Posts Tagged ‘1980s school’
Thursday 23rd January 1986
Today was boring (again!). My friend brought back my Level 42 tape that I had lent to him. I think it was World Machine, featuring such smash hits as Something About You and Leaving Me Now. There was quite a thriving trade of music swapping between us. As non-earning individuals we had no other choice, a tape or an LP must have cost at least a fiver. I earned about 6 quid a week from my paper round. Go figure...
We had a grammar test in German - easy? And the bus was late again. 'It's beginning to be a habit!'
Anything that had happened during the day however, was made alright by Thursday evening's televisual offering. Blackadder II was on again, must've been the third episode. As discussed previously, this was marvelous stuff. Simply the best.
Friday 24th January 1986
It snowed today but it didn't stick. Looking back now no snow = no worries, the world can continue as normal. Back then, no snow = we still have to go to school. Boo hoo, no fun. But hey, here's one for ya, GET OVER IT! Bloody school kids.
School today was enlivened by the antics of two girls in Chemistry. '****** and ****** [were] in a stupid mood.' And one of the male members of the class drew my wrath - as I remember he was always attempting to ingratiate himself with this particular pair, so as they became more entertaining, he became more annoying. Probably a kind of envy on my part...
Monday 27th January 1986
Apparently, we had school inspectors in today. They were very good, just sitting in the corner - no trouble at all. And we only had one in the one lesson, French. School was quiet without Friday's nuisance maker who must have been off sick. Now the character concerned isn't somebody with whom I had an awful lot to do, but he must have really got under my skin at this time.
In the draw for the next roud of the FA Cup (when it were on't radio and they fished the balls ot of that velvet bag, not the terrible mechanical fish bowl that they insist on using nowadays), Liverpool were drawn away with York City. Not the easy draw that on paper it looked.
Tuesday 28th January 1986
I don't know what the government's school inspectors must have thought, but we had this morning off school thanks to a strike by the NUT. It was a great boon to me personally, as we missed a double dose of Chemistry, and believe me to not be stuck in the lab with the horror who taught us was no hardship. Part of my issue was that we were a mixed group, some of us doing Chemistry on its own and others of us doing either Physics or Biology as well. The woman who taught us was a Biology teacher by training and inclination so her Chemistry was targeted towards the organic side of things. As someone who was also doing Physics, I would have liked her to have been a little more even handed.
Anyway, I went in to school for games just before lunch. It was, I noted, a waste of time. Bloody boring, or should that have been muddy boring...? Boom-tish! I'll get me coat. But the weather was OK so it couldn't have been all bad.
Wednesday 29th January 1986
More snow today. Those who lived in the more inaccesible places from which people sent their children to our school were packed off home early. The rest of us who lived along a main road stayed until the proper end of school.
Friday 31 January 1986
Oh dear. Winter must have been really dragging. My first comment for this day is 'Dead boring.' Good grief, it's an oft spouted piece of nonsense, but if I had known then what I know now, there is no way that I owuld have been making such ridiculous statements. Trouble is, kids today are exactly the same, "I'm bored" they whine. I guess I'm only saying what my Mum and Dad would have said to me when I tell them to sling their hook and find something interesting to do. "You could always tidy that pigsty you call a bedroom..."
In German we received some test marks back - I scored 26 1/2 and 27 out of 30, ooh smarty pants eh? All other lessons I noted were boring. That word again. Pah!
It rained a lot today - so much so that a proposed football practice session for tomorrow was called off. The pitch was too muddy. Not a good idea quoth I.
Monday 3 February 1986
Uh-oh look out. There's a bit of teenage politics going on on this diary entry. First of all there's a comment on the weather - "Bl**dy hell it was cold today." Short sharp and to the point, just like the frost I'd say.
Anyway, back to the politics. I went to a village seconday school - quite a large one, with a wide geographical spread of pupils. I've alluded to this already by mention of the early darts that some of my schoolmates got when anything like bad weather was in the offing. In the nearest large town there were at least 5 other secondary schools - yet quite a few kids travelled out to our school - and the came through the village where I lived. So you can imagine my disgust when I got on the bus to go home and discovered 3 (three) "townies" on the back seat. Pah! I probably didn't do an awful lot about, save mutter ferociously under my breath and sit somewhere else. Soft sh*te.
At school, I handed in my Chemistry book - or at least I would have if my friend had remembered to bring it in (don't know why he had it, perhaps we had a bit of an homework-network going on) - and if the bag who taught us Chemistry had been there. I also checked my exam entries and signed to acknowledge that they were correct.
Tuesday 4 February 1986
I got up late this morning. I can't remember what my usual getting up time was, but 7.15 was late. To compensate, I probably got dressed into my school uniform to do my papers, instead of changing into them afterwards.
In a shock result, Aston Villa beat Aresnal at Highbury by a score of 2-1. Apart from this little nugget, the day was cold and boring. I had almost finished my English Lit essay - which piece of literature, I cannot remember. I know that we did a folder based course for Eng.Lit. We covered enough pieces of work to enable us to write a minimum of 15 essays, with a minimum quantities of prose, poetry, drama etc. My favourite piece of work was probably Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the story of the Salem Witch hunt and trials in the late 17th century. It wasn't made clear to us at the time - like we would have understood anyway - but Miller wrote the work as an allegory to the 1950's anti-Communist purges by Senator John McCarthy.
Wednesday 5 February 1986
What is wrong with me? Not content with a lie in until 7.15, this morning I didn't rise until 7.20. I must've really had to rush today! I just hope that everybody received the correct newspaper. If you didn't, then I am sorry. Can you imagine getting the Daily Mail when you're expecting the Daily Mirror? Ooh, the shock of it. Having to read that rag... Eurgh.
There were more bl**dy townies on the back seat. I have to explain, that the back seat represented a sort of holy grail for us - there was quite a rigid pecking order, 5th years at the back, then 4th years, 3rd years and so on. These interlopers, whilst although 5th years and quite entitled to sit there, were just that - interlopers, and as such should have sat elsewhere. But it's over twenty years ago, so I guess I should just get over it, huh? You bet - in fact I have, I'm just faithfully reporting the diary of a 16 year old kid I once knew.
Thursday 6 February 1986
It was very, very, very cold today. The nights may be been getting shorter, but boy was it cold. We were warmed by another installment of BlackAdder II on BBC1 in the evening. We were starting to get in the thick of it wrt exams. Today for example, we received the dates for our German exams. And I had an essay to write on the German School system. If I remember, we had at least two essays to write and learn for the exam. The examiner would pick one at random in the exam, we'd recite it and then answer questions on it. In German, obviously. Doh!
