Diary of a Working Woman
Passionate, hard-working, fearless Educationalist, Psychologist and mother, Johnette Barrett talks to a selection of working women who have gone through many challenging experiences, often having to undergo many conflicting roles. Johnette unravels the secrets of being a successful woman in today’s world.
Diary of a Working Woman
Why The Education System Is Failing Our Kids: A Discussion with Bunmi Richards and Johnette Barrett On Preparing Students For The Real World
Bunmi Richards, a seasoned head teacher with over two decades of dedication to the field, joins me, Johnette, on this episode of the Diary of a Working Woman. Together, we embark on a heartfelt exploration of how the UK education system is—or perhaps isn't—preparing young people for the multifaceted challenges of modern life. Grounded in our unique cultural narratives, Bunmi and I reflect on our British Nigerian and British Caribbean roots and how they shape our educational philosophies. We question whether academic achievements alone are enough and highlight the indispensable role of family values in nurturing well-rounded individuals.
Our conversation takes a fascinating turn as we discuss a pioneering school model that beautifully blends local learning with a global outlook. Imagine a curriculum where children as young as two are immersed in a bilingual education, learning in French to enhance cognitive skills and cultural empathy. This approach gives parents the liberty to choose between a bilingual path and an enterprise stream, each designed to foster leadership, teamwork, and a global mindset. Bunmi and I believe that instilling these values early on can open doors to opportunities across the globe, ensuring that today's students are tomorrow's leaders.
Finally, we tackle the pressing need for financial independence and literacy in education. With initiatives like the Tycoon Enterprise project, students dive into the world of business, experiencing firsthand the nuances of financial management and social responsibility. We don't shy away from addressing the post-pandemic challenges schools face, such as increased anxiety and absenteeism, and how a forward-thinking curriculum can reignite student engagement and ambition. Join us as we challenge traditional education models and advocate for a system that equips young people with the skills to navigate life's complexities, from financial planning to visionary leadership, ensuring they are prepared not just for exams, but for life.
A new podcast in which Johnette Barrett, educational psychologist, seeks out inspirational working women who have transformed their lives and that of others through their courageousness and compassion.
The conversations that follow are sometimes eye-opening, sometimes heart- breaking and sometimes humourous.
Diary of a Working Woman (DOAWW) is hosted by Buzzsprouts .com.
Email: diaryofaworkingwoman@yahoo.com
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Welcome to the Diary of a Working Woman podcast. I'm Jonette, your host On this podcast. I'll be speaking to women from all walks of life, of different ages, and the thing that they'll have in common is that they will work in some way or another. Their stories will be motivating, inspiring, empowering. I just know you're going to enjoy it. Please follow me on Diary of a Working Woman to receive all the latest episodes. Tune in. Hi.
Speaker 1:I'm here today with Boomi Richards, experienced head teacher on the Diary of a Working Woman podcast. So Bumi Richards has over 20 years experience working in schools. She's worked in both the state sectors and the independent sectors. She's an accomplished speaker and speaks about educational topics, and she also sits on the director of boards on various educational establishments. B sits on the director of boards on various educational establishments. Bumi is the mother of two amazing young men who have done remarkable things with their lives, which isn't surprising given the mother and the father that they have.
Speaker 1:And today we're going to be talking about all things education. We are both passionate about education. I myself am an experienced head teacher, an educational psychologist, and we are going to talk about young people. Young people, the future, schools. Is the education system in the UK fit for purpose? Are we equipping young people with the skills that they need to be successful, not just five years time or in 10 years time, but for life, so that when they retire they're in a place where they can live comfortably and support themselves and their family and just be happy and enjoy the last few years of their lives? Bumi, what do you think, jeanette? Education, you know, is a passion of mine, and being raised in a family where education was everything and in fact it was too much in terms of not really examining the wider skills that young children need to develop and the number of years I've had as a head teacher has enabled me to really think carefully about what young people need and to refine my thinking. As the world changes and we all know today, the world is an extremely challenging place and a lot of educators will say the educational system isn't really fit for purpose at the moment, and to have a classroom where everybody is expected to sit for a number of hours and learn in the same way is no longer a part of the need to follow. It's ridiculous, isn't it? It's ridiculous.
