The Happiest Days of Your Life - Or Were They?

My O level Latin helped with learning French. And my children were always fascinated when we talked about the derivation of words.

Romola

M0nica, how can you think that Latin was useful for bringing up children? I did Latin A level, but it was O level biology that really came in useful for me as a mother. I knew about diet and digestion, had some understanding of how our bodies work, also of plants and how they grow. It all fitted in with my free country childhood, I suppose.

I knew all about digestion and everything else.

I had a debilating bowel problem as a child(may still have it). Once I got over it I realised that its control was a based on what I ate and drank and how much exercise. It started to deep interest in nutrition and the working of my innards that lasts until this day..

The use of my O level latin was for all the uestions the children asked, DS, in particular, because, even as a toddler, he was fascinated by words and their origins. Not only was O level Latin a godsend, but I ended up wishing I had studied Greek!!

Happiest days of my life?! - lordy No!

I hated it all, not because I could not do the work but because of the restrictions ion free thought and imagination and the dull, dull, dull way that the subjects were presented. I also hated that the secondary school I went to pushed me on a year plus a group of others for whom the academic stuff came easily and I took all my exams a year early. I then finished up going to uni when I did not have the maturity to deal with it all - I got the degree and the rest but at huge cost to my personal well-being.

I HATED sport and PE. It was like some sort of torture for me. I have always had poor balance and poor eyesight - the gym equipment was simply hell. And as for hockey .... once the ball got a bit muddy I could not see it!

The only redeeming feature was the music. My greatest joy at primary was singing in the choir and playing in recorder groups; and at secondary I sang several movements of the Messiah off by heart as an 11 year old.

School is a weird environment to stick children in.

Gran22boys

Hated it. Messed around and got suspended. Couldn’t wait to leave and never have to think about chemistry, physics and hockey ever again.

Haha You’d have been the type of girl I’d have sought out as my buddy!!

Magenta8

I think one of the more unpleasant aspects of the eleven plus was the, often unwarranted, air of superiority that some grammar school children carried with them that, in a few cases, even spilled over into adult life.

There was also the feeling of being branded as a failure and a second class citizen that was given to many eleven year olds and this could also be carried over into adulthood.

My parents and their siblings went to our local Grammar, where my Grandfather was deputy Head and Classic's master.

Most of my cousins, bar 4 of us, attended the same grammars, along with other “failure” cousins I attended a girls secondary modern!

Nobody meant to, but us sec mod girls were made to feel like second class citizens, no hopers and destined to be secretaries or nurses or marry very young and bear children!

Having birthed four children (not in early life) and acquired an 11 year old step daughter on the way, I learned very quickly that children develop at different ages and passing the 11 plus actually makes one no cleverer in the long run than their “failing” peers.

I had an entire year of school at 14, spending it in a Californian school, living overlooking the Pacific Ocean in an apartment with several swimming pools. Returning after a year back to my dull dull strict school was a massive culture shock for me. (I never forgave my DM, we had the chance to stay but my mother hated every second of California as much as DF and I loved it!!

I loathed Secondary School, from the minute I joined, to the day I left!

M0nica, how can you think that Latin was useful for bringing up children? I did Latin A level, but it was O level biology that really came in useful for me as a mother. I knew about diet and digestion, had some understanding of how our bodies work, also of plants and how they grow. It all fitted in with my free country childhood, I suppose.

Overall I loved my schooldays. There was a time when I got bullied, but I had good friends & teachers and it soon got sorted out. I liked school dinners and my favourite subjects were maths & geography. I didn’t enjoy games & needlework.

Another forces child with too many changes too often. I didn’t learn to read until eight but passed the 11+ and went to two grammar schools.
I never liked school and know now that I’m autistic, which caused many problems. I was determined on a career for which I was totally unsuited and failed all the necessary exams so I left school as an unhappy failure.

Loved school until I was 11, then it became a mixed bag for me until I was 18. Got bullied quite a lot for being rubbish at sports, a few of the teachers were horrors, but managed to scrape through my O and A levels with reasonable passes. I did make some friends, though, and consider what happened to be well in the past now.

I reckoned that O level latin was the most useful qualification I had for looking after children. DS was constantly asking me why words were what they were. 'Why do we call people walking in the street 'pedestrians?' Well, sweetheart, the word comes from the latin for feet, which is 'pedes' and so on and on and on.

