Author Topic: Schools Then 1946 onwards,  (Read 749 times)

Alfred

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Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« on: Nov 18, 2019, 08:31:32 AM »
having been born in  1936 and by1946 I was then  ten years old , and  as a result of  being then an only child,  and having had a badly interrupted education as I wasn't evacuated either  simply as my mother was all I had and I wouldn't leave her, so the early years were very disrupted due to the bombing in the east end, and else where,.

then the eleven plus test had begun,  and I wasn't surprised to find that I had failed that, due to my poor education, which I had accepted

so my school then was  a secondary modern one, as it was called then and it had an assortment of teachers from chemistry, sports, swimming, boxing, carpentry ,  and generally getting involved  in  the school activities as it was then. Including plays and drama,

the education side, their was mathematics, history, religious education, poetry, geography, reading, writing., spelling, music lessons where the whole class sang the song dictated by the teacher, and wood working classes where carried by the boys who  learned carpentry, making  all sorts of wooden items,

the girls had cooking lessons , as well as all the things the boys had, regarding their education, and the girls played net ball and basket ball in the school play grounds,

once a year the school competed against other schools on the local playing fields and competition was fierce, as the schools competed to win the trophy, a silver cup with the engraved winning school on it,

some children bunked off, and others  were found out, others got away with it completely and were never caught ,

during those times I like other boys then, became a milk monitor , that is going with another boy to bring up a crate of small milk bottles for the  whole class, and  I think the milk then was a third of a pint distributed it to each boy or girl,
a small number didn't like drinking milk and so refused which was acceptable despite being encouraged by the teachers  to try and drink it,

as then the class was a mix of boys and girls in the same class room,

I think looking back that without a doubt the girls fared better than the boys, on average  as they seemed to take the education better and their results out shone the boys , as they absorbed data better than the boys,  which showed when we had tests, checked by the teachers,

I wasn't then very good at all especially with mathematics but fared better on compositions, essays. history, geography, and other subjects, at one  time I came top of the class although it was rare, probably a lucky break, I suppose.

but maths was my biggest let down. which I regretted, I couldn't get my head around that subject , I simply couldn't absorb it and it left me confused,

 in later years as an adult I fared very much better managing several petrol stations not the same time and ended up as a buyer in a west end store, how ever I left school as a labourer and began work in a wine factory,.

 

my wife by comparison, had a similar education, to mine  and was far brighter than I was , she had a head for figure work  and it came natural to her , but strangely enough she didn't score as well as I with the other subjects but stayed average in her class, how ever she had won her place to go to a grammar school, but due to circumstances beyond her control  didn't go , 

in those days the whole class stayed in the same class room and the teachers
rotated around the school , going from one class to another, 
we had break time in the morning and afternoon,  apart from dinner time which many children had in the school canteen , others  went home,

in those times there was a school inspector walking the streets looking for children bunking off from school and if caught names were taken and later the parent/s had to see the head master at the school as a result and explain why wasn't their child attending school. ??

although schools, and education, is very much different from todays education system and has changed completely ,

as children my wife and I went to two different schools she went to a north London, school, and I went to a east end school. of course we met years later but that's another story,    how ever  weve been married over 62 years , so some thing seems to have worked out alright,

Q; so do  you have memories of your school days then, and what sort of education and sports and all that went on then, 

will you share your memories with us,  I'm sure it'll  make interesting reading,



sparky

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #1 on: Nov 18, 2019, 09:13:29 AM »
Alf, yeah we did miss out quite a bit in those war years. in and out of the air raid shelter. when the siren sounded, shortage of teachers, but although we may have suffered  then academically, our many years of trips round the block since, particularly the struggles post war,  I like to think has given us far more stamina and common sense than  many of the supposed highly educated morons that are  for instance, making a c**k up of running  our country, and our various social organisations, NHS etc.

Alfred

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #2 on: Nov 18, 2019, 11:06:58 AM »
Thank you sparky,
im sure the schools made many of us able to be able to do simple easy tasks , but today with a number of schools were many shall we say students are staying on until they reach 18 years of age .

as you will recall we left school at 15 and older generations even left school a 14,

so what does that say about education and the differences then as to now .

eegrek

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #3 on: Nov 18, 2019, 06:37:40 PM »
  I was born in 43 and went to school at the age of 4. A fix up because no schools had canteens and my mother worked at a central kitchen which shipped the meals in vans in large aluminium pots. She was also Welsh and many of the teachers in the school system were of Welsh origin. I went to St Philips the same time and my wife started a year later, She says she didn’t like me very much. In class 1 I remember the exercise session which was choreographed by wireless as the BBC would broadcast an infants program. I don’t know if you remember ‘Aunty Rotter’ in the best of Sellers? A  parody of the program by Peter Sellers. The last year was spent in Miss Major’s class who’s voice could be heard throughout the school. We were all afraid of her and some other teachers as well. The class room was large with a massive fire stove along one wall and guarded from the pupils. The milk was warmed around it during the cold weather. Eventually I went to South Borough. I had also started piano lessons at 4 so I was fluent in music. I was given a recorder to play which I picked up and immediately played a small section of Handles Trumpet Voluntary. ‘Teacher’s pet my wife accused me of being – I knew no better at that age. I was good at sports and Gymnastics as they seem to be an extension of being a right tearaway. Every morning I was up at 6 o’clock as my mum and dad left for work at 6.30. Mains Water was turned off on winter nights  for the whole district, and we used to have to wait for it to be turned on before getting a cup of tea. Eventually I just managed to pass my 13 plus to go to a technical school. At this age we had to decide about following one of three profession streams – Agriculture, Builder or Engineering. I chose engineering as my dad was a car fitter. I married my wife when we were 19 years old and I was a student apprentice at Rolls-Royce in Derby (1962).

biglouis

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #4 on: Nov 18, 2019, 11:30:46 PM »
I went to a secondary modern because I failed the 11 plus on maths. In those days you had to pass each individual paper. 2 years afterwards they changed it to allow pass of aggregate. Under those terms I would easily have passed.