Speaker 1:I just want to touch on just one thing. You said Education was a really big part of your upbringing. Can you just share with us, um, what your heritage is, so that we understand where you're coming from in terms of your values and the values that you've probably been um, just encouraging your young children in your school to develop? Yes, actually I'm british nigerian and, um, I was raised here with my mum and dad and they were really fierce about education. Um, I'm one of five um, and that was a be all and end all of everything. My dad really, for his time, was pretty clear, thinking about the types of schools, which schools he wanted us to, to go to, to the point of moving in boroughs where he thought, yeah, where he thought, um, we'll go to a good school. So I very quickly learned, though, that school and education in the way that he knew it was limiting for me because, um, we needed to develop other school, other skills, um, and we've we felt very much that we weren't able, um to do that. Yeah, so when I had my children, it was I was really careful to make sure that it wasn't just school books, sitting down, learning, but my children were exposed to much more, much more than that. Yeah, I think I could just briefly reflect on my own childhood just as a comparison.
Speaker 1:I'm black, british, but my parents are from the Caribbean, and so I grew up one of six, number two of six, and it was pretty much it was similar in some respects that education was everything. Parents came over in the 60s and really wanted their children to do much better. That's why they came to the motherland right, so they can get the opportunities, or they felt their children could get the opportunities that they never had. So education was very high up on their agendas. But they, you know, we, they were both working.
Speaker 1:You know I come from a working-class family. My parents worked incredibly hard. We didn't have the resources then, when we were very young, to be able to move into more affluent areas so that we could then be in the catchment area for those schools. We just went to our local school and I reckon I think, when I look back and look at you know, the way that we have been able as a family, the sibling by siblings, to get on in life is really about those core educational values that our parents instilled in us. And though we didn't have lots of money, we had enough to survive but we had lots of books, we had the local library and we had our parents had those high, very high expectations for us in terms of the jobs that they would like us to do, that they thought would set us up for life. Little did they know. But anyway, I mean, you know, you've mentioned values again, values in the family, um, and, as you know, not everybody is fortunate enough to have an upbringing where values is at the heart of family life.
Speaker 1:There are various barriers and challenges in many of the lives of the children that I teach. Where that thinking, that discussion about what is important, it's not there. And, first and foremost, I think, in the education establishment. These two really tease out what are the values that um, that leaders believe in, um, and what are, and how is that really implemented throughout the curriculum? Because what I find is that schools are thinking about values and they will have in their literature what their values are, but how does that actually translate throughout the curriculum how the children actually live those values? Yes, there's opportunities, but what about the depth, the consistency, the, the evaluation of those values? Because I think that's the foundation. It is the foundation, it is the foundation and I think those values you're absolutely right those values and those core principles that you can cultivate in your school environment is great, but transferring it outside of that school environment now to the family home, because you know the family values may not you know the family values may not align all the time with the school values, and then you've got that mismatch and then you've got, maybe, a peer culture outside of the family system. In the school system we've got the peer culture as well, especially as children get older and their values may not look like our values.
Speaker 1:So you and I, as educators, have installed the importance of education. You know, have children, um, but you know it's not until I've got to a certain point in my life and I would say the pandemic has got a lot to do with this, and I know for a lot of people it's a time for reflection, just reflecting on where you are at the moment in your lives, in your personal lives, in your in your workplace, whether or not you're truly happy, whether or not you're going to have the, the resources that you'd always thought you'd have. But when you look at it, when the chips are down, really we are probably the lucky ones. We have pension pots. There are lots of people out there who haven't got a pension pot, and because it's so tough out there for the young when they leave school, what have you? It's very difficult for them to be able to have money they can put aside to save for their futures. So the very first thing that will happen and you might remember yourself that you know when you're when I was recruiting as a head teacher, very often the young teachers would say no, I'm opting out of the pension, I'm opting out, I want the money now. I need to pay my rent, I can't survive, I need to buy a car. And this is a harsh reality, isn't it? What are we preparing our children for?
Speaker 1:I think it goes back again to the core values, and I go back to my school experience as a head teacher and what the key skills? I and my garden, the gobbling body and other members of staff work really hard, tease out um, and we have what we call our enterprise skills, and some of them are staying positive, aiming high and working as a team. And there are many more so, staying positive, aiming high and working as a team. And there are many more so staying positive, aiming high and working as a team. And there's many more. There's the leadership, there's creativity, but those three you can't do this on your own. No, working as a team for the common good is really important, and what these skills actually teach children. They're broken down into small steps, what it actually means to work as a team, and there is an assessment tool that we use to just let children know where they are on that continuum and what they actually need to do as their next stage, and we use that. It's embedded in our curriculum stage and we use that. It's embedded in our curriculum.
