My ideal school reforms.

Stop focusing on what people look like and focus on what they do
So I can get a detention for my make-up, the same punishment as someone who's just beaten someone up? Yeah that's just retarded.

If it's fake tan then you deserve a punishment worse than that of beating someone up...

So, I hate school with a deep burning passion. It only caters to those who are average and teaches everyone to be corporate drones instead of allowing people to grow as an individual. So I came up with ways to make it way better, and thought I'd post it here.

No school uniforms
All school uniforms do, aside from being an unnecessary cost to parents, is give out the message that in order to be successful, you must dress a certain way. In order to be worth anything of any value, you must dress a certain way. If you dare dress differently, you will be punished. Is this the message we want to give to society? That you must all look a certain way or else? That you're only worth something if you dress in a certain way? That anyone who dresses 'not the norm' is a bad person? Yeah, it needs to stop. Allow people to express themselves. I went to college and we had all sorts. Pericings, green hair, chavs, arty kids, normal looking people. And it was so much better.
No set curriculum for GCSEs
This is something that really pissed me off when I was at school. I wanted to do all arts based subjects, yet I couldn't because I had to pick a rounded curriculum. What if all my talents are in those areas? I hate to break it to you, but forcing me to take maths will not make me a mathematician. Forcing me to take all those subjects will not improve my ability, it will just mean I'll get **** marks because it's not the subject I wanted to do.

Also with this, we're missing out on people's individuality. You could have someone who's a brilliant musician and actor, lets let him take those things. Or someone who wants to do IT, computing and maths. Why make him take French? Again, we're trying to force individuals into a cookie cutter mould. Lets let individuals be what they are, unique.
Marking
Instead of one written exam, lets exam people a different way. Exams for subjects should be 25% written, 25% coursework, 25% oral presentation and 25% classwork. That way you get a fairer result that takes into account that people are different and not being able to do exam technique doesn't mean you're a moron. Also stops people failing if they're ill one day.
More options to take
Self explanatory. More options more variety.
Better tutorials
Dunno about anyone else but my tutorials were always filled with sex education and revision tips. While sex education is needed, endless revision tips does take the absolte piss. So instead, I thought it would be better if we had

Lessons about mental health, in order to combat stigma and make people more aware of it.
Lessons on how to manage a budget, in order to give people skills that will actually help them (when am I ever going to need to work out the tangent?!)
Lessons on driving theory for those who want them
Lessons on cooking, as many people can't cook and it's a simple skill and is actually quite enjoyable
Lessons on tolerance for people of all kind

More interactive teaching
Most teachers teach in a really monotonous way which is why so many kids hate school. Sitting there being talked at really isn't fun. Instead it would be great if lessons were interactive. So, not necessarily at desks. Using foam props. Moving around. Coloured pens. It's not difficult. Lots of people learn better this way, simply because they'll pay more attention

Stop focusing on what people look like and focus on what they do
So I can get a detention for my make-up, the same punishment as someone who's just beaten someone up? Yeah that's just retarded.

I have more but it's already pretty long so I don't want to keep adding to it, but leave any feedback below

Yesss, I've been thinking about this for a while now and really do agree education needs to change a lot!! Have you looked at ken robinson's videos? Especially[video]http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_c reativity.html[/video] and also this one: [video="youtube;zDZFcDGpL4U"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U[/video]

It was eyeliner...I do cat eye retro flicks, which for some reason offended someone

Yeh i was just joking.

I do agree with everything you've said. Only thing i don't agree with is the GCSE options bit. I think that subjects like English and Maths should be compulsory but you can choose the others.

Better tutorials

Lessons about mental health, in order to combat stigma and make people more aware of it.
Lessons on how to manage a budget, in order to give people skills that will actually help them (when am I ever going to need to work out the tangent?!)
Lessons on driving theory for those who want them
Lessons on cooking, as many people can't cook and it's a simple skill and is actually quite enjoyable
Lessons on tolerance for people of all kind

I think perhaps basic maths and English should be, but some of the stuff in GCSE maths is so ridiculous. Like pythagoras, WHEN am I going to use that?

So, I hate school with a deep burning passion. It only caters to those who are average and teaches everyone to be corporate drones instead of allowing people to grow as an individual. So I came up with ways to make it way better, and thought I'd post it here.

No school uniforms
All school uniforms do, aside from being an unnecessary cost to parents, is give out the message that in order to be successful, you must dress a certain way. In order to be worth anything of any value, you must dress a certain way. If you dare dress differently, you will be punished. Is this the message we want to give to society? That you must all look a certain way or else? That you're only worth something if you dress in a certain way? That anyone who dresses 'not the norm' is a bad person? Yeah, it needs to stop. Allow people to express themselves. I went to college and we had all sorts. Pericings, green hair, chavs, arty kids, normal looking people. And it was so much better.
No set curriculum for GCSEs
This is something that really pissed me off when I was at school. I wanted to do all arts based subjects, yet I couldn't because I had to pick a rounded curriculum. What if all my talents are in those areas? I hate to break it to you, but forcing me to take maths will not make me a mathematician. Forcing me to take all those subjects will not improve my ability, it will just mean I'll get **** marks because it's not the subject I wanted to do.

