Over the last 10 years or so I have been learning things about the private primary prep school to which I went up until the age when I took the 11+ examination (which in England determined whether you went to a grammar school or a secondary modern school). The streaming system was very academically and socially divisive.
I assume when it was thought up the idea was to stream academically minded people towards academia and university and 'the rest' to more practical education. I passed the 11+ with flying colours and was awarded the first choice of school which my parents had specified when I took the exam.
That was Quarry Bank Grammar School in Liverpool. It was the home of many who became illustrious people. John Lennon was a few classes ahead of me. He was eccentric even at school. He also started a group at school called The Quarrymen. However everything there was aimed at getting those who were Oxford or Cambridge material to one of those Universities.
Unfortunately at the age of around 14/15 I developed a disease called bronchiectasis.
It is a disease which is often fatal. It is often also associated with poverty and lifestyle. It is very common in the Pacific Islands. When I lived in New Zealand the niece of the then Governor General of New Zealand succumbed. She was the same age as I was when I succumbed. The difference was that she was not expected to live. She became a campaigner for better health education and lifestyle for Pacific Islanders in particular. I believe that she died shortly after I left New Zealand.
My bronchiectasis was caused by the smogs (cloyingly thick smoke laden freezing fogs) common in cities in the UK in the '40s and '50s before the Clean Air Acts banned the use of coal in domestic fires. It had consumed the lower lobe of my right lung.
The result was that I had a wracking cough particularly during my last year at school. It was rather disruptive in class and a number of the teachers just kicked me out of the class. I joined the Natural History Society and the Beekeeping Society so that instead of just standing outside the classroom as I was bidden I went and looked after animals and bees.
I have had a great love and respect for bees ever since. I have had a rather jaundiced opinion of teachers ever since. I left school as soon as I was legally able to.
So far as the disease was concerned I was one of the fortunate ones. I had an operation to remove much of my right lung and I have coped admirably in the 64 years since the operation (by the surgeon Mr Leslie Temple). Oddly I can recall his name and many of the nurses I worked with in the Hospital after I left school. It's a shame I have difficulty remembering my own name these days.
The real point of this post, though, is that teachers and 'the system' thought it was quite acceptable to deny an equal education to anyone if they felt like it. The idea of simply kicking people out of a classroom now because of a disability is, I hope, completely anathema.
Even during my elementary school years (I started school in 1974) the system was as divisive as you describe. At the age of 9, kids took compulsory tests that sorted them into three categories. I ended up in the top one and from my 5th year onwards went to what in German is called Gymnasium (nothing to do with the literal meaning of the term), where students are expected to prepare for uni.
ReplyDeleteWell, I never went to uni but dropped out after year 10, repeating that yeat on a school of the next lower level, and it served me well.
That your teachers sent you out because of your illness is appalling. I wonder whether they thought you were pretending so that you could get out of class.
Anyway, you are living proof of that one can become a decent member of society in spite of such treatment at school.
I am glad that your operation was successful and you are still around decades later!
Meike, a friend we used to stay with in Berlin taught at a Gymnasium so I'm acquainted with the term. Your education history did you no harm though and you've progressed well. My cough was far too bad and hurt far too much to be pretence. I'm sure it was distracting but most of the teachers and my classmates (and I) coped well enough.
DeleteSounds like your teachers were something out of Dickens, Oliver Twist springs to mind of the coughing Oliver at dinner. I wonder if they were miserable men back from war. I went to a school where we were streamed in the 1960s. It didn't work as we were put in one stream at 11 and remained there for the duration of our education. One stream did not fit all. It is never forgotten either. I am still in touch with many of my year and the divisiveness of it lives on. One friend who was in a lower stream still introduces me as her clever friend because of the streaming 60 years ago. And she is not the only one. It divided many friendships that had been made in lower school ranks which were lost for ever. Most came out ok as you did but streaming is something I hope children do not have to go through now.