Speaker 1:And I think, going back to your question to me about the challenges, if we teach children from a young age, and even if they haven't got that in their family setting, as educators, we teach them what these key skills. They're actually called employability skills, yeah, life. Then lifelong skills, yeah, but it's not just saying it, or you know, I'm teaching you to aim high. What does that actually mean? What do you need to do? You have to break them down into steps. What do you expect aiming high to look like in the nursery? Yeah.
Speaker 1:How do you then build on that throughout the school, throughout their school and life, throughout their journey to um, the end of primary education, and I think, if they have these skills, their outlook will be different, absolutely because it starts with your mindset, doesn't it? It does, it really starts with one's mindset and I think you know, when we look at the whole research that carol dwight has done around growth mindsets, what you said is that you know about that. You know about that positivity, you know you have to be positive and if you're positive, then when you have a setback in life as we will from time to time, many times you will hopefully be able to have the resilience to bounce back. So think well, at least I've got coping mechanisms, I can actually get over this challenge. But to just get back a little bit to the focus today and the focus really is on whether or not you know you said you know some of the values. I think those values are really important.
Speaker 1:You've made the comparison with what employers are looking for, because you know employers are looking for young people who are adaptable, got good communication skills, they've got a positive outlook, they can work as part of a team, they know how to set goals, they know that with success there will be failures and they have to learn to reflect. But I think when we look at research, employers are saying that there's a massive skills gap between what they're looking for as employers and what schools are equipping the students with. And I suppose how many schools, would you say? Because your school's quite unique. That's why I said you're very inspirational, you know, and that's why we've been friends for a very long time, because we've both looked at education different ways to try to to bring in different things into our schools.
Speaker 1:And I know in my first school, um we're one of the first primary schools to get the national enterprise award, because I'm very much like you in that school shouldn't just be about english, maths, geography, history, sciences. It's about creating a thirst for knowledge, experience, that expectation that you know it's important to always strive for something so that you are moving forward, and not because you're moving forward to forward's sake, but if you have a goal and you've got some actions in place to help you to achieve those goals, you're going to feel so much more confident and when you're more confident as a person, you are more successful. Life the research is, you know it is, it is what it is. You know confident people do better in life, have better social relationships. Um are perceived to be inspirational, are perceived to be knowledgeable, um, and so it's important that children are equipped with these values and these skills that enable them to then take that into the workplace. But what I think? Yeah, absolutely I think.
Speaker 1:If I may, let's talk about our actual school model and revision. First of all, we believe very much that the child needs to develop their own core values. Relating to self, yeah, and developing that moral compass. Understanding what the difference between right and wrong yeah, very important. A moral code, yeah. Looking out for each other, looking out for each other. We use the rights, respect and framework to make sure that our children are continually sharing and talking about their rights, but, importantly, how to respect their rights and not take the rights that they have for granted. So we start on that level.
Speaker 1:And then we thought very carefully about the kind of curriculum we wanted and we wanted our strap line is a local school with a global perspective. I love that. A local school with a global perspective, that's beautiful and it reflects that is beautiful. The different cultures, yeah, and that must draw people to your school. That must attract a certain type of person, yes, absolutely so. We had a curriculum that, um, that we chose the international private curriculum, which embraces the national curriculum in a thematic way, but it reflects global aspects to particular topics that you may choose. So I could give an example. For example, you may have a topic that might be gosh she's put me on the spot now. Our world might be a topic. You would make sure that you explore other countries. You may make sure you emite other children in schools through other countries and really just make sure that every topic does look outward. And then this is a unique bit we sort of lay on top of that the fact that children need to be more outward looking, need to have a global perspective, and we did. It must be over 10 years now.
Speaker 1:We introduced a bilingual curriculum. A bilingual curriculum, a bilingual curriculum, yeah, where our children taught the actual curriculum, but for 50% of the week they are just taught by in French. In French, yes, from what age? From two. Now, that's extraordinary. Yeah, because we know children are so easy That's's pages and they just pick up another language. But it didn't really matter what language you were choosing.