On the whole I did well out of being one of the brightest kids in a secondary modern. I got a lot of individual attention and encouragement from the teachers who taught the academic subjects.  We had an ambitious headmaster who did not believe kids should be written off because they missed out on the 11 plus.


When I was 15 I was offered the opportunity to stay and do A levels but my father would not hear of it.


He said "Whats the good of educating a girl? You are only going to get married and have babies"
I told him I never intended to have children and he said "You will have what God gives you in this world".
"No, I will have what I take for myself!"

My father also refused to allow me to go to France with the school, even though I was offered a bursary which would have paid all the expenses. He said it would "give me unrealistic ideas beyond my class". He thought it undermined his role as "provider" to accept what he saw as charity.


My father always thought in those stereotypical terms about gender and class roles.


I was the first person in my family to get a degree but my parents never even came to my graduation.
Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the blind obedience of fools.

zoony

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #5 on: Nov 19, 2019, 12:13:16 AM »
Alfred. I was struck by your description of school life because it mirrored my own, though I wasn't evacuated, just vacuous and born 10 years later and in the industrial North-West but recognized your description to the T. We've always been 10 years behind up 'ere so that's no surprise. I think I disliked school because there were so many better things to be doing!  ;D
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GrannyMac

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #6 on: Nov 19, 2019, 06:04:16 AM »
As an only child of older parents I was a voracious reader.  I was born in 46, and went to the local primary school at 5. I thrived, and was usually near the top of my class (I still have a couple of books I received as prizes) and happy, til I was about 9. For the last couple of years at primary school I had a teacher who, nowadays, wouldn't get away with her behaviour.  Although I was bright, I was also fairly lively and enthusiastic, and she really disliked me. Corporal punishment was a regular occurrence, usually unwarranted.  As a result, unfairness has always rankled.  In those days you didn't tell your parents if you were punished, as they tended to believe whatever teachers told them. 

Although I easily passed the 11 plus, my entry into grammar school wasn't a happy one. In a high achieving group, most of my classmates were from the fee paying primary attached to the high school and had already covered much of the work.  I felt out of place, had no friends and was frequently unwell.  Looking back, I believe anxiety made me very unhappy and unable to concentrate. I failed my first year.   My parents tried to get me moved to a lower stream, but the school were having none of it. So I ended up, in my grammar school blazer, in the local Junior Secondary (Sec Modern), in the lowest stream, domestic science. I did little work for the next two years. Much to the disbelief (and I suspect embarrassment) of the head, I walked away with the overall school prizes for English and Arithmetic.  In such a low stream, I wasn't permitted to stay on and take O levels, so I went to commercial college, and passed those exams.  Office work was my future.

My lack of self confidence stayed with me for a long time, it took years before I realised I was as able, if not more so, than many who were much further up the career ladder.  Its been a great source of pride (and relief) that my children enjoyed school, and have gone on to achieve good professional qualifications.
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Flying bomb

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #7 on: Nov 19, 2019, 07:26:28 AM »
In junior school in the mid 1940's we brats, during each playtime,
had a contest to see who could pee the highest up the toilet wall.
In those days the toilets were outside and of all brick construction.
 Not a white tile to be seen.

If the Buck stops here how can the Doe go all the way ?



Albert.

sparky

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #8 on: Nov 19, 2019, 07:41:53 AM »
 we brats, during each playtime,

had a contest to see who could pee the highest up the toilet wall.


And now at our age we are  lucky if it gets as far as the wall :( :( :(

Bee

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #9 on: Nov 19, 2019, 07:49:39 AM »
 ;D ;D ;D
The only way is up....

Bee

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #10 on: Nov 19, 2019, 07:59:27 AM »
I hated school with a vengeance and couldn't wait to leave and yes there were times when I played truant and never got found out. ;D


I left school one day and started work the following day with no education qualifications, my interview for the job at a shipping and forwarding agency was being given an A4 sheet of paper with a list of figures in pounds shillings and pence from top to bottom of the paper and the manager telling me to add these figures up. I did it and when I had finished the manager was shocked at how quickly I had done it and not only that got the answer correct, with that he asked me how soon I could start work.


I enjoyed the work very much, started of as junior clerk and ended up deputy office manager...........I stayed there for 9 years until I left at 6 months pregnant with my first child. ;D
The only way is up....

Sheila

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Re: Schools Then 1946 onwards,
« Reply #11 on: Nov 19, 2019, 08:09:33 AM »
I didn't enjoy school much.  I went to a Grammar School and they were just interested in how many O levels could be achieved.  There was no effort to interest us in subjects such as geography or history.  We just had to jot down in rough what the teacher said and then write it up neatly for homework.

When I think now how much I enjoy travelling, it was such a waste.  Maybe schools now, with the benefit of technology, find it easier to interest the pupils in the subjects.  Certainly when I have visited my grandchildren's school, things seem to have improved.

Grandparents are invited into school to read with the children and this is beneficial to all.  I remember sitting on the floor with a little boy of Asian origins.  He read a book beautifully and confidently.  There were some difficult words which he pronounced correctly.  I asked him if he had read the book before and he hadn't.  When I checked if he knew what the long words were, he had no idea so we chatted about them.  A lovely little lad.