Merit marks

[Trickyvee]

Did anybody else get these at school? We got them in high school. Basically a small bit of cut up white card with photocopied print on it like a certificate saying ....(space for your name) has been awarded a merit.

We would bend over backwards to get them, although I have no memory of what they were awarded for (perhaps having the best marks in class or helping out with something) or what the reward was for having a hefty pile of merit marks - to be honest I don't think there was a reward.

So what was the point of them? There was no point and I think we'd all cottoned onto it by the end of first year by which time we were well over getting bits of card for our troubles.

[Marine Boy]

We have merits (ink stamps in a little book) where I work now, but back in the 70s, we didn't. The closest thing were house points. You coloured in a square on some squared paper pinned to the wall, and they were all added up at the end of the week. And no prizes to be had :(

[Trickyvee]

It seems strange that there was no incentive to get them as our school did offer prizes for other things. One year those with 100% attendance got tickets to see the pantomime in Newcastle. Linda Lusardi was starring which was enough to keep the lads interested!

[Richard1978]

At my secondary school there were merits awarded for good work.

100 merits would get a bronze merit award & a small badge, 200 a silver merit & 300 a gold one.

I never managed to get 100 in 3 years, after which they seemed to be phased out.

I did get some 100% attendance certificates, but they didn't count for anything. They are still around somewhere.

[HG]

LIke MB we never had merit marks as far as I can recall in my school career, mid 70's through to '89. We also had house points in junior school, there was a monthly winner of the house competition and also an annual one, if there were prizes I can't remember what they were.

[shilton dipper]

Didn't have anything like merits when I was at school.......we have them at school where i work..........a card for merits that has a certificate for 100 collected when it's filled in.

[DemonEyeX]

I had merit points at high school.
The most I ever won in one go was 10.
It was for winning a paper aeroplane competition on the last day of term !

[80sChav]

I had loads, i've probably still got some somewhere .... i'll have to check it out and find if i've stioll got them. I got some for many subjects, more so for Geography, it was the same for us at my School like with Trickyvee (well at least at my first Secondary), we'd bend over backwards for them. Our Geography Teacher (i'll call him Mr "G" incase by some wierd chance he was viewing on here, though I highly doubt it), he was so easy to smooth talk into giving out Merits, I can see it now ... me and my friends saying something like "Mr G, are we deserving of a Merit for doing this/do we get a Merit Today please?", inecatably he would give them out too, if we showed potiental.

Though he was a walkover to the Kids, he was a good Teacher, who never would try and say you was'nt trying/he'd guide you to your target or explain how to reach it - just like a Ship going gently into a Harbour. I got some for PE too, Swimming in-particular and Tennis, though i'm the World worst Swimmer and could not even Swim until then and could not after, the PE Teacher did give me one for that, but it was way tricky getting anywhere close to hoping for a Merit from the PE Teachers - which is even more confusing as to why, as as far as I know the School did'nt even have any competative Sporting Teams and on the surface, it looked like we was all treat on an equal merit (if you'll pardon the pun), but it was far from that at all!!

[darren]

we never got merit marks for good work in any school.
but we got the equivalent with small coloured stars for neat well answered wiork questions.


gold was the best.

i got lots of these but i never kept my homework books.
a big regret it is of mine.:mad:

[havasack]

My kids get merit marks towards their 'graduation'. We got house points (credits for good and debits for bad) towards the "House trophy".

[Razed]

Of course!

We were split into 'houses'... Blue, Yellow and Red. In our classes we had a coloured card on the wall for each house with the names of everyone in the corresponding houses.

Every time we got a 'merit mark' it was just a star-shaped stamp that the teacher put next to your name on the wall. If you were really good you got to stamp it yourself! I don't remember their being any award for it though, just maybe a 'well done to XX house' at sports day for whoever had most merits. It was unfair though; there were always a few kids that had far less merit marks than the others - usually the less bright ones.

[stuckinthe80's]

We didn't have merit marks at school. In secondary school we had commendations for good work and D-merits for bad work. There were no prizes for getting commendations. The commendation was the 'prize'!