Speaker 1:I think the fact that we embrace another language there's so much for what we're trying to develop in children, what their outlook needs to be their cultural tolerance, understanding of other cultures. It apart from all the cognitive benefits of learning another language. It's what kind of person you're developing if you embrace that. So, do you have native french speakers? We do your school as well, because that must be making interesting melting pots. We do that, that, we do. That's really exciting. That's the stuff. We hear people speaking it. There are teachers, teachers teaching in French, but it goes back to what kind? From two, because we have a two-year-old nursery. From two, the children are encouraged to be outward looking, yeah, and we know that's what's needed now. Yeah, absolutely they need to be outward looking, yeah, yeah, and then we know that's what's needed now. Yeah, absolutely. They need to be thinking, not just working here in the uk. They might need to go and seek out other opportunities, definitely elsewhere, and have the confidence, the understanding. If we're doing that at two ahead of, they're going to be, oh, really ahead, far ahead.
Speaker 1:Because, as we know, you know the economic climate as it is in this country it's very difficult for graduates to find jobs, and so those young people who decide not to go to university and we'll get on to that, you know difficult. There's so much competition in the workplace and with the you know COVID-19, pandemic workplace and with the, you know, covid19 pandemic. I think you know lots of the industries that were affected. Um, you know the retail industry, the entertainment industry. They're not recruiting in the numbers that they used to and other employees I think there's a caution now and so they're probably employing fewer, um, young people and there's so much competition. So, yeah, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1:I mean, you were 10 years before your time in terms of your curriculum because actually, where we are, young people now have to be prepared to work. Consider working abroad or studying abroad or doing some sort of business that will be a global business, be it online or what have you. So they have to have that mindset. Mindset isn't something that you just get, you know. It has to be developed over time and nurtured. And the young people, I think they have to understand why. I mean, do they ever question your ethos? Do any of the parents or prospective staff or any of the students say well, why? Why are we doing French? Why isn't the school down the road doing it? Why hasn't more schools cut and done, do you think? I mean, I think bringing on members of staff on the same journey and evolving a vision together is just as you mentioned it, it's vitalally important. As long as the message is clear, I can't see any fellow to argue with what we're doing. What they actually say is, wow, we're getting more and they think we are an independent school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the fact that we're doing the bilingual. I didn't say to you about our enterprise curriculum as well. Not every parent chooses the bilingual. I didn't say to you about our enterprise curriculum as well. Not every parent chooses the bilingual option. Right, some. And? And the reasons for um, the choice is because we offer something else and it's a balancing act. You can't really do both, but we can do. We can do both, but at varying. So the parents have a choice whether or not they go down the bilingual stream, exactly, yeah, or what we call the enterprise stream. And the enterprise stream is of the same curriculum as we teach a national curriculum. Yes, the bilingual um classes. They will teach national curriculum and they'll teach it in french for some of the time. Yes, for 50 percent being at the time table. If they're not, parents are not in that class, in a different class and they want the enterprise curriculum.
Speaker 1:We teach eight key enterprise skills Positive, yeah. Leadership skills there's teamwork. There's teaching your imagination, teamwork, staying positive leadership. You'll come back. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but there's eight of them, yes, and it's very carefully broken down, yeah, into what you need to do to um, actually get to a really high level using those skills, and then we develop using those skills.
Speaker 1:They do various projects throughout the year. For example, they we do the um, the peter tycoon project, where you, where you're given some money right, and then you have to just make a profit and you have to do a business plan, and the children are used to doing a business plan, working as a team and selling and selling the playground. They'll buy their products and make it, they'll sell it and then they did the profit and the loss. What a wonderful opportunity that is. And they understand from an early age, begin to look at financial literacy, begin to understand about what it is to be an entrepreneur, and also part of the enterprise curriculum is not just doing things for profit, it's also what can you do to support, what can you do to help for us as a social enterprise? Yeah, as a community? Yeah, yeah, exactly that.
Speaker 1:I remember that strand. Yeah, I think it's really important. It just takes me back to my time doing the enterprise as well, and we did lots of things in the community. We had a community cafe that children used to go and volunteer at the community cafe and learn all those financial skills taking money, selling products, customer service, customer care and I know you know we had an opportunity for some children to go into another people's home and just spend time with these people there's no family members. So that Friday afternoon that our children went they really looked forward forward to because that's the only other form of human contact and you know children are so invigorating, aren't they? They just bring good joy out in you. So I think it's just really important.
