As a state subsidised KE grammar school educated hypocrite who did quite well out of it I agree with @AmDismal and would abolish state subsidy of grammar schools and other socially divisive pseudo elite bullshit schools
I passed for the local grammar, KES and obviously could attend the local comp. My parents gave me the choice; 11 year old me made the choice that my parents preferred. I quite enjoyed school, but I donât think itâs hypocrisy to dislike this kind of school now.
I was describing me not you tbf. In my opinion its hypocritical of me to have benefited and now later decided that others shouldnât be able to enjoy the same advantage.
I donât have kids so my only direct experience of it is my own, 40+ years ago. I was at a grammar school too. I had close cousins who were at the local secondary moderns so I have some knowledge of both sides of the coin. IIRC there was one grammar school for every 5-6 sec mods in the area and the grammar school had 3 streams, so the selection was pretty extreme - 1 out of 15 or more. I guess a 2500 pupil school could manage that. But our schools were small - only 600 or so.
VB
I know, and I donât think itâs hypocrisy. Hypocrisy would be having this conversation while one of us sent our kids to private/grammar schools!
You will have no idea how much education has improved. All of the state schools near me are way better than my expensive private school was 30+ years ago in every aspect of teaching (my school had better facilities and more choice of eg languages). They stream, review it constantly and have detailed programmes for dealing with both over- and under-achieving kids.
I do take your point about exceptional musicians, say, but for mainstream subjects I think the system works incredibly well.
I used to be sceptical when I saw exam results improving year on year, but since Iâve been looking at schools I can well believe that standards are constantly improving. Itâs great to see.
3 Likes
I do have some indirect experience. I taught for a while at uni so I saw kids who were 6-10 years younger than me, but that was still back in the dark ages. At work I saw undergraduate sandwich students, who were with us for a year, and school-age placement students. But the latter were only with us for a couple of weeks and were very much âfish out of waterâ. I also have a niece, but sheâs 23, so really 10 years out of date as far as the secondary system goes. She went as a day pupil to an expensive private school and did very well out of it, and that school is very much at the top of the local league tables (whatever that means). But I donât have a âcontrolâ niece in the state system so I donât know how well the real one would have done there. I am prepared to believe that a great deal has changed, and it would be a shame if most of it, at least, wasnât for the better. I imagine itâs come from some combination of the natural march of progress and an intensified focus on school education as the population as a whole has become better educated and therefore, perhaps, more aspirational for their children. I suppose Iâd have to say that we canât know whether things would have improved less or more if weâd focused just as intently on improving a selective system.
VB
when they broke in, Stronzetto was unleashed on the world.
2 Likes
Fixt
The âCity in the Skyâ of Larung Gar (GarzĂȘ Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China) in 2015
4 Likes
Fuck being a paperboy there.
4 Likes
Or a Postie 
I didnât realise that the Ikea Lack hi-fi rack had been going so long.
VB
1 Like
Came out in 1980 according to Ikeaâs website
Cos Ikea was the only place which ever made a âfour pointâ coffee table 
Fair point & the legs on the table pictured are actually too thick to be a Lack.
Lack is a bit bigger than that one.
Far better to view them in this link
1 Like
