So Eton, everything I expected and more

[JoanBias]

My DS is at a private school, so I have experience of private schooling, but my word Eton was like another world.

Not just the school, but the people there.

There was one prep school being shown around, all in tweed jackets, and to a boy the spitting image of Draco Malfoy (well there was one Chinese boy, but otherwise....).

One of the mothers doing the tour was not quite right in some respect, I'm not sure how but something wasn't wired up correctly or something. She was immacuately dressed, 6-inch heels (pretty daft considering the confirmation letter warns about having a long walk), but she was just bizarre. The admissions tutor said 'we have a waiting list of 80 boys and typically 35% of these will make it through', and she asked afterwards 'so 80% of the boys from the waiting list make it through?', and it was then explained again, but you could kind of hear the cogs going round and she clearly didn't get it. She had asked several other similar questions; e.g., it was explained that some Houses are catering and others go to a central cafeteria, so she then asked 'so they all eat in the cafeteria'? She pointed at the Fives Court and asked me 'what do they play here?' I said 'Fives' 'Is it squash?', she said. 'No, Eton Fives.' 'So is it squash?' It seemed as if this woman had had the benefit of the 'Finishing School for the Terminally Dim', because she was otherwise every inch the presentable upper middle-class wife.

Another family had a son who looked the prototypical pre-Etonian, and sure enough Daddy spent the tour braying on about his House when he had been there.

The facilities were extremely impressive, although they didn't bother to show us any of the academic parts, and basically the impression was 'if your son is incredibly pushy and self-motivated, send him here and we will teach him to be entitled'. They said 'every year we reject about a third of the highest performers on the test', essentially because they aren't pushy enough. (The House Mistresses seemed quite nice though.)

Fantastic training for future managing directors and whatever, but not for us.....

Well worth it to sign up for a tour, very illuminating. They take about 100 a day from what I can see, so obligation at all....

But you look down so upon them all, or the other prospective parents, who might just be shy.

I look down on everyone.

Did you notice anything besides how the invitation looks, or are you going to post something about Merchant Taylors when you shake the dust of it off your sandals, along the lines of the surface level reflections on Eton?

Is that to make yourself feel better when they also look down on you, joanbyers?

Ooooh I shall look forward to the next chapter in the school sightseeing trail.

Off to order some good meat and fish on-line, this is most definitely the most helpful thread in a while - I can muse schools, diet, ducks and religion all on the same page !

The new arcbishop is going to appoint a woman bishop right away so may be he's a feminist although I will wait for more evidence,. Pity it's not a female arch bishop. At least a woman leads his church - the Queen.

I wonder if his wife out earns him or is a housewife and where his 5 surviving children went or og to school - one is married - probably married young because no sex before marriage which is what tends to lead to early marriage in those kinds of Christians?

He is against gay marriage though so not that enlightened.

I know virtually nothing about private schools.
I wonder if I have been missing the point all these years.
I always thought private schools had much more to do with plebs being in awe, and private schools having excellent social connections, than anything else.
Have times changed , and exam results now matter a lot more than they used to, even to the private schools?

He is not against civil partnerships though so I don't think he's one of those very anti gay ones. My video of him on my link above is not very impressive. He sounds just like two men I know who "found God" late. They seem to be very sort of wet, say things they cannot possibly mean to appear poor and down among the people and although it may work a bit on some it doesn't come over as very impressive at all. Anyway until yesterday I'd never heard of him so I am hardly qualified to comment. All I can see in common that I have with him is we went to private schools and both have 5 children.

That, and he used to earn pots of money, Xenia... .

We had a look at Brighton College. One of the top schools and right on our door step. I really should have considered it and I would have bar one thing, one very silly thing. At the open day the head stood at the front in the theatre and tried to convince us that the children were never going to lose sight of just how privileged they were. "Everyday they will get off the bus to come into school and they will see people selling the big issue" my children have already seen people selling the big issue. Would they be at school with children so completely insulated from real life, so wrapped in cotton wool, from a very different background who had no idea that poverty existed. I didn't want DS in a school with that culture and with an intake that was so narrow.

They pestered us for over two years, invitations became almost begging letters that arrived almost every week, it was laughable because DP and I knew that in addition to the scholarship we would need a hoofing great bursary.

I don't know about the plebs being in awe? Mine are at private school and I spend half my time fending off criticism and the other half laughing along good naturedly with people taking the mick! Things have definitely changed in that case....