Speaker 1:You just touched on the financial literacy, which we're going to talk a bit more about, but also the community aspects as well, because it's you know, it's developing all the everything's that social capital as well. It's not just about the financial capital and it's about teaching the children a sense of responsibility, isn't it that they're not only responsible for themselves and their futures and they need to be getting that mindset that I am a separate entity to my parents and that you know I have my own life path, my own journey, that I will be taking um but, um, but, but just. I think just that awareness, that awareness that, um, there are different types of schools there is is really great for just developing different parts of people's personalities and their characters and just setting them up for life. Really, I just think what you're doing is remarkable, just remarkable on lots and lots of levels. But I think more schools need to take risks. I think more schools, risk-taking yeah, more schools, risk-taking that must be part of your enterprise because, yes, yes, risk-taking Most people are risk-averse. I'm pretty sure that most people are risk-averse and I think, to be able to put your head above that what's it called? We're going to do things a little bit differently but to have a real reason for the change and a vision for what you want that change to look like and to be able to take a whole school community with you. I mean, that's really empowering.
Speaker 1:And do any of your young people, once they've left your school, ever come back to you and talk about oh, they do, yeah, what things do they say about? I think what they'll say is they're thankful for the opportunities that they had. Yeah, because once you have a bilingual curriculum and an enterprise curriculum, you do realise that you're developing a particular kind of child. It is a thinking, a critical thinker that wants to do good, that wants to change things for the better, absolutely, and they're children that will come up with ideas, yeah, and so when they come back, they talk about that opportunity and also, I think, um, they also think differently, broadly, about their next step. For example, if they are going to university or they are doing it, maybe it might not be in the UK. Yeah, maybe it might be here. Maybe it might be there, maybe it is in the UK. So, I do think, just opening up their minds Exactly Opening up their minds to the wealth of opportunities that are out there, and that's what you want.
Speaker 1:And I think we're going back to the beginning of our conversation when I said is the education that we have today fit for purpose? It's, it's not. It's about developing a curriculum that speaks to the children. Yes, of course, as a primary school head, the knowledge, your maths and your grammar all those are important, but it's a lot of it. Yeah, cram, cram, cram, not enough time to develop what's needed. Yeah, and you can integrate both. Yeah, but it needs dedicated teams to be really thinking about doing that and inspirational leaders who can speak outside the box. There's a few risks, yes, yes, and I think not many people are willing to take that risk. I think you know, just thinking about you know whether or not schools are fit for purpose and perhaps you can reflect on your own school. But I think you know.
Speaker 1:Look back at the pandemic I think this research is 2022, 2023, I believe following the pandemic that I think it was around 120,000 children and young people were missing from medication. Young people were missing from education 120 000 and that at the moment, there's a, you know there's a significant children and level of number of children who are just we call it emotionally based school avoidance. They're just not attending school because of high levels of anxiety. They feel the pressures too much in school. Maybe the curriculum's too much, maybe it's social anxiety, maybe it's a bit of everything, maybe they're just so stressed out. Are you seeing numbers any near those levels in your schools, given that your curriculum is so different and is so more avant garde, looking at what employers want and maybe more consistent with what children feel passionate about? You know giving back, earning money you know, like other schools, we are experiencing the same, yeah, and you know getting attendance levels back to where they were is, you know, is a challenge.
Speaker 1:However, this is my personal view, not really particularly, and that's a really good point. We may be headteachers, but these are our own personal views. This is my personal view, not really particularly, and that's a really good point. This, and we may be head teachers, but these are our own personal views. Yes, personal views, not to be taken as any authority voice. This is our own personal views and reflections. Yeah, and I wonder whether having all children in the class being taught, yeah, just in the right way, and there is a place for homeschooling for some children.
Speaker 1:I think no people are getting behind that community and are developing lots of exciting things. Yes, in home learning, absolutely, and it's making sure that children are accessing something. They're not stuck at home because they're anxious and, just, you know, on screens all the time, they are really looking and seeing what suits them, what sort of provision is needed and whatever provision, it is the innovation behind that needs to prepare them for the world. And, yes, because I think our generation you know, maybe the next generation is not going to be as well off. It doesn't look like they're going to be as well off as our generation. So, again, talked about how are they going to be self-sufficient. So the mindset needs to be such that they're creative, they're thinking on a larger scale, they are staying positive because there are going to be turbulent times and we know mental health, I mean in your job, yeah, I'm sure, yeah, but that is a huge thing and it's growing, and particularly with young men, yeah, um, and so the hope needs to be there.
