What is missing from the school curriculum?

There's already lot to learn while you're at school, but what do you think is missing from the curriculum?

Do you think life skills should be added? Or maybe there are subjects that you can't study until A-levels that you think should be taught earlier on?

Let us know what you think

There's already lot to learn while you're at school, but what do you think is missing from the curriculum?

Do you think life skills should be added? Or maybe there are subjects that you can't study until A-levels that you think should be taught earlier on?

Let us know what you think

I have a long list of skills that I think should be taught in schools (whether schools have the time and budget to teach these extra skills is another matter). These would include:

What schools did you all go to where ethics, persuasion and soft skills, code-switching writing, recognising predators, drink and drugs etc wasn't taught?! This is a genuine question. Much of it is couched in what you do in your 'generic' subjects but these skills should all be there.

I was taught this stuff in school 25 years ago and I went to a failing school

It can't be the curriculum because I've since taught in schools and we also did all this stuff. Insane.

Higher-level Maths concepts should be taught earlier. Take the lesson time out of Geography classes, I'm not sure why this subject still limps on.

Nah take it out of RS, GCSE MFL or English literature instead in my opinion if we do this (this is coming from someone who hasn’t done any geography for around 8 years).

RS is in the curriculum for appearances, at my school we had about 6 mandatory lessons which went through all the required material without covering any fluff, then moved on.

English literature was one of the highlights of my time at school, and I fear if it's removed some people will never read a book in their lives, let alone Shakespeare (while everyone likes to say Shakespeare's dull, I have yet to find someone who couldn't remember the plot or a powerful quote from the play they were forced to study.)

GCSE MFL is, quite simply, useless though I do agree. Language learning in the education system is flawed in general.

Higher-level Maths concepts should be taught earlier. Take the lesson time out of Geography classes, I'm not sure why this subject still limps on.

I have a long list of skills that I think should be taught in schools (whether schools have the time and budget to teach these extra skills is another matter). These would include:


Some of these skills are more key than others.
Some of these skills are being taught indirectly, but many aren't being taught at all. If they are being taught, they are normally just told to do it and figure things out as opposed given a framework on how to do certain things. I find this inadequate because the results can vary wildly and often demoralise students since they have no clue on the approach.

Granted, there were programs like home economics that were taught in the past but were later cancelled, but I advocate that many of the reasons for the cancellation aren't applicable. In fact, there is a strong need and demand for some of these skills to be taught again in schools.

I would think it's safe to say that a good portion of these skills can be taught to primary school students. These lessons don't need to be long (say 1 hour a week), and I find them more productive than say some of the unessential but mandatory subjects taught in schools.
The more mature topics such as travel, dating, and grooming can be taught later in secondary schools, again with 1 lesson a week being more than adequate.

When it really comes down to it, I find that the necessary entry requirements for higher and further education aren't as demanding as schools make them out to be e.g. if you only need GCSE maths and English Language for certain courses at college, you wouldn't really need as many of the other subjects on top, especially if it's not a required subject for specific courses at the particular college. I would argue that there should be more room made for the life skills that would serve the students in a longer term than something that they would use to say up to degree level (say 21 years of age).

I would also have to point out that life is often not as idealistic as when you have parents who are expected to know all of the above or be able to attend to the children all of the time. Equipping the children with these necessary skills earlier in life can foster their independence as well as reducing the risk of them being unprepared in certain unfortunate events or circumstances.

All of these are life skills and can be easily learnt once you have learned how to learn at school. These days we seems to see school as the arbiter all all learning when in actual fact school gives you the basics and hopefully the ability to learn for yourself.

Take the lesson time out of Geography classes, I'm not sure why this subject still limps on.

I suppose, but then the school doesn't really teach you how to learn something i.e. there's no framework taught to students.

In fact, I never remembered there ever being a lesson taught on how to actually score high marks and what the marking criteria in all their vagueness is suppose to mark you on. Quite a few of us had to either use model answers, throw in the kitchen sink, or try to infer what the criteria meant. It's demoralising and very unhelpful. How are you supposed to learn something if you don't know what you are supposed to be learning? However, than in itself is another can of worms altogether.

If your statement holds water, then it would make more sense for the school day not to be as long as it is so pupils get to learn what they need, either in school or outside of school (assuming they have the resources to do so and know where to look for the appropriate material, and they often don't). In fact, if the statement is true, then I fail to understand why some of these very same life skills are taught in vocational/adult colleges, or why these colleges would need specific tutors for these skills.