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What's most important to you when it comes to your child’s education? Share with the GDST for the chance to win a £300 John Lewis voucher!

455 replies

EmmaMumsnet · 18/10/2018 09:38

NOW CLOSED

We all know that education is important and the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), a family of 25 schools across the UK, would like to know what’s most important to you when it comes to your children’s education. Please share your thoughts below to be entered into the voucher prize draw.

When thinking about 'what makes a good education', what do you think is most important? Are strong academic results what make a good education? Or do you think there is too much focus on exams in schools? Does a well-rounded education involve sports and creative arts? Does learning languages and communication skills give children better life skills?

Whatever you think is important for your children’s education, please share it below and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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What's most important to you when it comes to your child’s education? Share with the GDST for the chance to win a £300 John Lewis voucher!
OP posts:
inashizzle · 24/10/2018 09:13

Overall academic progress would be the best marker of how good a school is.

This would be achieved by developing young people's self esteem, and confidence. Enriching them with sports, performing arts, technology . Empowerment for girls.

Pigeonpea · 24/10/2018 12:52

Happiness - if my daughter is in a happy, safe, caring environment, she will thrive. An environment, where my daughter will be stretched, as well as nurtured to develop. Sports, Arts and Academics are all key to well rounded and broad understanding of life.
Mindfulness and social empathy are also key skills to learn, as well as on-line safety.

disneyprincess87 · 24/10/2018 16:01

As a mummy and teacher I want my children and pupils to feel safe, secure, happy and trying their best in new learning opportunities.

allthingsred · 24/10/2018 17:32

Somewhere that my child is supported for who they are. They may not excel at academic's but they try really hard & it is forgotten by their teachers. Yes grades are important but it's not the be all. There will be other ways to achieve in life (through apprenticeship's/ work based learning/life skills) & I think schools need to show this too.

lucyanntrevelyan · 24/10/2018 17:43

I think a good education requires a mixture of academic skills, creative arts, music, sports and additionally being a good citizen so softer social skills and help with managing conflicts. I think the school my child attends should help and work with me on these things, and should be able to work on the particular skills my child needs most help with, or those I can least help with. There is far more important things to learn in life than how to pass an exam, and we focus far too much on just how to pass each exam with no learning of anything beyond the narrow scope of the GSCE syllabus.

beckyinman · 24/10/2018 18:04

To bring out the things they are passionate about and not to push the things they aren't so good at!

BoomBoomsCousin · 24/10/2018 19:25

I want them to come our understanding how to learn for themselves, not just how to absorb a curriculum put in front of them. I want an emphasis on cultivating intrinsic motivation. I want a paths to the best universities if they are able but also an environment that doesn't see that as the only goal and supports all students in their goals, celebrating their effort and valuing all. I want an education for them that doesn't gloss over sexism in our society but gives students ways of thinking about the challenges and making the choices and compromises that are right for them. I want them pushed to be brave, innovative risk-takers.

I want strong emphasis on communication skills and mathematical thinking - including solid statistical literacy.

phillie1 · 24/10/2018 19:53

Somewhere where they want to learn, but also where competative sport is high on the agenda.

juju3 · 24/10/2018 21:03

They are in agreement and understand the path you want them to lead - an unhappy child won't perform well at school

DitaFajitaJones · 24/10/2018 21:32

A good education is different for each child.
My daughter has always been bright and has never struggled academically, however, she has always struggled with her behavior and focus.

A good education is one that guides each child to the education they need, for their strengths and weaknesses, without crushing heir spirit.

pennyw85 · 24/10/2018 22:29

I think variety is key - both in teaching methods to find the way each child both learns but also subjects/topics so that a child's interest is sparked and it helps them understand what they enjoy - this could help them enter an interesting career

clareycat · 24/10/2018 22:58

I want my child to enjoy learning in a happy and safe environment where her personality and character flourish. I want her to develop at her pace whatever that pace may be.

horizonglimmer · 25/10/2018 08:11

Absolutely most important is a developing a love of learning. The early years, up to seven, should focus primarily on this. My son (aged 5) has moved from a later school start country to an incredibly early start country (legally five but in reality 3 or 4 at the latest). He has gone from being a child who loved learning and believed (rightly) that he was good at it, to a child who resists learning as he believes he is no good at it. Surely that is the opposite of what education should achieve. I volunteer at a school nursery and I see how this incredible early formal learning crushes the natural and deep learning of children through play, to make them sit, wriggling and protesting, to do unnecessary formal learning. For example, one three year old was forced to dismantle a construction he had spent a long time working on, including making mistakes, reflecting on them, correcting them. He was learning maths, physics, construction, science all through practical application, as well as persistence and experimentation and planning. He was forced to abandon all this (teaching him that his efforts are unimportant and unacknowledged) to sit on a mat and partake in a days of the week song, which he had no interest in. That is a poor educational approach.

