School

[Ivo]

OK, this thread has been coming for a few days, so here goes.

In all my years at school, I enjoyed only ONE - Year 6. Every other year was one misery tale after another. A total lack of challenge, regularly being blamed for everything, not fitting in, and even the odd bout of Harman-esque extreme feminism all contributed to making me really hate my time there, and this was part of why I wanted to be a teacher until recently - because I wanted others to enjoy learning and not go through what I did.

Of course, that plan has now changed, but the memories - most of which are bad - still remain.

But it has become apparent that few others on here feel this way. With stories such as perfect attendance in five years of high school and the like, there must be a case for others quite enjoying it - which was rarely true of me.

What did you think of it? Did you enjoy school? Look also at the poll (select two options, one from the top four and one from the bottom four).

 

[SS4]

High School? Wrong side of the Atlantic chuck

FWIW I have not voted on Primary School since I cannot remember it

 

[yorksrob]

Looking back, I think I was very lucky with my teachers, because they all seemed to care deeply in their own ways.

My larger than life French teacher who used to maintain a sense of animation, even when the best of my French amounted to making up words.

My "old school" German teacher who had fought in wars and who didn't suffer fools gladly and used to turn red when we didn't get out prepositions correct.

My maths teacher who used to persevere, even though I was hopeless.

Ahh, i was very lucky. And I miss school dinners as well (God bless lumpy gravy and cabbage )

 

[ainsworth74]

I was odd as I was home schooled until I was about 11, I then went off to a small private school that was centred around teaching the children of the village and as you might imagine going to school after having been home schooled for so long was quite a shock to the system. But I did on the whole enjoy it, it was brilliant it could have been better but it wasn't a bad experience and it was probably important in shaping into the person I am today.

My proper secondary school (this isn't the US Ivo ) however was brilliant another private school and this time a boarding school to boot (I must remind my mum how thankful I am as she went through financial hell to send me there). I think my first couple of years there was good (better than my primary) but it was the GCSE years and A-Level years that were good. I made friends there that I'm still very close with now (even though we only meet maybe three times a year) and just the whole experience was fantastic. I wouldn't change it for anything (well maybe one or two things but that's probably true of most things in life ).

However that's probably rather more than you want/need to know about ainsworth74's school days

 

[Ivo]

Hmm. Thus far, my answers - #3 and #8 - are proving the most popular. Maybe it is only (some of) the outspoken on here who enjoyed it.

My proper secondary school (this isn't the US Ivo )

I know that! But I am so used to the term High School. I mean, how rarely is a school called xxxxxxxx Secondary School and not xxxxxxxx High School anyway? It is invariably High School.

 

[Crossover]

"Junior" school I seem to remember generally fondly and high school I quite enjoyed as well, though that may have had something to do with extra-curricular stuff I did too. I evidently liked it so much I spent another 2 years in 6th form there and subsequently working part time in IT as a technician there too

 

[Eagle]

I didn't go to a primary or a secondary school. What do I tick?

 

[yorksrob]

Hmm. Thus far, my answers - #3 and #8 - are proving the most popular. Maybe it is only (some of) the outspoken on here who enjoyed it.



I know that! But I am so used to the term High School. I mean, how rarely is a school called xxxxxxxx Secondary School and not xxxxxxxx High School anyway? It is invariably High School.

Certainly wasn't in my day (and that was only the 90's)

 

[Crossover]

I know that! But I am so used to the term High School. I mean, how rarely is a school called xxxxxxxx Secondary School and not xxxxxxxx High School anyway? It is invariably High School.

My "high" school was called a high school - it was in the name, so I'll run with that :P

 

[Ivo]

I didn't go to a primary or a secondary school. What do I tick?

I don't know! How was I to know someone would come up with an answer like that? :roll:

Just comment on it I guess.

 

[Eagle]

I don't know! How was I to know someone would come up with an answer like that? :roll:

Quite a lot of the country uses a three-tiered school system (4–9, 9–13 and 13–18).

 

[90019]

Junior school was quite good for me, and the first year or so of senior school was alright. After that it just got gradually more crap.

 

[chris89]

Primary school neither disliked or liked.

