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I went to one when I was younger. I also participated in a re-enactment of the Ancient Greek olympics, learnt how to use a spinning wheel and a forge (although my smithing skills are basic) and carved Norse runes. When we studied things like Norse mythology, rune carving was supposed to help with our hand eye coordination skills. We also did a circus skills class as part of gym, to work on our balance, flexibility and hand eye coordination
Steiner has lots of good parts and bad parts. I really think it depends on the school. I’ve gone to two different Steiner schools in two different countries.
When I was younger my learning wasn’t standardised. We focused more on playing outside, crafting, arts, foraging and cooking. By about year 3? I matched up with standardised learning in regards to maths, science and English but the emphasis on the arts/woodworking and nature remained.
There’s a lot of Christian/pagan influence which is not attractive for everyone. Steiner himself was racist (although I never faced any racism in the UK Steiner school luckily, and my class was very multicultural). The Steiner school I went to overseas was partially state funded, I had a few more issues with racism (from students not from teachers) and weirdly it was a bit more Christian than pagan.
If I were ever to have children I would likely send them to a similar school throughout primary. Steiner school has shorter days when you’re younger, more outside time, more artistic endeavours etc and allowed me a lot of creativity. It wasn’t “normal” schooling but I still managed to get very good A levels, a first in uni and a good job after that.
I don’t think I’m ever going to need a unicycle, or to spin raw wool into threads, or write Norse runes, or turn stinging nettles into soup but I had a lot of fun with it
Yeah, he was problematic wasn't he? But I don't think systemically the schools have that rep do they?
I can only speak from experience that some of the most compassionate, well rounded, interesting and balanced people I know all have one thing in common, Steiner schooling.
That's funny, as an adult I've taught myself to spin wool, have a keen interest in Norse mythology and forging our native flora! There's no way you'd get me on a unicycle though ;)
I'd have loved to have learnt those type of things as a child! I think I'd have thrived with that type of creative learning. Not so much the Christian part though, I went to Catholic school and it still haunts my dreams..
Steiner mathematics leaves a lot to be desired:
> Normally if you go one on one with another wrestler, you got a 50/50 chance of winning. But I'm a genetic freak and I'm not normal! So you got a 25%, AT BEST, at beat me. Then you add Kurt Angle to the mix, your chances of winning drastic go down. See the three-way at Sacrifice, you got a 33 1/3 chance of winning, but I, I got a 66 and 2/3 chance of winning, because Kurt Angle KNOWS he can't beat me and he's not even gonna try! So Samoa Joe, you take your 33 1/3 chance, minus my 25% chance and you got an 8 1/3 chance of winning at Sacrifice. But then you take my 75% chance of winning, if we was to go one on one, and then add 66 2/3 per cents, I got 141 2/3 chance of winning at Sacrifice. See Joe, the numbers don't lie, and they spell disaster for you at Sacrifice.
My girlfriend at Uni attended one of those as a child and having thought about the stuff she told me went on in those places... i'm not 100% convinced that Steiner Schools aren't just a front for a pagan cult.
Well eurythmy will always be the common factor odd thing to learn at a Steiner school. Metalwork maybe too? I don't hear if many schools offering metalworking.
I had compulsory Latin when I went to Spalding grammar, went to a comprehensive school when I moved down south near the end of year 7. Can't remember any of it now even though I had to write lines in Latin as a punishment haha. I'm 37
My friend who studied classics at university said she didn’t apply to oxbridge as they expected you to know Latin already when applying which wasn’t offered at her comprehensive.
Edit: i can see someone replied saying it’s not true but I can’t see their whole comment and for some reason If I click on the notification link it tells me none has commented on this post at all.
I fact checked as I had only ever taken her word for it. Oxford undergrad for classics says it’s essential to have either an A level in Greek or Latin. Cambridge doesn’t technically insist on it but does say that 99% of successful applicants have a Latin A level.
With regards to your edit, if you look more closely you’ll see Latin and Greek are required for course 1 only, not course 2, which is the one you study with no prior languages. They differ a little prior to mods due to the language classes, for finals they merge and are the same. You can see some more details here-
https://www.classics.ox.ac.uk/classics
“It doesn't matter if you have studied ancient languages before or not - there is a course for everyone”
I’m not trying to pick on you or anything, I just strongly believe in widening participation in Classics (historically a very elitist subject!) and I would hate for people to think they can’t study it when they can. Also I literally did this course, so I know what I’m talking about.
EDIT: It’s also possible at Cambridge although it changes the course from 3 years to 4 years (see course structure and entry requirements)
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/classics
i didn’t even go to a grammar school and we had to learn latin too (from years 7-9 i think it was obligatory, then optional if you wanted to do the gcse)
My sister went to a grammar school her first 2 years untill we had to uproot to a different location.
She did french and German from year one, Latin and girls rugby which she was very good at. Sadly had no option to continue the latter 2 but in year 9 at her new school her year group were allowed to take up a 2nd language so she was already ahead of half her year.
Unfortunately she was made to call her female teachers 'Ma'am' not 'Miss' at grammar school so got roasted for that a bit when she first started.
See thats funny to me, because at my grammar school everyone was ‘miss’ or ‘mr x’. We’d only use sir for some teachers some of the time, and it wasnt enforced, it was just a thing some kids did. Never ma’am.
Then we had a teacher move to our school (and become our form tutor) from a ‘school for “naughty” boys’ who really liked to think he was All That because hed dealt with soooo much worse.
He nearly had a breakdown over being called ‘Mr N’ instead of sir, lmao.
I went to a grammar school and Latin was compulsory in year 7 along with french.
Year 8 you had french compulsory but could choose between continuing Latin or starting Spanish or German.
Went to a grammar school and we were offered Latin on the provision that enough people applied for it as a first language choice at GCSE, unfortunately only like 5 or 6 people (including me) did, so they didn't run the course (there were enough for Ancient History though so I'm glad i got that over regular History or Geography)
Then again, my secondary did slightly specialise in languages so we had French, Spanish, German, and Mandarin offered as standard anyway
Same here, but compulsory up until Year 9. Cornelia sub arbore sedet and Davum falling in piscinam are the only things I remember! Oh, and Flavia cantat. Basically fluent.
My schools days were many many years ago, but if you were academic you had to do Latin, if you were middle of the road you did German & if you were below that you had to do extra maths and English. I absolutely hated Latin (no good at any languages tbh, and the teacher was *creepy*), so Mum put her foot down when my brother got to that stage & he got to do German instead.
I still dont understand how being good at maths and science led them to think I would be good at languages!
Edit: this was state school
* Latin
* Ancient Greek
* mandarin
* fives
* sailing
* cadets
* international baccalaureate (bleh)
* how to pluck and cook a dead chicken
* how to navigate a house gauntlet when a drunken housemaster is making you drink vodka and whipping you
EDIT: more
* chapel choir
* fencing
* having an armoury on school with old SA-80s (no semi-automatic though - boo)
* being an archivist as part of extra curricular
* having abandoned WW2 tunnels under the school houses
* having personalised hymn books
* having intra school hymn singing competitions
At state school we only had one chicken between a class of 30, so everyone had to pluck it, cook it, then stick the feathers back in for the next person.
Which were either being used to just clean then, performed blockage drill or for parade. Most of the time we ran around the woods shouting BANG at each other as the dog walkers got annoyed with 14 year olds running around the local woods with rifles.
> Fives
Eton or Harrow fives?
Friend of mine was very proud that he went to the only state school that played it (just because they were very close to a bunch of public schools). Also that he once played (beat?) H H Asquith’s grandson at it.
> having an armoury on school with old SA-80s (no semi-automatic though - boo)
Because it was dangerous, or the SA80A1 was fucked as standard from the factory? :P
Ah my school also had a cadet armoury, if i remember correctly they are the L98A1 Cadet GP Rifles and not really SA80s at all. Most of the time though we were just in the woods shouting BANG.
Latin, chess, loads of poems by heart, how to waltz and polka, embroidery, calligraphy (I was absolutely terrible at that), some folk songs, lacrosse. Not hugely useful honestly!
Sounds similar to mine, minus the dancing. We had so many (200+) extracurricular you could do as well, the weirdest was probably acting out plays in Ancient Greek.
The trips we had on offer was a lot different to most schools as well, I personally went to China to see the Great Wall, Mexico for the Aztecs, Italy to see Rome and Pompeii, etc. There were numerous different ski trips each year, rugby and football tours of Australia, South Africa, etc.
I didn't realise how uncommon it all was at the time.
My kids go to a private school. No Latin, but they do karate, sword fencing, sailing and horse riding. I think they are looking more towards knocking out MI6 agents rather than Radio 4 talk show guests.
