[lily.]

I think we need to have the basics obviously.. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic.

But, as for specialised subjects like history, geography, technical, p.e. etc.. I think there should be more choice about how much of it is done.

A bit of P.E should be mandatory, if only to encourage physical well-being, but the rest should be optional. It might be an idea to have taster classes in each subject for one year and then kids would be able to choose the one they are most interested in.

When I was going into 3rd year at the academy, I had to choose my 'options'.... but the choices were limited, and had to include certain things. One of the choices I had to make was between History, Geography & Modern Studies. I chose the lesser of the 3 boring evils... Geography. It was the only exam I failed. I didn't want to be in that class. I didn't want to learn about Geography. I wasn't the slightest bit interested in it. Now, wouldn't you say my 2 years would have been better spent in a class I actually got something out of? I managed to pass all 7 of the other exams ... doesn't that say something?

I think you raise a valid point Ash, although I doubt things will ever change enough really. More and more kids are leaving school with little or no education and all the government want to do is shove them into training courses. Wouldn't it be better if they had got it right at school, then there would be no need for all these training courses? The kids would already have some useful knowledge.