Speaker 1:I think not just we talk about developing children, it's us as parents. Now I have conversations regularly with my boys your own boys, my own boys about the future. I talk about things like, yes, you've got your main job, what else are you going to be doing? And they'll say too tired, isn't this the thing? That's a really good point. So, yeah, so they say they're too tired. So what is it? So we work for 40 years, 40 hours a week to retire. On what? A week to retire? On what? They're saying? That one in five people over 50 have no pension pot or means of supporting themselves.
Speaker 1:And yet we as head teachers and they're an expert we as head teachers, are equipping or have been part of that, um, that culture that was saying that education is the key. You know university if you can, because you will then hopefully get a job where you're better paid than someone who hasn't gone to university and therefore the quality of your life will be better. But we are seeing that this isn't always true. We've got graduates leaving university. We cannot find jobs, cannot find jobs in the field that they're trained in, are having to take jobs below their level of qualifications and experience. We've got young people who've decided not to go to university it would maybe be more entrepreneurial. Set up their own business, become self-employed who are flying.
Speaker 1:So what is it we are saying to young people? What is it we're saying that you know, to be able to retire comfortably, have that financial independence, education is the key. Are we being honest, authentic in that? Is that really the reality of lots of people? And I've got lots of friends of that age, in the 50s and and they're barely making, and they're professionals, they're barely making life. You know, ends meet. They may have paid off their mortgage or what have you, but the disposable income isn't there. Some of them are savvy enough to have got a nice pension pot, so they're surviving, but they've got their families to sustain. Yes, they've got children staying at home until they're in their 30s. Yes, yes, yeah. Again, it's fortunately um for me.
Speaker 1:I think I, you know, I had parents, particularly my mom, who was forever looking and doing other things, and also my husband's mum, again doing other things, and it's about finding your skill. I mean, you've got your job. What are you truly passionate about? What do you like doing? Can you turn that into something that can make a bit of extra money? So when you're doing it, it's something that you find relatively easy, you love doing, and it's not something that you are. If you can make it your main income, that's even better. But if it's a side hustle, then it's something that you can be doing and be again teamwork as families, talking together about that.
Speaker 1:And how can we work if you don't understand what teamwork means? Like going back to the education that we believe in it at my school. It's not just teamwork. It breaks down what teamwork looks like. It breaks down what it means when we disagree. If you've got those skills proper teamwork, teamwork and you understand what that means, then as a family or it could be with friends, that'd be family you're working together. I think that is. I think, yeah, To do something. And then your values matter, because if you are all, you've got strong values, personal, internal values, as well as values for whatever it is a project that you want to do. It's really important. Now. You've said so many things that have just struck a chord with me.
Speaker 1:Really, I think the idea that we need to be helping young people to see that there's not necessarily these days may not be the best option to have one job for life and that you need a certain number of income streams two or three at the very minimum. But to be able to have those income streams, you need the skills. So you need to make that commitment to developing yourself, that self-development, little courses here and there there's so much it almost is huge. These days, you know, there's lots of things. There's e-learning packages that you can buy just to develop your skills. So, and then, when you develop your skills, in terms of the learning hierarchy, we need to practice before we are fluent in those skills, before you then be able to profit from those skills.
Speaker 1:So it's about identifying an area, like you said, that you're interested in, that, that you're passionate about. Make sure that you've got the right skills in those areas. Practice, practice, practice until you're confident in your experience and then finding the opportunities. Finding opportunities and that collaboration, be it with, as you say, a group of friends maybe pooling together to buy property, your first property, but do it as a collective, or with family members. Do it as a collective. Or a business invested in this small business, do it as a collective.
Speaker 1:But you know, there are some cultures that do this better than others, absolutely. They're just thriving. They've just put their values down to the T. You know, when we look at, you know some of the Asian cultures, the Chinese cultures, the Jews, you know, they have it, they have the family values. It's all about working together, supporting one another, lifting each other up until we can fly and bringing up those beneath us. And then other cultures, like you know, some of our own. It's just all about self. It's all about self and what I can achieve and what I can do. But it's, you know, self, it's all about self and what I can achieve, what I can do, but it's, you know, it's that synergy and with the challenges now, it's it's going to be very few that can do it on their own.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, and if we don't begin to think about collaborative, um, I think people are, I think young people buying houses together, friends, yeah, yeah, I think, because the housing market is just yeah, they can't. So they are beginning to think in those ways, but it's not enough people, no, and I'm always thinking about um, you know the vast majority. I mean the gap is getting wider and wider and wider. Yeah, and again, the social responsibility of education, of education and the financial literacy yes, to know that if you are going to go down the blue color, color um route or the the white color route and you might make it to leadership, there is going to be a ceiling in terms of your earning potential. There is going to be a ceiling, and as inflation rises and wages don't stay in line, then your money's not going to go as far.