Well at least the new archbishop is getting off to a good start appointing a women bishop. Great news. Now all he needs to do is allow gay marriage. why join a club that actually has it written into the rules....you are not welcome. Always confuses me. But this is men, they can not be told no. If the gay lobby were not the gay lobby but the lesbian lobby, they would be waiting a lot lot longer.

Puppypanic, I am sooo tempted to ask what they laugh at.
So I shall, gulp.
Is it the uniforms, lacross etc?

BTW I've started a thread in Chat to talk more about the new Archbishop and what he's said on his first morning in the job, though he only starts properly in December I think ... My thoughts really that it's been a promisingly liberal start for an evangelical ! I think the thread is titled "Thoughts on the new Archbishop, Julian Welby ?" (sorry not good with links)

Ooh, I think it's just gone into discussions of the day ... my first I think !
And sorry in above post that should have been Justin Welby.

I haven't heard the news yet, will have to put the radio on later and try and catch up.

We have had good news, last night Ds 11years has been given his new time table, they have started setting the children this week after the CATS tests and assessments. He is in the top sets for everything which he is pleased with, so now I have to find a way of rewarding him....or should I ? I don't feel that after 2 years of home ed he has really worked for this, except perhaps languages/English, Should I reward him when it all comes too easily? I don't want a lazy big head.

Strangely this is what I think we were seeking to avoid because I really wonder at the quality of the teaching and the lower expectations in state schools. I feel certain that in a private selective school he would have to work far harder. He would be average among a far more academically clever cohort. Ultimately that is better than top of a school that has no selection criteria.

JugglingWithPossibilities, well done you

Oh yes, definitely give him a small reward for that Mini !
My DS has some spelling beginning with Aero today (aeroplane etc.) and I said I'd get him an Aero chocolate bar if he gets them all right - he was dead chuffed and excited !
My DH sometimes says there's "a small verbal reward" on offer for desired behaviour, finding things etc. Quaint & Priceless turn of phrase don't you think ?! Cheap too, which is probably a major consideration for DH !

Thanks for your praise too Mini - Come on over everyone and add your thoughts there too - as not everyone might find them in the Old Etonian's sock drawer

There are liberal evangelicals. Liberal can refer to social issues or theology. A 'liberal Christian' is generally taken to mean someone who is theologically liberal but also socially liberal.

Merchant Taylors is a very good school. Some of ds's friends went there and everyone was saying how they were going to the best school in the country (!). If ds decides he wants to go to day school it will be on our list.

We're quite interested in Merchant Taylors, but we're not close so would have to move.

It's quite a reasonable area to live in though, reasonable house prices, tubes, the right kind of diversity.

Have fond memories of Ruislip Lido.

BTW, on the subject of old-fashioned diets, this is the menu at Rules:

www.rules.co.uk/menus/

IMO that's pretty much what we all should be eating, although quite how they can charge £22.95 PER PERSON for a single pheasant that can't cost more than a fiver is beyond me.

amillionyears. No lacrosse there thank the Lord!!!

Uniforms are passable thankfully, no it's more sneering I think at the supposed exclusivity of it. Makes me laugh though because I was in a small village school before that which was 100% white and very middle class whereas as this school is far more ethnically diverse so god knows what they're on about but I just smile and nod.

They laugh at the big cars (not mine as it is the polar opposite of most of them, I park over with the staff and care not a jot !) and the poncey parents although most of the parents are just harrassed mothers and fathers worrying about lots of things we all worry about, they choose not to see them though of course as they don't make such good sport.

I'm alright with it, you make your choices, don't carp on about them and don't sneer or criticise others - seems to me the best way.

Yes, how we ate - meat and veg etc is what we're made to eat, not what most people now eat so I'm sure the Rules menu is pretty good. I would go with oysters too - I eat a lot of sea food. I bought some seaweed fresh but that was a bit complex to get delivered. I think it came from Scotland. Very good stuff. I now hvae a vision of myself 40,000 years BC or may be even when this mammoth was roaming the earth 50,00 to 200,000 years ago www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/a-mammoth-find-in-france-provides-evidence-of-a-savage-demise-8298524.html in my fur bikini on the shore line eating sea weed and fresh sea food in the sun.

I think this mammoth was attacked by our ancestors. I expect they would have eaten every bit of him from top to toe. We probably had fire then too so I expect we cooked and ate the meat.