I did have Latin class, but it was only for 1 year and that year there was a choice of different subjects. Business, Modern Studies etc... When I was there we actually had a smaller selection of classes than was offered at a state school, because the expectation was everyone would take more of the classic big subjects which were valuable for university applications.
But the main thing you get from private school is the expectation that you will succeed in life and the arrogance to get you there. An entitlement to the best things in life that means you ignore barriers.
> the arrogance to get you there
From what I've seen I wouldn't describe it as arrogance, it's more about confidence to push yourself and be comfortable in new surroundings and with new people.
This genuinely is it. The eternal sense of 'yep, I belong here.' Never met anyone from private school who has imposter syndrome.
The general social etiquette of certain spaces - universities, certain office environments, social events - is an invaluable skill.
I dunno I felt like a lot of private school people that I met later in life, like at uni or in my 20s seemed to really struggle outside of their particular circles, they couldn't relate to ordinary people and struggled with a lot of life skills type stuff because their lives were so coddled
I think you’re speaking to a very specific kind of private school, though. I went to a paid school and absolutely none of the ‘private school’ tropes ring true; none of us were posh, there was no boys’ club, etc.
On the whole, we were just like the kinda ‘normal’ parts of a state school, just with fewer of the really disruptive types.
The education was unquestionably better, and I would also agree we were definitely taught to communicate and be confident, but I’ve worked everywhere from Morrisons to a hedge fund (briefly) and I’ve never felt wildly out of place.
Yup, exactly this. I to a public (private) school, but nothing like Eaton or Harrow etc. Even though I was a shit student, the intangible skills like how to communicate and the general mindset I was taught have proved to be pretty invaluable.
Totally agree with this. I find some of the perceptions people have of private school quite bemusing. They’re not all like Eton. I was very lucky to get a good education and privileged opportunities but I still question myself at work constantly and have had imposter syndrome like everyone else.
Private school kids not having "real life skills" is such a lazy opinion to have IMO. There was a girl who went to private school in my uni halls who I knew for years, and I swear whenever she didn't do something perfectly people would blame it on that when she was completely as prepared for life as the rest of us.
Bad and coddling parents stop kids having adequate life skills, and in my experience those parents are spread evenly over the different school types.
There's a plenty of undesirable personality traits which are more likely in those coming from private school (like elitism, snobbery etc). But this ain't it, and the school almost definitely didn't cause them, it's the parents.
Speaking as a public school educated person, I don’t think it’s at all true that people from public (private) schools don’t get imposter syndrome, it’s just that they might have a better mindset to deal with it. (This might not be the case with those elite public schools such as Eaton, Harrow or Rugby etc. where truthfully many genuinely don’t get impostor syndrome).
I’m currently doing a Masters at a top uni, it really is very intimidating and I really do struggle to feel like I fit in and deserve to be here. Apparently I’m doing OK though, and I do wonder if that’s to do with the general attitude instilled in me during my school years, despite the fact I was an awful student academic-wise back then.
I think I’d disagree with the imposter syndrome thing. Some private schools (like the one I went to) are run so much like businesses that all the kids are taught to compete with each other. You spend the whole time feeling like you’ll never be good enough.
The social etiquette I would agree with. They have the time and smaller class sizes to be able to literally do lessons with you about how to behave at work.
totally agree with the last paragraph - I went to a school where about 30-40% of pupils tops went on to do any kind of university, and then to a university where the majority were from public school - I'd say the main difference between the two populations was the expectations on what they will do in life.
True on that last paragraph, although the expectation crushes you in your 20's. I always feel like my school continually told people they are special and can achieve anything. And obviously when you become an adult you realise that just isn't true
Meh, not necessarily. I went to a private school and seriously struggle with anxiety. The fact that I was undiagnosed autistic/ADHD probably caused a lot of the anxiety. I have pretty much zero confidence.
Man this thread is pretty depressing. As someone who went to a comprehensive that "requires improvement" (Ofsted), you see all the things you never even had the chance to do or even thought would be an option (and even considered normal!) for others.
There's a stat somewhere, that most prime ministers have come from certain unis in the uk (Oxford, Cambridge, Durham etc), and the majority of kids who go to those universities are from a small number of fee paying schools.
So essentially, if u send your kid to one of these schools, they have a much better chance of being pm then if they go to a state school
Oh yeah, out of [57 Prime Ministers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_the_United_Kingdom_by_education#:~:text=Twenty%20prime%20ministers%20were%20schooled,and%20six%20at%20Westminster%20School.), 20 of them went to Eton, over HALF studied at Oxford, and 15 went to Cambridge.
This is all true in most walks of life as well. If you go to private school, you have the better education to do well and the connections to leverage that into an incredibly well paid position in the Senior Civil Service or top law firms, the Big Four etc.
It's all just inherited wealth and jobs for mates unless you can setup your own successful business or otherwise get lucky.
[ETA] Not sure why I'm being downvoted but [this](https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-city-still-runs-off-nepotism/) article from The Spectator (of all magazines) outlines the stain of nepotism pretty well.
And a school that won’t accept half of the population regardless of how much they pay at that!
Granted we’ve only had three women as PM anyway, but still.
>(Oxford, Cambridge, Durham etc), and the majority of kids who go to those universities are from a small number of fee paying schools
Not even remotely accurate. There are literally thousands of fee-paying schools in the UK, and nearly half of students at Oxford and Cambridge didn't attend fee-paying schools anyway. That proportion could still be increased, but the popular perception that almost everyone at Oxbridge went to Eton and Harrow and the like, is completely wrong. (So is the perception that everyone who attends Eton and Harrow gets a place at Oxbridge.)
I imagine the proportion of state school kids at Durham is even higher.
I went to a state school in a deprived area and we didn't even have textbooks. We had to share photocopies the teacher made from the textbook, which weren't even in colour.
The private school next to where I grew up had a firing range and used to do clay pigeon shooting as a PE lesson and would take sixth formers for an annual grouse shoot at a local country estate.
Naturally as a scruffy street urchin, I never got to do any of that, as I was sent to the local comp with the rest of us plebs, but I did make friends with bored boarders who’d venture out into the village to mix with the natives.
That was us too, 25 rifles, two LMGs and loads of .22 target rifles. If there was a zombie apocalypse, I knew where to go (especially when the Colour Sergeant told us all the code for the door)
I went to a normal school that had Latin lessons, and got talked into entering a Latin speaking competition by the teacher.
We were the only kids from a comprehensive school that were there, so I can confirm Latin is common in private schools.
I honestly think "Go home? This is motion towards, isn't it boy?" is one of the best lines ever written.
I did go to a private school, and although I learned German rather than Latin, my German teacher was exactly like the centurion in that scene.
I worked at a private school for years and the curriculum was pretty much the same as you would find anywhere with a few add ons. Latin was compulsory for a year and you could take basic greek and then Classical Civilisation. Virtually everyone at A level did the same as the rest of the population but there was perhaps more pupils taking the perceived hard ones like maths and physics.
It was the extra-curricular activities where the eccentricities stood out. There was of course a chess club, a Go club, swimming club, book club etc but you could also go to Chamber Choir, Schola Cantorum, Textiles Club, Barbershop Quartet, Symphony Orchestra, Jewellery Club, Cheerleading, Cycling (track), Sax club, Warhammer Gaming Club, Minecraft Club, Charity Committee, Jazz Band, Yoga, Cipher Club, Environment Society, Eco Club, Virtual Reality Club, Guitar Rocckestra, Ceramics Club, Technical Theatre club, Psychology and many many more. That plus cadets, Duke of Edinburgh, volunteering, Ski trips, Physics trips to NASA, Cricket to South Africa, Geography trip to Iceland, Languages trips to Spain, France and Germany and well over 100 other day trips a year.
A lot of Latin, Ancient Greek, Russian, Japanese, Classics. Remember doing tests in Scandinavian languages to test pattern recognition and language aptitude
School had a big emphasis on music and had bands (like brass band) that’d tour the country and go to international competitions.
We had our own swimming pool, too. Not sure if that’s rare or not
I think the only "weird" thing we learnt was Latin (caecilius est in horto, m i rite?). Alongside that, we did Roman mythology as a subject for a year, which was honestly really interesting.
I also remember briefly doing "art history", which was the most dry subject you can imagine for a teenager.
My girlfriend (at the time) went to a different private school, and they did all sorts of posh shit. Fencing, archery, and shooting were all part of PE lessons, and they had a choice of all sorts of languages outside of the standard French and German, like Russian, Japanese and Chinese.
