I'm not sure that I ever got those words on my report cards at school - do schools still issue report cards? - but if I didn't they would still have been very appropriate. I never worked hard at school. I detested school. My parents were good enough to save on other things and sent me (and, later, my brother) to a small private prep school in Liverpool where I was born. The discipline was ferocious. The preparation for the 11Plus was second to none and all but the most educationally challenged (in our parlance of the day 'the thickest') did exceptionally well in the 11Plus for the Grammar Schools or entrance exams to the many private public schools in the area (my apologies to anyone from the US who is probably totally lost in the terminology).
I won my first choice and followed a couple of years behind the exceptionally talented and totally way-out John Lennon at Quarry Bank. Quarry (Motto: Ex hoc metall virtutem - out of this quarry came virtue) was an excellent and very small (680 pupils) Grammar School which concentrated on only one thing - getting pupils to Oxford or Cambridge. Anyone else was a failure and left to drift. I was never Oxbridge material.
My Mother had always wanted me to go to Quarry because she had gone to the partner girls school next door and had loved every minute and left with flying colours and very good academic results.
I could have done better. But I didn't.....then.
All that was by way of trying to say that recently my blogging record has been parlous and, although I have been reading some blogs, I'm feeling a bit out in the cold.
So I'm going to try and do better.
This was the view from my window this morning: clouds dumping snow over The Minch and Mainland Scotland.
I am sure that you have had more productive things to do Graham. What a photo, though to welcome us all back to your posts.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, I've not been short of things to do but I have problems managing the competing interests in my life.
Delete" Could have done better" is a bit of a relative term, I suppose. I remember getting 96% on a French exam, and it's mathematically obvious that I could have done 4% better, but I think my teacher said something like, "Well done" and I was happy with that.
ReplyDeleteDavid, could I put it to you that to get 100% you would have had to have done 4.17% better.
DeleteYou could, you did, and you are correct!
DeleteOh, I'm horrible at "maths".... why more than 4 percent to get from 96 to 100?
DeleteMarcheline 4% of 96 is 3.84 so adding that to 96 makes 99.84 not 100. However 4.17% of 96 is 4 which, added to 96 makes 100.
DeleteIt is a relief to have you back Graham. I was beginning to think that The Grim Reaper had finally caught up with you. He'll have to wait a while. Your American and other overseas visitors might like to learn that before The Beatles there were The Quarrymen - named after Quarry Bank School. Just think, if you had been a couple of years older you could have ended up as Ringo Edwards bashing the drums at the back.
ReplyDeleteThanks, YP. Of course I remember The Quarrymen. My chances of ending up as a musician were hampered by a complete lack of talent.
DeleteThat never held Ringo Starr back!
DeleteHAHAHAAaahh, Yorkshire! 8-)
DeleteThe didn't do as well at school as I should have done, either. I've commented elsewhere that we thought the teachers were out of touch boring adults telling us what we could and couldn't do, and making us do thing we didn't want and stopping us from doing those we did. I don't remember anyone ever talking about how society worked and why it might be a good idea to try to do the best be could. There seemed to be no life-skills tutoring or counselling whatsoever. I might have found it helpful.
ReplyDeleteTasker, life skills tutoring would have been of much more benefit that some of the stuff we were forced to learn. I was fortunate enough to have parents who were pretty switched on in that department. Methods of teaching many subjects were hardly likely to succeed either. On the other hand occasionally a brilliant teacher used to shine out of the murk and inspire.
DeleteThat is a spectacular photo. Sometimes even the things we mostly enjoy in life benefit from taking a 'breather'.
ReplyDeleteTigger, that is a very sound piece of advice.
DeleteI did much better at school than I had any right to. It was for the most part a waste of at least half a day every day I could summon up the will to attend. Not a nice place to be, half the staff were useless, a third were dirty tampering buggers or bullies with maybe three or four worth listening to. Fortunately I was lucky to have inspirational maths and physics teachers in the sixth form.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, I was trying to think of any inspirational teachers at school. There probably were some. I just wasn't a suitable receptacle for their inspiration.
DeleteWelcome back, you were missed (as you know 😉).
ReplyDeleteWhoever coined the expression about 'schooldays being the best days of our lives' deserves a good kicking 😜. They were not, for many people. Sadly, I am not sure things are much better today.
Well, Jayne, they certainly weren't the best days of many people whom I know. On the other hand my Mother absolutely loved school.
DeleteGreat photo! Glad you are back and hope you are feeling well. Your blogs are always well-written so you must have learned something along the way!
ReplyDeleteEllen, I'm sure that many of us actually learned something but I'm sure the majority of us didn't reach our true potential.
DeleteI think most of us could have done better if schools had been better. Never one to admit my failings (cos I doesn't have none) I blame the schools, public transport (or in our cases bikes and walking), smog, rain, sun, gym teachers, the War...
ReplyDeleteGood to see you back Scriptor. In my case the gym/games teacher certainly was responsible for a great deal of what happened in my life both at school and in subsequent years.
