What do you wish was taught at school?

I was sat at my desk looking through my general expenditure thinking how the actual hell did I manage to spend £15 in Poundland I'm sure I only bought 3 packs of Wagon Wheels, when it hit me. I've only really learnt how to do this stuff through winging it, Google, and asking my dad who is a maths genius and car expert. I didn't learn most of the skills I use in every day life from school.

When I watched Educating Yorkshire it was pretty evident children feel learning the rhyming pattern of a limerick isn't going to help them in everyday life. And they're right. The oldies among you may remember spending hours upon tearful hours with Emma's Dilemma, a GCSE maths coursework assignment I literally can't even remember. I think it had something to do with 'x!' but in all honesty, in the ten years it's been since leaving school I've never used it.

Those hours spent trying to figure out formula and proving my reasoning may have been good in a very specialist sense, but it ain't no help when I'm trying to figure out how to fix a leaking tap. So what do you wish was taught in school when you were a yungun? Here are my four subjects:

1. Social skills

I don't mean sitting there with a book on your head for perfect posture. Things like why saying please and thank you can get you far. How reasoning rather than shouting can win an argument. And this could also branch out into broader areas. Worldwide travel is more accessible than ever. Why not learn about other cultures? Not in a 'xxx many people live here, the average rainfall is 2cm per month and climate is arid.' Most people head over to SE Asia on gap years, so learning how to greet someone respectfully, about their customs, religions, traditions and languages will surely only help a generation become more aware of the world around them.

2. Money

What bank accounts are available, what each one does, what happens when you go overdrawn or hit your reserve, the difference between a savings account and current account, how credit cards work and, now especially, what payday loans are all about. Yeah, it sounds dull as hell. But if I was told that learning how to save meant I could spend £500 on a wicked cool holiday by transferring some of my income into a high interest savings account thus basically giving me free cash money I'd have paid attention.

3. House and home

I think women are too easily prickled by this and are quick to shout FEMINIST HATERZ when it's mentioned. It doesn't mean we need to learn how to get a meal ready for your lord and master when he walks through the door. It's about learning how to bleed a radiator, refit a fuse, change a tyre. Or how to paint a room. How to maintain a garden. How to hang a picture. How to unblock a U bend. And sew a hem on your skirt. Because when you've got a job interview in half an hour and you realise that one skirt you bought for that one reason is coming apart at the seams, you can fix it. Speaking of which...

4. Working life

There's never been more competition for jobs. If you're a specialist in your field with decades of experience it might be easier to find a decent role. But for the vast majority trying to find entry level jobs, competition is fierce. So, how to write a CV and why it should be written like that. How to write a cover letter. How to handle yourself in an interview. How to handle a nightmare boss or workplace dispute. And how to handle rejection. It would have also been great if we were told about local business and were given the chance to research the roles they might offer. Because it was only 6 years later I realised that I lived literally minutes away from a consumer magazine publishing house. Talk about a wasted Trident.

So those are my thoughts. What about you? Would you have like to learn code? Crafting? How to set up an internet business? Let us know! Oh, and I just googled Emma's dilemma and felt the same rush of fear and sweat seeing the formula. Memories, ey?

*Actual photo of my old secondary school.