Secondary school (i've noticed the term Highschool seems to be very common in most the Midlands)

First one: 2000 - 2004, Mostly disliked it due to the classes was put in, and wished and asked to be put in higher ones but refused e.g. English as Dyslexic stuck me in the class with the people who misbehaved etc.

That one was in Somerset.

Second one: 2004 - 2005 (Year 11) 2005 - 2006 (Sixth Form)
Loved it, Meet some great people who i am still great friends with.

In Shropshire.

Due to that i've added two for the Secondary school option.

Chris

 

[Ivo]

Quite a lot of the country uses a three-tiered school system (4–9, 9–13 and 13–18).

Oh. You meant like that.

Ignore the 9-13 Middle School I guess. 4-9 mostly matches primary, and 13-18 mostly matches secondary.

 

[yorksrob]

I should say my (fading) memories are about secondary school. Can't remember much about primary except the run up to the hurricane in 1987 when a chimney pot fell off the roof and smashed in the playground (don't worry - it wasn't playtime). And we had some blocked up WWII air raid shelters that we weren't allowed to play on.

 

[Aictos]

One memory I do have as a first year student in what was a secondary school at the time was my Welsh geography teacher never took c*** from anyone - anyone disrupting the lesson would find him appear behind them and slam a wooden block onto the table hard.

The wooden block used to be use to keep pencils in, only needed for him to do it once and it was a wake up call not to mess around in that classroom.

Don't have too many happy memories, in fact I was very happy when I left to go into full time employment.

 

[Lampshade]

Primary school was awful, all the teachers had some sort of vendetta against me, imagine my delight when I heard a few months back that three teachers who taught me had been sacked due to incompetence, I just remember thinking "yeah I could have told you that ten years ago :roll:".

High school wasn't bad but it wasn't amazing either.

 

[Hydro]

Primary was OK, but it felt a bit constricting. The teachers were on the whole good, but it was a bit short on challenges.

Secondary was OK for the first couple of years, then went to arse rapidly. Such a pretentious school and utterly stifling.

 

[Heinz57]

I hated all school.

Primary school. The school chose to completley ignore my dyslexia, said there was nothing wrong with me and offerd me no support. Even though they gave two of my close friends support.

Secondary school. Complete hell on earth. Got bullied day in day out that much it made me want to change schools. I didn't, but thats how bad it got. Again, as with secondry school the school ignored my dyslexia and gave me very little help.
I did have some good times at Secondary school. Realy enjoyed Drama, and if I wouldn't have done GCSE drama I wouldn't be where I am today (I'm not actualy doing drama, I'm doing lighting and sound technology. But you can see the connection). Some of the best times I had at Secondry school where in beleive it or not, GCSE Geography, loved the course and the stuff we looked at. Plus the teacher was an absolute legend.

 

[chris89]

I hated all school.

Primary school. The school chose to completley ignore my dyslexia, said there was nothing wrong with me and offerd me no support. Even though they gave two of my close friends support.

Secondary school. Complete hell on earth. Got bullied day in day out that much it made me want to change schools. I didn't, but thats how bad it got. Again, as with secondry school the school ignored my dyslexia and gave me very little help.

The primary school i went to, gladly didn't completely ignore it. The First Secondary school i went to before moving to the Midlands did completely ignore it and refused to do certain things. Such as were 'supposed' to get things like laptops etc to help but believe the school pocketed the money for other things.

At the said school the only lesson i did enjoy was Geography and supprsingly Math as well.

Chris

 

[Mvann]

I liked both the primary and the high school. Wasn't over keen on the last school I was at. (Primary and high school were in the village. Final two years were not.)

 

[Oswyntail]

I could answer by ticking all the boxes. There were bad times at both levels - being bullied never helps - meh times, and times I enjoyed. That is called growing up.
The part I remember most fondly was sixth-form, as I was part of a very small class (Greek, Latin, Greek and Roman History) where no one did any other subjects so we were a very well-defined group. With - and this is surely the key to whether you enjoyed school or not - a VERY inspirational teacher (incidentally a GWR fan).

