UK school terminology

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

Geoff Bannister wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/36620>:
>
> Years 12/13 are not used as identifiers in the UK system.
> We continue to use the old terminology so you will see schools 
> referring to Lower Sixth/Upper Sixth or First Year Sixth/Second 
> Year Sixth.

Naturally, the bit of the old terminology that remains in use is 
the most confusing bit, the Sixth year that lasts two years.

Geoff Bannister wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/36627>:
>
> Can I make it clear that when I say, for example, entry at five, 
> this means the September following the child's fifth birthday, 
> sometimes called 5+.
> 
> Until the 1960s, which I will refer to later, state day schools
> were organised so that children attended an Infants school for two
> years starting from the age of five, then a Junior school for four
> years and then five years Secondary school from the age of 11 up to 
> national exams - I am not including Sixth Forms in this. Each 
> school would number its classes from 1 upwards.
(snip)
> At this time, there was a tendency with Public schools, both day
> and boarding, to start their secondary education at thirteen. Their 
> intake had often come from Preparatory schools who took an intake
> at 9. Just in passing, it is interesting that Hogwarts which is a 
> private boarding school followed the state transfer age pattern.

List member John Walton described his public school -- one thing 
was that new baby students age 13 were new Third Years. Which he 
said he assumed indicated that the school had originally extended
down to 11. Leading me to speculate that the state schools were 
following a transfer pattern which the public schools had formerly 
used, but the public schools changed. 
 
> The so-called three-tier system gained much ground at this time 
> with entry to a Primary/First school at 5, Middle school at 9 and 
> High school at 13. This was mainly because in many cases, LEAs could 
> adapt existing buildings at less cost!

I think that's the main reason for how American school districts 
assign grades to schools. When I was a child, I believe all LAUSD
was elementary school K thru 6, junior high 7 thru 9, and high 
school 10 thru 12. I read books about elementary schools 1 thru 8 
and high schools 9 thru 12. I heard of a lot more patterns from my 
college classmates -- several were used to primary K-5, middle 
school 6-8, high school 9-12.

One came from a school district which had high school 8 thru 12. The
8th graders were called 'sub-freshmen' and it was the school tradition
for older students to play tricks on the sub-freshmen like selling
them elevator passes (in a campus of all one-story buildings).

Anyway, I have the impression that this stuff is now not consistent 
throughout LAUSD, but they might change a school from primary K-4 
to primary K-3 and move 4th grade to some other building in order 
to make room for a big crop of entering primary students.

> I taught for 32 years in the same school in South London. when I 
> started, it was a Modern school, i.e. for those whose 11+ results 
> had not allowed them access to a grammar school and had boys from 
> 11-15/16. 

What was it like teaching at a Modern Secondary? I assume you became a
teacher because you believe in education, and there you were facing a
whole school of boys who knew they would leave school to seek jobs
when they turned 16. Did they even care about their O-levels?

> For many years there was no  pre-5 education on a organised 
> national level. I started school in the term after I was 5 - in 
> the summer term of 1945. Prior to that, my mother had informally 
> taught me reading and simple Maths at home which was not uncommon.

I don't know if any school district in the US provides pre-K 
education, or if all pre-K is left to parents, churches, charities, 
profit-making enterprises, and Head Start.

Kindergarten was invented in Germany (hence the name) and when it 
was introduced to America, it was not supposed to teach reading and 
simple arithmetic -- in those days, those were for first grade (6 
year olds). 

K was about three hours long each school day and was supposed to teach
children how to walk or take the bus to school, be in their assigned
place by the time the buzzer rang, raise their hand if they want to
speak while the teacher is addressing the class (only a few short
times a day, such as taking attendence or reading a story aloud; the
rest was playtime), ask permission if they have to go to the bathroom,
and, mainly, not to hit the other children when a adult is looking.

Nowadays all the children have been in all-day daycare while the
parents work since they were six months old, which is supposed to
teach the old Kindergarten lessons and also has so much time to fill
that they also teach letters and numbers and what-all.

So the kids arrive at kindergarten (viewed by the parents as a
mercifully low-cost daycare) already knowing simple reading and maths,
so K now includes a great deal more study in preparation for
standardized achievement tests than it did in my day.

Jayne wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/36628>:

<< Although nowadays they start in the year they turn 5 , in the
September even if they are not 5 until the following August
Hope that is not too confusing also >>

I think Geoff would call that age 4+. I might call it 5-. What do they
start at that age, Year 1? Or something like pre-K, presumably not
called Year 0 because of the Khmer Rouge connotations.