ReplyDeleteRachel some of them were out of Dickens and some were war veterans. One, a maths teacher (who taught equilateral triangles and quadratic equations and very little else) was a former tank commander who was completely unfit to teach. On the other had we had a maths teacher who was an ex Japanese PoW who'd been subjected to the Japanese Water Torture (I knew his twin sons) and often fled the classroom but he was also a brilliant and natural teacher. One, a science teacher, was fluent in 9 languages and had a doctorate. When I arrived as a fresher in Quarry Bank I knew no-one so didn't have your experience. I made some close friends but those I stayed in touch with are now all dead. No-one at Quarry would ever have referred to me as clever!
DeleteAs Rachel says, it really does sound quite Dickensian. Thank goodness we have evolved somewhat from those days, and it seems not to have done you any lasting emotional harm, Graham. The damage we done to the collective health of society by practices such as burning coal, and many others, is simply staggering.,
ReplyDeleteDavid, in a way it was a combination of Dickensian and post-war ex-service experiences that caused many of the problems. Our urban environments in the '40s and '50s could be pretty dire.
DeleteYou had a most unfortunate experience with unsympathetic teachers but survived and thrived despite it.
ReplyDeleteStreaming and setting continue in most schools, particularly secondary schools. It would be asking too much of teachers to cope with an ability range from barely literate or numerate to exceptional in single classes of 30.
In a way, Janice, it made me stronger and more resourceful. I agree with streaming for the reasons you have mentioned.
DeleteIn my very short teaching career I always made a point of encouraging those who had problems of any sort. The last thing I would have done was to throw them out of the classroom. Those people shouldn't be teaching!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Cro. Most of the teachers coped well.
DeleteThe streaming system at that low age does sound questionable - not to mention repeatedly getting kicked out of the classroom for coughing... You still obviously acquired great "surviving skills" though!!
ReplyDeleteI happened to be in a transition phase in our school system. The year before mine was in system more like what you describe and some left school after 8th grade. From my year on everyone had to do 9 years, and most were expected to move on to some kind of further education after that, but of varying length, and some more theoretical but others more practical. At the end of year 8 we had to make a choice and in year 9 we were divided according to what kind of secondary school we were aiming for (if any). In my case (aiming for 3 years of secondary school with focus on languages) that was a positive change as I had not been very happy in my old class/form such as it had been since 3rd or 4th grade. In grade 9 I got some new friends which made a difference.
Monica, things seemed to work out well for you in the end though. I have a feeling that our (English) primary and secondary schools in those days might have different from yours. Primary was 5-11 and secondary 11 to 15 (minimum) or 16 Grammar School or 18 if doing Advanced Level Exams and going on to Further Education.
DeleteYes Graham, our school systems were different - and no doubt still are, although I have to confess I haven't really been keeping up with all the details and changes in more recent years.
DeleteI would like to think it is an anathema, certainly in the western world, but we know that is not true for anywhere. Colin at Foxes Afloat on YouTube has made many videos about his learning curve with beekeeping, and from him, I find them quite fascinating.
ReplyDeleteLooking back 70 years things were very different but it's hard to to look at our experiences with the benefit of what we know now. My whole garden with all it's wild flowers as well as early Spring flowers is designed for a healthy wild bee population.
DeleteReading this, I realize you have brought back a childhood memory that echoes your own. When I was in third grade, my teacher would be so angry at my coughing. She made me stand outside in the hallway. I remember her saying that she thought I was coughing "for attention". I was a healthy little girl otherwise, just had that cough. Never had a fever, good appetite, played with my friends. Just that cough. When my mother finally took me to the doctor (only after my teacher wrote a nasty note) I was sent straight to hospital. I had double pneumonia. "She never complained!" my Mom told he doctor. The doctor was furious. The way the teacher treated me was something I guess I tried to forget. She never once visited me in the hospital. No TV in room in those days. Not in a ward like in England either. Just four walls and a tiny window. I had nice teachers later in life but I have never been crazy about them because of that third grade one. Now, I am so grateful that you pulled through your serious illness! Do you find you need to be careful around smoke snd chemicals? My breathing has never been great. It is much better when the air is fresh! I feel guilty for telling you about my childhood illness, yours was much more serious. Thankful for doctor who saved you!
