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I was thinking just now that as we are approaching the fourth week of July, back in the day it obviously meant the end of the school year and six (or sometimes just five or even seven) weeks' holiday away from school until we had to return usually in time for the first Tuesday in September. At the end of Year 9 (the 1991-1992 academic year) we broke up on the Tuesday rather than the Friday, and so definitively Wednesday was the first day of our school holiday. (When we broke up on a Friday, it would be arguable whether Saturday or the following Monday would be the first day of the school holidays instead, considering weekend days are obviously not officially counted).
In fact, it was on this day in 1992 (21st July) that we broke up that year and I suppose that despite not liking school, it was one of my favourite days while I was still there. There were some magical elements in hindsight about that particular time - everything seemed to go according to plan and with six weeks' break from the place, one almost couldn't lose.
On Monday 20th July - the penultimate day, my year went to Alton Towers for the day, which was arranged by our Year Head. As I said on the 1992 adverts thread, the trip reminded me of that "Fun-Fun-Fun" Tetley tea bags advert from the same time where the characters went to a theme park. Someone in my class had her birthday on that day; another kid sung the then McDonald's advert tune when he saw one of their fast food restaurants out of the coach window; he also sung the relevant tune when he saw a pub called the Blue Peter en route as well. I was too chicken to go on the Corkscrew and I went around with a group from the year below who also went on the trip. I believe that a multiple number of coaches or buses were used to transport us there and back, and I believe that one of them had broken down while still there, had a flat tyre or had ran out of petrol and so the driver has his work cut out bringing it back home again.
Everyone got back from Alton Towers by 6.00 pm or thereabouts. This was the time when the local supermarkets often closed at around 5.30 pm like most other shops, and I was disappointed that my local Co-op had closed by the time I got back home from Alton Towers as I wanted to buy a goodbye present for a teacher who was retiring (see the next paragraph), but the man on the front door wouldn't let me in as it was five minutes away from closing which annoyed me. The Biology teacher probably would have said "please don't waste your money on me" anyway. Never mind an apple for the teacher...
And then, Tuesday 21st July - the final day. My Biology teacher also had her final day as well as was hanging up her white coat after 18 years service and retiring - she was one of the school's finest teachers and we used to help around her science lab. As a way of saying thank you for our service during the final couple of years, she threw a party for us in her lab during lunchtime. I usually went home for dinner so she telephoned my mother from a nearby office to say that I would be staying at school over lunchtime. It was great, and the science monitors from the other labs, as well as the ones who looked after the plants and the pets (one was a girl from the year below who seemed to "fancy" me at the time), also came to the lab to share the celebration - it was soft drinks and biscuits back then - no sign of any booze or caviar for obvious reasons. I made a comment about a Jaffa Cakes advert which was on the TV back then when the aforementioned biscuits (or should I say cakes?) was also laid on the table for the "guests" to eat.
As it usually was during the final couple of days of the school term, lessons went a bit eccentric - the fact that we would have had double Science anyway after morning break, and that made it easy for one of the Science teachers to wheel out the TV and video (that programmes like Experiment! and Chemistry in Action were usually watched on a normal day). We had an hour and a half to watch a video of the Jaws the Revenge film. The only sour note was that someone who a bully and had used to be in my class but was moved in the first year (Year 7 to you) tried to throw my coat and bag out of the window (the lab was on the first floor), but the Science teacher (who wasn't the one who was retiring and was still going to be there the following term) had ran after him across the room and managed to catch him before he did that - I almost didn't even notice as I was watching the film with everyone else. I explained to the teacher that it was a long story about why this lad was picking on me, and also I didn't want to dampener the fact that it was the final day of the school year - I went off to the other Science lab to where our retiring teacher was for our celebration. By the way, the Biology teacher in question is still with us, and we exchange Christmas cards at the end of each year like we have done for a number of years now!
After "lunch" we went back to our form rooms where our form teacher (who was also retiring as well, but I didn't really acknowledged it as much as the Biology teacher) was for an hour, and that was it - I cannot remember too well, but it might have been as early as 2.00 pm when school ended for that day, and for the school year, and we were allowed to go home for the six weeks' holidays, until the first week of September. Some of us loitered around for half an hour or so, but most of us made ourselves scarce for the multiple weeks of freedom ahead. As my nephew was born the previous month I had more to look forward to personally.
School was no bed of roses, but Year 9 was better than the others - a good combination of teachers has joined the school in September 1991 including a Maths teacher which I got on really well with - it's just a pity that she left at Easter in 1992 to get married and start at a new school. And then Year 10 started in September 1992 and I think it was the start of the downfall which eventually caused me to quit around 18 months later. The good teachers always seemed to be replaced by bad ones as I have observed before.
