Secondary School - first day

[80sChav]

Re: Secondary School - first day

As Big kid as said - yer we had this where we mingled with the older years

One of my abiding memories of the 1st day par what i have said is well connected to what Big Kid has said (in how I met this 5th year) who was my first real crush that I hoped would lead to a girlfriend - though sadly not, but if sher was'nt a prefect (as she was not), that title should have been given to her as she sure helped all us "tough looking" (as we thought) first years in those early days. This probably is more of an abiding memory than most lessons (that remain very hazy at best)!


80sChav

[80sChav]

Re: Secondary School - first day

As well on our first day in Year 7/First Year an abiding memory - from the mega Assembly Hall was being told that anybody who had worn their Ties thin side out would be made to change them in the Form-Room .... though I am sure this was only a Tactic aimed at First Years (and if we had had the greatest pwerfull thing that is Hindsight) that we would have copied the older Years knowing what I we/know now!

80sChav

[George 1978]

Re: Secondary School - first day

Tuesday 5th September 1989 - the first day was a Tuesday probably because the Monday was Teacher Training Day. The whole form were in school uniform for the first time - only two of them who was at my previous school was in my form. Ironically for a school where all girls had to wear skirts just three or four years previously (my sister was one of them); trousers were now an option for the girls, and all the girls wore them, which I think helped with the equality within both genders with regards to the school uniform.

Our Form Tutor wrote out our new timetable on our form room's blackboard where it remained for at least three weeks. The timetable for that day was "Skills" which may have been a PSE-alike lesson; English; Science (with a Hankin out of Grange Hill prototype). After lunch it was Music; and we had PE where we got changed in the boys' changing room and went into the gymnasium.

The Inset day a couple of months before was also on a Tuesday, and we also had the English and Music lessons on that day as well.

The times of the school day was as follows:

8.45 am - Tutor Period (Wednesday: Year assembly - Friday: all-school assembly)
9.15 am - Period 1
10.10 am - Period 2
11.05 am - Morning Breaktime
11.20 am - Period 3
12.15 pm - Lunchtime
1.25 pm - Afternoon registration
1.30 pm - Period 4
2.25 pm - Afternoon Breaktime
2.40 pm - Period 5
3.35 pm - End of the school day

This was also the First Year timetable: (Lessons 1 to 5 in order from the start to the end of the school day).

MONDAY: Maths; Languages (German); Science; English; Humanities.
TUESDAY: Skills; English; Science; Music; PE.
WEDNESDAY: English; Humanities; Maths; Swimming; Home Economics.
THURSDAY: CDT; Art; Languages; PST (Practical Science and Technology - a combination of Science and CDT); English.
FRIDAY: Humanities; Maths; PE; Languages; Drama.

What was needed for each lesson (in addition to school uniform, homework and stationery - pens, pencils, etc):

ENGLISH: English dictionary
MATHS: Calculator
LANGUAGES: German dictionary
PE: PE Kit of shorts or tracksuit and trainers
SWIMMING: Swimming trunks and towel
HOME ECONOMICS: Food ingredients for recipe
DRAMA: Trainers

It wasn't called Year 7, 8, 9, etc until I was in the Third Year (Year 9).

[George 1978]

Re: Secondary School - first day

By the way, I meant 12.15 pm for Lunchtime and not 12.15 am.

[Big Tim]

Although it will be thirty years in September, I remember my first day at secondary school well.

We had evening visits to schools in our catchment area, before making our preferences - probably during Autumn term in the last year of primary school. It was actually quite enjoyable, as the schools "showed themselves off" with current pupils (obviously the well behaved, polite and academically gifted ones) demonstrating the interesting practical subjects - yes, you too can make this delicious Sticky Toffee Pudding, or play "educational" computer games every week in maths! No mention of the headbangers trying to set you on fire in chemistry with a bunsen burner, though!

However, during our last term at primary school, we were all taken out in the school minibus on different days to have a couple of hours - and lunch - at whichever secondary school we had been assigned to for a look around. I remember it being a huge contrast to what I had been settled with at a primary school in the leafy suburbs. This was literally like going from a quiet, sedate backwater to a constant whirlwind of frenzied activity. As a comparison, it was like squaring up some sleepy backwater such as Keswick or Pickering with Inner City London. To be honest, it made the prospect of going to secondary more daunting than before having even seen the place.

Our first day was a shortened one - and for Year 7 and Lower Sixth Form students only. Almost an induction day. We were all summoned to the main hall - around 250 or so of us, and our names called very slowly to inform us of our "tutor groups" (essentially where we registered from years 7-11, and in year 7 had all our lessons as a class, before being split into groups of ability from year 8 onwards). Of course, I was in form 7H - the last to be called, and this took a good couple of hours sitting listening in the hope your name would be called before you had lost the will to live! Every form, where possible had at least two others from the same primary school, so some familiar faces would be there. Once we had trudged out of the hall, we were taken to our new "form room" which was a temporary building / "mobile", which somewhat ironically had been positioned at the school over a dozen years previous, and were still there until a few years ago. Pretty primitive things, which were like greenhouses in summer, and iceboxes in winter. My form tutor was the mum of one of my primary school classmates, and really easy going and approachable (in upper school, my form tutor was a neighbour and a customer of my dad's garage, so I was looked upon favourably if any issues arose!).

The first day more or less finished off with a couple of tours of the school, filling out timetables, getting the dreaded "homework diary" allocated, and being bombarded with rules, lunchtime etiquette etc. It was actually not too bad, but the following day with over 1000 more pupils on site the place felt scary for a week or two until we got a bit more settled.

[George 1978]

With regards to the good old school tie, it was so ironic that the teachers used to make us wear something around out necks that bullies could easily strangle you with.

[80sChav]

With regards to the good old school tie, it was so ironic that the teachers used to make us wear something around out necks that bullies could easily strangle you with.

On this subject - my abiding memory is being told we'd be made to do our Tie properly not thin side out when we got to our Form Rooms ... this lasted about a week (if that) being enforced!, though the Teachers tried to try to enforce it with limited sucess!