Speaker 1:So I think it really is important to think of various ways that you can develop yourselves. Who've got different forms of income, and if you can get that union be it with a partner, be it with a group of friends, be it with family members to just focus on financial goals and achieve them. And I'm not saying it's all about your finances, but let's face it if you have no money, if you cannot pay your rent, you can't pay your mortgage, you can't buy food to feed your children, you've got no resources to relieve the stress and anxiety of your everyday life. You can't go out to dinner, you can't, you know you can't. Go to the theatre, you can't.
Speaker 1:Then what is your quality life going to be like? And it is about you know, just having that long-term vision of what it is you're looking for and if it's financial independence that you're looking for later in life and leaving a legacy, you've got to look at your legacy that you're going to leave behind. And in life and leaving a legacy, you've got to look at your legacy that you can leave behind. And it's about those little tiny steps, incremental steps in that direction. But you need to know first, don't you laws, yes, having mentors around you in your, in your job, in the job that you want to go, in, all the jobs that you're interested in reaching out, being with like-minded people.
Speaker 1:But do you have in your school, your head teacher, a raised aspirations programme? Oh, my goodness, I did and I'm sure it just opened up these minds to what was possible. Yeah, I mean, I do occasionally bump into young people now who I taught back when I was a head and I think that raising aspirations again, a bit like yourself, I think it was a bit before its time, getting parents and teachers and other leaders out on a Saturday morning because it was Saturday morning. We used to put these things on outside school hours to talk about life, to talk about, you know, opportunities, to talk about community developments. It was very special, it was a really special time and you're always raising aspirations, and not just about your own personal development, but the development of your family, your family members and your community and coming together and being on the same page. So, yeah, I think we both have done a bit for society and continue to. You know, hopefully our children will benefit and that others will benefit.
Speaker 1:But, you know, as we move towards, maybe thinking about a close, we need to think about, maybe, what we want, uh, people to take away from today's show. What is it that we want? We started off by saying that the education system isn't fit for purpose because you've got, um, hundreds of, you know, you've got hundreds over 100 000 children or more these days who are just um, detached from our education system. They don't see it's for them or they just don't feel able to, um, you know, just to be in that school environment as it is at the moment. We've got teachers leaving the industry in their throes. It's really hard to get good quality teachers and get them to stay in the profession. Why is that? We've got yeah, we've just got, we've got a lot. We've got exclusion levels still not where they need to be. We've got dropout levels.
Speaker 1:You know it's just never ending, but we keep having the same conversation. So surely you know, surely there's a mismatch somewhere. You know, yeah, it can. It's back to inspirational leaders. Really gets under the skin of what young people want. I mean very much. It's this is what you need and I'm sure there's research that's so. They sell with young people, disaffected young people who are able to articulate exactly what it is they need and what they, what support they should have had, could have had, whichever, and to capture them learning. Yeah, my school's one of one of the school that's doing something different. Yeah, not saying, and there'll be lots out. Yes, there will be many schools out there that are doing a fantastic job, exactly, and one of many schools are taking a risk and doing something else. But I think what is really key is preparing the children for what is to come. Yeah, and that conversation happening early, like I was talking about pensions, I was talking to a year five child, I said what's a pension? It's that we do maths.
Speaker 1:Yes, the curriculum has got to be relevant. I know we've always said this In my training. Yes, make the curriculum relevant. It's not, is it? Yes, it's not. It's not in the depth it should be Because there's too much content. Yes, there's too much content. There's too much content. I know we have things like Money Week, we have different things, but again, too much content. Working out really how to slim that down and make it relevant and that might go so relevant to um, practically relevant.
Speaker 1:So young people are doing things a lot earlier and seeing how their skills relate to the world of work. One thing the enterprise curriculum does is all those skills aiming high. You know samples. They are linked to the world of work and local businesses are more than happy to connect to schools. It's emotional intelligence, isn't it? I mean you're keeping young people with emotional intelligence. You know understanding yourself and what you need, understanding other people and what they need and meeting somehow in the middle. So, yeah, yeah, that's what do you think for you is needed. That's a really good question.
