Solve an argument/discussion for us please...

[AmazingBouncingFerret]

I am 36 years old and attended school as follows;
1st school was Reception/Yr1/Yr2/Yr3.
Middle school was; Yr4/Yr5/Yr6/Yr7.
Secondary school was: Yr8/Yr9/Yr10/Yr11.

My husband is older. His school years were different and was 3rd year / 4th etc.

What was the equivalent of reception year called for him? He can’t remember and I obviously don’t know because I’m just a mere whippersnapper.

I was in the first year 7 in England - that was 1990.

We still called it first to fifth form as it was hard to transition.

I’ve told him what has been said on here yet he’s still confused!

I’m putting it down to old age...

I'm 40.

When I was at school it was 1st yr/2nd yr infants/juniors and there was no reception. Yr 6 was 4th year Juniors. Year 7 was 1st yr seniors (or fuzzers at my school 😬, yr 8 were scrubbers).

However it changed the year I started seniors (1991)and schools began using Reception, Year 1, 2 etc.

I was north west in the 80s.
My school was:
Infants-
Reception
2nd year
3rd year

Juniors-
1st - 4th years

High School-
Years 7 - 11 (It switched over just before I went)
Years 12 and 13 were officially 12 and 13 but everyone called it sixth form with lower and upper.

I think I'm probably a similar age to your husband. When I started school, you started the term you turned 5, so there wasn't a reception class, as such, you went straight into lower infants (equivalent to year 1).

Each term, more children would join, all divided across the various classes. At the end of the year, all the older ones would move to 'upper' infants and the younger ones would stay where they were.

Looking back, I can see some benefits to this system as children would be be nearly five when they started school, rather than like now when some are only just four (like my August born DS). However on the flip side, Autumn born children got two full terms more schooling than summer babies.

@AmazingBouncingFerret

Ok Georgie, so you are a similar age to my husband. He can’t remember there being a ‘reception’ year group and maintains the first he heard of it was through my children. I’ll let him off if his schooling started at infant 1/2/3!

I admit this is a ridiculous thing to be discussing, obviously lockdown has finally got to us!

I'm a few years older, but I went to school in the September after I turned 5 (June birthday) and went into the first class - nobody started school until we were 5. I don't remember us calling the classes anything other than Mrs Whatever's class.

I'm 52. There was no reception year as we started after our 5th birthday.

Lower school- 1st yr, 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year

Middle school - 1st yr, 2nd year, 3rd year, 4th year

Upper school - 3rd yr, 4th yr, 5th year

I'm 50. It was 1st, 2nd 3rd year infants, 1st - 4th year juniors, 1st to 6th years (inc. lower and upper 6th) at senior school.

I'm a year older than you. In London my school was a combined first and middle school which went from reception to year 7. Then in 1991 ish it changed to a primary school and only went up to year 6 along wit all the other schools in the borough.

I'm 41. At infancy school I don't remember what the years were called officially becuase they were just colours. So I started in yellow class which h what is now reception but not till January becuase I'm a summer birthday.

Then it was junior school which was classes 1-4. Then secondary school where each class had the year number then a letter. We switched from the old style to the new style in 1992 so I was in 1D, then 2D then 9D, 10D and 11D.

I started teaching in the 80s.

We had
Reception (4-5 yrs old)
'Middles' (Now Yr1)
'Tops' (now Yr 2) in the Infant school then

Junior school was 1st, 2nd 3rd 4th year Juniors

Not sure how that translates to Middle schools though.

At that time (which would have been when your partner started school) , where I taught, all dc started in September, but in many parts of the Country, you didn't start until the term you turned 5. So it is perfectly possible your dh only did one term in Reception - or his parents might not have started him until after the Summer holidays, now equivalent (in England) Yr1

Back in the Dark Ages, when I was at school (1963-1977) my class names were:

Kindergarten
Transition
Preparatory
First year
Second year
Lower third
Upper Third
Lower Fourth
Upper Fourth
Lower Fifth
Upper Fifth
Lower Sixth
Upper Sixth

I am 43. It was called first year infants. You only started the term you were "rising 5" so I started at the Easter (July birthday) and only had a term in that year. Then second year infants which is equivalent to year 1 now. And so on.

I'm 59, so started school in 1966 - in Reception. Essex, if it's regional. I can't remember any particular name for the next year, but then there was 'top infants' followed by Junior first to fourth, and then secondary first to fifth, lower and upper sixth.

where I taught, all dc started in September, but in many parts of the Country, you didn't start until the term you turned 5.

My school had a September and an Easter intake. I'm not sure exactly how they divided it up - my b'day is New Year's Day and I shouldn't have started till Easter but the school was short of teachers and realised DM was one, begged her to join and so I started in the January.

@Inextremis

Back in the Dark Ages, when I was at school (1963-1977) my class names were:

Kindergarten
Transition
Preparatory
First year
Second year
Lower third
Upper Third
Lower Fourth
Upper Fourth
Lower Fifth
Upper Fifth
Lower Sixth
Upper Sixth

I'm guessing that was a private school? DH started in kindergarten and then had years including Shell and Remove but also numbers inc a lower and upper at some stage before sixth.

I'm 43 and had

Reception, 1st year infant, top infants

1st, 2nd 3rd year junior

1st + 2nd year senior then changed to years 9, 10 and eleven.

I went to a "6th form college" years 12 onwards weren't really used

@ErrolTheDragon Yes, it was - a GPDST school in Newcastle :)

I was rising fives? That was our reception class

I went to:

Infants - Reception, YR1, YR2
Juniors - YR3, YR4, YR5, YR6
Secondary - YR7, YR8, YR9, YR10, YR11, Lower sixth, Upper sixth

DH went to school in the same county as me and had the same breakdown as you OP. I think it's to do with the local councils maybe? Definitely not with age, as the schools still work the same in the respective areas.

I'm 48..
Infants school - years 1, 2, and 3
Junior school - years 1, 2, 3, and 4
Grammar school - thirds, lower fourth, upper fourth, lower fifth, upper fifth, lower sixth, and sixth senior. Years first and second didn't exist.

First school - class 3,2,1
Middle school 9th year, 10th year, 11th year, 12th year,
Upper school 3rd year, 4th year, 5th year, then just as I was about to reach sixth form it changed to year 12 and 13!

I'm 38, I remember being in the Infants Class in primary school and after that yrs 1-6 and then off to secondary for yrs 7-10 and after that yr 11&12 in the sixth form.

I can remember middle and top infants. I always assumed it was lower infants. We only joined the term after we turned five.

There was no reception when I was in primary school and they'd fucked up the intake ages so half my classmates (whom I went through the whole of primary school with) had to repeat Y6, as they were born after 31st Aug.