Martin P

The 11 Plus was based solely on arithmetic and English. To think that my whole future was determined by just two subject, beggars belief. The snobbery of the grammar school system, the pretentiousness, the stiff upper lip, all served to make me a rebel. Unfortunately the system was so strong that my rebelliousness was always rather covert and curtailed. They taught us nothing about real life, okay I learnt about the Kariba Dam, Agrarian agriculture, and of course Religious Knowledge, but what about everyday living, girls, politics, cooking, wiring up a plug? No, none of it. I made sure th

In unison with Stan the Jockey, I too have depressing memories of my five years at Henry Mellish. I started in 1963 having passed my 11+, but it seems only just, as this was the criterion which determined which stream one was placed .... in my case 1C. I remember being told during our inauguration in the canteen of all places, that the streaming system was irrelevant for the first year, however it was significant that whilst A & B studied Latin, we didn't. In hindsight it was apparent that we were designated some pretty crap teachers who just went through the motions and ticked the boxes.