(no subject)
My education rage, let me show you it.
The neighbour's son is going off to secondary school in September, so they've been going to school open days and I've had to go too (because they have no idea what to look for in a school and wanted help from someone who works in education). We visited a school which was really very, very good (good teachers, good kids, good facilities, relatively good exam results etc.) and the deputy head took us around. But he would not shut up about the evils of grammar schools and how they're elitist and snobby, and parents have to basically train their kids for nothing else but to pass tests. And I'm standing there thinking, 'Uh, yeah, grammar school kid right here you bastard'.
Let's put this in context a little: I've been through all three types of schooling, the state funded, the private and the grammar. I was moved out of the state funded because I was doing very, very badly. I mean we're talking so badly I couldn't even write properly at the age of eight. I couldn't do maths, either. The classes were of forty students (and they were merging my class with another the following year) and whenever I didn't understand something, the teachers would tell me to 'go away and think about it'.
Which leads me to the private school.
Private schools get a bad rap in the UK. There's a lot of feeling of 'Oh, only the posh kids go; mummy and daddy can afford to pay ridiculous fees and it's unfair on people who can't.' Let me tell you something, dear people, my parents took me out of the state funded school and put me in the private one because the state funded school could not help me. My family is not rich, far from it. Guess what? My parents had to re-mortgage their house to pay for my education. So no, it's not always spoilt rich kids who are at private schools, sometimes it's just kids that really need a better education. I am always going to have the knowledge that my parents sacrificed so much to give me a good education and I am never, ever going to be able to repay them for that. Without them there is absolutely no way I would be doing what I am today. The private school basically saved my education, and even though I didn't have the greatest time ever, it did what it was supposed to do: it got my learning back on track and helped me massively.
I left the private school with good GCSE results and had (much to my angst) been offered a place at a grammar school (yes, I tried to fail the entrance exam). I'll be honest: I didn't want to go. It was state funded too, and whilst I wasn't worried about the lack of academic standards I didn't want to move schools again.
But those two years in sixth form at that grammar school? Best two years of my schooling life. I was with people who were like-minded, who wanted to learn and who were encouraged to do so. No one was ignored if they had a problem; no one was 'pushed' to do better and better to achieve good results for the school. The teachers were fantastic and so were the other students. (I should know, I still keep in touch with all my mates and we're nearly six years down the line now.) The thing about the private school was that most of the pupils weren't so much interested in work, and it was seen as a bit odd to be enthusiastic about schooling. At the grammar school I just fit.
This is why I was getting so cross when the deupty head was banging on about how evil grammar schools are. I'm not saying there aren't good comprehensives out there because there are, but what I am saying is why shouldn't children who enjoy learning, who are good at it and who are ahead of the rest of the kids in the national curriculum, be allowed to go some place where everyone else is the same? If nothing else, it will keep their egoes from inflating. But more than that (and this is going to sound mean and it is really not meant to be) it stops the other kids holding them back. The children who aren't doing so well won't feel inadequate when measured against the children who are and can comfortably get help, and the children who are won't have to move at a slower pace than they are comfortable with in order to keep in line with the others. I just... I mean, my experiences are personal but without that grammar school I wouldn't have been offered Classics for A level, I wouldn't have been offered a place at Oxford and I certainly wouldn't be doing a PhD now.
Finally, the most hypocritcal thing of all? The school we were looking around was a Catholic school. Their admissions policy? You had to be a practicing Catholic (with proof, including your local priest's signature on the application form!) to go there. So, how dare you discriminate on the practical grounds of intelligence!? But on the other hand, oh wait, it's ok to discriminate on the grounds of religion. After all, Jesus loves you so that's ok.
Urgh.
Here ends the rant. As usual, fee free to disagree entirely. :)
The neighbour's son is going off to secondary school in September, so they've been going to school open days and I've had to go too (because they have no idea what to look for in a school and wanted help from someone who works in education). We visited a school which was really very, very good (good teachers, good kids, good facilities, relatively good exam results etc.) and the deputy head took us around. But he would not shut up about the evils of grammar schools and how they're elitist and snobby, and parents have to basically train their kids for nothing else but to pass tests. And I'm standing there thinking, 'Uh, yeah, grammar school kid right here you bastard'.
Let's put this in context a little: I've been through all three types of schooling, the state funded, the private and the grammar. I was moved out of the state funded because I was doing very, very badly. I mean we're talking so badly I couldn't even write properly at the age of eight. I couldn't do maths, either. The classes were of forty students (and they were merging my class with another the following year) and whenever I didn't understand something, the teachers would tell me to 'go away and think about it'.
Which leads me to the private school.
Private schools get a bad rap in the UK. There's a lot of feeling of 'Oh, only the posh kids go; mummy and daddy can afford to pay ridiculous fees and it's unfair on people who can't.' Let me tell you something, dear people, my parents took me out of the state funded school and put me in the private one because the state funded school could not help me. My family is not rich, far from it. Guess what? My parents had to re-mortgage their house to pay for my education. So no, it's not always spoilt rich kids who are at private schools, sometimes it's just kids that really need a better education. I am always going to have the knowledge that my parents sacrificed so much to give me a good education and I am never, ever going to be able to repay them for that. Without them there is absolutely no way I would be doing what I am today. The private school basically saved my education, and even though I didn't have the greatest time ever, it did what it was supposed to do: it got my learning back on track and helped me massively.
I left the private school with good GCSE results and had (much to my angst) been offered a place at a grammar school (yes, I tried to fail the entrance exam). I'll be honest: I didn't want to go. It was state funded too, and whilst I wasn't worried about the lack of academic standards I didn't want to move schools again.
But those two years in sixth form at that grammar school? Best two years of my schooling life. I was with people who were like-minded, who wanted to learn and who were encouraged to do so. No one was ignored if they had a problem; no one was 'pushed' to do better and better to achieve good results for the school. The teachers were fantastic and so were the other students. (I should know, I still keep in touch with all my mates and we're nearly six years down the line now.) The thing about the private school was that most of the pupils weren't so much interested in work, and it was seen as a bit odd to be enthusiastic about schooling. At the grammar school I just fit.
This is why I was getting so cross when the deupty head was banging on about how evil grammar schools are. I'm not saying there aren't good comprehensives out there because there are, but what I am saying is why shouldn't children who enjoy learning, who are good at it and who are ahead of the rest of the kids in the national curriculum, be allowed to go some place where everyone else is the same? If nothing else, it will keep their egoes from inflating. But more than that (and this is going to sound mean and it is really not meant to be) it stops the other kids holding them back. The children who aren't doing so well won't feel inadequate when measured against the children who are and can comfortably get help, and the children who are won't have to move at a slower pace than they are comfortable with in order to keep in line with the others. I just... I mean, my experiences are personal but without that grammar school I wouldn't have been offered Classics for A level, I wouldn't have been offered a place at Oxford and I certainly wouldn't be doing a PhD now.
Finally, the most hypocritcal thing of all? The school we were looking around was a Catholic school. Their admissions policy? You had to be a practicing Catholic (with proof, including your local priest's signature on the application form!) to go there. So, how dare you discriminate on the practical grounds of intelligence!? But on the other hand, oh wait, it's ok to discriminate on the grounds of religion. After all, Jesus loves you so that's ok.
Urgh.
Here ends the rant. As usual, fee free to disagree entirely. :)