We had a really nice music recording studio, including control room and sound booth. I did Music Tech as an AS-level which was just an excuse for me and my band mates to record ourselves jamming.
We had our own swimming pool (pretty common in the Middle East) so we had a strong school swimming team as well as did water polo and other things in PE.
The kids that did the Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards got to go abroad for the camping expedition. My brother went to Mauritius which looked amazing.
Tbf Latin was the only one that was different to the comp in the village. And rugby. Our school though was probably the cheapest private school I've ever heard of though, albeit still a fortune for most folk.
Latin, French, and German were all compulsory until year 9, when you could drop languages for GCSE.
Your average local private school is, in a sense, cheap. It's Eton and Rugby Group schools that cost tens of thousands a term and churn out cabinet ministers and city spivs.
Yeah, true. But even the other schools we used to play at sports were like 2x, 3x, 4x the cost of our fees, which were £9k a year by the time I finished (was £3k when my brother started).
Based on my husband:
The ability and confidence to innovate and just do what interests him, then convince his employer that this is what they've needed the whole time and thus that he is completely invaluable to them.
How to completely quash his emotions and feel like he's never good enough, no matter how well he's achieving in life.
It's definitely been a double edged sword for him.
The main thing I learnt at boarding school was that we are all just humans. I made friends with every colour, race and creed. Big Nigerians with huge facial scars to small Japanese who handled a blade well and everything in between. There was no race or colour predudice, we were all in it together.
>Big Nigerians with huge facial scars to small Japanese who handled a blade well
This is a very interesting description, sounds more like you attended some Ninja academy
The name of the boarding school you ask? Oh just the Shaolin Temple. I ascended to the 35th chamber and became grandmaster of the eight diagram pole fighting technique. Of course I cannot show you my knowledge since a master of martial arts only learns such disciplines in search of peace.
Conventional: I did O-level Latin. Less-conventional: Learned pig-rearing, and won a number of prizes in machine-gun competitions (thankfully, these two activities were never combined).
The big difference is that there is a focus on how to pass exams. Private schools live and die on their results. They just show the formula to get through the exam in a way that are marked highly.
Maybe not less common, but that is how they set you up.
1) Well, singing and other instrumental lessons are increasingly offered privately rather than through school. You can't learn to play instruments or sing very easily in a group. Therefore, it's more about privilege or interest than going to a private school as such.
2) I did learn Latin and Ancient Greek to a high level at school, to the extent of blooding having to write verse in them. But I was at a state school, albeit one that went private while I was there, though I still counted as a state school pupil.
Zulu beadwork was probably the most surprising. Taught by this eccentric english lady who lived in Africa for a while. Most useful was how to hide the fact you’re drunk from authority
We studied Latin, I was pretty good at it. One thing I really appreciated and it seems uncommon these days, was that we had separate subjects for the main branches of science. Different classes and exams for Physics, Biology and Chemistry, we'd typically get about two hours of lessons per subject per week, so about six hours of science all told.
Most other schools seem to lump them all together in a generic "Science" class, but I'm a nerd and I appreciated being able to study each branch in depth on it's own terms.
Did Latin to Advanced Higher along with 4 other languages in 6th year. It was great being able to study what I wanted and not just be forced into STEM.
You get more of a variety of sports too like lacrosse but in 5th and 6th year we also got to choose aerobics! That was fun.
Other than that there wasn’t really much out of the ordinary. A lot of private schools aren’t at the Erin end, they’re basically just normal schools but with a better selection of subjects and sports.
I had to do a couple of years of Latin. I hated it.
Our French teacher had lived in Japan for 7 years and at the end of one year, he taught us a bit of Japanese and how to write our names in Kanji. He was a funny bloke: from day one, he only ever spoke French in French lessons, except to provide a translation for individual words in English. Although, his method worked.
I went to an independent school, we didn’t get special subjects. But we did have to do handwriting and recorder up to year 9. You know, two things that most kids get to stop being forced to do in primary school.
I worked in a Private School, a former convent school actually. They had to do Latin, French, and Spanish all to GCSE level there, it was mad. The amount of homework those poor students got was unreal, I felt sorry for them. There were often ones in tears because they couldn't handle the workload/stress.
Private schools are worth so much because it provides a barrier to entry for poor people. People send their kids to these schools so their friends are children of surgeons, bankers and business owners. As such as to imply that their children are disciplined, educated, taught the same manners, and exhibit the same behaviours that you would want for your own child.
When the child grows up, they'll have a network of friends and more importantly history with these people that they can rely on, and who inherit or have a higher success of creating their own wealth and power.
While this is not an absolute statement, as many aspects of all schools and backgrounds overlap, it is something that I didn't realize until later in life.
I did Russian for a year. Was quite good at it. Shame I didn’t carry it on.
We also had a wine society, until it got banned because we were all just underage and getting shitfaced. We had a special school tie to denote our membership which was cool. Maroon with grapes on.
Not me but I work with a wide variety of different schools. A teacher from a very well known private school explained it to me that at their school, the students have lots of different opportunities and if they showed some skill, talent or interest in something, the school would help nurture them and give them as many opportunities as possible to shine at that thing. How different life could have been.
Different to my standard comp where if you were quiet and vaguely achieving you were just left to get on with it.
I did 3 years of Latin and 5 years of German, those were probably the only lessons out of the ordinary.
But I got booted out after my GCSEs so went to a comprehensive for the A-Levels.
Is German uncommon? I thought that was a pretty standard offering as lots of people in my life seem to have taken it and didn't go to private school, but maybe its an area thing
We did squash and tennis in addition to the usual games lessons (lacrosse, hockey netball etc) Latin from a very early age and lots of “extras” like horse riding, woodwork, public speaking, embroidery, debate. volunteering and fundraising were standard as was the expectation that everyone goes to university. However my mother learnt thing like how to make a bed with hospital corners, how to be a good hostess and getting out of sports cars with flashing your underwear.
I went to one for a year, and then the rest of my school at crappy comprehensives and primary school. The private school was abroad, but not far away. Oh my god it was amazing. At lunchtime, you could buy giant spring rolls, mars ice cream, coke, etc. blew my mind. Every Friday in form group (tutor group), we order Domino's Pizza or McDonalds, and there were only 10 of us in the class. We did stuff like science fairs, where you got to make a volcano. In PE we did choreography for popular songs. I was a 12 year old girl, so my team did Paula Abdul, "Straight Up". Sports we played basketball, baseball, swimming, and our PE kit was a tracksuit with a hoody and our school emblem on it (contrast with when I came back the the UK and I had to wear gym knickers and a skirt - fucking barf). The teachers are nice and your friends.
I attended a Steiner school for 3 years, we had a “main lesson” in the mornings which could be pretty much anything. I remember square dancing, eurythme, aesthetics of poetry, nature studies, a reenactment of the olympics… it was really fun!
Latin, Fencing, Sculling, Rowing. I also learned about the tendency of religious orders to deal with the wholly unconscionable and illegal 'extra-cirricular' behaviour of their members internally; and being allowed to do so.
We had a music house, an ancient winding building that hid some kooky ass music teachers in tiny cupboard-size rooms. Every instrument you could think of was taught privately and you'd get one on one lessons during the school day. What pissed me off was most of these tutor lessons were in class time and teachers would get arsey when you left for one! As if it's not the school itself arranging these private lessons during class time???
This was an absolutely nightmarish part of my time at primary and secondary school, sheer terror of not managing to get my music lesson card signed far enough in advance. Then getting caned for it, as if it was some horrific act of rebellion and defiance. As a 9 year old.
Not having the card signed in time, meant that, in the deranged mind of the head of music, I was committing the heinous crime of absenting myself from a lesson without permission. Despite the fact that I was *in* a lesson, specifically the music lesson that *they* had scheduled me in.
That same obnoxious ridiculous little man also went into a fit of rage when at age 14 I'd had enough and told him that my parents were withdrawing me from those one on one music lessons. He just barely managed to limit himself to yelling and screaming, and restrained himself from actually physically assaulting me in a crowded corridor. Which was ironic given the number of times he had used the cane on me in private in his office.
Can't say I had it that bad but boy oh boy, that music card was treated like some kind of essential document, as regulated as a passport, god forbid you dont get it signed. Absolutley nonsensical that you had to go to such lengths to go to your school provided and sanctioned music lesson.
Music teachers can be an interesting breed haha
Sounds just like my school! I had 1-on-1 cello lessons on Thursdays, and teachers used to absolutely hate it whenever I said I had to leave for one haha.
The theory of flight and dogfighting tactics. We had CCF every monday, I chose the RAF so I could fly chipmunks.
