Question for British list members/PS for Goddlefrood

[Steve]

---  "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:
>
> Carol earlier:
> 
> > > Carol, noting that in the U.S., fifth grade (which I assume
> corresponds with Year 5) is comprised mostly of ten- and
> eleven-year-olds (they'd be ten at the beginning of the year 
> but most will have turned eleven by this point in the school
>  year)
> >  
> > Geoff:
> > Year 7 corresponds to the old First Year which is for 
> > children who reached 11 in the currency of the previous 
> > school year.
> >
> <snip>> 
> > For cross-reference, the UK exam year when pupils take GCSE
> > exams and reach the age of 16 in that year is Year 11 (the 
> > old Fifth Year).
> > 
> > The all-through class numbering system became generally used
> > in the UK round about 1989/90.
> >
> Carol responds:
> So children enter what we would call first grade and you call
> Year One at age five rather than age six?
> 
> ...
> 
> I'm not sure what GCSE exams are. ...
> 

bboyminn:

Carol, think 'No Child Left Behind' and you will have a better
understanding of GCSE's. Though I think in the UK school 
certification is done by the government as we also see in the
Harry Potter books.

As you know, local school boards set the academic standards in
their schools, though certainly they follow state mandated
requirements. So, my niece, who just graduated, has a diploma
from the local school district not from the state of federal
government. Though, that diploma is recognized by the state and
federal government. 

President Bush implemented the routine testing of students call
'No Child Left Behind' in some obscure hope that it would improve 
education. Though cutting funding from poor performing schools d
oes not seem like the best method of reform in my book. 

However, my impression in the UK is that any certification you
receive in education comes from a central governing authority 
and is a result of test administered by that central authority.

> Carol:
>
> Do British schools have a Year Twelve, or do students finish 
> school and start university (or get a job) at seventeen 
> (sixteen for those born in summer) rather than eighteen 
> (seventeen for the summer-borns) as in the U.S.?
>

bboyminn:

Using Harry Potter as a model, students in the UK get one more
month of education per year than students in the USA. The
typical USA school year is 9 months with June, July, and August
being the summer holiday. In the UK, using HP as a model,
the summer holiday is July and August. 

In general I have heard it said that foreign students all spend
more time in the classroom than we do in the USA.

One of the reasons for the 3 month summer holiday has to do with
agriculture. During the planting, growing, and harvesting 
season students were needed at home to help with these tasks,
and that is still true to some extent today.

  
> Carol, wondering, if that's the case, why England doesn't just
> follow the WW's example and have kids come of age at seventeen
> :-)
>

bboyminn:

That might carry some weight if coming of age was about school.
But I think independent of school, 'coming of age' has to do 
with maturity level and a sense of responsibility. Though 
admittedly most 18 year olds are not that mature or responsible. 

Also, note that both countries have a staged approach to coming
of age. Usually at age 16 in both countries you are granted some
limited level of rights and responsibilities. At 18, new rights
and responsibilities are added. Finally at age 21, there are no
limits on your rights as a citizen. Exactly what happens at 
those ages differs in each country but the concept is the same.

Or so it seems to me.

Steve/bboyminn