Didn't really like my girls' Grammar School but appreciate it retrospectively. Glad I learned Latin as it has helped me in so many ways. My school was super academic and I was a creative so a bit of a round peg really. Nothing awful happened but I hated PE and anything sporty.

I tolerated school well, loved maths, excelled in sports. Left school at 16 and married my husband who's 2 years older also left school at 16.

I was another written off by most teachers. Mainly this was because I had terrible handwriting, which did not respond to attempts to improve it.

I now know I have a neural diversity called dyspraxia, essentially 'clumsy child' syndrome. I have poor fine motor control and even after a course of specialised physiotherapy that certainly helped, my handwriting still resembles the course of a drunken spider on a piece of paper.

Being dismissed and run down by teachers only focussed my mind on what I needed to get out of school - good exam results at O and A level. I always did well in exams, so I focussed on that, plotted my own course and didn't let consistently coming last in school work interfere with my ambitions.

I enjoyed junior school as o just used to get on the school bus and go to the sports club everyday and no one noticed. I hated secondary school with what I deemed stupid little rules and bias. They said I’d never achieve anything and that no one would employ me. I’ve worked since I was 14 and have owned 3 successful businesses.

Enjoyed school all the way through, including boarding from ten to eighteen. Favourite subjects: languages. Only sport I really enjoyed: rugby, where being myopic didn't matter too much in the front row of the scrum.

It seems incredible to believe now but we were forbidden to associate with or even talk to the local secondary modern students. This was difficult as some of us shared a school coach with them and was impossible for those who had siblings there but that was the ruling. Unbelievable! Happily it wasn’t too long before the two schools amalgamated to become the local comprehensive.

I was intrigued by your post, Magenta.
I was the only one of a large group of cousins that went to the grammar school, but you can be sure that any attempt to act " superior" would have been stamped out ( possibly literally)!
However, some seem to wear this as a badge of honour for a long time.
My neighbour is a local man. In talking about his friends, he will often start describing them by telling me that this person went to grammar school.
He is seventy years old.

Loved my school days. I went to a central school for border line passes in the 11 plus. It had a strong commercial bias so I learned shorthand, typing and some bookkeeping. I passed RSA exams in these. Also passed GCE ‘s in English language, History and English literature. Went straight into a job (1957), married in 1960 and had two children. Trained as a teacher from 1971 to 1975 as stayed on to gain a degree. Loved it all.

Hated it. Not academic or sporty. Had friends and wasn’t bullied but I was a scared little thing and wanted to be home with my mum. I passed the 11 plus and went to grammar school but was at the bottom of all the classes and struggled.
I found it hard to cope with being around so many people. I didn’t gain more confidence until I met my darling husband who was my rock always.

I think one of the more unpleasant aspects of the eleven plus was the, often unwarranted, air of superiority that some grammar school children carried with them that, in a few cases, even spilled over into adult life.

There was also the feeling of being branded as a failure and a second class citizen that was given to many eleven year olds and this could also be carried over into adulthood.

Shelflife

Failing the 11+ had a profound effect on me even though my parents were understanding and kind. I did not enjoy school and left as soon as I could. I ended up with a first class degree from Manchester. The 11+ was unjust for so many children - judging a child aged 11!
and sending those that ' failed ' to a schol that had low expectations of the pupils was outrageous. I am still traumatised 🤣!

It was the opposite for me, I wasnt bothered about failing the 11 plus, looking back I wouldn't have done well with the academic curriculum at grammar school. Certainly my technical career since has been much better than most local professionals I know that did go to grammar school.

We are all different, children develop at different rates, what is important is that they should be allowed to learn at their own pace, not dummed down or overwhelmed by too much.

I hated school from the start. I learned to read at 2 years old and didnt learn anything good in school at all so I left at 14 years old and found work taking care of dogs. I had read each and every book in the school library, excelled at math, art, writing. Life out of school had purpose and meaning. Life in school was a solid waste of time and a detriment to my own self-confidence.

Failing the 11+ had a profound effect on me even though my parents were understanding and kind. I did not enjoy school and left as soon as I could. I ended up with a first class degree from Manchester. The 11+ was unjust for so many children - judging a child aged 11!
and sending those that ' failed ' to a schol that had low expectations of the pupils was outrageous. I am still traumatised 🤣!

I loved both my primary and grammar school, possibly as an escape from an unhappy home life. The headmistress at the Grammar school was an inspiring woman whom I have always remembered with affection. I cried the day I left school. Three days later I started work in an office as a telephone operator at first, then got promoted and sent to secretarial college one day per week.