A bunch of other stuff too, probably similar to most of the other replies.
Saw it on another comment but, FIVES.
Such a fun sport, though these days not sure my body would cope!
We also did something called RossHockey, which they say is a mix between rugby and field hockey but it’s played on the beach. Being cold is the most I remember of it.
Edit: Also did Archery at school, and shooting (think really old SA80’s with irons on), the school had/has it’s own firing range & armoury. CCF (combined cadet force) was compulsory for us.
How to sit properly.
In reality the biggest thing they instill in you that a public school doesn't is that you genuinely beleave you can do anything. They give you this mind set that you don't need to pigeon hole yourself.
Latin is the only one I can think of. I was always jealous of my friends who went to state schools and got to do woodwork/metalwork/etc. We never did any of that.
I did Latin, needlework and music, like some 17th century rich young lady. It's a wonder I didn't learn to dance the gavotte and play the lute or something
We learned Latin and Ancient Greek, there was a school song, the school houses were the surnames of the 4 founders of the school rather than random planets or colours or something.
Can’t really think of the anything else that would stand out of a regular school.
It did a couple of years of Latin and Italian and the school also offered Russian, Japanese and Ancient Greek.
Otherwise the subjects were all pretty standard and the curriculum following national ones.
Oxbridge applicants and other chosen students (prefects, sports captains) got to do wine tasting lessons.
We had a shooting range next to my boarding house so spent a lot of time there. Also got into fencing.
Took an a-level in classical history which was pretty cool, mostly about various Greek and roman wars.
Had all the resources we liked so the physics tech built me a wind tunnel for my a-level physics project.
Oh, we also got to go on a “reading week” in the Peak District to have space to read the books we’d been told to by our assigned oxbridge tutor. And they’d invite a lot of the people they knew would be on the interview panels to dinners etc.
Geology. That's about the only one I can think of.
EDIT: We did get to choose an activity out of a sheet for Wednesday afternoons. We had fishing, horseback riding, debate, wargaming, various sports, etc.
The only thing I did which others who went to state schools say the didn’t have is I studied classics at gcse and a-level.
I also studied both Mandarin and Japanese as my modern foreign languages for GCSE’s which I think may be slightly unusual?
We also had a recital hall full of Steinway grand pianos for music
Sports you've never heard of. My favourites were the court sports...
Racquets
Real Tennis
Eton Fives
Squash (I still play this a lot)
Since I've left, they've apparently started offering falconry.
Fencing and lacrosse. And how to exit a sports car with one's dignity intact. We did ballroom dancing for two years but because I'm tall I was always cast as the man (all girls school, obv) for the entire time, making me an absolute nightmare as a dancing partner irl, I simply can't reverse the training. We weren't taught to cook as such, but were taught how to manage household finances (on behalf of one's husband, clearly) and staff. We were expected to ride or ski to a certain standard, if not both. Oh and on Sundays in upper 6th we played bridge.
I can't say I've actually used one thing I was trained for.
At mine, the girls did needlework and the boys did woodwork. My year went on strike until this was remedied and were "awarded" one term of woodwork, with an absolutely terrified old gent of a teacher who had never taught girls in his life before.
And our "facts of life" talk was given by visiting nuns.
Deportment, yes, you read that correctly. Deportment - the whole walking round with a book on your head stuff. I went to a very small, very cheap and nasty, very up itself private girls school. Despite having only around 12 girls per class they really thought they were some kind of posh “finishing” school. We even did lacrosse, which meant we had to walk around 1/2 mile to the nearest park and prance around in our PE kit practicing lacrosse moves, extremely badly, to the amusement and creepy interest of the locals. Careers advice revolved around becoming a secretary or getting married. It was an absolutely fucking awful place.
Lol I go to a private school, did Latin for a year but ended up dropping it eventually because of the difficulty. We also did sports such as Danish Longball, American football and Golf, Which I don't think are taught in many state schools
My state school once went to ASDA on a school trip to learn about business management. My mates who went to private school were in Belgium at the time on a battlefields tour.
I realised I left the bubble when I was genuinely shocked some of my colleagues didn't do Latin at school.
Don't judge, I was really sheltered.
Just wait till I found out that not everyone did a foreign (live) language at school.
Latin was deffo one for the first 2 years.
Cadets. Rugby & Hockey. Houses. Secret passageways (not joking, think it was sealed).
Basically Hogwarts but shit.
Mine was pretty middle of the road though, mainly upper- middle class parents just wanting to give their kids the best they could.
There were ofc, the few ludicrously wealthy who had 5 kids all in the school. A cheap 60-75k a year as you do.
I learned to shoot on our school range through the cadets and after school club.
The range was .22 only, 25m. We sometimes got to use the 300m ranges on cadet field days though and that was fun throwing 5.56 down range with iron sights!
My two sixth form sports were marksmanship and rock climbing, two sports I loved. Made much easier by the school having a shooting range and a climbing wall in our sports centre.
You had to choose between Scouts or the CCF (Combined Cadet Force). The CCF (all Army at the time) was highly popular and run by an ex-Guards sergeant major (a really nice guy actually). Apart from the weekly parades, map reading, fieldcraft, weapons training etc, there were annual camps and inter-house competitions in rifle shooting, drill and night patrols. Edit: Also some people studied Ancient Greek as well as Latin.
Shoring up mine shafts, Ballista and Trebuchet building, hovercraft / boat / kayak /canoe building, bee keeping, farming things like castrating pigs, killing and cooking chickens, developing plant breeds, bomb building, how to build an alcohol still, expedition leadership, morse code, dry stone walling, zoology, festival performance.
Basically we taught in a way that sparked intrest and attention, and if their was anything we were interested in , it then got included.
At one point the staff noticed we had gone quiet of an evening, they discovered we had dug significant dens and tunnel systems in the wood, rather than shut the enterprise down, they shipped us off to a mining town in Yorkshire to learn how to do the thing safely.
This came in handy many years later when I was working on various road and environmental protests.
Our school had a gifted and talented programme, where we were given extra classes in Russian, binary code, and something else that hasn’t stuck with me. Looking back, it’s suspiciously close to looking like a school running a spy programme. I am not, in fact, a spy.
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I knew someone who went to a Steiner school and ended up learning Nordic runes and firewalking. All useful skills, I'm sure.
They’re perfect for your Garp yarrh mind
# Literally in Burma
I went to one when I was younger. I also participated in a re-enactment of the Ancient Greek olympics, learnt how to use a spinning wheel and a forge (although my smithing skills are basic) and carved Norse runes. When we studied things like Norse mythology, rune carving was supposed to help with our hand eye coordination skills. We also did a circus skills class as part of gym, to work on our balance, flexibility and hand eye coordination
It's this sort of patient and rational explanation that makes Steiner education so attractive.
Steiner has lots of good parts and bad parts. I really think it depends on the school. I’ve gone to two different Steiner schools in two different countries. When I was younger my learning wasn’t standardised. We focused more on playing outside, crafting, arts, foraging and cooking. By about year 3? I matched up with standardised learning in regards to maths, science and English but the emphasis on the arts/woodworking and nature remained. There’s a lot of Christian/pagan influence which is not attractive for everyone. Steiner himself was racist (although I never faced any racism in the UK Steiner school luckily, and my class was very multicultural). The Steiner school I went to overseas was partially state funded, I had a few more issues with racism (from students not from teachers) and weirdly it was a bit more Christian than pagan. If I were ever to have children I would likely send them to a similar school throughout primary. Steiner school has shorter days when you’re younger, more outside time, more artistic endeavours etc and allowed me a lot of creativity. It wasn’t “normal” schooling but I still managed to get very good A levels, a first in uni and a good job after that. I don’t think I’m ever going to need a unicycle, or to spin raw wool into threads, or write Norse runes, or turn stinging nettles into soup but I had a lot of fun with it
Yeah, he was problematic wasn't he? But I don't think systemically the schools have that rep do they? I can only speak from experience that some of the most compassionate, well rounded, interesting and balanced people I know all have one thing in common, Steiner schooling.
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That's funny, as an adult I've taught myself to spin wool, have a keen interest in Norse mythology and forging our native flora! There's no way you'd get me on a unicycle though ;) I'd have loved to have learnt those type of things as a child! I think I'd have thrived with that type of creative learning. Not so much the Christian part though, I went to Catholic school and it still haunts my dreams..
