Cultural differences Scotland and England

[CauleyMacGlochlin]

So surprised to see on a recent thread that in England secondary school pupils are often not allowed out of school for lunch until 6th form, which Google tells me means 16-18. I'm gobsmacked. I've never heard of anything like this in Scotland and I've lived all over the country (grew up in Glasgow and moved around in adulthood)

I also recently discovered that English school pupils can't leave education at 16. They have to stay in education til 18 unless they have an apprenticeship.

Got me thinking about cultural differences between the countries that I've maybe been oblivious all this time. Any others?

😂

I know this is about Scotland/ England but I was amused, when I moved back to Northern Ireland from SW England, that in the shops here they don't say 'next please' but, ' come on ahead there'.

Is Modern Studies like what we used to have at A level 'General Studies' but it wasn't really thought of as a proper subject? It was scrapped some time ago.

I'm Scottish and when I went to a chip shop in England I was asked if I wanted scraps. Had no idea what she was on about. Never heard of it before in my life

Do they not have clubs at lunchtime in Scottish schools?

They do but not all kids attend, they’re very much interest based and aligned with the interests of teachers who run them (obviously). That wouldn’t stop kids from heading to the shops at lunch.

I only know what scraps are after watching the film Wish you Were Here, many years ago. Scraps or Crispy bits is apparently a southern England thing.

We just call it batter, here.

@SummerDays2020 there certainly are various lunchtime clubs in Scottish schools for the pupils that want to stay on the grounds. Often additional study sessions for particular subjects as well.

Always skin here too - on cod too.

On the shops front, has anyone brought up “markies” (NE Scotland) vs “marks and sparks” (SE England)?

We have scraps from the chippy in Manchester. They're free too.
Fish doesn't have skin on either.

Also, in winter my dd who lives in Highlands can get pizza, hot dogs and burgers from the ice cream van!

We have an excellent careers advice service here and it's not in the university - it's provided by the council.

Primary school teacher in Scotland. I have hardly known a lunchtime club in a school I’ve worked in. We do not have directed time over lunchtime so all clubs are voluntary. Most staff are marking and doing prep for the afternoon. I used to love my lunchtimes at home at both primary and secondary.

Is papa your dad or grandfather?

@SummerDays2020

Modern Studies is an academic subject. It's mainly politics with areas of economics, sociology and law. It's not an easy option.

I think Modern Studies is some sort of sociological thing. It wasn’t an option when I was at school but I left in 1990 and it was small so may just have been a more limited subject choice due to that. DC2 has insisted on taking it which is a bit of a shame because I was hoping she could leach off DC1 for tutoring in every subject and DC1 didn’t do it.

We are somewhere in the middle here in NE England with "Marksies" (I think Markies sounds wrong because it's Marks and Spencer, not Mark and Spencer)

Oh dear, if it’s difficult DC2 is trouble 😬

No it isn’t.

Don’t know if it’s been mentioned already but I lived in Scotland for ten very happy years and picked up on ‘I’ll give you a phone’ instead of ‘I’ll give you a ring’ or ‘I’ll give you a call’.

Not here is SE England. We'd say housing estate.

I’m fascinated (and irritated) by the othering of accents that my DSis and family who live in the SE do - they imitate other UK accents but seem mystified when I explain to them that they have an accent.

On the same theme - the conflation of English/British is strange. I’ve never heard people from other parts of the UK doing that (or seen it on here).

What do you mean? It's exactly this. DS did his Higher Modern Studies last year - covered mainly politics but also some sociology & law, bit of anthropology too. I did H M Studs (1988) & then studied Politics & Sociology first year of uni & it was similar.

What do you mean it's not. Not what? It's very academic, with lots of essays writing- not easy!

Grandfather. My children call my dad papa as well.

I don't know how old you are but I'm early 40s and we weren't allowed out at lunch, we had a strict uniform (but nothing like some ot these schools nowadays), you could leave school at 16 but I know noone who did and we walked alone from 9.

All of our schools here are academies. Some are of the 'zero tolerance' extremeness. But my DD's Primary and Secondary have been really good.

Modern Studies was a subject when I left school in 1990 (large school in central belt). A lot of essay writing and aimed for those interested in politics. This is taken from the SQA (Scottish Qualifications Agency). I don't understand why posters don't think this is academic!

"Purpose and aims The course uses a multidisciplinary approach to develop candidates’ knowledge and understanding of contemporary political and social issues in local, Scottish, United Kingdom (UK) and international contexts. Candidates develop the skills to interpret and participate in the social and political processes they encounter in their lives. Candidates develop a range of research, analytical and evaluating skills, and an understanding of:  the democratic process and complex political issues  complex social and economic issues at local, Scottish, national and international levels, and ways of addressing needs and inequalities  different views about the extent of state involvement in society  the nature and processes of conflict resolution  the importance of human and legal rights and responsibilities, and their application in different societies"