1960’s primary schooling!

[Knittingnanny]

Just found this in a file, my school “ report” aged 10.
Look at the number in the class, how on earth did that teacher know who we all were!
So glad I was a teacher in an era where numbers were far more reasonable.

Yes I remember the term “ remedial” being used. In my large junior classes. I can vividly remember a blackboard full of fraction sums that we all had to work through. Goodness knows how the children with sen coped with that that sort of work.
Sadly my memory of the little girl with Down’s syndrome was that she refilled our ink wells every day.
There was definitely a shortage of teacher’s after the war, there was a shortened 2 year training course brought in for them instead of the standard 3 years.

The term for learning disabilities when my mum started teaching ( end of 50s) was ES standing for Educationally Subnormal!
I grew up hearing my mother referring to someone as "a bit ES".

Such an interesting thread! It has made me remember my old form tutor fondly, who in the early 2000s in secondary school had some quirky traits which were clearly a hang-on from his previous teaching days… he used surnames rather than first names when taking the register and was the only teacher in school still with a blackboard and chalk! The development in technology and pedagogy experienced by teachers in the lifetime of their careers is so huge and I’ve never really thought about it until now!

The development in technology and pedagogy experienced by teachers in the lifetime of their careers is so huge and I’ve never really thought about it until now!

One of my DS Heads retired just at the end of the first lockdown.
Could you imagine someone saying to her just graduated self, you'll end your career teaching kids in their houses over the Internet. It's blow your mind stuff!

Enormous changes. When my mum was teaching in the 70s and 80s she had a colleague who was getting a responsibility allowance for watering the school plants . This teacher arrived in school at around the same time as the children and at the end of the school day was often out of the playground before the children were. My mum told me it was just accepted by PlantWaterer's colleagues that whoever inherited her class the following year would have to work hard to get them up to the standard of the parallel class. No inspections, no performance management, no observations by the SMT, no SATS, no league tables, not much parental pressure, so she just carried on doing the absolute minimum until she retired.

That was the flipside of teachers having absolute autonomy in the classroom, which was a good thing, if the teacher was good. The arrival of the National Curriculum and SATs was a huge shock to many teachers - an affront, in the eyes of many, as they thought it undermined their professional status. I remember it well, as my children were just about to start school and I was paying more attention to education matters.

Yes the change since I qualified in 1978 is phenomenal, it’s beyond comprehension that one of my “ targets” for the end of my “ probationary “ year ( NQT year) was to improve the presentation of my handwriting on the blackboard!

There were 40 of us in my class 89-95. Usually we got split somehow, the school also refurbished changing rooms to make an extra classroom. The y6 classroom was big so we all got taught together.

We still had percentages and class rankings on reports when I was at school in the mid to late 90s. Having said that the head at the school I went to still wore a gown this century so it was hardly progressive.

Mum has her old school report book (nice cloth bound thing that followed/haunted you up throughout the school). Disadvantage is that I knew where it was kept and when she started telling me off for my school reports all commenting that I never stopped talking... I pulled hers out with exactly the same line on every subject every year.

DD1's school reports also include the slightly more politely phrased equivalents of "talks too much" as well - I'm blaming genetics.

Found DD2's couple of years ago report the other day and it made me bawl my eyes out with the line about "she needs to realise just how fantastic she is".

@2reefsin30knots

My mum taught reception and when I was a pre-schooler I went with her! I had a lovely time. I even went to staff meetings and sometimes sat on the Head's knee. That would have been 1982-3ish.

Yes, I went in with my dm around 10:as school holidays differed

This thread has reminded me that our class register was done in order of age rather than alphabetically (1980s). So I was second to last because my birthday is in August. Weird.

@garlictwist

This thread has reminded me that our class register was done in order of age rather than alphabetically (1980s). So I was second to last because my birthday is in August. Weird.

That's interesting-my mum said that her secondary school register was by age in the late 60s/early 70s, and I'd never heard of it before. My junior school register (late 90s/early 00s) was alphabetical but was all the girls followed by all the boys, which is also a bit odd.

just checked out my primary school photos from the 60's. there were between 36-40 in our class. about 30 in secondary. just one teacher in primary.

@toomuchlaundry

At my secondary school, the HT would sometimes read out everyone’s term mark in class/assembly (quite small school) so everyone would know how well/badly you had done that term!

At my Grammar school we had a list of everyone's mark in every subject pinned up every month. It was called the Monthly Order. The top three got a 'Commendation' in assembly, the bottom three got a 'Warning'. If you were consistently at the bottom you got put 'on Report' and had to get a Report card signed by the teacher every lesson. I always that the 'Warning' part was unfair, even though it never happened to me, as there would always have to be someone at the bottom. The same thing happened with exam results.