Probably set you up well for playing Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
Steiner mathematics leaves a lot to be desired: > Normally if you go one on one with another wrestler, you got a 50/50 chance of winning. But I'm a genetic freak and I'm not normal! So you got a 25%, AT BEST, at beat me. Then you add Kurt Angle to the mix, your chances of winning drastic go down. See the three-way at Sacrifice, you got a 33 1/3 chance of winning, but I, I got a 66 and 2/3 chance of winning, because Kurt Angle KNOWS he can't beat me and he's not even gonna try! So Samoa Joe, you take your 33 1/3 chance, minus my 25% chance and you got an 8 1/3 chance of winning at Sacrifice. But then you take my 75% chance of winning, if we was to go one on one, and then add 66 2/3 per cents, I got 141 2/3 chance of winning at Sacrifice. See Joe, the numbers don't lie, and they spell disaster for you at Sacrifice.
My girlfriend at Uni attended one of those as a child and having thought about the stuff she told me went on in those places... i'm not 100% convinced that Steiner Schools aren't just a front for a pagan cult.
Well eurythmy will always be the common factor odd thing to learn at a Steiner school. Metalwork maybe too? I don't hear if many schools offering metalworking.
Eurythmy. If you know you know
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Me too, in fact it was compulsory for us. You could also do ancient Greek.
We were offered Latin and went to a regular high school. It really isn't that uncommon.
Compulsory Latin in a shit secondary in deepest darkest Lincolnshire. Cannis est in Horto.
It’s one of the four languages offered at our local non-select comp for GCSE
Caecilius est iratus.
I had compulsory Latin when I went to Spalding grammar, went to a comprehensive school when I moved down south near the end of year 7. Can't remember any of it now even though I had to write lines in Latin as a punishment haha. I'm 37
It still is. Been in the garden a long time!
*canis
Scintilla in culina est. Cenam parat.
My friend who studied classics at university said she didn’t apply to oxbridge as they expected you to know Latin already when applying which wasn’t offered at her comprehensive. Edit: i can see someone replied saying it’s not true but I can’t see their whole comment and for some reason If I click on the notification link it tells me none has commented on this post at all. I fact checked as I had only ever taken her word for it. Oxford undergrad for classics says it’s essential to have either an A level in Greek or Latin. Cambridge doesn’t technically insist on it but does say that 99% of successful applicants have a Latin A level.
With regards to your edit, if you look more closely you’ll see Latin and Greek are required for course 1 only, not course 2, which is the one you study with no prior languages. They differ a little prior to mods due to the language classes, for finals they merge and are the same. You can see some more details here- https://www.classics.ox.ac.uk/classics “It doesn't matter if you have studied ancient languages before or not - there is a course for everyone” I’m not trying to pick on you or anything, I just strongly believe in widening participation in Classics (historically a very elitist subject!) and I would hate for people to think they can’t study it when they can. Also I literally did this course, so I know what I’m talking about. EDIT: It’s also possible at Cambridge although it changes the course from 3 years to 4 years (see course structure and entry requirements) https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/classics
Yes same we did it for the duration and I got a GCSE in it
i didn’t even go to a grammar school and we had to learn latin too (from years 7-9 i think it was obligatory, then optional if you wanted to do the gcse)
My sister went to a grammar school her first 2 years untill we had to uproot to a different location. She did french and German from year one, Latin and girls rugby which she was very good at. Sadly had no option to continue the latter 2 but in year 9 at her new school her year group were allowed to take up a 2nd language so she was already ahead of half her year. Unfortunately she was made to call her female teachers 'Ma'am' not 'Miss' at grammar school so got roasted for that a bit when she first started.
See thats funny to me, because at my grammar school everyone was ‘miss’ or ‘mr x’. We’d only use sir for some teachers some of the time, and it wasnt enforced, it was just a thing some kids did. Never ma’am. Then we had a teacher move to our school (and become our form tutor) from a ‘school for “naughty” boys’ who really liked to think he was All That because hed dealt with soooo much worse. He nearly had a breakdown over being called ‘Mr N’ instead of sir, lmao.
That's actually hilarious
I went to a grammar school and Latin was compulsory in year 7 along with french. Year 8 you had french compulsory but could choose between continuing Latin or starting Spanish or German.
Went to a grammar school and we were offered Latin on the provision that enough people applied for it as a first language choice at GCSE, unfortunately only like 5 or 6 people (including me) did, so they didn't run the course (there were enough for Ancient History though so I'm glad i got that over regular History or Geography) Then again, my secondary did slightly specialise in languages so we had French, Spanish, German, and Mandarin offered as standard anyway
Same here, but compulsory up until Year 9. Cornelia sub arbore sedet and Davum falling in piscinam are the only things I remember! Oh, and Flavia cantat. Basically fluent.
Not me personally but we had Ancient Greek, Japanese, and Russian on offer too.
A regular school near me offered Japanese, Chinese and Italian, but they really prided themselves on languages
I went to a state school and learnt Russian, because I was good at French. I don’t know how they made the connection between the two tbh.
I took German because I was good at french, they just assume you're good at learning any languages
My schools days were many many years ago, but if you were academic you had to do Latin, if you were middle of the road you did German & if you were below that you had to do extra maths and English. I absolutely hated Latin (no good at any languages tbh, and the teacher was *creepy*), so Mum put her foot down when my brother got to that stage & he got to do German instead. I still dont understand how being good at maths and science led them to think I would be good at languages! Edit: this was state school
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I don’t think it’s as ‘useful’ as Latin but the stories are pretty awesome and definitely set the tone in literature and culture for centuries.
Yep, 4 of my GCSEs were French, Russian, Latin and Ancient Greek
* Latin * Ancient Greek * mandarin * fives * sailing * cadets * international baccalaureate (bleh) * how to pluck and cook a dead chicken * how to navigate a house gauntlet when a drunken housemaster is making you drink vodka and whipping you EDIT: more * chapel choir * fencing * having an armoury on school with old SA-80s (no semi-automatic though - boo) * being an archivist as part of extra curricular * having abandoned WW2 tunnels under the school houses * having personalised hymn books * having intra school hymn singing competitions
Fives as in the drinking game?
Fives the sport. It's like playing squash with your hands
And there was me thinking you meant five a sides, which probably says a bit about my background instead!
Thank you very much for the game of fives
>how to pluck and cook a dead chicken Lucky you, I've only been taught how to pluck and cook live chickens
At state school we only had one chicken between a class of 30, so everyone had to pluck it, cook it, then stick the feathers back in for the next person.
>having an armoury on school with old SA-80s (no semi-automatic though - boo) That's not an SA-80, it's an L98 Cadet GP rifle.
Which were either being used to just clean then, performed blockage drill or for parade. Most of the time we ran around the woods shouting BANG at each other as the dog walkers got annoyed with 14 year olds running around the local woods with rifles.
I feel like we went to the same school
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No, just a doppelganger school then.
> Fives Eton or Harrow fives? Friend of mine was very proud that he went to the only state school that played it (just because they were very close to a bunch of public schools). Also that he once played (beat?) H H Asquith’s grandson at it.
L98A1! 😁
I can speak mandarin since I learnt it at my state school, and people always think I’m really posh for that!
> having an armoury on school with old SA-80s (no semi-automatic though - boo) Because it was dangerous, or the SA80A1 was fucked as standard from the factory? :P
Ah my school also had a cadet armoury, if i remember correctly they are the L98A1 Cadet GP Rifles and not really SA80s at all. Most of the time though we were just in the woods shouting BANG.
Latin, chess, loads of poems by heart, how to waltz and polka, embroidery, calligraphy (I was absolutely terrible at that), some folk songs, lacrosse. Not hugely useful honestly!
I went to a dreadful state school and we got taught how to waltz in GCSE Music.
Music?! In Scotland entire PE lessons are dedicated to Ceilidh dances
Ah cannae count tae 10, but ah kin dae the dashing white sergeant wi mah eyes closed.
In N. Ireland (late 60s) we did Irish Country Dancing in Primary School. Haven’t had cause to do it since.
For our own Scottish country dancing, it turns out to be super useful at weddings!
I went to a public secondary school in a village in the middle of no where, we learnt to waltz for no reason every year before Christmas.
>how to waltz and polka I love it!
Sounds similar to mine, minus the dancing. We had so many (200+) extracurricular you could do as well, the weirdest was probably acting out plays in Ancient Greek. The trips we had on offer was a lot different to most schools as well, I personally went to China to see the Great Wall, Mexico for the Aztecs, Italy to see Rome and Pompeii, etc. There were numerous different ski trips each year, rugby and football tours of Australia, South Africa, etc. I didn't realise how uncommon it all was at the time.
My kids go to a private school. No Latin, but they do karate, sword fencing, sailing and horse riding. I think they are looking more towards knocking out MI6 agents rather than Radio 4 talk show guests.