Overall, including in the later years, I want my children to learn to love learning, to learn their voices and contributions are important, to learn that not succeeding at first is part of learning. I want schools to recognise that rich free play, especially in the primary years, is an important part of a child's learning. That is where they experiment and explore on their own terms, where they learn to socialise and collaborate on their own terms. When I see schools with barren play grounds I know they don't have a deep understanding of children or children's learning. They see the curriculum before the child.

I think facts and knowledge are important too. How to think is crucially important, good people skills, confidence and a have a go attitude. Believing that 'you' matter and owning your right to speak and communicate. Ability to work with others. Good empathy skills. All of these are built through free play as well as formal education.

I think what I am essentially saying is that I want a school with a clear conceptual, theoretical and philosophical underpinning which is rooted in a clear understanding of children and childhood.

farhanac · 25/10/2018 08:24

Confidence, happiness and being a good human being.

Continentalmama · 25/10/2018 11:20

An all round education which fosters a sense of confidence (not arrogance) in my child. Most importantly is that they are happy and enjoy learning, even in areas they have to work hard at, as this will set them up for life. I would like the school to be innovative in their teaching as well as have strong pastoral support.

rhinosuze · 25/10/2018 11:52

That the environment is safe and happy and that the teachers care

Neighneigh · 25/10/2018 12:09

I went to my gdst school 20 year reunion this summer, and many of us have children now. A friend who has a daughter said to me she never realised it at the time but the education we had, the experiences and the ethos of "you can be whatever you want to be" was actually very forward thinking for the 1980s/1990s. We left school age 18 as confident, polite, inquisitive young women and that's what we all want for our children.

theredjellybean · 25/10/2018 12:13

Grounding in basics, literacy maths etc.
Learning to be a critical thinker
A wide curriculum that encourages children to experience education in many ways.
Basic life skills

pixelwife · 25/10/2018 12:20

Obviously what they learn in school is important but the most important factor for me is that they are safe and happy. My husband was seriously bullied when at school so we are very conscious of ensuring our children's school is all over safeguarding.

Aside from that I want them to be told frequently that they can be or do anything in life as I've heard stories from others where teachers quash their children's dreams and I would be furious if that every happened to my children!

badgermum · 25/10/2018 14:27

I want my child to enjoy an all round curriculum, with social, physical and mental well-being being as important as academic results. I have found that schools nowadays seem to coach towards achieving good exam results rather that teaching children

YetAnotherThing · 25/10/2018 15:49

I think the long term aim of parenting is to turn out well rounded, happy, interested, socially-aware individuals. By developing this through education, some will achieve really well academically too. But you need a mix. We’ve all met super bright adults who can’t tie up their shoe-laces.

I also fear the teenage years for dd and behaviours inc eating disorders etc, and so schools that recognise this and take on pastoral care to prevent/tackle head on are essential.

emmmaaa26 · 25/10/2018 16:07

I think the core subjects are key for them to master as then they are set for life. I don't think that it should be so pressurised for everything else tho and that kids will learn best from doing things hands on and in a fun way. Giving them new experiences is just as important.

joggingrunning · 25/10/2018 16:22

I think a good education builds a child's morals and values to respect others and to be a good human being. Also a good education should allow a child to be happy and confident in themselves.

yasmin0147 · 25/10/2018 18:35

I think there needs to be a focus on how to live when you finish school, learn about taxes and banking and job interviews. Also there needs to be an education about online safety, everything from your details to people who are not very nice and dangerous to meet in real life. It would be nice if schools didn’t have funding cut if the scores don’t meet a certain standard, that doesn’t help the schools that need it.

Lindy2 · 25/10/2018 18:39

I want my children to have a well rounded education including non academic subjects as well as academic.
Allowing children to learn at the correct pace for them is also very important.
Formal testing should not start until around age 10.