Compulsory Maths till you’re 18.

I was never much good at Maths but found, when doing the OU Science Foundation Course that applying Maths to the subject, rather than it being theoretical, made it easier to understand.

Where this can be done with Science, Geography etc, it could be included in the curriculum. It's much more difficult to find a relevant way of doing it for pure Arts students.

ronib

MawtheMerrier

At the moment my daughter in law teaches philosophy and ethics although her first love is classics. She can read Ancient Greek in the original!

Is there any other form of Ancient Greek?

As opposed to modern Greek?!!

Modern Greek isn't Ancient Greek.

MawtheMerrier

^At the moment my daughter in law teaches philosophy and ethics although her first love is classics. She can read Ancient Greek in the original!^

Is there any other form of Ancient Greek?

As opposed to modern Greek?!!

At the moment my daughter in law teaches philosophy and ethics although her first love is classics. She can read Ancient Greek in the original!

Is there any other form of Ancient Greek?

volver

I'm not commenting on this as there are too many aspects I don't know about.

But can we remember that maths isn't the same as mental arithmetic, and that a calculator generally doesn't help you with maths?

I think it's a problem that so many people equate maths with arithmetic ... and maybe why maths does need to be part of the curriculum until school leaving age. At least make sure everybody knows what the word "average" means, when they read about it in a newspaper article.

FannyCornforth

ronib from her degree, I presume that your DIL’s subject is languages.
Which other subjects does she teach?

At the moment my daughter in law teaches philosophy and ethics although her first love is classics. She can read Ancient Greek in the original!

Agree volver.
I would support the idea of maths as part of a bacalauréat system. This system could also extend vocational offers post 16, which does need to happen.
I am not suggesting fast, wholesale change, but I don't think the idea of a baccalauréat should be dismissed. There has long been a debate about A level narrowing choices too much.

I'm not commenting on this as there are too many aspects I don't know about.

But can we remember that maths isn't the same as mental arithmetic, and that a calculator generally doesn't help you with maths?

I failed maths twice never took it again and can’t say it’s ever held me back I can do normal maths as fast and faster than most youngsters today but I couldn’t get on with algebra I can still remember all my tables
The government needs to work out a lot more than poking their nose into school curriculums

There are plenty of school activity that need changing, in my book maths is not one of them beyond basic numeracy and everyday mortgages and borrowing knowledge.

ronib from her degree, I presume that your DIL’s subject is languages.
Which other subjects does she teach?

You just wonder what business it is of governments to set curriculums, unless you happen to live in a communist country or a right wing dictatorship. They should concentrate on sorting out all the health problems and financial problems first.

A change to the baccalaureate system requires a complete overhaul not just one idea about maths.

My daughter in law is also a teacher at secondary level and she’s perfectly happy to switch subjects. Her first degree is in Ancient Greek and Latin and she is flexible.
My nephew has A level maths and is more than able to teach GCSE mathematics.
My most expensively educated son had less than satisfactory maths teaching at A level and so it goes on….

We do still have problems with basic skills in the UK.
Amongst other things, I taught numeracy to level 2 - just part of Key Skills, at a practical working knowledge level. It's already a requirement of many FE courses, a core part of apprenticeships etc.

Still, we don't need any more compulsory anything - as it just limits choice, excludes people from courses, presents barriers. Compulsory to 18? No!

Maths was always my worst subject. I may as well have given up on it when about 14 for all the good it did me.

I failed my maths o level, but still managed to competently hold down a job in a bank for my whole working life.

That is great, Ronib, and is evidence of his skill in teaching, as well as in PE and maths, but it doesn't mean that maths could be taught by just anyone at all, any more than that PE could be taught well by someone with several maths degrees and with training in how to teach maths effectively. They might be unable to throw a ball straight, because it wasn't necessary for their principal studies.

Marvellous ronib
But I still don’t think that teachers should be required (or expected) to teach outside their subject area.
I know that I didn’t like it when I was required to.
And however fabulous your nephew is, I’d prefer a maths teacher to be teaching my child maths rather than one qualified to teach PE

FannyCornforth

ronib I’m pretty certain that vr was not having a pop at PE teachers, in the same way that I wasn’t having a pop at Business Studies teachers

Well just for the record, said nephew won Teacher of the Year award !

Well he will only need the fingers of one hand to count the number of seats the Tories will have after the next general election.

ronib I’m pretty certain that vr was not having a pop at PE teachers, in the same way that I wasn’t having a pop at Business Studies teachers

vegansrock

Maths teachers are so thin on the ground these days that they wouldn’t have the staff to teach it, Could get the PE teachers to do it like they are doing currently I suppose.

My nephew is head of PE and a competent maths teacher. In fact, he’s one of the most inspiring teachers and a great human being.

I am not sure our experiences at school are relevant really. The maths teaching at my (independent) school was dire. It would not have survived Ofsted.
My GDs in the UK have been throughstate secondary schools. The maths teaching has been very good overall, but it is clear that there is now a national shortage.
I think a debate about a change to a bacalaureat system would be good and welcomed by schools. My GDs did the middle years bacalaureat at their school and there was some excellent content.
Implementation would need long-term planning and resourcing, not a political soundbite.

FannyCornforth

I would have simply refused to do it.
I refused to do PE in the last year of school, so I do have form!

I have dyscalculia.
It took all my of efforts (and that if my parents and my wonderful maths teacher, who also privately tutored me) to scrape a C in my second attempt.

I was academically bright in other areas, so it probably would have caused huge problems for my HE and FE.

I wonder how maths teachers feel about having a class full of reluctant, stroppy (and, as would have been in my case - totally incapable) 17 and 18 year old students?

The whole thing is a ridiculous nightmare.
It’s a good job that it won’t actually happen! 😃

I could have written this!

The government needs to stop interfering with the curriculum in schools and sort out their own calculations for our economy!