School open 7 day a week to suit your life

[Tony]

I think we might be at cross purposes a bit because the first thought in my mind was "why would it need to be close to 1:1?"

 

I'd guess that we wouldn't expect a drop-in service so there could simply be a different timetabling methodology, just over a longer period. How it adapted to all stages of education would be down to more knowledgeable folk than us.

 

We're just exploring a departure from the 150 year old status quo. Mind you, I suppose we could put the kids to work in the fields in summer and factories at night and weekends if we think it's still the best system that we can manage.

[Cyclone]

There is no time tabling for primary or junior school though.

 

So if on Monday they teach them lesson 1 and on Tuesday lesson 2 will build on that, then anyone who wasn't present on Monday is going to be in a spot of bother.

If there was a 1:1 ratio that would be okay, as the teacher would just shift lesson 1 to Tuesday, but if the ratio is higher and half the class have already done that lesson, what are they to do? Teach it again for those who didn't come yesterday, ignore that problem and teach lesson 2 anyway (loosing those who missed lesson one and wasting their time) or attempt to teach two different lessons at once.

 

I teach a class, and it's voluntary and physical, so people miss sessions. There isn't a lot of building specifically on earlier lessons, but even so I can see the people who have missed an earlier principle struggle as I (wrongly) assume that everyone has grasped it.

I'm not prepared to make the rest of the class repeat a lesson though, so those who miss things have to catch up. Which is okay with loosely linked physical skills, but no use at all with tightly linked academic syllabi.

[Tony]

I use the word 'timetabling' loosely. As I said, there are folks far more experienced at that sort of curriculum planning that we could dream of - if tasked of course.

 

Something else to consider has just come to mind; pupils have different abilities at different ages so maybe the more flexible system could be streamed to adapt to actual ability rather than an annual progress? The kids that never get past Y6 ability could receive a more appropriate teaching than those who are at Y10 two years early.

 

Just a thought.

 

 

 

I'm a bit concious that I'm having to lead the thread which wasn't my intention. I prefer to listen.

[Cyclone]

You haven't explained how you can deal with teaching a small group of children (assuming that the ratio was increased) where some of them were present on monday and some were not.

Do you reteach the lesson from Monday, ignore that some of them now don't understand todays lesson or somehow try to teach two things simultaneously.

 

No amount of clever timetable planning can fix this issue if the system is completely flexible.

[Tony]

I know I haven't said how, but I have have said twice that somebody else might know.

 

 

They might be better at English too

[ruffkru]

If you wish them away for that length of time, you may aswell contemplate Boarding School, better still dont have children that you dont want or cant afford.

[luybell]

I thought this was a wind up at first but thinking about it its not such a bad idea. I work p/t & it would certainly suit me if I could send them for 3 lor 4longer days with maybe homework or projects to do at home to make up some of the time missed. I am sure many kids go to breakfast clubs/afterschool clubs whilst parents work so do fairly long days anyway.

 

It tends to be much easier to work childcare out like this & the plus side would be more family days together & not having to cram everything into the weekend. It could also mean smaller class sizes as if school would be open 5 days but if days off were staggered less pupils each day.

[Evei]

I use the word 'timetabling' loosely. As I said, there are folks far more experienced at that sort of curriculum planning that we could dream of - if tasked of course.

 

Something else to consider has just come to mind; pupils have different abilities at different ages so maybe the more flexible system could be streamed to adapt to actual ability rather than an annual progress? The kids that never get past Y6 ability could receive a more appropriate teaching than those who are at Y10 two years early.

 

Just a thought.

 

 

 

I'm a bit concious that I'm having to lead the thread which wasn't my intention. I prefer to listen.

 

I reckon that most secondary schools will eventually move to mixed age group teaching within the next ten years if the trend of letting more able children take GCSE's early continues, if this happens there will be no choice but to have mixed age groups as it otherwise will not be viable money wise.

 

As for opening schools for longer, yes it might eventually happen but the hours of teaching each child gets would be the same, unless you want to increase taxes considerably to pay for the extra hours. Teachers could work early or late shifts, not quite sure what would happen if they took their holidays on request like most workers do though! Maybe the children just go home for the missing lessons then?

