The Grammar School system was and is a disgrace!
At the age of eleven children were arbitrarily tested and shunted down pathways to success or failure.
It was all self-prophesising – those marked as failures became just that!
less than 10% were creamed off. The 90+% were dumped. They were ear-marked for a ‘technical’ career – using their hands, even though most of them were not interested in using their hands for anything other than battering people. They saw themselves as thick failures and went through life as a no-hoper, an outcast and full of resentment.
I would not like to encounter a number of the ‘products’ of the Secondary Moderns down a dark alley
We need everyone being equally welcome, everyone being valued. We need social cohesion and self-esteem. The world is not all about intelligence. There is a place for everyone. We all have worth.
I speak from experience as both an eleven-plus failure and a Headteacher. With an IQ of 155 I failed my eleven-plus and was dumped into a terrible place where education was a battle. If it hadn’t been for luck, parents and intrinsic intelligence I would have, like so many other talented individuals, floundered and gone under. The eleven-plus is a terrible thing to impose on young people. It can destroy a fragile psyche. We cannot tolerate over 90% of our children being sacrificed in that way.
Read what a highly successful ex-Secondary Headteacher has to say. I’m the only one making sense!
Reblogged this on Outside and Beyond and commented:
This is an intriguing post.
Your view does not accord with my practical experience of attending a grammar school, which despite the efforts of the liberal left wing still remains a grammar school. I came from a poor working-class background and a grammar school gave me the opportunity to achieve academic success. Students who failed the 11+ had a second chance with the 13+ if they so wished. Not everyone wishes to be academic or work in a white-collar job etc. Ability will eventually out no matter which occupation people choose. In my view the imposition of comprehensive schools and the elimination of competition in academia and school sport has gone hand in hand with the descent of the UK down the world academic table. One size does not fit all. I don’t recall any of my friends who attended secondary schools feeling inferior or lacking opportunities. Nothing irks me more than the liberal left trying to foist comprehensive schools on the electorate but sending their own children to select schools. Pure hypocrisy.
But you were one of the 8% in your area to benefit. The 92% of failures were not all non-academic.
80% of my students achieved enough grades at 16 to get into A Levels when I ran my school – with an intake that was exactly on the national average.
The 13+ was a farce. Hardly anybody managed that. I had an IQ of 155 and still did not get upgraded. Hardly anybody did. There was a self-fulfilment to the process.
The 11+ was no real judge of the abilities of a child. At 10 years old your life was decided. Great for the winners.
The world academic tables are also a farce. They are far too narrow to make any judgements. Nations like South Korea, Japan and China crammed in knowledge for tests. The suicide levels, burn ot and stress was ridiculous. At the end of the day they did not have educated children but students schooled to pass a test. There’s a world of difference. The stupidity of those comparisons has done a tremendous amount of harm.
I’ve looked at the PISA tests and they are a joke.
Our education is far superior in every way.
I don’t regard those who failed to pass the 11+ as failures. We had students who matured later, passed the 13+ and attended university. In fact, Halifax had a midway school which those who failed the 11+ but had academic aspirations attended until the 5th year then moved onto one of the grammar schools for the 6th form. If the Asian nations are just crammers why have they produced so many innovators and astute businessmen? It’s not just the Asian countries which have overtaken us. Since the 70s about 20 other countries have overtaken us including the Nordic nations. If our education is far superior why do we have numerous school leavers who cannot communicate articulately or understand basic mathematics? I don’t recall any of my contemporaries, irrespective of the secondary school they attended, having such disabilities which effectively disqualifies you from a meaningful career. Business leaders constantly complain about the suitability of the English school leaver for the work place. Why is it such a big deal to do A levels? They are just a stepping stone for further education which may lead to a career and then a working learning experience. Apprenticeships offer more relevance to a career than A levels for someone who does not seek a career in the professions or technology. How many students have wasted years doing media studies and the like only to find they cannot find a commensurate job and end up working in a fast food joint? Selection breeds competition and competition breeds excellence just as in sport which the liberal left also tried to dilute with their philosophy of everyone being a winner. It’s bollocks. I don’t accept that children were written off at the age of 10. Ability will ultimately come to the fore provided opportunities are taken.
You should have been in my class at school or seen my primary school on the day the results were announced. 13+ was a farce in my area. It did not happen. The damage was done.
Yes I agree – apprenticeships are brilliant for some.
You should talk to Hester and Adrian about the Chinese high-flying graduates in the Chemical industry and their inability to laterally think or solve problems. They are notorious. Hester worked with them for years.
The Chinese invented gumpowder, porcelain and numerous other useful products. They constructed the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army. Their civilisation is far superior to ours.
Was far superior!