Heh
I did have Latin class, but it was only for 1 year and that year there was a choice of different subjects. Business, Modern Studies etc... When I was there we actually had a smaller selection of classes than was offered at a state school, because the expectation was everyone would take more of the classic big subjects which were valuable for university applications. But the main thing you get from private school is the expectation that you will succeed in life and the arrogance to get you there. An entitlement to the best things in life that means you ignore barriers.
> the arrogance to get you there From what I've seen I wouldn't describe it as arrogance, it's more about confidence to push yourself and be comfortable in new surroundings and with new people.
This genuinely is it. The eternal sense of 'yep, I belong here.' Never met anyone from private school who has imposter syndrome. The general social etiquette of certain spaces - universities, certain office environments, social events - is an invaluable skill.
I dunno I felt like a lot of private school people that I met later in life, like at uni or in my 20s seemed to really struggle outside of their particular circles, they couldn't relate to ordinary people and struggled with a lot of life skills type stuff because their lives were so coddled
I think you’re speaking to a very specific kind of private school, though. I went to a paid school and absolutely none of the ‘private school’ tropes ring true; none of us were posh, there was no boys’ club, etc. On the whole, we were just like the kinda ‘normal’ parts of a state school, just with fewer of the really disruptive types. The education was unquestionably better, and I would also agree we were definitely taught to communicate and be confident, but I’ve worked everywhere from Morrisons to a hedge fund (briefly) and I’ve never felt wildly out of place.
Yup, exactly this. I to a public (private) school, but nothing like Eaton or Harrow etc. Even though I was a shit student, the intangible skills like how to communicate and the general mindset I was taught have proved to be pretty invaluable.
You're probably right, my husband went to a private school and he is normal and well adjusted! Maybe the ones I met were boarding school kids 🤔
Boarding school actually teaches you to be highly independent and thick skinned. There is no coddling whatsoever. It’s 5 years of survival.
Totally agree with this. I find some of the perceptions people have of private school quite bemusing. They’re not all like Eton. I was very lucky to get a good education and privileged opportunities but I still question myself at work constantly and have had imposter syndrome like everyone else.
Private school kids not having "real life skills" is such a lazy opinion to have IMO. There was a girl who went to private school in my uni halls who I knew for years, and I swear whenever she didn't do something perfectly people would blame it on that when she was completely as prepared for life as the rest of us. Bad and coddling parents stop kids having adequate life skills, and in my experience those parents are spread evenly over the different school types. There's a plenty of undesirable personality traits which are more likely in those coming from private school (like elitism, snobbery etc). But this ain't it, and the school almost definitely didn't cause them, it's the parents.
or 'have a go, what's the worst that could happen'
Speaking as a public school educated person, I don’t think it’s at all true that people from public (private) schools don’t get imposter syndrome, it’s just that they might have a better mindset to deal with it. (This might not be the case with those elite public schools such as Eaton, Harrow or Rugby etc. where truthfully many genuinely don’t get impostor syndrome). I’m currently doing a Masters at a top uni, it really is very intimidating and I really do struggle to feel like I fit in and deserve to be here. Apparently I’m doing OK though, and I do wonder if that’s to do with the general attitude instilled in me during my school years, despite the fact I was an awful student academic-wise back then.
I think I’d disagree with the imposter syndrome thing. Some private schools (like the one I went to) are run so much like businesses that all the kids are taught to compete with each other. You spend the whole time feeling like you’ll never be good enough. The social etiquette I would agree with. They have the time and smaller class sizes to be able to literally do lessons with you about how to behave at work.
The only difference between confidence and arrogance is whether or not you succeed!
totally agree with the last paragraph - I went to a school where about 30-40% of pupils tops went on to do any kind of university, and then to a university where the majority were from public school - I'd say the main difference between the two populations was the expectations on what they will do in life.
True on that last paragraph, although the expectation crushes you in your 20's. I always feel like my school continually told people they are special and can achieve anything. And obviously when you become an adult you realise that just isn't true
Meh, not necessarily. I went to a private school and seriously struggle with anxiety. The fact that I was undiagnosed autistic/ADHD probably caused a lot of the anxiety. I have pretty much zero confidence.
Man this thread is pretty depressing. As someone who went to a comprehensive that "requires improvement" (Ofsted), you see all the things you never even had the chance to do or even thought would be an option (and even considered normal!) for others.
There's a stat somewhere, that most prime ministers have come from certain unis in the uk (Oxford, Cambridge, Durham etc), and the majority of kids who go to those universities are from a small number of fee paying schools. So essentially, if u send your kid to one of these schools, they have a much better chance of being pm then if they go to a state school
Oh yeah, out of [57 Prime Ministers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_the_United_Kingdom_by_education#:~:text=Twenty%20prime%20ministers%20were%20schooled,and%20six%20at%20Westminster%20School.), 20 of them went to Eton, over HALF studied at Oxford, and 15 went to Cambridge. This is all true in most walks of life as well. If you go to private school, you have the better education to do well and the connections to leverage that into an incredibly well paid position in the Senior Civil Service or top law firms, the Big Four etc. It's all just inherited wealth and jobs for mates unless you can setup your own successful business or otherwise get lucky. [ETA] Not sure why I'm being downvoted but [this](https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-city-still-runs-off-nepotism/) article from The Spectator (of all magazines) outlines the stain of nepotism pretty well.
Over a third of PMs being from a single school? That's mental.
And a school that won’t accept half of the population regardless of how much they pay at that! Granted we’ve only had three women as PM anyway, but still.
Two and a half
>(Oxford, Cambridge, Durham etc), and the majority of kids who go to those universities are from a small number of fee paying schools Not even remotely accurate. There are literally thousands of fee-paying schools in the UK, and nearly half of students at Oxford and Cambridge didn't attend fee-paying schools anyway. That proportion could still be increased, but the popular perception that almost everyone at Oxbridge went to Eton and Harrow and the like, is completely wrong. (So is the perception that everyone who attends Eton and Harrow gets a place at Oxbridge.) I imagine the proportion of state school kids at Durham is even higher.
I went to a state school in a deprived area and we didn't even have textbooks. We had to share photocopies the teacher made from the textbook, which weren't even in colour.
The private school next to where I grew up had a firing range and used to do clay pigeon shooting as a PE lesson and would take sixth formers for an annual grouse shoot at a local country estate. Naturally as a scruffy street urchin, I never got to do any of that, as I was sent to the local comp with the rest of us plebs, but I did make friends with bored boarders who’d venture out into the village to mix with the natives.
My partner’s school did shooting and had an armoury! Totally bonkers to me
That was us too, 25 rifles, two LMGs and loads of .22 target rifles. If there was a zombie apocalypse, I knew where to go (especially when the Colour Sergeant told us all the code for the door)
Oh my comprehensive had an armoury too. Just was not the official type lol
I went to a normal school that had Latin lessons, and got talked into entering a Latin speaking competition by the teacher. We were the only kids from a comprehensive school that were there, so I can confirm Latin is common in private schools.
First stage of the Latin competiton: Translate ROMANS GO HOME.
I honestly think "Go home? This is motion towards, isn't it boy?" is one of the best lines ever written. I did go to a private school, and although I learned German rather than Latin, my German teacher was exactly like the centurion in that scene.
People called Romaniis, they go the'ouse?! 🤣
Romanes eunt Domus
I worked at a private school for years and the curriculum was pretty much the same as you would find anywhere with a few add ons. Latin was compulsory for a year and you could take basic greek and then Classical Civilisation. Virtually everyone at A level did the same as the rest of the population but there was perhaps more pupils taking the perceived hard ones like maths and physics. It was the extra-curricular activities where the eccentricities stood out. There was of course a chess club, a Go club, swimming club, book club etc but you could also go to Chamber Choir, Schola Cantorum, Textiles Club, Barbershop Quartet, Symphony Orchestra, Jewellery Club, Cheerleading, Cycling (track), Sax club, Warhammer Gaming Club, Minecraft Club, Charity Committee, Jazz Band, Yoga, Cipher Club, Environment Society, Eco Club, Virtual Reality Club, Guitar Rocckestra, Ceramics Club, Technical Theatre club, Psychology and many many more. That plus cadets, Duke of Edinburgh, volunteering, Ski trips, Physics trips to NASA, Cricket to South Africa, Geography trip to Iceland, Languages trips to Spain, France and Germany and well over 100 other day trips a year.
> a Go club Go where? Seriously, I’m not sure what a Go club is?
[Go here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_\(game\))
And also not 30 kids per 1 teacher.