 

The hours would have to suit the timetable so a child might attend 2 days a week for the morning and 4 days for the afternoon/ evenings but it would not be their choice, it would be when their timetable says so (money!) and could alter every term as and when they finish each qualification and start a new one.

 

At least the hours are regular now, which begs the question which would be harder for parents to cover and would it actually hinder working parents more having a flexible timetable that cannot actually be all that flexible/ individual unless there is a bottomless money pit somewhere.

[hennypenny]

There is already an educational system which is available 7 days a week, ready to help the children learn when they are interested, it is called home education

 

I have always thought that an ideal educational system would be to get rid of the compulsory element altogether, and have communal learning centres instead of schools, where anyone of any age could go to learn about things they were interested in.

 

I would envisage it that the centre would respond to expressed interests by setting up a session or group of sessions in that subject, so when a child or adult is interested in say, learning Japanese, they could ask for a course to be put on and it would be advertised so that anyone interested could join in. People who knew a lot about a certain subject could advertise their expertise and if anyone was interested they could run a course. This is how my son learned biology, he joined a natural history society and learned lots about oak galls and fungi etc from people who thought it the most interesting thing in the world, and were willing to share their interest with a young child. He was able to take his interest much further than would have been possible in school as he was learning from adults who had studied the subject intensively, many were university tutors. My daughter wanted to learn Japanese and did so by finding a Japanese lady at a car boot sale and asking her to come and talk with her and a few of her friends once a week. She wanted to learn French and did so by asking her Grandad to work through a language course with her. English she has learned by reading extensively. Maths she has learned by using a cd course. etc. Other interests such as dance and skating, trampolining and swimming are set up by the home ed group in response to expressed interests by children, how wonderful if all children had a resource centre where they could get their interests catered to in the same way.

 

Such a centre would have to make sure their classes were interesting, as otherwise no one would sign up for their class, so it would be self regulating.

 

The experience of home educators shows that children do not need to be hectored into learning, they are born naturally wanting to learn. If they are given the freedom to learn what and when they like, they learn exceedingly well. A centre that just made itself open to the learners and provided resources when asked to do so, would be amazing. Of course it would not provide the child care which is the main (only?) purpose of schools, so the whole of society would have to be willing to change for this to happen, it would have to be willing to let go of the idea that people need to be "taught" in order to learn, and would have to embrace the idea that people can learn very well just through their own interests, just because they want to

[Evei]

The experience of home educators shows that children do not need to be hectored into learning, they are born naturally wanting to learn. If they are given the freedom to learn what and when they like, they learn exceedingly well. A centre that just made itself open to the learners and provided resources when asked to do so, would be amazing. Of course it would not provide the child care which is the main (only?) purpose of schools, so the whole of society would have to be willing to change for this to happen, it would have to be willing to let go of the idea that people need to be "taught" in order to learn, and would have to embrace the idea that people can learn very well just through their own interests, just because they want to

 

I like the idea of totally independent learners. It would be incredibly difficult to do on a large scale though as it would depend on parents having the ability to track progress, direct students and find time to access the resources available, despite many parents being able to do this there would be a considerable amount that would want the best for their child but not have the knowledge/ability to do so. You have the ones that really don't care as long as their child is not annoying them or they don't have a positive attitude to learning themselves.

 

Teachers would not run 'lessons' throughout a year but could teach mini projects for short blocks of time which have difficulty rating so any age student could sign up to them The GCSE structure would have to completely change as in the end this is what is stopping learning changing to a more modern structure. Students would get an award for so many 'projects' covered at a certain level to gain particular grades. (pick and mix like open university) Groups would be smaller as students would work more intensely with the teacher and then be directed to independently work at home/ or in a central learning centre on the projects.

 

It would help students as they could play towards their strengths and do what they are interested in for shorter amounts of time. You would produce a generation of people with a mixed skill base and knowledge instead of the one size fits all standardised approach. Some subject’s areas may die out due to lack of interest though.

 

It would lead to competition between teachers and an improvement in teaching as they would be competing for students, the teachers that could make their projects the most motivating would win a higher uptake on the next mini project which would be at a higher level and secure funding for their job Again it all comes down to money; trips, activities, technology to teach (or would this be guide/lead??) these projects in a modern way. In the end education has not changed and will not unless there is a more effective way economically that the 8-4 whole class approach and has a babysitting element to it to pacify wokers who pay the taxes.