[sladefungus]

kids arent taught cookery (or home economics as it was called at my school) anymore?
thats outrageous.  I used to love it even though it was seen as a 'girls subject' at my lancashire school.  We also had horticulture O level at my school and i really wanted to do that too but it wasnt deemed to be very challenging and was only picked by the academically low achievers.

[John]

They don't like teaching basics for some reason - basic adding up, how much change from £5 if you spend 4.50 is a dying skill!

As for acedemic under achievers, they're the guys who became plumbers and earn a fortune

[Trillium]

You said it, John! Same problem over here. With SO many companies downsizing, especially in overloaded management, a lot of university grads are now store clerks, flunkies, delivery persons, etc, all those 'lowlife' jobs they initially thumbed their noses at when at school. And if I get a young person (under 20) at a retail till, I always have to help them figure out the change even if the machine tells them what I get back.  :?

[shaun]

kids still do cooking well they do it here,my son took food as a GSE option and he done it in the 1st 3 years at high school.

[GrannieAnnie]

They don't need to add up now John, do they?  Just get out their mobile phone with the calculator in!!!

We've just come back from a Game Farm Auction.  Treated OH to a burger, one hour later, we got to the end of the Q, I todld the lad what we'd ordered then had to tell him how much it was, finally got my 60p change from the fiver!!!!  His Mother was trying to serve, help cook AND add up the money.  She could have been quicker without the other 3 helping her!!!!

[John]

It's really very sad that the educational system is failing so many children by not giving them the basic life skills.  Too many theorists trying to create social equality - hence everyone has a degree and the degree becomes worthless.

Ooops - getting political now although I don't think it's so much politics as a false vision of politically correct.

[yummy]

They don't like teaching basics for some reason - basic adding up, how much change from £5 if you spend 4.50 is a dying skill!

As for acedemic under achievers, they're the guys who became plumbers and earn a fortune

Shouldn't be a dying skill. Students in FE are supposed to be doing these aren't they:

LINK

I'm put under lots of pressure to find ways to integrate these into my media lessons, to the extent that it can interfere with the delivery of the subject that I am supposed to be teaching  :cry:  It's very frustrating. It has taken years to get used to all the outcomes and now I hear they are going to replace them with something else.

[John]

Having a sister in law who is a school teacher I know how hard she works - lesson planning, marking and amazing amounts of paperwork.  So if anything I say appears to blame the actual teachers, I'm sorry.

Dictating from the centre on every detail, changing course every other week and over analysis are recipes for disaster in business and government.  

Every child deserves an education that maximises their individual potential and the best person to judge how to fulfil that need is the individual's schoollteacher.

Having worked in large and small organisations the one lesson I have learnt is to trust and empower the workforce (not just give that concept lip service) and they will over-deliver.  I don't think education falls outside of those concepts.

[yummy]

Having a sister in law who is a school teacher I know how hard she works - lesson planning, marking and amazing amounts of paperwork.  So if anything I say appears to blame the actual teachers, I'm sorry.

Hi John

No it didn't come across that way at all. Didn't think you were blaming teachers. Having read my post back today I sound a bit ranty - sorry  :oops:  

[crowndale]

My youngest son has a severe learning disability.  At his school (mostly not as intellectually disabled as he is) the key stage 4 pupils (14-16 year olds) run a lunch time club once a week.  They prepare and cook basic but balanced meals and locals (I think mostly elderly) come in and pay for and eat the meals.  So great life skills, cooking, money, and cleaning up.  At the moment (in key stage 3, he's 13) his cookng experiences at school have been limited to buns, muffin pizzas and cornflake chocolate crunchies.  Not sure how that is preparing him for the key stage 4 lunch club though!  Mind you at home he is well able to to open a tin and microwave the contents, and can make toast and sandwiches, so he is fairly able in the kitchen compared to his siblings at the same age.

My eldest made the family a lasagne the other day, didn't even have to be asked, just did it.  Moving away to uni has obviously had a beneficial effect on him!  Now to start on the middle one (girl) who can cook eggs in any shape or form and makes a mean brownie but thats about it.

[John]

Great to hear your children are able to cook. You wouldn't believe the number of mothers I have come across whose abilities stop at pierce film and microwave at full power for 3 minutes, let alone their poor kids

[Garfield]

Amazed at some of comments. Both my husband and I work full time and have two children aged 14 and 11. Eldest capable of cooking a three course meal totally alone and youngest cooks regularly under supervision. We have a home cooked meal from fresh ingredients every night and only shop at supermarket for toiletries and cat food. All food bought from local farms. Dont expect school to take responsibility for teaching my kids how to cook. Also love TV chefs and regularly use their recipes and my kids do eat at McD's etc occasionally but as a treat. I was brought up in the sixties and ate far more tinned/processed foods than my kids do today. Also was taught cooking at school but it was things like swiss rolls and Christmas cakes and not how to cook a meal. In my opinion my kids are far more knowledgable about food and where it comes from than I was at their age and I think that everyone is more aware of the benefits of healthy eating today than at any other time in history. TV chefs have had a huge part to play in this.

[John]

That's very good - that you have and have  taught those skills to your children. The problem, as I see it, is that there are a lot of mothers who lack those skills and so they can't pass them on to their children
That's why we need the schools to re-establish those basic skills amongst the people who need them most. Honestly, I have seen people living on benefits whose diet consisted of ready meals, take outs and beans on toast.

[newbiegrower]

I was taught cooking at school about 12-14 years and my mum is a great cook so I was being taught how to cook from about 3 years old when I could kneel on a stool by my mum in the kitchen so I am really glad I can cook very well so I can show my daughter how to cook when she is abit older.
I love watching cooking programmes but there is quite alot of ingredients that the chefs use on tv that I cannot afford but I just adapt the recipe so it comes out similar.

[WG.]

And of course cooking and GYO make an ideal combination ...