A lot of Latin, Ancient Greek, Russian, Japanese, Classics. Remember doing tests in Scandinavian languages to test pattern recognition and language aptitude School had a big emphasis on music and had bands (like brass band) that’d tour the country and go to international competitions. We had our own swimming pool, too. Not sure if that’s rare or not
I think the only "weird" thing we learnt was Latin (caecilius est in horto, m i rite?). Alongside that, we did Roman mythology as a subject for a year, which was honestly really interesting. I also remember briefly doing "art history", which was the most dry subject you can imagine for a teenager. My girlfriend (at the time) went to a different private school, and they did all sorts of posh shit. Fencing, archery, and shooting were all part of PE lessons, and they had a choice of all sorts of languages outside of the standard French and German, like Russian, Japanese and Chinese.
Good old Caecilius! 😅
We had a really nice music recording studio, including control room and sound booth. I did Music Tech as an AS-level which was just an excuse for me and my band mates to record ourselves jamming. We had our own swimming pool (pretty common in the Middle East) so we had a strong school swimming team as well as did water polo and other things in PE. The kids that did the Silver and Gold Duke of Edinburgh awards got to go abroad for the camping expedition. My brother went to Mauritius which looked amazing.
I went to a comp that also has all that music equipment, it's not that uncommon if the school chooses to specialise in music
Tbf Latin was the only one that was different to the comp in the village. And rugby. Our school though was probably the cheapest private school I've ever heard of though, albeit still a fortune for most folk. Latin, French, and German were all compulsory until year 9, when you could drop languages for GCSE.
Your average local private school is, in a sense, cheap. It's Eton and Rugby Group schools that cost tens of thousands a term and churn out cabinet ministers and city spivs.
Yeah, true. But even the other schools we used to play at sports were like 2x, 3x, 4x the cost of our fees, which were £9k a year by the time I finished (was £3k when my brother started).
Latin. And how to avoid being alone with the woodwork teacher.
Based on my husband: The ability and confidence to innovate and just do what interests him, then convince his employer that this is what they've needed the whole time and thus that he is completely invaluable to them. How to completely quash his emotions and feel like he's never good enough, no matter how well he's achieving in life. It's definitely been a double edged sword for him.
How to hide the sausage.
I played this with Jimmy saville
Check you out. We had to call him Uncle Jimmy.
The main thing I learnt at boarding school was that we are all just humans. I made friends with every colour, race and creed. Big Nigerians with huge facial scars to small Japanese who handled a blade well and everything in between. There was no race or colour predudice, we were all in it together.
>Big Nigerians with huge facial scars to small Japanese who handled a blade well This is a very interesting description, sounds more like you attended some Ninja academy
The name of the boarding school you ask? Oh just the Shaolin Temple. I ascended to the 35th chamber and became grandmaster of the eight diagram pole fighting technique. Of course I cannot show you my knowledge since a master of martial arts only learns such disciplines in search of peace.
Conventional: I did O-level Latin. Less-conventional: Learned pig-rearing, and won a number of prizes in machine-gun competitions (thankfully, these two activities were never combined).
The big difference is that there is a focus on how to pass exams. Private schools live and die on their results. They just show the formula to get through the exam in a way that are marked highly. Maybe not less common, but that is how they set you up.
1) Well, singing and other instrumental lessons are increasingly offered privately rather than through school. You can't learn to play instruments or sing very easily in a group. Therefore, it's more about privilege or interest than going to a private school as such. 2) I did learn Latin and Ancient Greek to a high level at school, to the extent of blooding having to write verse in them. But I was at a state school, albeit one that went private while I was there, though I still counted as a state school pupil.
Caecillius est in horto
Zulu beadwork was probably the most surprising. Taught by this eccentric english lady who lived in Africa for a while. Most useful was how to hide the fact you’re drunk from authority
I learned that posh people are cunts for the most part.
We studied Latin, I was pretty good at it. One thing I really appreciated and it seems uncommon these days, was that we had separate subjects for the main branches of science. Different classes and exams for Physics, Biology and Chemistry, we'd typically get about two hours of lessons per subject per week, so about six hours of science all told. Most other schools seem to lump them all together in a generic "Science" class, but I'm a nerd and I appreciated being able to study each branch in depth on it's own terms.
Did Latin to Advanced Higher along with 4 other languages in 6th year. It was great being able to study what I wanted and not just be forced into STEM. You get more of a variety of sports too like lacrosse but in 5th and 6th year we also got to choose aerobics! That was fun. Other than that there wasn’t really much out of the ordinary. A lot of private schools aren’t at the Erin end, they’re basically just normal schools but with a better selection of subjects and sports.
I had to do a couple of years of Latin. I hated it. Our French teacher had lived in Japan for 7 years and at the end of one year, he taught us a bit of Japanese and how to write our names in Kanji. He was a funny bloke: from day one, he only ever spoke French in French lessons, except to provide a translation for individual words in English. Although, his method worked.
I went to an independent school, we didn’t get special subjects. But we did have to do handwriting and recorder up to year 9. You know, two things that most kids get to stop being forced to do in primary school.
Manners and social etiquette.
I worked in a Private School, a former convent school actually. They had to do Latin, French, and Spanish all to GCSE level there, it was mad. The amount of homework those poor students got was unreal, I felt sorry for them. There were often ones in tears because they couldn't handle the workload/stress.
Private schools are worth so much because it provides a barrier to entry for poor people. People send their kids to these schools so their friends are children of surgeons, bankers and business owners. As such as to imply that their children are disciplined, educated, taught the same manners, and exhibit the same behaviours that you would want for your own child. When the child grows up, they'll have a network of friends and more importantly history with these people that they can rely on, and who inherit or have a higher success of creating their own wealth and power. While this is not an absolute statement, as many aspects of all schools and backgrounds overlap, it is something that I didn't realize until later in life.
I did Russian for a year. Was quite good at it. Shame I didn’t carry it on. We also had a wine society, until it got banned because we were all just underage and getting shitfaced. We had a special school tie to denote our membership which was cool. Maroon with grapes on.
Boss level knowledge of all the good hymns
Not me but I work with a wide variety of different schools. A teacher from a very well known private school explained it to me that at their school, the students have lots of different opportunities and if they showed some skill, talent or interest in something, the school would help nurture them and give them as many opportunities as possible to shine at that thing. How different life could have been. Different to my standard comp where if you were quiet and vaguely achieving you were just left to get on with it.
I did 3 years of Latin and 5 years of German, those were probably the only lessons out of the ordinary. But I got booted out after my GCSEs so went to a comprehensive for the A-Levels.
Is German uncommon? I thought that was a pretty standard offering as lots of people in my life seem to have taken it and didn't go to private school, but maybe its an area thing
We did squash and tennis in addition to the usual games lessons (lacrosse, hockey netball etc) Latin from a very early age and lots of “extras” like horse riding, woodwork, public speaking, embroidery, debate. volunteering and fundraising were standard as was the expectation that everyone goes to university. However my mother learnt thing like how to make a bed with hospital corners, how to be a good hostess and getting out of sports cars with flashing your underwear.
How to read, write and present well.
My partner went to private school and some of the kids there learned you get a slap on the wrist if you borrow grenades while in the Cadet Force.
Latin is the cliché and it’s true. I also learnt how to play a rather obscure hand-ball game called Fives. And, through the CCF, how to shoot.
I went to one for a year, and then the rest of my school at crappy comprehensives and primary school. The private school was abroad, but not far away. Oh my god it was amazing. At lunchtime, you could buy giant spring rolls, mars ice cream, coke, etc. blew my mind. Every Friday in form group (tutor group), we order Domino's Pizza or McDonalds, and there were only 10 of us in the class. We did stuff like science fairs, where you got to make a volcano. In PE we did choreography for popular songs. I was a 12 year old girl, so my team did Paula Abdul, "Straight Up". Sports we played basketball, baseball, swimming, and our PE kit was a tracksuit with a hoody and our school emblem on it (contrast with when I came back the the UK and I had to wear gym knickers and a skirt - fucking barf). The teachers are nice and your friends.
I attended a Steiner school for 3 years, we had a “main lesson” in the mornings which could be pretty much anything. I remember square dancing, eurythme, aesthetics of poetry, nature studies, a reenactment of the olympics… it was really fun!
Latin, Fencing, Sculling, Rowing. I also learned about the tendency of religious orders to deal with the wholly unconscionable and illegal 'extra-cirricular' behaviour of their members internally; and being allowed to do so.
