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I was brought up on a pottage of poor teachers, or was it lack of attention as my wife says, the second world war started when I was seven, which my father insisted I read everything I could about it; so that I would know what he and my grandfather went through in the first war , my grandfather died of gas poisoning, did I learn from that? You bet I did, the one thing that stood out was that it was the civilian population that generally came off the worse for wear.
Des
#33 My wife was born the same year war was declared, get sick of telling her she was maybe the cause of it. She being born in August left school at 14. JS.
Junior school we had a female teacher from far north Queensland, why was she in UK you may well ask.
She beat it into us, history, geography, English and maths.
But all of her pupils got through the 11 plus exams and went onto secondary school with good understanding.
Teachers then taught us, now the kids tell the teachers what to do.
Have a nephew, spent 20 years working in Vietnam, speaks fluent Vietnamese.
Got a position in a school with high migrant levels, many from Vietnam.
First day the kids began to take the mick out of him in Vietnamese, he let the go on for about 10 minutes then answered them in Vietnamese.
As he said they sat there like stunned mullets, now according to the principal they are the best behaved class in the school.
John if her pupils all passed the grading exam they would have gone on to grammar school ? Those who failed went on to secondary school , like Johnny and me. I didn’t even read most of the questions just ticked the boxes you had to , given the choice of answers. I didn’t want to go to a grammar school as knew my parents couldn’t afford the uniform and hockey sticks jolly or not. I was in the exam room like a doze of salts. Last in first out. JS
I too, bailed out of school at 15 and didn't realize I was a functioning illiterate until I was 21. I couldn't just stop work with a wife and child, so was able to get a bank loan and pay for home study courses and when I had caught up to US high school standards, I could take a test and enroll for local college courses for business math and English (UCLA). A lot of hard work and money to obtain what I could have had for free. or college for next to free in comparison to what I had to shell out here.
My late beloved second wife of 35 years came from a poor family, her father a street beat cop (U.K. a constable), mother a housewife. My wife was a straight A student through to high school had a full scholarship to university and graduated with two bachelor's degrees and a master's degree in special education all on scholarships. And worked weekends as a check-out chick (cashier) in a a supermarket because they had to pay her time-an-half and this paid her schoolbooks, rent, food etc. while at school. I'm not sure if you use these teaching terms in the UK or Oz, but Special Ed. is teaching the physical and mentally challenge students. She was smart as a whip, 5'2" tall 105lbs in weight and took no crap from anyone. Me least of all.
So, before I get any comments from the peanut gallery, (Example: If she was so smart why did she marry you) or of a mental or of a sexual nature, I've heard them all before.
No one has ever loved me as much as she did, or I her and I miss her constantly.
Cheers, Rodney:cool:
HI John
To show how badly our school was run only I think it was three girls and two boys passed to Grammer school, the inspector made the class, sit the exam again but no change there were 28 in the class.
Des
Probably all wanted to leave school sooner than later Des ? My daughter left school at 16 with 8 ‘0 Levels’ , I wanted her to stay on but she wouldn’t , she had to find out the hard way , working in the fashion dept. of a big store wanted to be a fashion buyer but found that university graduates were jumping over her , so packed it in went and got 2 A levels the requirement for University , got a degree as a mature student and became a school teacher instead. Should have listened to her old Dad. JS.
At the time of my leaving junior school the concept of 'Technical School' had begun.
Pass the 11 plus and go to Grammer school, fail and to a secondary modern.
But the concept of the 'Tech' school was simple, you had a choice of either Building or Electrical class.
If you completed the five years and found work as a apprentice you only had to do 2 years extra schooling on a one day a week system.
It was considered you had enough basic knowledge from your time at school.
I chose electrical but never followed through with it.
My brother who wanted to be a carpenter ended up as an electrician.
Them that went to grammar school likely as not were the ones who shouted charge. Them that went secondary schools were likely those that did the charging.
I have a cousin went to the same school as me.
He was in the school cadet force from there he was accepted into Sandhurst.
Hope he toughened up a bit he was tish in the school boxing team.
Think he ended up a Lieutenant colonel, so must have impressed someone.
I met him at a wedding about 20 odd years ago with his wife she was Irish, assume he met her while on tour over there.
Must admit he looked pretty fit. Not sure how I would have faired in the boxing ring if he had invited me for a return bout:p
I know he was in the Falklands and also Bosina in the 1990's
Think he retired not long after that tour.
I was on a ship taking about 300 American Veterans to the 50th Anniversary of the DDay landings, it was a most interesting five days, we berthed in Caen , saw the old Pegasus bridge in a field . I met Captain John Howard who landed first in Caen on that day 50years ago, he came onboard and after dinner gave a talk to the Veterans which was a great success