Holiday Food/Drink and Teaching Secondary Education in England Circa 1970s

[nightrose83]

Hi guys,

I've recently been looking into the educational systems and holiday customs of different countries for something I've been working on for awhile. Background and setting under the cut:

Comments

[bopeepsheep]

The 16yo requirement came in from 1 Sept 1972, so in theory your MC's mother could have left before that if she was born in a year that meant she was 14 at the right time. (So a birthdate of 31 August 1958 would have let her leave in 1972, 1 Sept 1958 would have meant another 2 years in school.)
But teacher training in the 1970s - AIUI from working in education now and dealing with historical qualifications - required A levels and then a course at an approved teacher training college. So she'd have been 20 on completion if she took a Cert.Ed, 21 or 22 if she did a B.Ed. Both qualified you to teach until the early 1980s, when a bachelor-level degree became mandatory.

[bopeepsheep]

OP here but can't sign in. Just what I was looking for. Thank you very much!

[kehlen]

Both qualified you to teach until the early 1980s, when a bachelor-level degree became mandatory.

Offtopic, but I just have to say. Nice surprise for those who were already working as teachers then and have been for years and decades, eh?

Relevant, because Russian government has just done something similar, and invalidated all high school diplomas received until 2009 (ish). You can no longer enter college with those, you have to pass the (accursed) "Unified State Exam" to do so, whose requirements are such, I have not words enough to decry them.

(I'm off the hook, I have two Master's degrees, but a friend's grandson has just finished high school and that was fun for all around. Not.)

Yet imagine adults who couldn't have entered college "on time" and who now have to spend time, effort and money proving they are "not donkeys", like we say here.

Bleh.

[kehlen]

Sorry-not-sorry for the word vomit ;-)

[thekumquat]

Quick answer: mince pies and Christmas pudding.

Re education, to go to university then and now you did O-levels (now GCSEs) at 16, A-levels at 18, and then would go for your 3-year degree. She could then teach in England with no explicit teaching qualification though might have done a B.Ed for teaching in primary school, and the post-grad certificate of 2ary education (PGCE) I think was coming in (not compulsory, but obviously helpful for a wannabe teacher!)

[nightrose83]

I didn't see this at first since LJ has marked it as spam for some reason, but thank you! I added a question in regards to uniforms above. Would starting her teaching at age 22 still be accurate then?

[thekumquat]

Uniforms - secondary back then would be generally white shirt, school tie, then blazer, pullover (ie sweater) and trousers/skirt in school colour, usually black, grey or navy, or if blazer and jumper were green or maroon, trousers and skirts would be grey or black.
Crest on the blazer. See Harry Potter minus capes...

Back then, girls wouldnt be allowed trousers, and no logo on pullovers.

Back to food - a big tin of Roses or Quality Street chocs, and a Terrys Chicolate Orange for everyone, often in your stocking. And loads of booze - sherrry before dinner, fizz then wine with, liqueurs after. Stilton and other cheese for supper. Maybe ham or a joint of beef for Boxing Day, then eat leftovers until New Year's.

[nightrose83]

Boxing Day isn't something we have here, although I have an English friend who mentions it when it comes up. What customarily happens to celebrate that day?

[naath]

Food> Turkey (Goose only if rich, they are expensive; nut roast for the vegetarians) and "all the trimmings" for Christmas - the "trimmings" being a mix of roast and boiled vegetables (must include sprouts, even if you hate them), often bacon and small sausages or sausagemeat, and stuffing (not always actually stuffed into the bird). Also bread and cranberry sauce (I'm not sure when we started importing cranberry though). Followed with Christmas pudding (preferably on fire, yay for brandy

[naath]

https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/about/timeline/

may be of use

[naath]

Thank you very much. As far as drinks are concerned (both alcoholic and non) is there anything in particular that tends/tended to be common in your experience?

[naath]

ummm, tee-totalers got the short end of the stick in "traditional holiday drinks", obviously a tee-total household would have found options, but mostly it was orange juice and lemonade (these days there are fancier things, but in the 80s I don't recall there being anything really nice).

Alcohol wise we had quite a bit of sherry (especially on return from midnight mass), and wine; and brandy to pour all over the Christmas pudding. My family weren't huge on booze though, I don't think EggNog is much drunk here. Champagne for NYE, or substitute fizzy-wine to budget/taste.

[huskyteer]

A big tin of chocolates - Quality Street or Roses! Also sugared almonds, in my family, and sometimes liqueur chocolates shaped like bottles and wrapped in foil with labels on to make them look like real bottles of spirits.

We always had a Yule log, which my mum made (Swiss roll covered in chocolate, run a fork through the chocolate to make it look like bark, stick plastic robins + holly on top).

Christmas dinner accompaniments: little sausages wrapped in bacon, Brussels sprouts, roast potatoes.

Tangerine in the toe of the Christmas stocking, and a bag of chocolate coins in there somewhere.

First use of my Christmas icon this year :)

[reapermum]

What age is she teaching? It makes a difference to the qualifications needed.

To teach in a primary school, 5-11 yr olds, you went to a College of Education at 18 and studied for a Certificate od Education. This equipped you to teach all school subjects at a low level. To teach in a secondary school, 11-16/18, you went to university and took a BA or BSc in a single subject (3 year course) followed by a one year Post Graduate Certificate of Education. This qualified you to teach your degree subject up to A Level.

I took a degree in physics 68-71, followed by the PGCE.

[reapermum]

OP here on mobile. She would be teaching secondary education. A couple people upthread mentioned she would be 22 or so for that. I just didn't want to say something inaccurate or make her too young.

[reapermum]

OK, at 16 she wil have taken exams in about 8 subjects, English language, English literature, maths, science, a foreign language plus others chosen from geography, history, etc. These are O(rdinary) levels. Then at 18 there are A(dvanced) levels in 3 subjects, related to each other. A degree takes 3 years, in one subject (usually one of your A level subjects). Then the one year PGCE.

So yes, 22 is when she'll start teaching.

Everybody has mince pies at Christmas, if she only makes one thing it will be mince pies.

[nightrose83]

Thank you very much. I recall reading something about English universities charging tuition--was that the case in the time period I'm looking at and if so, how much did it run someone on average?