@garlictwist

This thread has reminded me that our class register was done in order of age rather than alphabetically (1980s). So I was second to last because my birthday is in August. Weird.

I was a Reception teacher and always liked my Register in age order as it was a quick reminder, at the beginning of the year, as to who was Summer born.

I always that the 'Warning' part was unfair, even though it never happened to me, as there would always have to be someone at the bottom. The same thing happened with exam results.

Exactly. I remember saying the same to DD once when she started running and everyone was faster than her. Someone has to come last even if they get a really good time. Same with exams. Someone will be at the bottom.

I think showing results and places can be a kill or cure attitude and some children will respond and work harder whereas others will have their confidence knocked and need support.

I was at primary in the 70s and we used to have class places too. I still remember who the boy was that always came first and then the 4 others I used to compete with for the next places.

@ufucoffee

I can't imagine teachers in the 60's had to put up with complaining and demanding parents like they do today. That must have been easier.

But schools didn’t berate parents either . Parents were not expected to tip up at school on an almost weekly basis , or provide endless costumes, or sign homework books ( maybe a reading card) , lunch boxes were entirely the parents concern. I’m not saying it was right but they were completely separate.

@FourFourthsDontCare

There were 44 in my top year infants’ class in 1982. And my senior school - all girls, hyper-competitive - always read out exam results in reverse order. Somehow all the subject results then translated to a position in the form. Ugh.

Yes, end of year exam results were read out in my secondary school too, also all girls, in the late 80s / early 90s - I can’t remember whether it was in reverse order or not.

One of my memories of primary school was having the lead role in the Christmas play (Mrs Christmas) and my mother spending hours making my costumes so I'm not sure that's true.

I also remember going to the teachers house in the next village to rehearse after school ...

I started primary school in 1984 and we had class positions all the way through. My primary was private so there were only 15 in the class. I then went to a selective secondary, 30 in each class, four streams in each year. The class positions were supposed to be confidential but they never were. It was very harsh for those at the bottom of the lower stream.

@Norestformrz , yes and i remember my mother doing the same with a rose costume for a summer play , but it wasn't once a month and pay for the privilege, or world book day or one poster recently said that they had fancy dress for every topic , thats several times a term. there was no such thing as a Christmas jumper and going to school in pyjamas would have frankly been very cold and my mother would have looked askance at having top pay to wear my pyjamas to school.

Fundraising tended to be cake sales and bring and buys and even those were less common than they are now.

my favourite primary school memory is of being art monitor and having to come in early to peel the dried glue off the saucers and mix the paints!

@Norestformrz

One of my memories of primary school was having the lead role in the Christmas play (Mrs Christmas) and my mother spending hours making my costumes so I'm not sure that's true.

Yeah I had a costume at Christmas (in the early 90s). An old sheet and a tea towel on my head as a shepherd!

My child started Reception last year. We had:

Odd Socks Day for anti-bullying week
World Book Day
Heroes Day
Comic Relief
Easter bonnet Day
Christmas Jumper Day

All required a different costume/clothing and that was cut down because of COVID.

Also when I was at primary we had no homework until KS2 age (Y3+) bar reading and even then it was only spellings and times tables. My child now in Y1 has daily reading, spellings and sums, plus a termly project subject with 3 different tasks to be completed. At five years old. We're also called on frequently to send in photos for projects, sponsorship for various endeavours, etc etc.

I don't mind doing any of it if it helps with my child's education however I don't think we can deny that parents are more involved and more put upon than ever before - and have higher expectations of schools are are possibly more 'demanding' as a result. Plus most parents both work now (I don't, so I have time to do all of this stuff) but it must be very difficult if you're both out of the house 40h per week and also have to fit this all in!

"Likearoomwithoutaroif"

I started primary in 1961 and we had costumes throughout the year. My "leading lady" Mrs Christmas role, aged 8 or 9 involved costume changes and different headdresses my mother had to provide. My favourite being a long red velvet dress with white swansdown trim at the neck and hem, no mean feat with a circular skirt all hand stitched, and a headdress of holly and Christmas roses. We also dressed up at Easter, Mayday and various special events throughout the year.

Did you have to pay , common now to have to pay to wear fancy dress) and was this as part of a celebration or just to attend normal lessons. I cannot remember ever having to dress up just to go to school (other than uniform) If we wore a costume it was for a school production or similar.