DeleteYes! Welcome back, Scriptor!!
DeleteWelcome back, Graham, and thank you for the spectacular photo! I wouldn't want to be at the point where the water from the top joins the water at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteAs for school... I certainly could have done better, but most of the time, I simply couldn't be arsed ('cuse the language). When I was interested in a subject - or even just in a certain topic within a subject - AND I found my mind at easy and instant access to it, I excelled and was top of the class without any effort. But when that was not the case, I did not make even the slightest effort. One chemistry test is a good example: I handed in a sheet with a doodled house on it (the one you can draw in just one line, you know what I mean?) and nothing else. Needless to say, this (and many similar incidents) lead to me having to repeat one year, and I was politely asked not to do so at this school, but somewhere else. In other words, I was kicked out, and rightly so.
Anyway, to cut a long comment short: I am glad to see you're back in Blogland!
Don't we all know times when, for one reason or other, our blogging takes a back seat.
Thank you for that wonderfully revealing and insightful comment, Meike. I didn't quite get to that stage but the art teacher said that as I clearly had no talent whatsoever I could get on with other homework.
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ReplyDeleteBeautiful photo. You have done very well in life to bring you to that view.
Maywyn, my life after school was quite a revelation for me. I discovered at University and in life that I actually could learn and enjoy.
DeleteStunning photo! So good to see you back...you have been missed. Hope you're feeling well and prepared to "play outdoors" in the gardens soon. From the bottom of the mini-mountain in Maine where it has gone down from warm Spring days to very chilly temps.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Regina, I am feeling well and have been playing outdoors on the warmer days.
DeleteSo glad to see your post this morning. I was about to send you a private email! And I never do that. Back to your post: I'm among the few who loved school. I am an only child and I looked forward to being with other children. It helped that I was bright and excelled...I even won an award for reading comprehension among all the sixth graders in my county. I still have my little medal stored among old keepsakes. Love the photo and so glad you are back with us.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your concern, Jill. It's good to know that there are school lovers amongst my readers. To have excelled was a bonus. I managed to be first or thereabouts in English Literature (a subject I enjoyed) all through Grammar School and then failed the GCE.
DeleteGlad to hear you are back up and about again Graham. Love your photo - it reminds me of when I used to look out to sea and watch an approaching storm dropping rain over the ocean. Mxx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Margaret. I do love living by the sea when it comes to looking at the weather.
DeleteGreat photo, Graham. I'd be shivering just looking at that scene. At least your teachers credited you with the ability to do better. Our report cards didn't have comments, thank heavens, just our exam results. The only comment my Dad ever made despite his disappointment was "Did you do your best?" And I always said yes because I honestly thought I had and never understood why the nuns were constantly "picking on me" for not paying attention, for staring out the window, for whispering to my classmates. I had no idea I had a brain worth having until I was nearly 40.
ReplyDeleteSo good to see you back!
Thank you, Pauline. This morning we actually had a proper covering of snow. It almost lasted long enough to be photographed. At prep school I did try and do my best and did fulfil the school's and my parents' ambitions. Grammar school was an entirely different kettle of fish.
DeleteLike others have previously said, Graham, it was nice to find a new post from you. As for doing better, we may all have similar regrets about many things other than school work. I do remember that report cards had comments, but really can't recall anything that was written on my own.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beatrice. You've made me wonder whether I still have any of my reports lurking away in the archives somewhere. Clearing them out was to have been one of my lockdown jobs several years ago.
DeleteWe have a much different system here but the comment is on my report card several times. We had one teacher for gr 10,11, and 12. There were about 25 students in this institution!
ReplyDeleteI guess, Red, that one thing is for certain. I'm not alone!
DeleteI taught at two well known schools. The first was an all girls senior school where reports were not written, and the second was a co-ed Prep' school where they were. As the children from the Prep' school were mostly off to Eton, Harrow, Rugby, etc, the reports needed to be as encouraging as possible, and often flattered otherwise lacklustre pupils!
ReplyDeleteCro, you've made me wonder what happened to the girls at the co-ed prep school.
DeleteI don't think that the well known girl's schools required much more than an interview and enough money. They were certainly not as difficult to enter as the boy's equivalent.
DeleteThose words were frequently written on my report cards at school :) Some of us just weren't designed to be sat behind a desk.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see you back. X
Jules, you're right about some of us not being in the right place behind a desk. In fact I sometimes wonder about the system in general.
DeleteWe didn't have those kinds of report card comments back in my school days. (Since then, the grading system here has changed several times and I'm no longer keeping up.) I guess anything below top marks always implies that someone thinks you could have done better, though. I think in the bigger picture it's kind of harsh to expect oneself (or others) to always be on top of everything at once, though. Or to always make the same priorities.
ReplyDeleteMonica, I was interested in your point about anything below top marks implying that one could do better. I suspect that most of us could do better but the degree of better could vary. As my history master once said "Don't forget someone has to become bottom".
