School: How useful is it really? by Ibaado Mohamed, Nower Hill High School

School: we attend it every day but how practical is it really? With waking up so early in the morning, making it on time and completing all homework and assignments we get, how much time do we really get for ourselves and useful really is school? School is said to be a place where we learn new skills to improve your education to help us in further life and the better you do, the better you’ll succeed in life. However, it has been said that school isn’t as useful as you’d think it is, which is what I want to explore. It’s important we first recognise the advantages of school.

Firstly, as the most obvious, it is the main source of knowledge for us students. It’s where we learn knowledge for our potential future careers and jobs. It’s also where our brain starts to develop and grow outside our homes. Starting school is also where we begin to find our friends who you spend most of the week with. As well as learning together, some also end up becoming your life long friends who share hopes and dreams together, who just might've just thought were ordinary friends in a science lesson. What most students also take for advantage is that all state schools are free and are funded by the government. There was no cost for learning english, maths, science, geography and lots more of extraordinary subjects who others might have had to pay fortunes just to learn about. Learning all these subjects is a real privilege, which most of us don't realise. So instead of wondering when the school day is going to end, just think about those who are unfortunate and would do anything to be in your position. Also, aside from learning all these subjects, school also provides us with compulsory exercise. We as students get to try out many different sports such as rounders, netball, basketball, football. Although it may be boring to some, others might have just found their future careers just from playing an hour of basketball. Even if it’s boring to some, exercise has been proven to stimulate the human brain, making you more focused in lessons. You might have also realised that without compulsory exercise, you start to become very lazy as you don’t have a reason to go out and boost your energy and endurance. Teachers: some of us admire them while some loathe them. Although they give you homework and make you follow the rules, teachers also share their knowledge and wisdom with others in the hopes of improving your knowledge. You may despise them, but later on in life you’ll realise how much they were of help to you and how much they improved your overall learning. So try and say thanks and tell them how much you appreciate them once in a while.

Now, on the other hand, school does have many flaws that also come with it. We are confined to choose a small handful of subjects with most not being what we even truly want to learn. Despite us still getting a grade in that subject, we’re never going to need it in life again after we finish school. We don’t get to choose subjects WE want to learn and we end up studying too much and then finally understanding that it all amounted to nothing. Furthermore, our curriculum is very outdated. We spend years learning subjects that won’t be of any use to most students. Apart from becoming a historian, who else is going to need to know the acts of succession during Elizabethan times. Some of the information we learn isn’t very useful which is why our curriculum needs to change to benefit both students and teachers. One of the most obvious flaws with school is the time we start school. Although, it does mean we end up leaving earlier,some have said the time we start isn’t the time when students' brains are ready to be fully functioning. Some have even proposed starting a few hours later to therefore improve our attentiveness and focus which then leads to better exam results. Also, with some schools being underfunded, this usually leads to larger class sizes. However, the disadvantage of this is that students don’t receive as much help as they would’ve with smaller classes as there is only one teacher in the room and they have to try and focus on helping as many students as possible which can result in some not getting as much help as they need. We must also remember that this isn’t the teachers' fault and we shouldn’t take our anger out on them. There is only one teacher in the class and multiple students that they are all trying to help at once which can be very tiring.

On the whole, there are many advantages and disadvantages to school. They both balance each other out nicely but some disagree. While some things do need to change for the better of everyone, it’s important we also keep in mind how lucky we are to have education and take advantage of it before it’s over. We may be hating it now, but most of us will look back on it and remember how much fun we had and how we should’ve made the most of every moment.

School: we attend it every day but how practical is it really? With waking up so early in the morning, making it on time and completing all homework and assignments we get, how much time do we really get for ourselves and useful really is school? School is said to be a place where we learn new skills to improve your education to help us in further life and the better you do, the better you’ll succeed in life. However, it has been said that school isn’t as useful as you’d think it is, which is what I want to explore. It’s important we first recognise the advantages of school.

Firstly, as the most obvious, it is the main source of knowledge for us students. It’s where we learn knowledge for our potential future careers and jobs. It’s also where our brain starts to develop and grow outside our homes. Starting school is also where we begin to find our friends who you spend most of the week with. As well as learning together, some also end up becoming your life long friends who share hopes and dreams together, who just might've just thought were ordinary friends in a science lesson. What most students also take for advantage is that all state schools are free and are funded by the government. There was no cost for learning english, maths, science, geography and lots more of extraordinary subjects who others might have had to pay fortunes just to learn about. Learning all these subjects is a real privilege, which most of us don't realise. So instead of wondering when the school day is going to end, just think about those who are unfortunate and would do anything to be in your position. Also, aside from learning all these subjects, school also provides us with compulsory exercise. We as students get to try out many different sports such as rounders, netball, basketball, football. Although it may be boring to some, others might have just found their future careers just from playing an hour of basketball. Even if it’s boring to some, exercise has been proven to stimulate the human brain, making you more focused in lessons. You might have also realised that without compulsory exercise, you start to become very lazy as you don’t have a reason to go out and boost your energy and endurance. Teachers: some of us admire them while some loathe them. Although they give you homework and make you follow the rules, teachers also share their knowledge and wisdom with others in the hopes of improving your knowledge. You may despise them, but later on in life you’ll realise how much they were of help to you and how much they improved your overall learning. So try and say thanks and tell them how much you appreciate them once in a while.