Also with this, we're missing out on people's individuality. You could have someone who's a brilliant musician and actor, lets let him take those things. Or someone who wants to do IT, computing and maths. Why make him take French? Again, we're trying to force individuals into a cookie cutter mould. Lets let individuals be what they are, unique.
Marking
Instead of one written exam, lets exam people a different way. Exams for subjects should be 25% written, 25% coursework, 25% oral presentation and 25% classwork. That way you get a fairer result that takes into account that people are different and not being able to do exam technique doesn't mean you're a moron. Also stops people failing if they're ill one day.
More options to take
Self explanatory. More options more variety.
Better tutorials
Dunno about anyone else but my tutorials were always filled with sex education and revision tips. While sex education is needed, endless revision tips does take the absolte piss. So instead, I thought it would be better if we had

Lessons about mental health, in order to combat stigma and make people more aware of it.
Lessons on how to manage a budget, in order to give people skills that will actually help them (when am I ever going to need to work out the tangent?!)
Lessons on driving theory for those who want them
Lessons on cooking, as many people can't cook and it's a simple skill and is actually quite enjoyable
Lessons on tolerance for people of all kind

More interactive teaching
Most teachers teach in a really monotonous way which is why so many kids hate school. Sitting there being talked at really isn't fun. Instead it would be great if lessons were interactive. So, not necessarily at desks. Using foam props. Moving around. Coloured pens. It's not difficult. Lots of people learn better this way, simply because they'll pay more attention

Stop focusing on what people look like and focus on what they do
So I can get a detention for my make-up, the same punishment as someone who's just beaten someone up? Yeah that's just retarded.

I have more but it's already pretty long so I don't want to keep adding to it, but leave any feedback below

I like this, and I do agree however there are always going to be issues.

No school uniforms
No real issue with this except issues involving teacher-student relationships. However, this I believe is overplayed at my school and anywhere it is implemented I've never seen a real issue with it. (Please, correct me if I'm wrong)

No set curriculum
As much as a liberal-fest would love this, at the end of the day it comes down to whether it makes them more employable or not. As a go-to I think in general people prefer to go for the creative side and in a way the curriculum 'protects' the less-aware students on decision making; the curriculum should encourage individuality, but this also has to be balanced with the affect it will have on that persons future. GCSEs you can pick a rounded curriculum and at A Levels you then continue to be more precise on where you are heading - if you took Maths at GCSE and really don't want to be an economist etc, then don't pick it at A Level. The gradient and fixed system is good in my opinion. I'd be intrigued to here on alternatives though; maybe more lenient, personal system?

Marking
Hey, I sure wouldn't mind this. The only issue I can see is time and moderation issues.

Unified exam board
Add this in here: Edexcel, OCR, AQA etc. all in one.

Better tutorials
My tutorials were only about 10-15 minutes long so weren't of much use to anything other than keep us up-to-date. I think a focus I would like to see encouraged is learning about politics - our voter turnout as a country is appalling and the political awareness even worse. (I do wonder how many people voted 'No' to the AV system just because the Tories said they were too dumb to understand it...)

I agree



Sorry but no, that is not what compulsory education is about
It is not just about feeding your interests it is about creating a population with a wide range of appropriate knowledge and understanding

I think that the curriculum content could be massively improved so that it is more relevant ... but there should still be a substantial compulsory content at KS4

The potential to specialise is there at KS5



I agree that exams are not the optimum way of assessing understanding and skills

Sadly there seems to be little other option that can be validated



Time is too limited



Sounds like your school is pretty poor as the PSHEE curriculum includes all of these things



Again, is your school a not very good one?





I agree, this is the same as uniform

No school uniforms
All school uniforms do, aside from being an unnecessary cost to parents, is give out the message that in order to be successful, you must dress a certain way. In order to be worth anything of any value, you must dress a certain way. If you dare dress differently, you will be punished. Is this the message we want to give to society? That you must all look a certain way or else? That you're only worth something if you dress in a certain way? That anyone who dresses 'not the norm' is a bad person? Yeah, it needs to stop. Allow people to express themselves. I went to college and we had all sorts. Pericings, green hair, chavs, arty kids, normal looking people. And it was so much better.

So basically, what you're saying is that y7-11 should be more like sixth-form college, GCSEs should be more like BTECs, and we should sack all the teachers who are average and below?

I agree that it isn't great to force students to study a subject they don't like, but I would say a compromise is needed here. If you let people not take maths, english, science, etc., it's not going to do them any favours when they leave school and only have qualifications in drama or music or whatever. And universities and employers like well-rounded individuals for humanities and arts based courses/jobs anyway. Maybe GCSEs could be more like A-levels, where you can do half GCSE's in all the vital subjects (let's say, minimum of 8), then drop subjects if you want towards y11 (let's say everyone does a minimum of 6). So no-one would be forced to study at depth any subject they don't like, but they'll at least have the basic necessities everyone needs to have.