DeleteI remember report cards and all of them saying the same thing "Amy could do better if she applied herself" - I just hated school, didn't understand it back then but once i left I learned more from not sitting in front of a blackboard. To this day i still don't think the education system caters for everyone.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I can identify with you absolutely and I agree with your last sentence too.
DeleteMe too. The problem with school was that they kept trying to teach me stuff I did not care about. I could have done better but I was getting the stuffing knocked out of me for math grades and getting the stuffing knocked out of me for wanting to go to college. At some point I just quit caring at all and became a life long 'could do better'. At 65, I have faced that truth head on, and am ashamed of it.
ReplyDeleteThat's very interesting, Debby. I'm not sure that I quite follow by whom you were getting the stuffing knocked out of you: especially your college aspirations. It's terrible for you that at this stage you feel ashamed. You've obviously had success in areas of your life.
DeleteThat's very interesting, Debby. I'm not sure that I quite follow by whom you were getting the stuffing knocked out of you: especially your college aspirations. It's terrible for you that at this stage you feel ashamed. You've obviously had success in life.
DeleteI could do better in blogland too but I have other interests on the go too. They don't have report cards in schools today they send a report by email or you have to log into the school's site etc.I always had "talks too much in class".
ReplyDeleteDiane, if we spoke in prep school the punishment far outweighed the crime so we didn't.
DeleteMy school reports were full of "could do better" "easily distracted" and "harder work would help her to excel"
ReplyDeleteYour blogging report says "Graham blogs when not overwhelmed by other priorities" and rightly so
That made me smile, Kylie. Thank you.
DeleteOkay, schools..... ah, schools.
ReplyDelete1. I did very well at school, for the simple reason that most of the required subjects were things I really enjoyed (English, Spanish, Music, etc.) and only a few subjects were the ones I hated (anything to do with math). I always maintained that once the calculator was invented, there was absolutely no reason that I needed to be able to work numbers in my head, or on paper. I always swore that I would never, ever, be called on to perform algebra or calculus in real life. And I was right.
2. Who gave anyone the right to "grade" another human being on their perceived notion of achievement on subjects that were not chosen by the person who has to learn them?
3. Some people learn best by visual means. Some people learn best by vocal means. Some people learn best by doing. A system that dispenses information in only one way is of course going to fail to reach those students who learn differently. Why should this be deemed the fault of the students?
4. In life, it's absolutely necessary to know how to get a job, to have some skill that will sustain you and maybe a family, to handle personal finances, and to maintain a domicile. Why don't our schools teach children any of these things? All of the calculus in the world (which I have NEVER found necessary once I left school) and all of the twenty-pound history books one can carry will never help one learn how to deal with actual life, which is what one has to live once leaving school and the parental units. How many high school students graduate knowing how to write a resume, or properly dress for and participate in a job interview? How many high school students have developed skills for which they can be hired? For that matter, how many high school students can read and write correctly? Answer: Not enough.
5. When you are in school, your "GPA" or "grade point average" is always a highly charged topic of discussion. After graduating high school, and then university, I have never - EVER - been asked by anyone what my GPA was. This immense pressure on children to perform, to achieve a certain number, to be perfect, has lasting psychological effects. In some Asian countries, the pressure on children to get perfect grades is so great that school children regularly commit suicide because they got a less than perfect grade and brought "shame" to their family.
Do I think that children should just be left to run amok and never have to go to school? No, of course not. I think that schools should take the time (perhaps during the earliest years of formation, the first years of schooling) to find each student's inclination... see what the student is interested in, and what they excel at. When you love a subject, you can't get enough. Doing well is not a problem, because you are doing what you love. I couldn't get enough of language, reading, and writing.
Some kids love building things. Some kids love cooking. Some kids love math and science. Why can't the kids determine the emphasis of their schooling by their interests? Then we'd be turning out budding chefs, budding scientists, budding architects, budding musicians and authors - kids with a fire and a direction and an ambition. Instead, we're getting a mishmash of kids that have no idea where their place in life is, and no idea how to live it.
Well, Marcheline, where do I start? I can't really recall any subjects I actually enjoyed in the way they were taught even though I loved geography and English Literature as subjects in themselves. English language as a subject I found easy and a pleasure but languages in general I hated because a good memory was required for vocabulary and I was born with a terrible memory. The rest of the points you made merit detailed consideration in a far more serious forum than my humble blog.
ReplyDeleteI think you're doing great, Graham....to the top of the class you go! :)
ReplyDeleteI went to a public "state" school...no private schools for me. And, once in high school and in my teens I couldn't wait to leave school...couldn't wait to get a job to earn my own money. I got my way. I left school at the age of 15 years having gained employment with a law firm wherein I became a legal secretary. That was pretty great in my book!
Take good care...and keep doing what you're doing! :)
That's very interesting, Lee. Like you I left school as soon as possible (health reasons did play a part because I spent a long time waiting to have a partial lung removal) and then had to start studying to get to Uni which was, of course, a totally different experience to school.
DeleteThat’s a wonderful photo Graham and stays with me. So beautiful and so threatening. How it evokes these times
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jayview. I'm leased that you appreciated it.
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