Now, on the other hand, school does have many flaws that also come with it. We are confined to choose a small handful of subjects with most not being what we even truly want to learn. Despite us still getting a grade in that subject, we’re never going to need it in life again after we finish school. We don’t get to choose subjects WE want to learn and we end up studying too much and then finally understanding that it all amounted to nothing. Furthermore, our curriculum is very outdated. We spend years learning subjects that won’t be of any use to most students. Apart from becoming a historian, who else is going to need to know the acts of succession during Elizabethan times. Some of the information we learn isn’t very useful which is why our curriculum needs to change to benefit both students and teachers. One of the most obvious flaws with school is the time we start school. Although, it does mean we end up leaving earlier,some have said the time we start isn’t the time when students' brains are ready to be fully functioning. Some have even proposed starting a few hours later to therefore improve our attentiveness and focus which then leads to better exam results. Also, with some schools being underfunded, this usually leads to larger class sizes. However, the disadvantage of this is that students don’t receive as much help as they would’ve with smaller classes as there is only one teacher in the room and they have to try and focus on helping as many students as possible which can result in some not getting as much help as they need. We must also remember that this isn’t the teachers' fault and we shouldn’t take our anger out on them. There is only one teacher in the class and multiple students that they are all trying to help at once which can be very tiring.

On the whole, there are many advantages and disadvantages to school. They both balance each other out nicely but some disagree. While some things do need to change for the better of everyone, it’s important we also keep in mind how lucky we are to have education and take advantage of it before it’s over. We may be hating it now, but most of us will look back on it and remember how much fun we had and how we should’ve made the most of every moment.

School: we attend it every day but how practical is it really? With waking up so early in the morning, making it on time and completing all homework and assignments we get, how much time do we really get for ourselves and useful really is school? School is said to be a place where we learn new skills to improve your education to help us in further life and the better you do, the better you’ll succeed in life. However, it has been said that school isn’t as useful as you’d think it is, which is what I want to explore. It’s important we first recognise the advantages of school.

Firstly, as the most obvious, it is the main source of knowledge for us students. It’s where we learn knowledge for our potential future careers and jobs. It’s also where our brain starts to develop and grow outside our homes. Starting school is also where we begin to find our friends who you spend most of the week with. As well as learning together, some also end up becoming your life long friends who share hopes and dreams together, who just might've just thought were ordinary friends in a science lesson. What most students also take for advantage is that all state schools are free and are funded by the government. There was no cost for learning english, maths, science, geography and lots more of extraordinary subjects who others might have had to pay fortunes just to learn about. Learning all these subjects is a real privilege, which most of us don't realise. So instead of wondering when the school day is going to end, just think about those who are unfortunate and would do anything to be in your position. Also, aside from learning all these subjects, school also provides us with compulsory exercise. We as students get to try out many different sports such as rounders, netball, basketball, football. Although it may be boring to some, others might have just found their future careers just from playing an hour of basketball. Even if it’s boring to some, exercise has been proven to stimulate the human brain, making you more focused in lessons. You might have also realised that without compulsory exercise, you start to become very lazy as you don’t have a reason to go out and boost your energy and endurance. Teachers: some of us admire them while some loathe them. Although they give you homework and make you follow the rules, teachers also share their knowledge and wisdom with others in the hopes of improving your knowledge. You may despise them, but later on in life you’ll realise how much they were of help to you and how much they improved your overall learning. So try and say thanks and tell them how much you appreciate them once in a while.

Now, on the other hand, school does have many flaws that also come with it. We are confined to choose a small handful of subjects with most not being what we even truly want to learn. Despite us still getting a grade in that subject, we’re never going to need it in life again after we finish school. We don’t get to choose subjects WE want to learn and we end up studying too much and then finally understanding that it all amounted to nothing. Furthermore, our curriculum is very outdated. We spend years learning subjects that won’t be of any use to most students. Apart from becoming a historian, who else is going to need to know the acts of succession during Elizabethan times. Some of the information we learn isn’t very useful which is why our curriculum needs to change to benefit both students and teachers. One of the most obvious flaws with school is the time we start school. Although, it does mean we end up leaving earlier,some have said the time we start isn’t the time when students' brains are ready to be fully functioning. Some have even proposed starting a few hours later to therefore improve our attentiveness and focus which then leads to better exam results. Also, with some schools being underfunded, this usually leads to larger class sizes. However, the disadvantage of this is that students don’t receive as much help as they would’ve with smaller classes as there is only one teacher in the room and they have to try and focus on helping as many students as possible which can result in some not getting as much help as they need. We must also remember that this isn’t the teachers' fault and we shouldn’t take our anger out on them. There is only one teacher in the class and multiple students that they are all trying to help at once which can be very tiring.

On the whole, there are many advantages and disadvantages to school. They both balance each other out nicely but some disagree. While some things do need to change for the better of everyone, it’s important we also keep in mind how lucky we are to have education and take advantage of it before it’s over. We may be hating it now, but most of us will look back on it and remember how much fun we had and how we should’ve made the most of every moment.

By Ibaado Mohamed, Nower HIll High School