it, this is even lower (think a reading she of 8).

Application of knowledge is key ......maybe all subjects should focus on that rather than x fact and y fact (I appreciate that the current curriculum doesn't allow for this)

I'd say keep everything and ditch tutor time, assembly and shorten lunch breaks. It was like that at my school, we had 6-7 (sometimes 8) periods a day and learned loads! We finished around 3.30 most days. But I'm foreign so I have no idea what's actually going on during assembly/tutor time, maybe it's very important after all??

Lunch breaks are way too short as it is.

Lunch breaks at my DC's schools are an hour which is plenty long enough, esp with a 15min morning break.

When we lived in the US they did about an extra hour of school a day - started earlier, shorter lunch breaks to make up the time, but they also had a lot less wasted time - esp at primary level. They were at school to learn, not faff about! Of course they got much longer school holidays to make up for the extra hour a day.

They are 40 mins at both my kids schools.

Bell you'd be surprised, and also don't underestimate the skill required to explain this sort of thing.

Also, do we want taxation and pensions to be explained by the people selling them?

I would like to add all aspects of managing finances

I'd do that as part of the Maths curriculum and remove all but the simplest/basic aspects of trig, algebra, circle theorums, etc. Maths needs to be "living" maths skills, including finance. Most people will never have to do trig or circle theorum and will only need the most basic of algebra. Maths is so far away from lifestyle needs, it's unreal. Those who need higher maths skills for future careers should be able to do it via a higher maths paper or via A level.

It's a bit like teaching the hell out of a shakespeare play in English - just why? For normal people, they need to learn basic literacy to a high level, not memorising MacBeth's quotes.

You can have trig, but I'm keeping circle theorems.

I once gave top set GCSE a task which involved organising a trip to France. They just had to pick a train from a timetable in England, a flight to Paris, then a train from the airport in Paris, dealing with the currency change and difference in time zone.
Dear god it was carnage.

I would not bin anything, but I can see that it would be useful to have practical applications of subjects to help in the "real world". However, it's great to learn how to learn and it's also great to build up knowledge and it's also great to do a range of things, some of which you'll be great at through aptitude and others which you find tough and have to work at.

dds secondary school didn't have KS3 drama. It was only taught as a separate subject from Y10 onwards. I didn't even notice it was missing.
I would be in favour of ditching PE in particular rugby and football as dcs who are interested would already be doing this outside school!
The creative arts need to be kept but could be more merged together as KS3 rather than being separate subjects.
dd could do the task you set noble even though she was in one of the lower maths sets. Makes me wonder about who designed the current curriculum!

Now you see noble dance/theatre diploma students get tax & financial planning modules as part of their course.

cats tbf I could design the task so that it could be done by a lower maths set, there are ways of writing and scaffolding it to make it easier!

Can we all stop binning drama please?

When this happens it ends up taught badly as part of English lessons (I'm shit at it) rather than properly by people like Evil who know how to teach it well.

Also, it rather underpins IB/A level studies in Literature.

I'd chuck PSHCE & replace with Current Affairs/Ethics taught by a specialist, to get rid of endless anti bullying projects taught badly by tutors who don't have time to plan properly as they understandably concentrate on their subject lessons.

Oh & ditch lengthy assemblies. Replace with 'optional studies' - sign up for cookery/a sport/an instrument/debating/robotics etc etc. These things are currently covered in after school which means same 20% of keenos turn up to everything.

After school can be subject support - again sign up but approved by tutor who is kept informed which subject(s) you are struggling in.

I've only skim read the thread but I don't think anyone on here has mentioned careers?
I passionately believe that children should understand more about the world of work and all the millions of jobs they've never heard of and what it's really like to do a particular job day to day.
Even half an hour a week of showing a video of someone's typical work Sat might go some way towards it.
Also politics. This is not something that can be taught at home. Most people who are voting do not understand the systems properly or the parties.
Nothing could be more important.
I'm not in favour of ditching anything.
Certainly not art, drama or music.
And definitely not 'RE- so important for understanding the rest of the world's perspective.
I woyld like a more modular system where you study different subjects for a term, and take GCSES in the core subjects when you're ready for them.

But obviously I have no idea how this would work in practice.

Work DAY not work Sat!

Scrap about 90% of Biology. No one needs to know about how a kidney dialysis machine works unless you’re training to use one when you’re older. Biology should mainly concern sex education, and common symptoms of conditions such as cancers - and how to check your balls & boobs. No one should be allowed to miss sex education - it needs to be compulsory. How to avoid Diabetes & heart disease would do very well in this country.

Fuck Physics - that can come off 100%.

Maths - subtract about 70% of the curriculum and replace with budgeting and other financial matters.

History - remove everything that took place before WW1, and teach really recent historical events too, embracing popular culture, and not just King Dick blah blah blah.

Food & Nutrition should remain, but should also include lots of budgeting, and lots more time actually cooking.

I also think things like ironing, changing lightbulbs and fuses etc, how to feed a baby and toddler should be included. Everyone should have to look after one of those babies that usually only Child Development students get the experience of.

First aid & St John’s Ambulance training. National anthem should be taught.

Two foreign languages should be taught to all, and should be compulsory at GCSE.

Noblegiraffe - hmm! It's devil and deep blue sea - let young adults be educated about pensions by those selling them
Or those who don't understand them - it's a lose-lose!