I have a feeling that I am repeating a previous thread here (the Search function can be difficult to find out exactly in those "terms", so to speak), but as I am writing these memories on their anniversary, I thought I would write it here and now on here as they do feel "magic" looking back. It's been 27 years since it happened - almost two thirds of my life ago if you know what I mean. Anyone else ever had such an eventful last day of the school year?
In fact, it was on this day in 1992 (21st July) that we broke up that year and I suppose that despite not liking school, it was one of my favourite days while I was still there. There were some magical elements in hindsight about that particular time - everything seemed to go according to plan and with six weeks' break from the place, one almost couldn't lose.
On Monday 20th July - the penultimate day, my year went to Alton Towers for the day, which was arranged by our Year Head. As I said on the 1992 adverts thread, the trip reminded me of that "Fun-Fun-Fun" Tetley tea bags advert from the same time where the characters went to a theme park. Someone in my class had her birthday on that day; another kid sung the then McDonald's advert tune when he saw one of their fast food restaurants out of the coach window; he also sung the relevant tune when he saw a pub called the Blue Peter en route as well. I was too chicken to go on the Corkscrew and I went around with a group from the year below who also went on the trip. I believe that a multiple number of coaches or buses were used to transport us there and back, and I believe that one of them had broken down while still there, had a flat tyre or had ran out of petrol and so the driver has his work cut out bringing it back home again.
Everyone got back from Alton Towers by 6.00 pm or thereabouts. This was the time when the local supermarkets often closed at around 5.30 pm like most other shops, and I was disappointed that my local Co-op had closed by the time I got back home from Alton Towers as I wanted to buy a goodbye present for a teacher who was retiring (see the next paragraph), but the man on the front door wouldn't let me in as it was five minutes away from closing which annoyed me. The Biology teacher probably would have said "please don't waste your money on me" anyway. Never mind an apple for the teacher...
And then, Tuesday 21st July - the final day. My Biology teacher also had her final day as well as was hanging up her white coat after 18 years service and retiring - she was one of the school's finest teachers and we used to help around her science lab. As a way of saying thank you for our service during the final couple of years, she threw a party for us in her lab during lunchtime. I usually went home for dinner so she telephoned my mother from a nearby office to say that I would be staying at school over lunchtime. It was great, and the science monitors from the other labs, as well as the ones who looked after the plants and the pets (one was a girl from the year below who seemed to "fancy" me at the time), also came to the lab to share the celebration - it was soft drinks and biscuits back then - no sign of any booze or caviar for obvious reasons. I made a comment about a Jaffa Cakes advert which was on the TV back then when the aforementioned biscuits (or should I say cakes?) was also laid on the table for the "guests" to eat.
As it usually was during the final couple of days of the school term, lessons went a bit eccentric - the fact that we would have had double Science anyway after morning break, and that made it easy for one of the Science teachers to wheel out the TV and video (that programmes like Experiment! and Chemistry in Action were usually watched on a normal day). We had an hour and a half to watch a video of the Jaws the Revenge film. The only sour note was that someone who a bully and had used to be in my class but was moved in the first year (Year 7 to you) tried to throw my coat and bag out of the window (the lab was on the first floor), but the Science teacher (who wasn't the one who was retiring and was still going to be there the following term) had ran after him across the room and managed to catch him before he did that - I almost didn't even notice as I was watching the film with everyone else. I explained to the teacher that it was a long story about why this lad was picking on me, and also I didn't want to dampener the fact that it was the final day of the school year - I went off to the other Science lab to where our retiring teacher was for our celebration. By the way, the Biology teacher in question is still with us, and we exchange Christmas cards at the end of each year like we have done for a number of years now!
After "lunch" we went back to our form rooms where our form teacher (who was also retiring as well, but I didn't really acknowledged it as much as the Biology teacher) was for an hour, and that was it - I cannot remember too well, but it might have been as early as 2.00 pm when school ended for that day, and for the school year, and we were allowed to go home for the six weeks' holidays, until the first week of September. Some of us loitered around for half an hour or so, but most of us made ourselves scarce for the multiple weeks of freedom ahead. As my nephew was born the previous month I had more to look forward to personally.
School was no bed of roses, but Year 9 was better than the others - a good combination of teachers has joined the school in September 1991 including a Maths teacher which I got on really well with - it's just a pity that she left at Easter in 1992 to get married and start at a new school. And then Year 10 started in September 1992 and I think it was the start of the downfall which eventually caused me to quit around 18 months later. The good teachers always seemed to be replaced by bad ones as I have observed before.
I have a feeling that I am repeating a previous thread here (the Search function can be difficult to find out exactly in those "terms", so to speak), but as I am writing these memories on their anniversary, I thought I would write it here and now on here as they do feel "magic" looking back. It's been 27 years since it happened - almost two thirds of my life ago if you know what I mean. Anyone else ever had such an eventful last day of the school year?
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