Tuesday 26 April 2016

A bit more about me...........my education

Ok let us talk about my education, this could be a short post, since I have bugga all education......lol

Ok I started school when I was 5, I went to Gateshead primary school, then onto Gateshead high school, I left at the end of year 10. When I was at school you could leave any time after turning 14yrs & 9mths, however, now days you are expected to go through to the end of year 12 which I think is stupid as I can tell you there was no way I could have done years 11 & 12 I just wasn't smart enough.

When I was in high school I was in a C class, in fact I was in & 7C2 and was in the C2 class all way through high school this was the class above the “dummies” class which was 7D1 which was also known as the OA class which had those student who had some kind of intellectual disability but this class still in my days had around 20-30 students in it.

Now days there are generally two levels of classes for students with some kind of intellectual disability the first level is what is called an IM class, then there is the IO class, the IM class is for students with a mild intellectual disability or what is usually called a learning disability, the IO class is for students with a moderate intellectual disability.

So this said I think if I was in school today I would be in an IM class as the IO class is what we called the OA class. Tim was in an OA class when he was at school and he left half way through year 8 as soon as he was able to do so but this isn't a post about him it is about me.

As I said I left school at the end of year 10, now I can tell you when I sat the year 10 school certificate exams I failed the english exam getting only 48% the other exams science and maths I did better on getting around 60-70%.

When I left school I had no idea what I was going to do and had no intention of doing any more studying but as it turned out I did a secretarial course at Tafe (Technical and Further Education) only because my best friend at the time wanted to do one but as it turned out I got into the course and she didn't.

Did I like school?

No I did not but I went every bloody day because it was just what was expected, it never occurred to me not to attend each day. Yeah many students skip school but not me in a year I would have only 1 or 2 days off school because I was sick.


14 comments:

  1. Down here we had to stay in school until we were 16.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think 16 is the minimum age students can leave now in New South Wales

      Delete
  2. This was particularly interesting to me as I have no clear idea at all of school systems elsewhere in the world. I wonder if the school system there in Australia are much the same now or have they changed?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is much the same, except when it comes to students with learning difficulties

      Delete
  3. I, too had no idea how other countries deal with education. I am not entirely sure what age one has to stay in school here, but I expect that each state has it's own laws on the subject. Where I grew up, everyone I know graduated high school but it was hit and miss as to how much secondary education they received. I went on to college courses but ultimately went back to school to become a Realtor. I always liked school and still take classes every year. I am required to take 12 credit hours a year to keep my real estate license.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My daughter Kathy is studying online now she wants to work in child care and maybe become a teacher one day

      Delete
  4. I actually enjoyed school.
    Even better, it kept me inside, away from the bullies.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I loved boarding school and by the time the holidays were over I couldn't wait to get on the North-West Mail train ( the night train) from Moree to Sydney to get back with my mates. Left Moree at 3.00pm in the afternoon and arrived at Sydney Central at 7.30 am the next morning. Extra carriages were on this train for all the students to various Sydney Colleges for the return to college trip and it was full of very observant guards, the boys stayed in their sleeping carriages and the girls in theirs - ha ha!

    Unlike the obvious experience of Mr. Penwasser, bullies at my college were quickly shown the EXIT gate.
    Camaraderie was the motto of my College - akin I suppose to the "Three Musketeers" but we had over "750 Musketeers" - it was an all boarding college back in those days and now has opened it's doors to a few day boys.
    Colin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't imagine going to a boarding school, I know they always sound exciting in books but would I like to have attended one, I don't think so nor could I imagine going to an all girl school

      Delete
  6. School is not for everyone. In my town there were high schools (grades 9 - 12) but there were also technical high schools for those who were looking to be trained for a trade. I think it's good to have options.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think some people learn better when they are older as in adults then when they were children my daughter Kathy is doing better now at the age of 30 then she did when she was a teenager at school

      Delete
  7. You are right some people learn better as they get older. I liked school but I didn't do too well until I was older at Teachers college. I reckon as long as you can get a job and be financially secure it doesn't matter about education,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with you there are some very well educated unemployed people around

      Delete
  8. So intersting to read about school Down Under.
    In Switzerland they don't offer classes for kids who are experiencing difficulties learning (or for children who find the regular assignments easy for that matter) - imagine the challenge for the teachers!
    It's interesting that you mention school after so many years. I just got in touch with my old history teacher, and I plan on writing about it in one way or another.

    ReplyDelete

Working Life in the 1890's Australia

Ok this week we are looking at farming in the 1890’s Australia with the invention of milking machines dairy farmers were encouraged to use t...