SchooHell

[Nick]

Pity you didn't learn First Aid 

[Barman]

Pity you didn't learn First Aid 

 

 

[Uncle Mort]

We were sorted at 11+. A glance at Friends Reunited a few years back revealed that those who went to the Grammar went on to university and professions. Those who went to the Sec MOd ended up as clerks and secretaries and still live locally. Sad really. We were surrounded by high expectations and were constantly told we were the elite. It worked.

Glad the Boy is at Grammar School

Yep, failed 11+ so wasn't deemed university material. 

I was actually top boy in the first year at the Secondary school so I can't have "failed" by much. 

[Barman]

We were sorted at 11+. A glance at Friends Reunited a few years back revealed that those who went to the Grammar went on to university and professions. Those who went to the Sec MOd ended up as clerks and secretaries and still live locally. Sad really. We were surrounded by high expectations and were constantly told we were the elite. It worked.

Glad the Boy is at Grammar School

Yep, failed 11+ so wasn't deemed university material. 

I was actually top boy in the first year at the Secondary school so I can't have "failed" by much. 

I failed too... 

I wasn't top boy tho... 

[Nick]

ANd you still aren't

[Barman]

ANd you still aren't

 

[Nick]

I am sure LL thinks highly of you



































 

[Barman]

 

[Snoopy]

I went to a bog standard Secondary Modern school. Did well, wasn’t bullied even though I also had a squint. Probably because I had a “weak” heart and excused P.E. the bullies didn’t want to risk my popping me clogs like.

Left aged 17 with a handful of “O” levels, failed to get the job I really wanted (due to the squint) so took the first job that came up. Should have gone to university but it never seemed an option, certainly not raised by my teachers as a choice I might have had. 

We were sorted at 11+. A glance at Friends Reunited a few years back revealed that those who went to the Grammar went on to university and professions. Those who went to the Sec MOd ended up as clerks and secretaries and still live locally. Sad really. We were surrounded by high expectations and were constantly told we were the elite. It worked.

Glad the Boy is at Grammar School

We too were sorted by 11+ BUT parental preferences counted too and Father said we couldn't afford for me to go to Grammar  School cos they played Rugby, Hockey etc and the uniform + all the additional kit for sports was beyond his pocket.
After O Levels I was offered a second chance to go to Grammar and thence Uni but again "Not for the likes of us .... get yerself an apprenticeship like I did" so I signed up. RAF got me the A levels + a "Trade" and away from the person I felt was holding me back. No Brainer as far as I was concerned. It's not just which school you went to .... much has to do with parental expectations, aspirations and forward vision. They can either encourage you or hold you back. I don't think I've done so badly by going it alone and cutting my own path but yes some "Contacts" would have been useful but then again so would fvcking Harold Wilson not cutting the RAF by several thousand causing me to be made redundant ..... Still there is no point in looking back. Onward and Upward!

Worth noting that my Father was a staunch left wing Labour Party man ..... Higher Education was the Devil's Work in his eyes. Glad he didn't live to see what Blair brought about to his beloved "Working Class Party"

[Nick]

My parents were working class aspirational and were proud, and later baffled, by me going to Grammar School. I read English at university and again they were proud I got there but baffled by what I was doing. (My Dad was an engineer)

[Miss Demeanour]

I passed my 11+ but 'choose' to go to the local comp as the grammer school for girls was miles away and travelling there would have been a problem.

I was the first one in my family to go to Uni and get a degree - there was no expectation from my mum that I would achieve that.

Whatever your circumstances are they will either inspire or demotivate you . I choose to work hard with the aim of moving miles and miles away to go to Uni and away from the bastard that my mum had been shacked up with for  far too many years. It was either that or I would have killed him myself 

Happily , after I  moved mum moved back down to Somerset without the bastard and met my stepdad and they had almost 25 years of a good life together.

[Nick]

This is quite a sad thread. I recall now why I went into edukashun 

serious) I took a year off and worked in factories and warehouses to fund travelling and met some very bright and well read folks who had been put on the scrap heap (including the armless trumpeter  ). In my days in AE and FE in the 80s I was privileged to give many people a second chance. I miss that (serious}

[Grumpmeister]

Mind you, I did spend 11 years at university 

Bloody hell, how many times were you allowed to retake exams back in those days. 

[Nick]

 

[Snoopy]

This is quite a sad thread. I recall now why I went into edukashun 

serious) I took a year off and worked in factories and warehouses to fund travelling and met some very bright and well read folks who had been put on the scrap heap (including the armless trumpeter  ). In my days in AE and FE in the 80s I was privileged to give many people a second chance. I miss that (serious}

Which is why Woodstock teaches Access students as well as those who failed AS & A2's at skool.

Of last year's crop she has 26 who have gained Uni places starting this month. Only 2 failed to get a place.