Greg Freeman

The Eleven-Plus

by Greg Freeman

Thursday 18th July 2013 8:19 am

Football over, mown grass,

heady scent. School photo,

earnest expressions

squinting into sun.

Yearning, inexplicable,

unspoken crush

on a blonde-haired girl

with snub nose and pudgy face.

Winners and losers.

Another girl, dark-haired,

stared moodily after me,

had I but known.

Dusty sang I Just Don’t Know

What To Do With Myself.

Taken to the outfitters

for my first long trousers.

My best friend, mad about trains,

asthmatic, glasses,

disappeared to another

school. Decades later,

egged on to Google him.

After a few boasting emails

from me, he mentioned his

disappointment. Didn’t reply again.

Grey, dusty, crumbling grammar.

Gruff voices, gowns; declension,

conjugation, subjugation.

Suppression of self, the end

of history. Imagination

confiscated on the first day of term.

How carefree we looked

in that last, longest summer.

Education

◄ Margaret Thatcher: how I missed my moment

Phoenix ►

Comments

Preeti Sinha

Mon 18th Aug 2014 18:33

Loved it, Greg! You have captured a boy's mind very well. I feel sad for your friend, though. Nothing breaks you more than disappointments, especially the feeling that you have not performed to your potential...It was okay earlier, I guess, where once you lost touch, you kind of remained invisible and unhappy with your lot. In this Internet age, you are exposed; cruelly witness those who have out-performed you in every aspect. You are now exposed and unhappy with your lot. Damn Facebook :)

Isobel

Mon 26th Aug 2013 10:26

LOL - but you HAVE chosen to get bogged down into the politics of the poem :)

Most parents who care will move heaven and earth to give their kids the best start in life. I take your point that the grammar school system allowed bright kids in poorer areas further choice. That didn't make them the perfect solution to secondary education though. I don't suppose there will ever be one. A system needs to be flexible for it to suit all - and flexible it wasn't.

David Cooke

Mon 26th Aug 2013 10:01

Enjoyed this one, Greg and can recognize much of what's going on it. I don't want to get too bogged down in the politics of it, other than to say that many of those who condemn grammar schools seem to have no qualms in buying there way into the best catchment areas. Having worked in a dodgy comp for decades I'm also glad that,as the son of immigrants who had no formal education after the age of 13, my (grammar) school gave me the chance of a decent education which I might not have had these days.

Isobel

Sat 20th Jul 2013 19:38

I can understand that one Steve. The grammar schools were set up to produce university candidates - those teachers didn't up and leave once they became called comprehensives, nor did the systems they had in place disintegrate.

Our grammar school went on to become a sixth form college (the one I went to) - it was and still is one of the best in the country - if you can believe the statistics.

The problem with the comprehensive system is the size of the schools. I think you lose something when a school gets too big - they become harder to manage. The whole ability to discipline pupils has also been eroded over the years. There's no immediate punishment for anything. Even if you give a pupil detention it involves a lot of hassle and parents having to be notified in advance. I think to get your kids a decent education, you have to get them into a decent area, where education is valued. Either that or hope that they can be single minded enough to ignore all the distractions.

I could be talking out of my arse though - these are just thoughts that occur to me. I don't teach in a secondary school - it's just what I surmise.

M.C. Newberry

Sat 20th Jul 2013 13:47

When I think of parental expectations and subsequent disappointments, I think about a certain Winston Spencer Churchill and his own scholastic failures. But his reduced ambitions led to him joining the army in which he obtained invaluable experience for the life to come - including his monumental literary achievements. He saw life as an ongoing learning experience, free from the handcuffs of a few short years of childhood. There are others less notable whose "failure" as school was no bar to future success in adult life. Which takes me back to my belief in the ongoing acquisition of knowledge beyond the "parrot-fashion" parameters of juvenile learning. The tragedy of the 11-plus system was its arbitrary disposal of young minds that - with more time - were likely to develop and offer untapped creativity and skills to the benefit of a society that was so short-sighted in its educational references and values. I hear that NHS nurses have to be "graduate" level nowadays- this at a time when the reputation
of patient care has never been so low...with numerous
horror stories to prove the case. Can certain essential
occupations lose track in a grotesque search for
"qualifications"? It would certainly seem so today.

Steve Higgins

Sat 20th Jul 2013 10:19

Isobel- some interesting points there. I went to a comprehensive school that was previously a secondary modern and my best friend went to a comprehensive that was previously a grammar school. he ended up at university and I left at 16 with 4 o levels. My friend was of more or less similar intelligence to me but I do feel he had a significant advantage in life just by his choice of schools.
Greg- you've certainly caused a stir with your work!

Isobel

Sat 20th Jul 2013 08:04

Steve - I think that's quite common on FB - the same has happened to me with old work colleagues - it's so aggravating, especially when they were the ones to seek you out! It sounds like Greg's friend just felt alienated by Greg's greater success - perhaps less inclined t talk about his own life.

I remember reading an article about twin brothers - one had gone to grammar school and gone on to have a brilliant career - the other had gone to secondary modern to then be a taxi driver. When tested as middle aged adults, they both had the same IQ - but had ended up on such different paths. In some families, whether or not you passed your 11+ (an exam taken for many at 10) affected your parents aspirations for you and your own self belief.

From the sounds of it Grammar schools were different around the country. Ours was mixed. I sometimes regretted not going there because it offered Latin, German, Spanish - subjects I couldn't do at Secondary Modern - and which later I found a big disadvantage not knowing.