ReplyDeleteKay, I'm very glad you mentioned it. It's good not to be alone. My breathing is absolutely fine thank you.I've never had any problems since the infected part of my lung was removed. It took a long time to get my lungs strong again but hillwalking was a favourite pastime and that's good for stretching one's breathing.
DeleteIt is hopefully now only a relic of the past that able children are denied a proper education due to their health.
ReplyDeleteI, too, went to the local grammar school after passing the 11 plus. Most of my primary school friends had failed the exams and went to the comprehensive. They didn't really want to know me after that. Neither did the posh grammar school kids who thought I was too common to mix with them!
JayCee I'd. forgotten the cruelty of children in those circumstances. I always said that one of the big advantages of going to the private prep school with its green blazer was that it gave me the courage to cope with the slings and arrows of the council school children. In my own road it was fine and no-one cared but when I went to Grammar School some knew and initially gave me a hard time.
DeleteYou're an example of why extreme streaming didn't work. My wife didn't pass the eleven plus but she came to Canada at age 15 where there wasn't streaming. She also doesn't look back with pleasure at her English education.
ReplyDeleteOddly, Red, I have no knowledge of the English education system now. I've lived in Scotland for half a century and it's a completely different system here.
DeleteThe main reason I became a teacher was to do my bit to rebalance a system that disadvantaged children who were already disadvantaged by income, housing, health and other family circumstances. Looking back, I guess my idealism was rather naive - to imagine that I might make a difference - but at least I tried. The term "Comprehensive" really meant something to me but in school names it has now pretty much gone. They prefer "Academy" now instead with its pseudo-academic connotations.
ReplyDeleteNeil, Oddly enough I know very little about how the Grammar v Comprehensive system came about although things were changing around the time I left school. The Secondary Modern schools were specifically designed to give a more practical education (as I understood it). Comprehensives were open to all and were supposed to be just that...comprehensive. I never knew how it developed. My children were brought up in the much more egalitarian Scottish system.
DeleteOh, I'm sorry you had such health problems as a child, Graham! Amazing that they could remove most of your lung and you have survived all of these years. I went through all Catholic private schools and so the rules were strict and students who couldn't keep up were sometimes asked to leave the school. I get angry now at all of the silly things they had us believe back then and have no religion at all anymore.
ReplyDeleteEllen, I grew up with the belief that "whatever is, is best." I'm not sure why. If you weren't good enough in Quarry Bank some teachers did everything they could to help and some simply abandoned you and concentrated on those who showed promise.
DeleteI wrote rather a long post a few years ago about the selective education system, how much more funding the Grammar Schools received, how selection was based on class as much as merit, and how academic fraud lay at its roots (a professor I studied with at university helped uncover the Cyril Burt fraud). It was social engineering to expand the professional class. I lost a lot of childhood friends who didn't get in to Grammar School. There were a lot of comments on the post, which is here if you are interested: https://taskerdunham.blogspot.com/2022/03/selective-education.html
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tasker. I've just spent a mug of coffee with your post and the comments. What a massive subject it is. I'm sure that if you put 100 people in a room and asked for their education experiences (and exclude their views and commentary) you would still get at least 75 completely different sets of experiences.
DeleteI am sorry to read you had to endure such a horrible experience with teachers.
ReplyDeleteHere in America, outside Boston in the 1950s, teachers, parents, adults in general felt to me to have had an attitude that children are chattel. Unless. You had parents with connections or money.
I suppose, Maywynn, there is an element of that here but after the war there was little money around in the UK and although there were always Public Schools (which, despite the name, were - and still are - private schools for the wealthy and privileged) most education was universal and free.
DeleteYou've been remarkably resilient all your life, Graham. The hardship of those early years were good training for what you have endured since. I thought the nuns of my school days were tough but I don't recall anyone being sent from class for coughing!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine how awful that streaming must have been for a child whose parents had their high expectations dashed. I can see how it was so divisive. I feel there is still a little eliteism associated with grammar schools here in NZ.
Pauline, all the boys in The Family went to Napier Boys High (after the local primary school). Catriona went to a private secondary school in Havelock. The education in all three was very good. I really had little experience of any other schools.
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