Stonewall High (was RE: Question for British list members (school years))

[Carol]

Geoff:
> A UK joke is that Public schools are not public in its norma;l
sense. They are fee-paying, private schools sometimes with `
background of having been established by philanthropists or charitable
bodies. Some have entrance exams which can award scholarships so that
clever children from poorer backgrounds can gain access. They include
schools such as Harrow, Eton and Rugby. There are also a fair number
of private schools established independently in more recent years.

Carol:
So, essentially, you have only the same three public schools that
existed in the early nineteenth century? (Byron attended Harrow and
Shelley, Eton.) Do they admit girls now and are they still as
prestigious as they once were? 
  
> Geoff:
> As I described, prior to the 1960s Labour government initiatives,
all children in state schools took the "11+" exam. If you were
successful, you could go to a grammar school which would have a Sixth
Form and would also put pupils through the Matric exams - GCE after
1951. <snip>

Carol:
Is "grammar school" equivalent to public school? I know that in
Shelley's day, they didn't teach *English* grammar at all. the boys
were expected to know Latin already, and, IIRC, they began learning
Greek on entering Eton. What else they studied, I don't recall. I'm
sure that the modern curriculum is very different. 

Geoff:
> The comprehensive school brought all children under one roof. They 
were bigger and therefore had more facilities to deal with a wide
range or educational needs and aspirations. <snip>

Carol responds:
So they're "comprehensive" in that they take students of all ages, say
five through eighteen, and all abilities (no entrance exam), with
preparation for university-bound students along with vocational
training for those who want a job straight out of school? If all state
schools are comprehensive, where do the secondary schools fit in? Are
they on the same grounds as the primary and elementary schools (if I
have the terms right--I don't dare go upthread with a feeble modem
that could go out at any moment) but in a separate building?

Carol, who wonders whether the British public encountered references
to American community colleges and misunderstood the term