TestaRossa

Although we were all in the same building you were "middle school" at my school until you took your "options" at 13/14 then you started GCE's and you were upper school. Alex went to Prep then Public School. The split there is a bit like here but you stay at the same school from 4 -13, then go on. I can also remember some Manchester schools having their middle and upper schools on different sites, so it's not that unusual a system, it's just not what most of you know or remember. I believe most of Europe, at some point, has based it's school system on the British Public School system because it is one of the oldest. Oldest Public School in England? Alex's school, Winchester College, got it's charter in 1382 and has been a school for boys continuously ever since! So you could say they are all copying my son's school, which is pretty cool!

Lorna at Vicenza

Indie - from what I gather this is kind of general practice for at least half of the first year at media.

They make sure the kids are up to speed with the elementary lessons and ready to go on.

Lorna at Vicenza

So when did the UK mix the middle school into the upper school?

TestaRossa

There were still a few around when I left school, but then wasn't there a huge reorganisation of schools when most of them lost their 6th forms and you had to go to a separate college?? I think it would've been then for definite as schools were closed and merged when they no longer had a 6th form intake. Might have been about 2 or 3 years after I left school??

TestaRossa

Should also mention we had separate assemblies by age group too, the school had two halls, but that was because it used to be a boys school on one side and a girls school on the other!! My sister went when it was like that, there was no fence spliting the sexes, she said the HMistress was enough!

Oh, and a bit more school history, when my Dad was at school.....!!!! When he was at school if you continued school past 14 rather than going to work, wait for it, you went to a school that specialised in Art or Commerce or Trades....does that sound familiar?? This was in the '20's!

Lorna at Vicenza

My junior and infant school was like that. A lovely old sand stone building with a seperate boys and girls entrance and a wall down the middle of the concrete playground. The grass field was a free for all though. No separate assemblies either

It was only donkeys years later that I learned that the outdoor but completely covered from rain and other elements play area was actually an original school air raid shelter.

indiebird

The schools closed and merged in East Sussex after they abolished the Grammar school system. I think this was the early 1980's. My secondary school was two buildings. One was the old comp and one was the grammar school. Apparently there were real wars as they were one minute apart. It was called a Secondary Modern. The 6th Form went in 1988, the year that we went to school. It was deemed to be not cost effective to offer sixth form education for 3people in each class when you could centralise it in three or four colleges throughout the town. There were, naturally very good private schools in Brighton but as we said before we did have a lot of resources at our school too. The thing about Brighton is that there is Rich and Poor and not a lot in the middle. There's even less in the middle now with housing there as expensive as it is. The poor areas they built as housing estates on the outskirts from the 1920's to about the 1950's. It started as a way of getting rid of the slums in the town and getting the poor better housing conditions and fresh air but now it feels that if you are poor you now spend more time and money travelling into the centre as tihngs like the job centre are centralised. My school was literally on the outskirts of the town and not because it was leafy and how you traditionally thought of suburban schools in other places....

I still don't know about this Media time here. Some kids need new things and my son definitely does... he is really liking French cos it's a new adventure and Technical Ed. The other things are a bit boring because History/ geog/ science is what he's already done and it's studying out of books. The Italian seems a bit dry although he got a 7 in one of his entrance exams on comprehension but only a 5 on grammar. The teacher seems harsh but fair and has told him that she will help him to get up to standard. Maths is the same kinda stuff... it just seems really old fashioned and if you're not academic then I could see why you would have problems in the system here. What a lot of education systems don't seem to understand is that they need to cater for the kids they have and what the society expects from them when they come out the other end... and this includes how they feel about that society and how optimistic they feel about contributing to that society. The thing about Private schools 'working' is that they are very selective really and the children know that there are either financial resources invested in their education or they know how the system works because their parents/ grandparents etc. went there and they know what's expected of them in terms of performance and there is a lot resting on their performance there. If you are not up to standard then the school are quick to get rid as their are others who will pay if you are very exclusive or your family will gladly pay (in one way or another) and oil the wheels for you if your dad, granddad etc. went there.... we knew a couple of girls who had been to private schools in Brighton but were asked not to continue in the Sixth Forms there due to their poor GCSE results so they got sent to the same sixth form college that we did. Neither got very good A' Level results either. They weren't naughty or anything like that, they were just dim and that's just the ones I knew from the A levels I took.

Patty

Unfortunately Indie alot of private schools here are not up to scratch. They are full of 'figli di papa' and it doesnt matter how thick they are they will never get chucked out.
Instead in Guernsey for example we have private schools and there is an entrance exam to get in - if you fail no amount of money will change it. The standards are really high and they churn out really well educated children.
I was extremly lucky because my daughter got a scholarship place at the girls college and she had an excellent education. (and I never had to buy even on e pencil )
You're right about the media being boring though - its just repetition of alot of stuff and it doesnt motivate the kids. My son was in tears last night (very unusual) cos he hates his school and his teacher is very old fashioned. They did 3 hours of grammar yesterday
Another thing is that they have separated the a & b classes and they are running them differently. So this teacher my son has doesnt want to do sat 8- 13 but 8 to 12 instead and to recoup those lost hours they are having to go in an extra afternoon this month and again in March (which mean extra buoni for the crappy canteen too) Its ridiculous that in a small village school the whole a stream and the whole b stream are on separate programmes. I felt very sorry for him as he doesnt usually get upset.
If it werent for my OH my bags would be already packed and I'd go back to a place where I know his education would be much better.

indiebird

Oh Patty that is just horrible! Poor bloody kid.. and poor you too, it's no fun is it at all!?? I can feel all the old crap from last year rising up inside me and I hate feeling like this. Even worse is that I can't seem to explain it to my OH either. He says that H just has to learn and then I feel like he looks at me accusingly as much as to say 'You're not up to much as a mother are you when you can't control him.' Being a mum is like my job and I really am feeling that I'm not doing a good job. It's only my stubbornness and the fact that I know that I made a commitment to my OH a long time ago that is keeping me here... well and the fear that it might not be any better for my son if I did take him back to the UK and that would prove my OH right that he is just an awkward kid who needs better discipline....

Lorna at Vicenza

Right everybody, this kind of talk and memories could get popular so I am going to attemp to split this thread and move these posts to a new one in Alfresco.

Watch me spectacularly screw this up in the next 5 minutes .............

Pecora Nera

Pecora Nera

Patty [Quote] If it werent for my OH my bags would be already packed and I'd go back to a place where I know his education would be much better.

I feel so bad for you two. It must be very very hard when you don't really want to be here. I take my hat off to your commitment to your OH's. I am lucky in that it is my dream and I like it here. Even if I do whinge a bit about stupid Italian ways. But I know I would hate going back to the UK I can't even think of the consequences of having to leave here to go back.

Good luck Pete

Patty

[QUOTE=Pecora Nera;8887023]Patty Thanks Pete - to be honest you lot are my salvation - its so nice to just come and get it all of your chest and know that no-one here criticizes you or bitches. So many other forums are really not nice places.
OH and daughter coming up tomorrow so better go off and clean up a bit now- I could sit here all day meself

Patty

Just wanted to say that you ARE doing a good job Indie - just the fact that you are sticking it out in a foreign country and learning the lingo and all that is really good. By doing this you are keeping your family together - and believe me that counts for a lot in these times. Your kids may have bad days and better days- but you are always there for them and so dont doubt yourself

indiebird

[QUOTE=Patty;8887112] Very true. I'm sure sometimes people read this and think 'Oh God what's she whinging about now' but it really does help to have like-minded people around even if you're not all my actual neighbours!!