100 things to do before leaving primary school
Not long to go until the end of another school year for pupils and teachers across the UK. Before some our younger ones wave goodbye to Primary school, TES surveyed 2,500 youngsters to find out what they believe every child should have done at school before the age of 11.
Some of the answers are hilarious and reminds us why primary pupils are a joy to teach. Their sense of imagination and humour is second to none and it’s very reassuring to see that children today behave much as children have always done.
The top 100 included falling off your chair whilst swinging on it, kicking the ball over a wall, freak out when the alarm bell rings and calling a male teacher ‘miss’. The list also contains lessons to help improve one’s self such as learning to look after yourself, be caring and helping younger pupils at school. It’s also great to see some of the more traditional things are still on there like telling a joke, giggling during a sexual health lesson, throwing a custard pie at a teacher and laughing hysterically when someone farts.
TES editor Ann Mroz said that adult worries over youngsters' "disappearing childhoods" and "lost innocence" seem overdone. "We may think they are tested, tutored and drilled as never before but they seem remarkably resilient." "They love being naughty, playing pranks and getting up to mischief much as we did at their age." "And despite the ubiquity of mobile phones and tablets, they still like to splash around in puddles and construct daisy chains." She added: "I wonder if a lot of the anxiety over childhood today has more to do with adult projections and expectations than children's own concerns."
The list in full:
- Call a teacher mum or dad
- Make good friends
- Tell the teacher to "chill out"
- Get covered in paint/mud/chalk
- Laugh hysterically when someone farts
- Take part in a school production
- Have a water fight
- Go swimming
- Be made to sit next to your enemy
- Forget your homework
- Have a nickname
- Do something silly and realise a teacher is standing behind you
- Laugh so much that drink comes out through your nose
- Throw a paper plane
- Fall out with a friend
- Take part in a sports tournament
- Draw a face on a rubber
- Go on a school trip
- Get a certificate
- Get told off
- Experience other schools
- Learn how to get on with everyone
- Invent something
- Make a fool out of yourself/embarrass yourself more than once
- Work with children from older year groups
- Grow some flowers or vegetables
- Fall off your chair when you swing on it
- Learn to feel confident in front of your class
- Be a leader of a group
- Feel like you can trust someone
- Raise money for charity
- Have a party in school
- Run a stall at a fair
- Teach part of a lesson to your class
- Make a best friend
- Take part in outdoor learning
- Forget you have homework until the day before it’s due
- Deal with a difficult situation
- Watch a film in class
- Have a pyjama day
- Take part in a class assembly
- Tell a joke
- Ride a bike and take cycling proficiency
- Pretend to be the teacher
- Have a huff and get in a mood
- Be in the local newspaper
- Kick the ball over a wall
- Fail so that you can improve on your mistakes
- Feel happy and safe
- Eat school chips
- Have a class pet
- Go to an after-school club
- Play "Heads Down Thumbs Up"
- Find out that you are good at something
- Find out about different cultures
- Be caring
- Discover your favourite author
- Take part in a special event
- Attend a school disco
- Create an exploding volcano
- Be part of a team
- Be inspired by a teacher
- Have a play day
- Make a card for a special person
- Fall asleep in a lesson
- Call a male teacher "Miss"
- Run round a corridor corner only to smash into a teacher
- Lose an item of clothing that does not have your name stitched into it
- Hatch chicks in an incubator
- Get to see inside the headteacher’s office
- Read a book on the grass on a sunny day
- Be kind to someone who needs a friend
- Run around in the rain
- Play conkers
- Make a daisy chain
- Listen to a ghost story
- Visit Santa in his grotto
- Go pond dipping
- Dress up for World Book Day
- Try different types of food
- Learn to skip
- Learn basic first aid and how to dial 999
- Film and edit a movie
- Have a pen pal
- Graze your knee in the playground
- Eat your lunch in the rain on a school trip
- Freak out when the fire alarm goes, secretly hoping it’s actually the real thing
- Help younger pupils at school
- Make up a dance routine in the playground
- Have your parents come to visit the school
- Get to spin on the teacher's chair
- Be sick in the classroom
- Laugh during sexual health lessons
- Have a wasp in the classroom
- Come into school with a new haircut
- Forget to write your name on your work
- Be sad to leave
- Learn to look after yourself
- Throw a custard pie at a teacher
- Giggle