School curriculums

There are a few things which would have helped while I was in school but don’t know if they’re taught now or how relevant.

We had 5 hours of IT per week, mainly focused on how to use MS Office. I assume it’s improved now but this could’ve been more expansive.

Life skills like budgeting and basic household repairs. We had one hour where we played something called the ‘Game of Life’ once where we had to budget an income. I also never got to do food tech.
 


Tuono said:
A mate of mine went the other way. He was a joiner same as me and we were in the same class at Wearside College up until the 3rd years when we'd finished our apprenticeships. In those days many apprentices on building sites were let go once they finished their 3 year apprenticeship because under union rules they had to be paid a full wage same as the older blokes. He was one of the unlucky ones who was dumped so he did a 4th year at college as he couldn't get a job with any builders because he was just out of his time. He enjoyed the mathematics side of college so much he did a mathematics course as well and eventually ended up teaching mathematics at Newcastle University. He's retired now on a good pension while I'm still butchering wood for a living, and all because I was a better carpenter than him ... and better at maths!
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Always good when someone finds something they are good at, enjoy and can make a living out of.

Something similar happened to my cousin. Wasn't academic and worked on the line at Nissan. Took redundancy and started taxi driving, but developed an interest in Health and Safety.

Long story short, he passed his IOSH Diploma with the highest score in the country for his intake and is now a very well paid H&S manager.
 
SR7 said:
Sadly not all kids have that care network at home and rely on the care given by schools and their teaching network. Kids shouldn’t be punished or given a crap start in life because of their lousy parents/care givers.
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I agree, however the schools who take in the most of the kids you mentioned often get labelled crap as exam results will suffer.
 
I've been teaching for 8 years now and do feel a lot of the curriculum is fairly useless and out-dated but it's what we're told to teach so we get on with it. Working in SEND as I do even more of the curriculum seems pointless even after we've put our own spin on it.

I'd revamp English and maths to coincide with the modern world. Maths would be budgeting and personal finances instead of properties of shapes and English would be less Shakespere and literature and more online stuff (creating emails etc).

I'd factor RE into PSHE. Understanding and accepting other cultures doesn't require an in-depth knowledge of Sikhism.

Food tech should be taught in small groups to allow a real focus. I've never been in a food-tech class (and I've been in hundreds) where I've felt the class have left knowing how to make what they've literally just made because it's impossible for 2 members of staff to teach a class of 30 how to make a complex meal blending flavours etc so it's done step by step and the staff are ran off their feet making sure everyone's going at the same speed. Gordon Ramsey couldn't even take a group of 30 and teach them in a 2 hour session. 30 min prep, 30 min clear up, 1 hour to make and learn how to make their dish.

Nutrition should be built into PE in comp to develop an understanding that you can't out-run a bad diet.

IT really needs a social media focus looking at online etiquette. Social media is the root of most evil in schools, teaching staff are constantly dealing with the fall out of he said, she said, his dad got involved, her dad got involved and now they can't be within 500 yards of each other in school because of social media but an education is never really provided.

just a few off the top of my head. :lol:
 
Harry Angstrom said:
If that is true (which I don’t think it is) then discipline any pupil that handles a phone or has a phone switched on when on school premises.
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You don't think handing thousands of phones back would be an impossible task?

In my bairns school kids are knacked for having phones on in class.

In my primary school parents have to sign to say they allow their kids to bring them to school and they're collected in and handed back at home time.
 
Qwerty said:
You don't think handing thousands of phones back would be an impossible task?

In my bairns school kids are knacked for having phones on in class.

In my primary school parents have to sign to say they allow their kids to bring them to school and they're collected in and handed back at home time.
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No.
 
Qwerty said:
In my primary school parents have to sign to say they allow their kids to bring them to school and they're collected in and handed back at home time.
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WTF are primary school children doing with phones?? Who gives a primary school child a phone for feck's sake? :eek:
Just ban them completely from primary schools - job done.
 
Kent_Mackem said:
WTF are primary school children doing with phones?? Who gives a primary school child a phone for feck's sake? :eek:
Just ban them completely from primary schools - job done.
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Many parents put trackers on their kids phones. Imagine if you were the headteacher of a school that totally banned phones and a kid went missing. You'd be getting called worse than shit for the child not been able to get tracked.
 
Qwerty said:
Many parents put trackers on their kids phones. Imagine if you were the headteacher of a school that totally banned phones and a kid went missing. You'd be getting called worse than shit for the child not been able to get tracked.
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My younger son is at primary school. I can't imagine how he would 'go missing'. Either his mum or I drop him off each morning and pick him up each afternoon. The risk of him 'going missing' is vanishingly small. No reason to get a phone in my opinion. They don't need phones. I'd rather encourage them to talk to each other with their mouths or play footy on the field at break time rather than see them tapping on glass with bent necks, getting drawn into the WhatsApp chats that the secondary kids are obsessed with. Phones for primary school kids is a really bad idea.
 
Kent_Mackem said:
My younger son is at primary school. I can't imagine how he would 'go missing'. Either his mum or I drop him off each morning and pick him up each afternoon. The risk of him 'going missing' is vanishingly small. No reason to get a phone in my opinion. They don't need phones. I'd rather encourage them to talk to each other with their mouths or play footy on the field at break time rather than see them tapping on glass with bent necks, getting drawn into the WhatsApp chats that the secondary kids are obsessed with. Phones for primary school kids is a really bad idea.
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Great you or your missus picks your child him up. That must mean every child gets picked up from primary.
 
Fred said:
If you had your way, what subjects would you now place a greater emphasis on and which ones would you scale back/get rid of?

Also is there anything which currently isn't covered by school curriculums which you think should be?

Personally I would put more emphasis on PE, Science and IT.

PE obviously for better physical health. Science so we can get more involved in developing green energy to keep us sustainable in the future. IT should be more focussed on social media and the effects it can have on a young mind. Also teaching kids how to be safe online from misinformation and all the rest of the dangers posed.

Also more mental health lessons are needed desperately!

That would mean I would reduce hours for geography, history and maybe even Maths a little bit, all of which I enjoyed.
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How to vote and the importance of it.
 
Kent_Mackem said:
Aren't they? They are at our school, other than a few Year Six kids who are allowed to walk home 100m maximum themselves.
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No, over half the Y6 walk home by themselves, a few Y5s also. Nothing a school can do about it. It's totally up to the parents. A headteacher would be vilified by the British public if a child went missing and they couldn't be found because the head wouldn't let them bring a phone to school.
 

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