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?

They’ve cut the lunch breaks locally to me in secondaries and used the time to have an early finish on a Thursday and Friday-it works really well

I remember an outraged English mumsnetter who was visiting Scotland, posting that someone had put some money in her bairns pram, which her bairn could have swallowed and choked on.

We still have an hour at mine, but it's a girls' grammar school with unusually good behaviour, and we run tons of lunch time clubs and activities, which are very well attended. There wouldn't be time for those if we cut lunch time. At my ds' school they only have 40 minutes and yes, it's to reduce behaviour problems. It's all very well saying it's criminal to cut kids' lunch times, but it is hard to have enough supervision to prevent the bad stuff that can happen during lunch time. Many kids may be thankful that lunch time is short .

English schools have been required by law to provide 32.5 hours of education since September 2023, and schools who weren’t previously meeting this minimum have in some cases chosen to shorten the lunch break rather than extend the finish time at the end of the day, usually after consulting parents and pupils. Not every decision taken in schools is intended to be punitive.

The lack of decent break times to run around and play football contribute to poor behaviour in the classroom though.

Another sort of cultural difference I’ve noticed is how Scottish people get stuck in with family and English people have a very “not my family” approach. I don’t know if it’s just a small but vocal group on mumsnet compared with my social circle in Scotland though, so maybe it’s not at all a difference and it’s just me noticing a few people posting a lot on here.
But we treat out in-laws as family. We have their phone numbers, we chat, we all get stuck in and help and take an interest in their lives. If a husband’s parent dies then the wife’s parents will go to the funeral as you’re all linked by marriage and you’re family. But on threads here, it seems to common that you don’t even have your MiL’s phone number, you won’t take an interest or involvement with your spouse’s family because “they’re not my family.”

You all seem very separated, very stand off-ish. Not community minded and not very “big family, all in it together” minded. I don’t know any families who behave like that in Scotland.

I grew up in a Glasgow suburb and had never encountered sectarianism until moving to Partick at 17. I could not believe the difference, orange walks, really viscous and aggressive drum banging & shouting outside the ‘Catholic (Celtic affiliated)pubs’ and a ‘Hun (Rangers affiliated) or blue nose pub’ not selling Guinness or Irish Whiskey. That was 30 years ago and those areas have changed and become a bit more gentrified but still areas in Greater Glasgow have pavements painted in Loyalist colours and look more like Belfast than Scotland. It’s pockets of Glasgow and still exists. I don’t know if sectarianism exists in England related to religion and football warring.

A jobbie to me is a log some dirty bugger has not flushed down the toilet!

My DS at 5 years old heard a family friend say he needed a new job. He said jobbies are easy to get, just go to the loo. And then laughed for about half an hour.

I didn't think it was intended to be punitive. But DD has ASD and needs a proper break at lunchtime. I also think it is such a shame to remove all the lunchtime clubs. That's what I wanted for DD.

You summed it up well I have to agree. Apart from the funeral part I imagine people do go to their inlaws funeral.

I think it's a mixture. Plenty of English people are close with their family. I'm close with my partner's family who all live locally. My family don't but I still see them as regularly as I can. My Scottish friend does seem to have numerous cousins and aunties and this and that. One thing I will say my in-laws and Scottish friend's family have continuous drama and fallings out. So not sure I'd want to be super close to my family if that's how it is!

No, we don't have that in England. It sounds intimidating.

@SummerDays2020 It was and I’d avoid still the city centre and other areas on Celtic/Rangers match days. Hate it all. It’s a minority though. The only time I saw anything similar was the Millwall supporters in 80s and London football casuals but it’s not religion related. Here, it’s the link to Ireland Unionism issues and Northern Ireland.

That’s not an English thing, it’s a MN thing, and how can you be sure that the posters you’re thinking of are English? It is not common in England not to have one’s MIL’s number. The people who post on MN about families tend to be the ones who have issues.

Liverpool has historically had issues with sectarianism, although the links to the football clubs were largely incidental. There is almost never any trouble nowadays but there is a big Orange parade through the city every year.

I once read a quote by Billy Connolly who, when asked about Scottish Nationalism, said something like that, growing up, he had more in common with a welder from Liverpool than a fellow Scot who was an accountant in Edinburgh.

The first time I ever set foot in Liverpool (in about 2005) I walked out of Lime Street and there was an Orange Walk going on right in front of me. I could have been in Glasgow.

The lack of decent break times to run around and play football contribute to poor behaviour in the classroom though.

For some, I guess. Most secondary school kids don't actually run around though.

I live in Scotland and I’m not, and my friends don’t seem to be, particularly involved with their in laws lives but then most people know don’t live particularly close to their parents.

Yes, in Glasgow they will ask what you want for you tea, in Edinburgh, they’ll hope you’ve had it! So the story goes….

I have never heard of the words oose or bumfled, they might not be said in my area.
i would say fankled instead of bumfled and I’m not sure what I’d say instead of oose.

@Linnet

Fankled is akin to tangled and can also mean "in a fankle" about being harassed and in a middle. Also "in a guddle"

Bumfled is akin to rumpled. So the bedding/jumper isn't all tangled up. It just needs straightened out.

I don't know where you stay but these are standard phrases in Glasgow for sure.

If a husband’s parent dies then the wife’s parents will go to the funeral as you’re all linked by marriage and you’re family.

I think funerals are different here (in Scotland) anyway in that it’s not unusual for people to attend who didn’t know the deceased but wanted to support the family and pay their respects. My dad would go to funerals of my DHs extended family to represent the link in marriage, I’ve been to the funerals of close colleagues family members to support my colleague and represent the employers support etc.

I didn’t realise how unusual that was until a friends brother died unexpectedly. We had a mixed friendship group, the Scottish friends all planned to attend the funeral, our Welsh and English friends questioned why we’d go to the funeral of someone we didn’t know.

Everyone i know says breakfast dinner and tea. Also Scottish

I'd forgotten about funerals. Yes it would be considered normal to go to funerals where you had never met the deceased.