What would your old teachers say if they could see you now?

Thank you Elegran

For anyone who has never heard the term, a "sink school" is a school which is bad partly because its intake area is one which includes a very large proprotion of people with no interest in education and partly because it has a lot of teachers who have given up trying to educate them. It is in a downward spiral which is very very difficult for either teachers or pupils to get out of.

It is probably in a "sink estate" - which is an estate which has so many people in it who have given up on life that no-one wants to live there, so it spirals downhill too. Equally difficult to turn round into somewhere dynamic that is a good place to live.

OK, you can get back to slagging each other off now.

Ana has apologised (unreservedly!), why keep on?

"such matters" ??
what matters?

what is mutually exclusive about a comprehensive schooling and anything I've posted here anyway??

I remember comprehensive schools being described as 'bog-standard' by Alistair Campbell, which was probably the kick-start for T Blair to encourage diversification and academies:

Did Blair succeed in wiping out the "bog-standard" comp?
The answer is, superficially, yes. The vast majority of comprehensives did Blair's bidding and diversified. Some 96.6% of secondaries are now specialist schools, which leaves just about 80 that have bucked the trend, according to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. The more entrepreneurial heads – 780 at the last count – opted for foundation status, distancing themselves from the local authority. Then there are the 400 academies and soon there will be free schools. Faith schools, backed by the current prime minister just as they were by Blair, also expect to see their numbers increase.^

the guardian: Tuesday 15 February 2011 07.00

I would certainly NOT have PMd you. Far better to be open about such matters on the forum.

if you were just "curious" you would have pmed me Ana
please leave me alone!

Curiosity about the two different school descriptions.

Even if that wasn't the case Ana I still don't see what your problem was?

I apologise unreservedly, notanan. I have looked back at the thread in question and it was a poster with a similar username who had made the comment about her school.

I have asked GNHQ to remove my post.

I also don't know what you mean by "staff" thread, and would be surprised if this sort of harassment is within GN rules, what exactly is your problem here Ana?

just because you keep repeating it doesn't mean I know what a "sink" comprehensive is, I know what a comprehensive is, but what does sink mean?

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Well given that I don't know what the term "sink comprehensive" means Ana your attempt to troll me is a bit of a fail

Grew up in Glasgow, crappy childhood, oldest of five, hated school, married a soldier, had 3 kids, divorced after twenty years. You can imagine what my life has been like. Retired now and never been happier.

Most of the girls I remember from school have led fairly predictable, some might say boring, lives, apart from one of my best friends who is anything but.
However, I am not sure that she is happy.

I thought you went to a 'sink comprehensive', notanan.

At least, that's what you said on the 'Staff' thread...

LOL, I do have a good life it's all good… just when I think in terms of this thread I feel rather predictable and ordinary/boring, there's nothing wrong with ordinary though. Got a job and roof over my head and nice family etc…

Most of my classmates who I still know or hear about are the same: uni, jobs, home & family, nothing extraordinary or unpredictable. A few are dead sadly. No millionaires but no criminals or degenerates either (that I know of)

It was the kind of school where uni was the done thing though so that kind of sets you on a common path..

notanan,

I’m sure you’re very special to the people who matter.

I still know quite a few of my teachers (small town). I think they're mostly unsurprised. I'm about average for my cohort from my type of school: university education, mid range professional, kids etc.. I'm very unremarkable

I was academic but not gifted, so I've probably done exactly what they expected me to do… I now feel like I should have defied expectations by joining greenpeace or becoming an off grid artist or something - this thread makes me feel boring and predictable

My art teacher told me I should go to art college but I couldn't wait to leave school. Silly me. I can just hear him now, "I told you so."

They would be surprised that no, I did not start a revolution nor become a career criminal.
Despite my early promise of lunacy and wickedness I became a clever but dull good citizen, with a big family.
Because of frequent moves I lost touch with all my childhood friends. I'm sure nobody who knew me then would recognise me now.

Having read so many of these posts I really hope that there are some "Justly Pround" folks out there. So many of us have greatly exceeded expectations and made successful lives.

By a successful life I mean - we have kept our head above water, got ourselves and our family through tough time, had good times, experienced losses, hurts and can still laugh. We are still here. Well Done Us

I didn't enjoy school at all and as the eldest of 5 life was tough as it was for many in the fifties. I have done ok in life and both my children went to University and are doing very well. I stressed the importance of a good education to them always which is ironic really.
As for the teachers I doubt they would care either way!

I do not know and do not care.

I was not particularly happy at my secondary school so I built my own private cocoon. I knew that to get the life I wanted I had to pass exams and get to university and I knew I could do it, so I concentrated on that and let the unpleasantness roll over and around me. I knew that most of my teachers concentrated on my bad points, and I was under constant criticism. There were exceptions, the English teacher I had for O and A levels and two geography teachers, but apart from that I just concentrated on what I wanted out of the school and gritted my teeth and accepted the rest.