Speaker 1:I mean, when I look on my own children, who are young people now themselves one in uni, um, and one's just um, gone into sixth form. I do say to them I've changed. I think what I've said has changed to them. I think when we're younger it's all about right. You need to ensure that you're working really hard at school, you know that you're passing the test, you're getting certain grades, um, that you're standing out, that you know that you'll get the grades, that you're going into the qualifications, that you need to go to a really good university. You're going to go to a russell group university. You're going to be having, you know, a job that you're going to make you know decent standard of living. You're going to be happy. It's all about them being happy.
Speaker 1:But I've been changing over the years and, as I said, it's you know, I think it really coincided. My thinking shifted. It really shifted, um, following the pandemic and just time to reflect and just having a look at everything and thinking, gosh, I've got so many more years left. I mean more years to return. And I just say to them now and I'm not one of these parents to say, oh, you know, it's just about your happiness because obviously we know it, you know there's lots of things that's needed to make one happy um.
Speaker 1:But I do say to them no, what is it that you are passionate about? Unfortunately, for my son it was like he never knew what was passionate about. So it's really hard. Some young people don't know what they're passionate about. They have to, you know, develop that over time. But I just say to them just don't have one idea in your mind, look at your skill set, you know, just do exercise.
Speaker 1:I say, write down what you're good at and then write down what you're interested in. And if what you're interested in and your skills, your skills audit, don't marry up, then you know what you need to do. Find a little course, do something online, develop your skills in that area and then look for opportunities where you can develop those skills, get some experience but maybe benefit from those skills financially. You know, we were always my I suppose our parents had it right. Anyway, I remember when I was younger I had two things that I wanted to do. I was either going to be a TV presenter or I was going to be a head teacher. And of course I went down the head teacher route because my parents, like you know, that's a TV industry, media, it's too competitive.
Speaker 1:Teacher you can teach for life. You can teach anywhere in the world and they had something. Because we have a skill. We have a skill that can be generalized across different professions, that you can take it anywhere in the world. So I say to my children have skills, generic skills that you can apply across disciplines, things that you're passionate about and that do have to have lots of different things that you're doing that can then generate a certain amount of income.
Speaker 1:And if one opportunity closes down, invariably things happen. Things happen beyond your control and that is called life. But if you've got another string to your bow, then all is not lost. It's about resilience and that open-mindedness. So I just say develop as many skills as possible, have your hobbies, have your talents. You know your talents. Just develop them, nurture them and have an open mind and be prepared to move wherever and be prepared, um, uh, for challenges in life, because that's what life is about. So it's not just about you've got to go to get these qualifications, go to that university, because if that doesn't happen, then what? Yeah, so I think, I think that's where I'm at, and so you know our message, our key message, um, to the young out there, um, I think, is just be open-minded, know what your values are. Yeah, have some core values that will stay with you no matter what, whether or not you're looking at it from a personal viewpoint, from your family life to work, or your relationships with your friends or with your partner but have that core value, those core values that nobody will shake, because that is integral part of you.
Speaker 1:Have a number of skills, have lots of different income streams that you can work towards developing. Be mindful of choosing not to opt into a pension pot. Okay, there's various pension pots. I know pension pots aren't as secure as they used to be, but have some savings, some assets that you can draw upon later in life when the job opportunity is trying to dry up. And link maths more strongly to Maths for me when I was at school was so abstract but relate it to life and we can do the entrepreneurial skills that you're teaching your children, your curriculum, and they can apply it to little projects that they're doing then it takes a whole different dimension, a whole different meaning and relevance.
Speaker 1:You know, and I think parents need to be talking more to their children about finances and financial planning from a younger age. Parents might need support with that. Oh, you're absolutely workshops about it for parents. How do you teach your child? Yeah, yeah. Financial literacy, absolutely, yeah, yeah, we could go on. We can go on for hours, but you know, it's been absolutely amazing having you today. I think we have um taught at length about the importance of not just education, but the right education for the right time, because these times are different and they dictate a different way of thinking. They do indeed. You know so. Thank you very much, thank you, thank you. Thank you for being on the show. Thanks for tuning in to Di of a working woman. I hope you found this episode as motivating and uplifting as I did. Please follow me at at do a podcast on tiktok and instagram. For now, I want to say bye, bye, and keep striving to be the best version of yourself that you can possibly be, wearing all the many hats that working women do, sending you love.