trimming the curriculum down like that is just wrong
in my opinion. A range of subjects means greater engagement with a greater number of students. As I said below, sometimes that is more important than whether the direct subject is used in 'real life'

but yes, civic education would be pretty good. Parents having more control of schools, though? I'm pretty skeptical
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 23 Aug 2010, 15:26, 1 reply, 16 years ago)

I'm only talking about primary school
it's a crazy percentage of students who finish primary illiterate and with no maths skills at all. These students from the age of 11 are shut out of the education system. There is no room and no space for them. The two most important skills are maths and english. I've made provision for a creative broadening as well, but with the focus on an interdisciplinary method that can bring in elements of other subjects

Edit: there is no point in teaching a student about photosynthesis in primary school if they can't write down their conclusions in other words
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 23 Aug 2010, 15:29, Reply)

to clarify what I'm saying above
when I was on about maths and english, I didn't mean basic literacy and numeracy
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 23 Aug 2010, 15:31, Reply)

they already try and do that
each subject is meant to include all the others. But really, maths and english happen in other subjects when the kids are engaged in the work. They may hate actually doing maths and english, but learn it as a by-product of a subject they do enjoy
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 23 Aug 2010, 15:32, Reply)

Not in primary school it doesn't
My ideal curriculum would work like this

Reception year: Numbers and alphabet taught, but general activities focused much more on social interaction, and understanding what happens in the world around them.
Years 1-3: maths and english taught every day. In this time, children with genuine learning difficulties spotted and helped. Sports, music, art, civics (as I defined it)
4-6: Introduce other subjects slowly. English/maths skills continue, but in an applied fashion. Science and history explored more. Instead of reading fiction for example, a decent child's history book and the chance for creative exploration around that. Still with the sports/music

The problem is of course cost, overcrowded classrooms and children with learning difficulties that have been reintegrated into school at the cost of classroom control
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 23 Aug 2010, 15:38, Reply)

Are you sure about that first bit?
I'm fairly sure there is a massive push for basic skills throughout education. I can only really speak for FE, but they are bloody obsessed
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 23 Aug 2010, 15:45, Reply)

I think most schools have the reception year down fine
it's from there that things start going downhill.

It's not just the curriculum though. It's the attitude. Until you can make parents care about their child's welfare you're on a hiding to nothing. That's why I reckon what I've outlined would work more in deprived primarys, than in those which are already achieving the best
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Mon 23 Aug 2010, 15:49, Reply)

I think the issue is not just to get them to care about it
but to get parents to support them. Just caring about it leads to lots of parents winging about schools but not actually supporting the work the kids do at school
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Mon 23 Aug 2010, 15:52, Reply)

I can only speak from personal experience..
but there does seem to be a difficulty in properly engaging parents. At my daughter's primary school we used to attend all of the governors' meetings and there would often be more people on the top table than in the audience.
I'm sure that all of the parents, when questioned, would say that they cared about their childrens education and I'm sure that most of them did, but actually getting them to actively do anything about it was a wholly different matter.
(Cave Duck, Mon 23 Aug 2010, 16:24, Reply)