And for me, I prefer exams to coursework, but I guess that's just my personal preference. Traditionally 'academic' subjects possibly fit the exam system much better than the coursework system. And also, think of ICT, 100% coursework, yet at my school it is so unanimously hated, because it's not respected, not interesting, and above all the teachers don't know what they're doing!

Uniforms, detentions, etc. are just absolutely pointless after y10 though. At that point students just don't care about detentions anymore, so it won't have an effect on them. It just makes the school experience worse for both students and teachers.

As in the students will come on to the teachers?

See this is the thing, I don't think it should be about employability. It should be about what you enjoy, do what you want and the job comes later, instead of making you fit the job. I think a basic maths and English should be studied, but not to the unnecessary level it is at the moment.

That's why i think the marking shouldn't be all written either. Yeah don't force it but if it were encouraged rather than being rare it would be great! Ah see but I think if they worry about interactive, are they really doing a good job? I mean you have to involve your students

Completely disagree on this point.

I spent most of my time at school attending private schools with a uniform, but did my GCSEs at a state school without one. What I saw was that at the state school there was a hell of a lot of bullying went on towards people whose clothes showed they were less well off, kids who couldn't afford proper labels, or had an unusual dress sense, got picked on constantly.

When there is a school uniform in place you don't get any of that, because it doesn't matter whether your family is rich or poor, you look the same as everybody else when you're at school.

I don't agree that education is about employability. It's about growing as an individual, and you can't do that if you're being forced to take certain things.

So, I hate school with a deep burning passion. It only caters to those who are average and teaches everyone to be corporate drones instead of allowing people to grow as an individual. So I came up with ways to make it way better, and thought I'd post it here.

No school uniforms
All school uniforms do, aside from being an unnecessary cost to parents, is give out the message that in order to be successful, you must dress a certain way. In order to be worth anything of any value, you must dress a certain way. If you dare dress differently, you will be punished. Is this the message we want to give to society? That you must all look a certain way or else? That you're only worth something if you dress in a certain way? That anyone who dresses 'not the norm' is a bad person? Yeah, it needs to stop. Allow people to express themselves. I went to college and we had all sorts. Pericings, green hair, chavs, arty kids, normal looking people. And it was so much better.
No set curriculum for GCSEs
This is something that really pissed me off when I was at school. I wanted to do all arts based subjects, yet I couldn't because I had to pick a rounded curriculum. What if all my talents are in those areas? I hate to break it to you, but forcing me to take maths will not make me a mathematician. Forcing me to take all those subjects will not improve my ability, it will just mean I'll get **** marks because it's not the subject I wanted to do.

Also with this, we're missing out on people's individuality. You could have someone who's a brilliant musician and actor, lets let him take those things. Or someone who wants to do IT, computing and maths. Why make him take French? Again, we're trying to force individuals into a cookie cutter mould. Lets let individuals be what they are, unique.
Marking
Instead of one written exam, lets exam people a different way. Exams for subjects should be 25% written, 25% coursework, 25% oral presentation and 25% classwork. That way you get a fairer result that takes into account that people are different and not being able to do exam technique doesn't mean you're a moron. Also stops people failing if they're ill one day.
More options to take
Self explanatory. More options more variety.
Better tutorials
Dunno about anyone else but my tutorials were always filled with sex education and revision tips. While sex education is needed, endless revision tips does take the absolte piss. So instead, I thought it would be better if we had

Lessons about mental health, in order to combat stigma and make people more aware of it.
Lessons on how to manage a budget, in order to give people skills that will actually help them (when am I ever going to need to work out the tangent?!)
Lessons on driving theory for those who want them
Lessons on cooking, as many people can't cook and it's a simple skill and is actually quite enjoyable
Lessons on tolerance for people of all kind

More interactive teaching
Most teachers teach in a really monotonous way which is why so many kids hate school. Sitting there being talked at really isn't fun. Instead it would be great if lessons were interactive. So, not necessarily at desks. Using foam props. Moving around. Coloured pens. It's not difficult. Lots of people learn better this way, simply because they'll pay more attention

Stop focusing on what people look like and focus on what they do
So I can get a detention for my make-up, the same punishment as someone who's just beaten someone up? Yeah that's just retarded.

I have more but it's already pretty long so I don't want to keep adding to it, but leave any feedback below

Or the other way round. It just causes complications sometimes, I'm not sure that's a terribly big issue though.

That becomes an issue with a competitive capitalist market. Everyone could revert to that, but then it would become, "Actually, our uni could become better by making them more 'academic'" etc.

I mean students. Not everyone enjoys the whole interactive side - a lot prefer to write etc. especially in A Level. I think that's where BTECs/A Levels come in.