Secondary education

PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION

Compulsory education in Britain begins at the age of 5 but in some areas there are nursery schools for children under 5 years of age. Some children between two and five receive education in nursery classes or in infant classes in primary schools. Many children attend informal pre-school play-grounds organized by parents in private homes. Nursery schools are staffed with teachers and students in training. There are all kinds of toys to keep the children busy from 9 o'clock in the morning till 4o'clock in the afternoon — while their parents are at work. Here the babies play, lunch and sleep. They can run about and play in safety with someone keeping an eye on them.

For day nurseries, which remain open all the year round, the parents pay according to their income. The local education authority's nurseries are free. But only about three children in 100 can go to them: there aren't enough places, and the waiting lists are rather long.

PRIMARY EDUCATION

Most children start school at the age of 5 in a primary school. A primary school is devised into infants and juniors. At infant schools reading, writing and arithmetic (three “Rs”) are taught for about 20 minutes a day during the first year, gradually increasing to about 2 hours in their last year. There is usually no written timetable. Much time is spent in modeling from clay or drawing, reading or singing.

By the time children are ready for the junior school they will be able to read and write, do simple addition and subtraction of numbers.

At the age of 7 children go on from the infants school to the junior school. This marks the transition from play to «real work». The children have set periods of arithmetic, reading and composition, which are all «11+» subjects. History, Geography, Nature Study, Art and Music, Physical Education, Swimming are also on the timetable.

Pupils are streamed, according to their ability to learn, into A, B, C and D stream. The least gifted are in the D stream. Formerly towards the end of their fourth year the pupils wrote their «11+» Examination. The hated «11 +», examination was a selective procedure on which not only the pupils' future schooling but their future careers depended. The abolition of selection at «11+» Examination brought to life comprehensive schools where pupils of all abilities can get secondary education.

Comprehensive schools dominate among all types of schools in secondary education: 90 per cent of all state — financed secondary schools are of this type.

Most other children receive secondary education in grammar, secondary modern and very few secondary technical schools. Those who can pay go to public schools.

The transition from primary to secondary school is made between the age of 11-12 years. At this age only some children sit for the selective examinations to be admitted to grammar schools. «11+» is retained mostly in Wales.

Comprehensive schools. Comprehensive schools were introduced in 1965. The idea of comprehensive education, supported by the Labour Party, was to give all children of whatever background the same opportunity in education.

So comprehensive schools are non-selective («all-in») schools, which provide a wide range of secondary education for all the children of a district. They are the most important types of secondary school because they are attended by 84 per cent of all secondary school pupils.

There are various ways in which a comprehensive school can be organised. It can, by «streaming* within the school, try to keep children of approximately similar ability in one group or class; or it can leave the children to choose between large numbers of courses; or it can combine the two methods. Pupils may leave the school at the age of 16 or 18.

Comprehensive schools are often very large schools with up to two thousand pupils.

Grammar schools. A grammar school mainly provides an exam-centred academic Bourse from 11 to 18. It is the main route to the universities and the professions. A large proportion of university students is recruited from grammar schools, though they make 3 % of all schools.

Most grammar school pupils remain at school until 18 or 19 years old, especially if they want to go on to university. Some degree of specialisation, especially as between arts and science subjects, is usual in the upper forms. The top form is always called the «sixth form». Pupils may remain in this form for two or three years, until they leave school. Selection of primary school children for grammar schools is usually based on school record cards, teachers' reports, tests and consultation with parents. After the reform act of 1988 many grammar schools were turned into comprehensives and the change was in many cases very painful.

Secondary modem schools give a general education with a practical bias¹. It is common for more time to be given to handicrafts, domestic sciences and other practical activities than in grammar schools.

«Streaming» is practiced in secondary modern schools. The children in each group are usually placed in three «streams» A, B, and C: «C» stream is for children of the least academic type, concentrating mainly on practical work.

Secondary technical schools, a smaller group (less than 2 per cent), offer a general education largely related to industry commerce and agriculture. These schools are not very popular and few places have them. They provide teaching up to the age of 18.

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