What practical life skill should every child learn before leaving primary school? £100 voucher to be won

[CeriMumsnet]

As parents, we're constantly teaching our children life skills - from making their own breakfast and crossing the road safely to managing friendships and handling tricky situations.

But if you had to choose, what’s the most important skill every child should know by the end of primary school?

What practical skills do you make a point of teaching your children? Are there things you wish you'd learned earlier yourself? And how do you help your children build confidence and independence as they grow?

We're working with St John Ambulance to raise awareness of First Aid with Bertie - a fun programme that helps children learn essential first aid skills and feel more confident knowing what to do in an emergency.

Everyone who posts on this thread by 29 July will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 Amazon voucher. (Prize draw fulfilled by Mumsnet - T&Cs here).

There are so many... Practical skills like swimming and cycling are probably best learned as young as possible, as it can be difficult for older children e.g. teens to find suitable classes for people their age, further strengthening the idea that they've missed the chance.

I would add cooking including knife skills and food hygiene. Also money management.

To use a phone to call for help should the need arise, especially if there are just two of you in the home during the day.

How to call 999
How to call for help if lost in shopping centre or beach: shouting "mum's name" e.g. "Lucy" rather than shouting "Mum".
How to find a safer adult if lost (staff in shop, lifeguard on beach) and how to say no and attract attention if a dodgy adult tries to talk to them etc.

I actually think it's independence.
By the time children leave primary school, I'd love them to be able to make themselves a simple meal, look after their own belongings, cross a road safely, know how to call 999 and explain what's happened, swim, manage some basic money, and understand how to stay safe online.
More than any individual skill though, I hope they leave believing they're capable. Capable of having a go, making mistakes, solving problems, asking sensible questions, and knowing when to ask for help. We can wrap children in cotton wool, but eventually they have to function without us. Giving them genuine responsibility from a young age builds confidence far better than doing everything for them.
As someone who works in education, I think schools have a role to play, but so much of this comes from everyday family life too —cooking together, catching the bus, paying in a shop, helping with jobs around the house, talking through tricky situations and gradually giving children more freedom. Those ordinary moments are where real life skills are learned.

I think the most important would be how to swim and be safe around water, and what do in an emergency - how to seek help, immediate first aid, exiting buildings quickly and safely in a fire even when in a panic (this is why my local primary school sometimes fire drills with fake smoke and usual exits blocked off, so the children have to think quickly about alternative routes)

It depends on the age of the child, at 3 calling 999.

By the end of primary what a PP said about making a simple meal etc.

I also think where you live makes a difference, if you live near the sea then skills to do with sea and beach are necessary, if you live in London, reading the tube map and using public transport is important.

how to not panic /survive if you can’t swim Float to Live: Lean your head back into the water so your ears are submerged. Spread your arms and legs slightly to stabilize yourself and let your natural buoyancy keep you at the surface.

also if you get lost Stay Put: Unless you are in immediate danger, remaining in one place makes it much easier for search parties to locate you than if you keep wandering

All children should know about consent from as early as possible, that ‘no means no’ and that people have a right to change their mind.

Body autonomy
how to cross a road
how to lose graciously

how to swim or at least float
how to call 999 for help
To know their own address

To not be afraid of using the telephone for talking.

To be able to commence and hold polite engaged conversations with adults in all reasons situations (eg police, ticket counters, shops, offices etc).

I want my kids (10, 8 and 6) to be able to, by their early - mid teens:

• Swim confidently (they are all in swimming lessons)
• Know how to cook basic recipes for all meals and know how to make basic cakes
• Have a good understanding of personal hygiene
• Know the principles of how to clean the house
• Understand the basic principles of budgeting and money, and try and instill the idea of saving over instant gratification
• Something I wasn't taught, especially as a young woman - the basics of keeping yourself physically healthy are also really important for mental health. If you are not sleeping, not being physically active, not eating well and hydrating, and not managing stress, then this can make you unnecessarily mentally unwell.
• Another thing exclusively for women, how hormones affect your mental wellbeing and how birth control can negatively effect your MH too. I was just left to get on with it all basically and I severely struggled with my mental health

Timing and the ability to organize themselves e.g. learning not to announce they need clean PE kit 15 minutes before they need to leave for school, being able to leave the house on time.

Basic home skills e.g preparing simple food, knowing how to use a hoover, change a bed etc.

Don't just tell your children what to do, ask them as well.

My mother was leaving me and my brother alone for a bit so she asked my brother what he would do if the TV set on fire. He said he would get a bucket, fill it with water a and throw it at the TV.

Luckily the TV didn't set on fire but we knew that fires meant you got out and stayed out of the house.

Although I think most of the things people have listed are all worth knowing some are a little bit more important depending on the family.

If an adult in a family has severe allergies then a two or 3 year old should be able to fetch an EpiPen.

If you live next to a river / canal / lake then water safety shifts up the list.

Swimming

Essential life savings skills for self and others (child version of first aid).

Cleanliness for personal hygiene and bedrooms.

Which bus stop to get off at.

Year seven's go to school on a bus in our rural area. I took my ds to the bus stop on the first day and said I'd collect him from the bus stop in the evening. He didn't get off at the right stop (he said it looked different from inside the bus) and then panicked when they got to the end of the route.

The very kind bus driver drove him back along every stop until they found me.

According to the bus driver, it happens every year. 🙂

If an adult in a family has a severe allergy, a 2 or 3 yo should be able to fetch an epipen.

My dm suffered from a severe allergy to bee stings, in the days before epipens existed. She had already nearly died once. I and my siblings were taught how to inject her with antihistamine and adrenalin, using two prefilled syringes that she carried in a case on a cord around her neck. We and the district nurse practised, once every 6 months, injecting an orange.

I was 7. My youngest sister was 5.

Small children can be capable of so much when they have to be.

Did you ever have to inject 'in anger' or was it just the orange?

Swimming
Crossing roads safely
How to say NO to uncomfortable situations without fear

Apart from first aid, I think learning about running a household is essential including how to budget, how to do laundry, shop, cook, set up services such as broadband and energy.

Teach them at an age appropriate level from as young as possible such as telling them how much money you have to spend in the supermarket that day or that the washing is going in the machine with detergent and build it up to all the important details as they get older.

Honestly... To understand that no matter how anyone acts you can't change them but you have total control of how you react.
Wish I'd known this at an earlier age.

First aid, swimming, road safety and basic money management.

What to do and who to call in an emergency
Relating to the above - their address
Learn to swim and float
Basic money management

What immediate steps to take in an emergency.
What to do iin the event of a fire (my sister put a chip pan fire out aged 10 I had no clue)
All about consent in relationships
And how to navigate abuse/bullying and what it looks like.