Going to Secondary Modern also meant that you couldn't sit an O level syllabus and had to do CSEs which weren't as well respected. To get the key O levels, I had to go to night school for one, give up Careers and P.E. lessons for others and rely on the good will and dedication of those teachers who gave up their spare time and lunch hours to teach us. I was very lucky in that I had some wonderful teachers - it was a rough school, but the teachers were diamonds.

One last anecdote.... when orphaned,my dad was adopted by the next door neighbours. His own aunt and uncle didn't want him because he'd failed his 11+ and they didn't think he'd amount to anything. They were right - a life time of wagon building and working in a factory despite his lifelong love of literature and learning. He made sure his kids amounted to something though - with or without the 11+

Steve Higgins

Sat 20th Jul 2013 07:07

I have a poem on here about my school days 'A schoolboy from 1968' but yours is so much more direct, evocotive and interesting. I can relate to the verse about your best friend. I had a similar experience on 'friends reunited' I was contacted by an old schoolfriend, wrote a long chatty e-mail back and received a reply of about 6 words ending in that most distasteful way with 'LOL' Perhaps school old schoolfriends should stay way back in the past where they belong. Best wishes, Steve

Greg Freeman

Sat 20th Jul 2013 00:12

I'm really pleased but maybe not too surprised that this poem has prompted so much discussion. I'm still confused about how I feel about it all. But I don't believe in selection at 11, that's for sure. And I would hate to think we're taking any steps back towards that. (Yes, I know there are pockets and whole counties that still have it). All I know is, I was happy at primary school, and pretty miserable at my crummy old grammar school, which had been coasting for literally hundreds of years. I missed the girls, particularly. But maybe you're not meant to be happy at secondary school. Maybe it's all part of 'growing up'.

Isobel

Fri 19th Jul 2013 20:14

I think that might have something to do with the 'Peter principle' Dave - being promoted to your level of incompetence - but sometimes bits of paper ease the way. I think most employers are looking for personality and drive - it will always out-do qualifications in the right kind of interview - it's a question of getting to the interview though - and looking good on paper helps.

In response to you MC - I think any negative experience from childhood sticks with you for life. Hopefully it doesn't blight it and you move on - but you don't forget it. If I were writing poetry about the injustice of a system that penalised me, then there might be room for concern (and for your laughter) - but I'm not - I'm just responding to someone else's poem about a subject I can speak first hand on :)

But hey, thanks for proving my point. Children who weren't academic or interested in studying were not offered the option of trading down to a secondary modern either - so their places and opportunities were wasted - what a crazy system.

Dave Bradley

Fri 19th Jul 2013 14:14

Excellent poem Greg - the years roll back.

Many people have tales of an exam system labelling them as less able than they really are (compared to others). For that to be the case, there should be an equivalent number of people labelled as (comparatively) more able than they really are. I'll take the risk of owning up to that. I was always good at exams - the teacher told me if I didn't pass the 11 plus no one would. But I'm overqualified for my real level of ability. It may look good from the outside as bits of paper appear to smooth one's progress through life. But that can involve the stresses of various frying pans and fires, to which one would not have gained entry without the magic bits of paper.

It's a funny old world.

M.C. Newberry

Fri 19th Jul 2013 13:54

In my 70th year, I am still amazed - and prone to laugh - at those who, even in successful (or otherwise) maturity still use the haphazard achievements of childhood as some sort of indication of excellence in their lives. I know I didn't do well in the 11-plus but somehow fluked my way into the local "Grammar" where I spent my time in the lower levels of each grade with teachers who seemed more interested in chatting about everything other than the subject in question...with a very casual approach to getting us through exams. Fortunately, leaving before GCEs (as was) didn't affect my chosen work since it had its own exam/test format and that was enough for me!! And as I maintain - you never STOP learning if you have an enquiring mind.

Isobel

Fri 19th Jul 2013 08:38

Yes - I can identify with this one too. I ended up border line and going to secondary modern. I didn't enjoy the feeling of failure - so very much enjoyed out performing all my grammar school peers at sixth form. In fact, statistically our secondary modern year out performed every other school at A level - so I wasn't the only mistake.

It was a dreadful system - if you were borderline it all depended on headmaster's opinion and in my case, that hung on how well he connected with the families. To think that one person could hold your future in their hands in that way?

The system was still going in Bucks when I lived there - and the stress that it caused You can't possibly judge a child's ability fully at the age of 10 and there was no flexibility built in for when they got it wrong.

Rant over - I enjoyed your poem - it's good to see it from a different perspective. I had some very inspiring English teachers at secondary modern - I don't think I would have enjoyed 'declension,conjugation, subjugation, suppression of self'

What a great string of words - they really sum it up.

John Coopey

Thu 18th Jul 2013 22:14

I can relate to most of this too, Greg.
Latin, schoolMASTERS, the three-fold split at 11 (grammar, technical, secondary modern).
I made the grammar (the "A" stream where, like Wigan, I spent years hovering just above relegation).
The school got several kids to university each year including Oxbridge. Then it went into decline and was, for many years, bottom of the national league tables and was eventually closed.
It is my proud boast that I went to the worst school in England.

Starfish

Thu 18th Jul 2013 21:24

Enjoyed reading this. I wonder is it written from personal experience?
Best Wishes
Starfish

M.C. Newberry

Thu 18th Jul 2013 14:15

Ah...happy innocent (and frustrated) days!!).
I still have my own school photo - when I was
nine - at a school which, in retrospect, was
idyllic in scenarios of situation and time.
But it was later, at a Wiltshire grammar that
awareness and all its adolescent pain crept in.
I enjoyed the way these lines evoked memories
I had pushed to the back of a much older world-weary mind.

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