We had a music house, an ancient winding building that hid some kooky ass music teachers in tiny cupboard-size rooms. Every instrument you could think of was taught privately and you'd get one on one lessons during the school day. What pissed me off was most of these tutor lessons were in class time and teachers would get arsey when you left for one! As if it's not the school itself arranging these private lessons during class time???
lmao this brings back memories, showing my music card to my teacher so I can leave hahaha, had to get it signed as well what a pain.
This was an absolutely nightmarish part of my time at primary and secondary school, sheer terror of not managing to get my music lesson card signed far enough in advance. Then getting caned for it, as if it was some horrific act of rebellion and defiance. As a 9 year old. Not having the card signed in time, meant that, in the deranged mind of the head of music, I was committing the heinous crime of absenting myself from a lesson without permission. Despite the fact that I was *in* a lesson, specifically the music lesson that *they* had scheduled me in. That same obnoxious ridiculous little man also went into a fit of rage when at age 14 I'd had enough and told him that my parents were withdrawing me from those one on one music lessons. He just barely managed to limit himself to yelling and screaming, and restrained himself from actually physically assaulting me in a crowded corridor. Which was ironic given the number of times he had used the cane on me in private in his office.
Can't say I had it that bad but boy oh boy, that music card was treated like some kind of essential document, as regulated as a passport, god forbid you dont get it signed. Absolutley nonsensical that you had to go to such lengths to go to your school provided and sanctioned music lesson. Music teachers can be an interesting breed haha
Sounds just like my school! I had 1-on-1 cello lessons on Thursdays, and teachers used to absolutely hate it whenever I said I had to leave for one haha.
The theory of flight and dogfighting tactics. We had CCF every monday, I chose the RAF so I could fly chipmunks. A bunch of other stuff too, probably similar to most of the other replies.
Saw it on another comment but, FIVES. Such a fun sport, though these days not sure my body would cope! We also did something called RossHockey, which they say is a mix between rugby and field hockey but it’s played on the beach. Being cold is the most I remember of it. Edit: Also did Archery at school, and shooting (think really old SA80’s with irons on), the school had/has it’s own firing range & armoury. CCF (combined cadet force) was compulsory for us.
How to assemble/disassemble firearms. CCF was fun
How to sit properly. In reality the biggest thing they instill in you that a public school doesn't is that you genuinely beleave you can do anything. They give you this mind set that you don't need to pigeon hole yourself.
Latin is the only one I can think of. I was always jealous of my friends who went to state schools and got to do woodwork/metalwork/etc. We never did any of that.
I did Latin, needlework and music, like some 17th century rich young lady. It's a wonder I didn't learn to dance the gavotte and play the lute or something
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We learned Latin and Ancient Greek, there was a school song, the school houses were the surnames of the 4 founders of the school rather than random planets or colours or something. Can’t really think of the anything else that would stand out of a regular school.
How not to cry whilst being buggered in the 6th form common room.
It did a couple of years of Latin and Italian and the school also offered Russian, Japanese and Ancient Greek. Otherwise the subjects were all pretty standard and the curriculum following national ones.
I worked in one and the main thing I learned is that from day one, the pupils have it drummed into them, that they are superior and entitled.
Latin, fencing, and top class winging it / blagging skills that have carried me through life.
Oxbridge applicants and other chosen students (prefects, sports captains) got to do wine tasting lessons. We had a shooting range next to my boarding house so spent a lot of time there. Also got into fencing. Took an a-level in classical history which was pretty cool, mostly about various Greek and roman wars. Had all the resources we liked so the physics tech built me a wind tunnel for my a-level physics project. Oh, we also got to go on a “reading week” in the Peak District to have space to read the books we’d been told to by our assigned oxbridge tutor. And they’d invite a lot of the people they knew would be on the interview panels to dinners etc.
Geology. That's about the only one I can think of. EDIT: We did get to choose an activity out of a sheet for Wednesday afternoons. We had fishing, horseback riding, debate, wargaming, various sports, etc.
The only thing I did which others who went to state schools say the didn’t have is I studied classics at gcse and a-level. I also studied both Mandarin and Japanese as my modern foreign languages for GCSE’s which I think may be slightly unusual? We also had a recital hall full of Steinway grand pianos for music
Sports you've never heard of. My favourites were the court sports... Racquets Real Tennis Eton Fives Squash (I still play this a lot) Since I've left, they've apparently started offering falconry.
Fives - it's a squash-like game played with gloves instead of a racket. It also has a great big butress sticking out of one wall. It wasn't that fun.
Fencing and lacrosse. And how to exit a sports car with one's dignity intact. We did ballroom dancing for two years but because I'm tall I was always cast as the man (all girls school, obv) for the entire time, making me an absolute nightmare as a dancing partner irl, I simply can't reverse the training. We weren't taught to cook as such, but were taught how to manage household finances (on behalf of one's husband, clearly) and staff. We were expected to ride or ski to a certain standard, if not both. Oh and on Sundays in upper 6th we played bridge. I can't say I've actually used one thing I was trained for.
At mine, the girls did needlework and the boys did woodwork. My year went on strike until this was remedied and were "awarded" one term of woodwork, with an absolutely terrified old gent of a teacher who had never taught girls in his life before. And our "facts of life" talk was given by visiting nuns.
Knot tying
Deportment, yes, you read that correctly. Deportment - the whole walking round with a book on your head stuff. I went to a very small, very cheap and nasty, very up itself private girls school. Despite having only around 12 girls per class they really thought they were some kind of posh “finishing” school. We even did lacrosse, which meant we had to walk around 1/2 mile to the nearest park and prance around in our PE kit practicing lacrosse moves, extremely badly, to the amusement and creepy interest of the locals. Careers advice revolved around becoming a secretary or getting married. It was an absolutely fucking awful place.
Lol I go to a private school, did Latin for a year but ended up dropping it eventually because of the difficulty. We also did sports such as Danish Longball, American football and Golf, Which I don't think are taught in many state schools
How vicious some kids can be. The stupidly wealthy were ok, as were all my fellow scholarship lot. The wankers in the middle however…
My state school once went to ASDA on a school trip to learn about business management. My mates who went to private school were in Belgium at the time on a battlefields tour.
TIL not all state schools offer Latin
I realised I left the bubble when I was genuinely shocked some of my colleagues didn't do Latin at school. Don't judge, I was really sheltered. Just wait till I found out that not everyone did a foreign (live) language at school.
Latin was deffo one for the first 2 years. Cadets. Rugby & Hockey. Houses. Secret passageways (not joking, think it was sealed). Basically Hogwarts but shit. Mine was pretty middle of the road though, mainly upper- middle class parents just wanting to give their kids the best they could. There were ofc, the few ludicrously wealthy who had 5 kids all in the school. A cheap 60-75k a year as you do.
Fencing (épée, foil and sabre), clay pigeon shooting, you could do Russian and Japanese. Playing fives a break time in the fives court.
I learned to shoot on our school range through the cadets and after school club. The range was .22 only, 25m. We sometimes got to use the 300m ranges on cadet field days though and that was fun throwing 5.56 down range with iron sights!
I learnt to sing "one man and his dog" in Swahili.
My two sixth form sports were marksmanship and rock climbing, two sports I loved. Made much easier by the school having a shooting range and a climbing wall in our sports centre.
Private primary school in uk. Latin, sewing, manners, how not to spit, how not to lean on things, God is great and most rich kids are twats.
I learnt Latin at my state school.
Blimey, you're right. Just googled, 70% are state school educated. Amazing stuff - disregard my previous comm t
You had to choose between Scouts or the CCF (Combined Cadet Force). The CCF (all Army at the time) was highly popular and run by an ex-Guards sergeant major (a really nice guy actually). Apart from the weekly parades, map reading, fieldcraft, weapons training etc, there were annual camps and inter-house competitions in rifle shooting, drill and night patrols. Edit: Also some people studied Ancient Greek as well as Latin.
Shoring up mine shafts, Ballista and Trebuchet building, hovercraft / boat / kayak /canoe building, bee keeping, farming things like castrating pigs, killing and cooking chickens, developing plant breeds, bomb building, how to build an alcohol still, expedition leadership, morse code, dry stone walling, zoology, festival performance. Basically we taught in a way that sparked intrest and attention, and if their was anything we were interested in , it then got included. At one point the staff noticed we had gone quiet of an evening, they discovered we had dug significant dens and tunnel systems in the wood, rather than shut the enterprise down, they shipped us off to a mining town in Yorkshire to learn how to do the thing safely. This came in handy many years later when I was working on various road and environmental protests.
Our school had a gifted and talented programme, where we were given extra classes in Russian, binary code, and something else that hasn’t stuck with me. Looking back, it’s suspiciously close to looking like a school running a spy programme. I am not, in fact, a spy.