 

[Class172]

Hmmm... this poll doesn't exactly work for me... where I live there is a first school (Reception - Y4), a middle school (Y5-7) and high school (Y8-11). I really enjoyed the first two parts and I am pleased I didn't go to the high school there as it recently recieved an 'unsatisfactory' grade in a report and is the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] worst school in the country. In stead I go to a secondary school in Worcester (hence why I get the train every weekday) which is excellent.

 

[Temple Meads]

This poll is useless for me (sorry Scott :razz: ), I was home schooled from 4 onwards.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Bullied from y2 to y10 by same people so.... didnt enjoy it much at all. But high school is where i met my girlfriend of the last 4 years so i cant complain that much.

 

[Ivo]

Hmmm... this poll doesn't exactly work for me... where I live there is a first school (Reception - Y4), a middle school (Y5-7) and high school (Y8-11). I really enjoyed the first two parts and I am pleased I didn't go to the high school there as it recently recieved an 'unsatisfactory' grade in a report and is the 7[SUP]th[/SUP] worst school in the country. In stead I go to a secondary school in Worcester (hence why I get the train every weekday) which is excellent.

I've already said what to do here Do not consider the middle school, as the lower school broadly matches primary and the upper school broadly matches secondary, whereas the middle is just a year or two from each. But I take the point.

This poll is useless for me (sorry Scott :razz: ), I was home schooled from 4 onwards.

Duly noted :roll: I didn't think of home schooling, even though the idea appeals to me!

 

[221129]

Primary school wasnt too bad but secondary was fine until about year 9 when i left one and moved to another in the area and then xmas year 10 i had to leave that one too due to not getting on with other students and feeling uncomfortable in lessons to the extent that i started studying at home.

 

[SteveP29]

I went to a Comprehensive. If I needed to be 'proper' I called it a Secondary school.

I must be getting old because I don't understand this year 6,7,8,etc
In my day (haha, see, I am old) it was first year Juniors, 3rd year Comp etc.

My own experience:
Well, I loved Infants and Junior School, work was fairly easy and tended to bore me because I could do it and do it well. It frustrated me because we had to go at the speed of the thickest in our class, and believe me, there were a few, so it was constantly slow.
Once I got to Comprehensive, we had to work and the fun went out of it, plus there were those there who were more intelligent than me and I admit, I didn't like that idea.
When I changed schools at Easter in the second year, it was the first time I'd gone into a classroom and not known anyone, so I ended up dealing with it the wrong way and ended up fooling around to make an impression, unfortunately ensuring my marks were going down.
I left school with 1 GCSE to my name, even that a C in History, the rest were all D's and E's. Rectified it when I resat 4 of them though.

The benefit of experience and age has taught me that I should have worked harder and concentrated more, but when you're that age, you think you know it all and won't be swayed otherwise, something I'm learning with my stepkids now, they all know best so there's no advice you can give that will make them sit up and think about it. Best just to let them make the mistakes now, seems to be the only way the human race actually learns.

 

[LE Greys]

You might notice I've chosen more than two options. That's because I went to seven schools (none of which I'll name). Only my second primary school was any good. Two of them were boarding schools, one of which left me with borderline malnutrition (£2 a day for all meals while the Head had a brand new Audi every year - at least the Council paid rather than my parents). At one of the others I once had my maths homework torn up by a teacher (in front of the entire class) for answering too many questions. At one of the secondaries, I was thrown out for trying to start a union. And in general, I was treated like a sub-human and just expected to be yet another faceless child, in thrall to all adults. I hated it, and wanted to make my own choices. I was also probably a complete pain in the backside, to be fair.

 

[trentside]

I really disliked my primary school. I had few friends and was bullied a lot, with little resolution offered. The teaching staff, with the exception of my Y3 and Y6 teachers (both men), were poor and the quality of lessons equally so - acknowledged by successive Ofsted reports, the last of which finally declared the place a failing school (despite the teaching staff having almost entirely changed). I was actually physically assaulted (grabbed by the throat) by my Y4 teacher but was too scared of her to tell anyone until years later, by which point she'd long retired.

My secondary experience was much better. It was an inner-city comprehensive school but had some fantastic staff. I was subject to some bullying, as were most of my friends, but it was taken seriously and became rarer as we progressed through the school. Overall, the experience was good and I've still got many friends from secondary school and sixth form.