KING EDWARD VII - INTRODUCTION

The final two years of compulsory education was the time when the pressure was on. Every teacher told us that “these are the most important years of your school life”. It was the time of G.C.S.E coursework and exams.



King Edward VII was next door to Castle Rock but it was a million miles away in terms of the memories I have. The fact that I was never bullied made it the easiest two years of my school life no matter what the pressures of exams were. Socially I got on far better with everyone than I had ever done in the past. With Castle Rock and Newbridge pupils all mixed together I got split up from a lot of people who I had fallen out with previously.

Academically many of the lengthy criticisms of the education system I made before applied as much at King Edward VII as they did at Castle Rock. People who wanted to disrupt a class and stop everyone else from learning were still getting away with it due to a handful of useless and ineffective teachers. With the exception of Maths every subject was taught in a mixed ability group meaning the teachers put most of the effort in helping the median level of ability leaving the best and worst to fend for themselves. Then there was the vast amounts of time wasted doing subject that were no use at all once we left school.

Take S&P for example which stood for social and personal development, it wasn’t a subject as there was no coursework, no exam and no G.C.S.E certificate. Most of the time we just sat around in the class playing cards which the teacher had no problem with......so much for being the most important time of our educations.

As explained elsewhere I would have done a lot better had the exam system been the same as it was a generation earlier. Under that system you spent the 2 years studying a subject then sat an exam at the end which counted towards 100% of your grade. By the time I was doing G.C.S.Es that system had long gone. Now large parts of the final grade depended on coursework done during the two years. Give me an assignment to do in six weeks time and I would typically leave it until the last few days, rush it and hand in a sub standard piece of work. Put me in an exam room and I would always produce my best work. While many others feared and hated exams I actually prefered them. In the final 4 years of education this was the biggest negative factor in my academic work. My good and bad subjects were the same as they always were, Maths, Science and Computing were the ones I did best at while English, Technical drawing and anything that was creative or artistic were always the worst. Overall I felt that I achieved far more inside the classroom than at Castle Rock.

King Edward VII did have it’s good points. The atmosphere at the school seemed a lot more relaxed. Our form teacher Mr Mee was very laid back and came to school on a big Harley Davidson. He couldn’t have been any more different to the horrible vile Miss Davis we had for 3 years at Castle Rock. A lot of people who didn’t want to learn simply didn’t turn up to lessons, it was a long running joke that when the bus arrived in the morning half walked up towards school and the other half walked down to the woods. Also some of the subjects were optional meaning no more wasting time doing French or Art.

I suppose King Edward VII wasn’t so bad afterall.......................

REPORTS

1992 FORM TUTOR (Mr Mee)

A pleasing set of reports Matthew, make sure you keep your motor running on all cylinders and you should do well in your exams next year.

1992 DIVISION HEAD (Mr Smith)

A very encouraging report which should encourage you to do well next year.

1992 PRINCIPAL (Mr Holdsworth)

A pleasing record of continuing progress. If Matthew sustains an all round effort to his work he can do well next year.

1993 FORM TUTOR (Mr Mee)

Matthew has proven ability in all subjects but does lack the necessary drive to really make the most of his talent. A more determined effort next term could make good grades even better.

1993 DIVISION HEAD (Mr Reeve)

Matthew continues to make good progress in a number of subjects, but needs to adopt a more disciplined and determined approach in some subjects such as information systems. If he does this he should achieve G.C.S.E grades that accurately reflect his ability.

1993 PRINCIPAL (Mr Holdsworth)

Matthew has the potential to achieve a range of good G.C.S.Es. He must aim for a maximum effort in all his subjects in 1993 keep it up.