tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8852409997049479040.post8766281027654537842..comments2023-05-30T04:44:22.763+01:00Comments on Sec Mod: Half our Future? Secondary Modern Schools and the Newsom Report - fifty years on Under the Craneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02397405094624950202noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8852409997049479040.post-19846196576966180952014-03-26T13:55:07.512+00:002014-03-26T13:55:07.512+00:00I recently celebrated my 69th birthday and have be...I recently celebrated my 69th birthday and have been reflecting on my life in the form of a scrapbook; writing about my upbringing, school, working years etc. Whilst compiling memorabilia and photos for this project I realized that unbeknownst to me, for years I have withheld giving any information pertaining to my school years to anyone but never knew why. I was always under the impression that I had completed the required years of education, and even took an "extended" course in typing, successfully landing an office job immediately after simply walking out of the school gate for the last time. A few years later I married and emigrated to the U.S.A. I had two daughters and as they grew older I re-entered the workforce at which time I also decided I wanted to further my education. Feeling somewhat smug at the prospect, after all, I excelled at various subjects in secondary school: I could read and write by the time I entered infant school, had excellent penmanship which had earned me a certificate and an italic pen as a prize, had excellent reading skills, and also possessed a certificate of excellence in embroidery. In fact I felt quite confident when I first strutted in for an interview at a local community college. The first blow was when I was asked for my high school transcripts. My heart sank and the shattering truth was realized in that I was not going to be accepted. I remember going home and thinking that for 1) I never attended high school like the american children did - I attended a "secondary" school, and 2) I did not have any document, except for a couple of torn report cards, to even show that I had ever attended ANY school. Needless to say I never went back to the college, but still with some optimism I sent a couple of letters to the County Council where I had attended school requesting information for proof of my attendance, and even had the gall to ask for documentation that I had completed school, which were totally dismissed. I felt cheated whenever anyone would talk to me about my educational experience, as it was considered with my current employment, that surely I was not a "drop-out." It then occurred to me that it was looked upon as though I had not "graduated," so from that time on I found myself cleverly changing the subject with feeble humor never again disclosing my age of "completing" school. Over the years I did manage to maintain gainful employment by taking courses to upgrade my skills in a local business school, and also receiving on-the-job training to keep me abreast of required job qualifications. I do NOT remember taking the 11+ exam (I didn't even know it had a name), but it has been embedded in my brain and has haunted me for all of these years that I failed a test in school when I was quite young that obviously dictated whether I would be offered the opportunity to further my education in a positive way, or rather be stifled educationally due to failing an obvious flawed exam at the tender age of 10, which favored from what I've been reading, children from a more affluent background than myself, that environment was also a factor, and yes, could it have also been because I was female? A couple of years ago I asked a close friend of mine who resides in England if she remembered anything about taking a test when we were very young, and she did. She even offered a little extra information that made me cringe even more, informing me that we left at the age of fifteen, whereas I was under the impression we were the ripe old age of sixteen. Then one day I googled "Tests given at school in the 1950's in England," and I was absolutely astounded to read some of the material regarding the educational system at that particular time depicting evidence of "pollution" as far as the scoring system. I do feel comfort in that obviously there are many other "victims" out there bearing this emotional scar from years ago. How AWESOME that this period will go down in the history books.<br /><br />CarolAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8852409997049479040.post-36914591674580775362013-12-20T15:31:40.125+00:002013-12-20T15:31:40.125+00:00Children who failed the 11 plus felt stigmatised a...Children who failed the 11 plus felt stigmatised and second class. We went to secondary modern schools. The curriculum was to provide basic tuition. We were to be the cleaners, shop assistants and factory workers. I girl who wanted to be a nurse told her teacher and the teacher said, 'you can't be a nurse'. I was told by a teacher that I would have passed the English GCE but was never put in for it. As almost all secondary modern pupils I left school with no qualifications at all. Later I went on to further education and got 7 'O' levels and 2 'A' levels. During a sociology class we watched the BBC series The New Jerusalem about planning for health, housing and education after the second world war. During the series about education a clip was shown of a minister for education visiting a secondary modern school and saying to a girl 'you do not want GCE's do you Janet'. I was horrified. The education ministry of the time did not want secondary modern pupils to take GCE's. We were failed by the system and this was deliberate. It was unforgivable. I was appalled to see that UKIP want to bring back selection and a 3 tiered education system. I would hate to see a system brought back that failed thousands of children in the past.Janetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8852409997049479040.post-68585941225832637772013-10-15T10:03:46.017+01:002013-10-15T10:03:46.017+01:00Where I grew up, all secondary schools were new an...Where I grew up, all secondary schools were new and bilateral - commercial/modern or grammar/modern. It was possibly to move between streams within a school, as I did from "intermediate" to "grammar". twihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12835460019165107545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8852409997049479040.post-4710768138808537952013-10-13T23:41:03.873+01:002013-10-13T23:41:03.873+01:00Was it home or school preventing your from transfe...Was it home or school preventing your from transferring to grammar school? You don't have to answer that if you'd rather not. Emma Williams Under the Craneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02397405094624950202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8852409997049479040.post-32775733015750479152013-10-13T23:15:43.064+01:002013-10-13T23:15:43.064+01:00Having passed for the grammar school but ending up...Having passed for the grammar school but ending up in the sec modern I never really settled . again at 13 passed but still wasnt allowed to go. Dropped out of school without being noticed and still ended up in the 'A' Stream was glad to leave at 15 and get a proper education as it was assumes that we could do farming or an apprenticeship and not go into a profession. Hated it !!!steve howardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17251299295819403728noreply@blogger.com