Joke aside, its a valid point (i.e. what difference will it make). Children attend school for roughly 11 years minimum. If that isn't enough time to teach / learn maths, including to achieve acceptable numeracy, then surely the logical thing to do is to look afresh at what the hell is going wrong during those ELEVEN years, not to add a further 2 years to the failing process. Once again #ClownWorld
There should be more focus on teaching useful maths (and I’m a geek that actually likes maths) Budgeting, mortgages, loans, tax, profit margins etc etc would all be more useful to most than trigonometry
My daughter did the European Baccalaureate, basically arts, maths, science and languages (11 subjects in all) from age 11 to age 18, no gcse's, exams in 5 key subjects at the end. Not saying it's better or worse, just different, but she did cover all the things you mentioned above. I'd guess A levels offer more depth in the 3 chosen subjects but the Bac covers more ground 'horizontally'.
The one benefit I can see through extending it to 18 would be to keep them off the Streets,out of their beds and transform their school years into working years? I have friends from Belgium(Flemish) where it is mandatory to stay at school until the age of 18.They are put into work placements(I think at 17 but would need to check that),more of less choose a career that interests them and the School endeavours to get them into that . My mate was doing a welding apprenticeship before he officially left school.It's unfair on kids these days as they are not entitled to benefits and the onus is on the parents to keep them.There was a scheme some years back where the parents received payment(off the top of my head £30 a week) if the kids stayed on but I'm not sure if that still exists. My 4 kids all left at 16 but we're lucky enough all get jobs more of less immediately,I'm not sure if that happens much these days?Of course you'll get the likes of Aldi,Iceland etc exploiting that by paying them buttons but surely there's a better option out there somewhere and jobs that they actually want to do as opposed to just earning a pittance. I genuinely thought that because of covid and the fact that the kids had lost a year's education,they would extend it to 17.Of course there probably aren't enough teachers to facilitate that.
Spot on. It would also kill dead the argument that "none of this stuff is of any use to me". Both my children did well in their exams at gcse and a level (and beyond) but have next to no clue about real life stuff of the sort you mention ( beside what I've tried to pass on to them). After 11-13 years in an education system, that outcome just cannot be right or acceptable.
I booked to go from Newcastle to Carlisle next week for £3 return. The Missus just looked at me askance and said 'You've overpaid you daft buggar'.
But its always been this way. I don't remember back in the 60's, 70's, 80's too many people saying these life skills should be tought in school. Most people just picked them up when they needed them. I think what's more to the point is that there are far fewer decent jobs for kids to get or aspire to whatever age they leave school. I'm not saying the status quo is better or that life skills shouldn't be taught I just think the problem is much deeper than just teaching more maths or how mortgages work. Tell any 15-year-old today he's going to learn about mortgages and loans he likely to say what's the point, I'll never be able to afford any of that. And I have to say he's not wrong. If kids thought they might have somewhere to go in life we'd see different kids.
Teach em- Adding Subtraction Multiplication Division Fractions % ages And maybe compound Minimum That’ll cover most of life’s needs Grandsons 8 he was in the back of the car and I had to ask him times tables he kept getting them right - dead impressed when we stopped he told me he was using my phone calculator LOL
That’s a very negative way of looking at things. I always taught my kids to follow their dreams and if they worked hard enough, they’d achieve them.
If you live round here and have two reasonable incomes a 120k starter home is possible with a 5or 10% deposit but then again 10% deposiit for our first house was 18 months of doing nothing but save , no going out or cars etc. Will they do it nowadays - very doubtful but if they did 12k nett out of out of two nets totalling say 3k month if you live at home should be achievable in 18 months maybe . like I said don’t think they would give up the social side like we did Am I being too old fashioned ? They might have to give up the £400 a month BMW pcp !!!
Maybe but I think it's the world we're living in. A lot of kids don't have supportive parents like you, and a lot of kids don't have the first idea what they want to do. I didn't have dreams when I was growing up, apart from being a rock star or a top footballer, but there were jobs available to keep me going until I found something I liked and was ok at, and it all worked out reasonably well. Those opportunities, to just earn a living while finding your feet aren't there now in the numbers they used to be, imo.
There is no doubt in my mind that parents are the ones who set the example and standards most kids learn from at a young age. That is the bedrock of kids growing up and becoming young people and adults. Some of the problems started when mothers felt they had also to work to support the family income and were not at home when the young child was growing up or came home from school. It has been a gradual decline in the discipline at both home and at school which has contributed to the society we have today IMO.
