Wilted paper poppies
I went to my old school yesterday to visit. I hadn't been back since collecting my results, and whilst walking home in the evening, I realised something which made me happy - even I have the ability to make a good decision once in a while! Because, seriously, I'm so glad I decided to go somewhere else for 6th form rather than stay on there. Actually, I think I'll take this opportunity to have a bit of a moan...
It was just a really disappointing reception that I received from almost all the teachers I saw. They were very...well, cold towards me. In fact, I even got totally ignored by one of the deputy heads, who as he was walking down the corridor and made eye contact with me. So as I say hello to him, he gives me a look as if to say "oh, it's you. I'm sure I know you from somewhere, but you're not important enough to bother with" and then carries on walking. The stupid thing is, I KNOW that he knew who I was, after being a student at that school for five years. But anyway, I shouldn't worry about it, because that guy is renowned for being a prize twat, as I'm sure one of my blog readers will agree ;)
Apart from that, the general crapiness that enveloped the place still stands. The 6th form have a miniscule common room, with nothing in it but 2 tables, a few dozen chairs and a coffee machine, because, y'know, everyone LOVES a nice steaming cup of foul tasting liquid for lunch. Oh, and the tracksuit loving hat maniacs which inhabit the common room. I honestly don't think I saw one boy who didn't have a hat planted on to his head (complete with price label, of course). It probably sounds like I'm being really snooty, and that my new school has moulded me into some kind of intolerant idiot, but that isn't the case. I knew the 6th form would be like that, and I just needed to and confirm my suspicions that there were lots of places to go that are so much better.
I do miss the friends that I left behind there, but we keep in contact. Plus, I think it was a good move for me to have a change of environment, meet new people, and do new things. It's still school, but school is so much better when it isn't tied with feeling depressed about stuff. I'll be back there (to school, not depression) next Thursday for this award presentation where I'll get my exam certificates, and some kind of award for English. One person got an award for each subject, and apparently I got the highest mark in the year group for English Lit (which I didn't even get told about until I heard it from someone else who had hounded teachers for all this valuable information). This year's AQA English Literature papers were appallingly marked-loads of people in my new school got remarks, and some went up by 2 grades! I also know someone who got marked up from a D to an A, so that's just an indication of the kind of morons they've got marking exam essays, which aren't just straight forward "right or wrong" questions.
Also, tomorrow is Remembrance Day (link there to the Poppy Appeal website, for anyone who isn't familiar with what I'm on about). Basically, the 11th of November marks when the first world war ended (at 11:11am), but remembrance day extends to other wars which have happened since then. We had this completely over the top, pretentious assembly at school today, where some war veterans who were former students came in to be given some wreaths. The whole of the 6th form had to "dress smartly" for the day, which was totally ridiculous, because aside from the fact that these visitors were coming in for 40 minutes of the day, the hall is huge, and they were probably too blind to even catch a glimpse of everyone sitting on the balcony. Everybody was given a programme, which included the words to 'God Save the Queen' and some other hymn. I refused to sing either of them though, and lots of people (you know the type-"I'm an atheist") were up in arms over how bits of religion had been incorporated into their Thursday morning.
Oh well, at least it'll be another year until I have to go through all that standing up and sitting down again.
It was just a really disappointing reception that I received from almost all the teachers I saw. They were very...well, cold towards me. In fact, I even got totally ignored by one of the deputy heads, who as he was walking down the corridor and made eye contact with me. So as I say hello to him, he gives me a look as if to say "oh, it's you. I'm sure I know you from somewhere, but you're not important enough to bother with" and then carries on walking. The stupid thing is, I KNOW that he knew who I was, after being a student at that school for five years. But anyway, I shouldn't worry about it, because that guy is renowned for being a prize twat, as I'm sure one of my blog readers will agree ;)
Apart from that, the general crapiness that enveloped the place still stands. The 6th form have a miniscule common room, with nothing in it but 2 tables, a few dozen chairs and a coffee machine, because, y'know, everyone LOVES a nice steaming cup of foul tasting liquid for lunch. Oh, and the tracksuit loving hat maniacs which inhabit the common room. I honestly don't think I saw one boy who didn't have a hat planted on to his head (complete with price label, of course). It probably sounds like I'm being really snooty, and that my new school has moulded me into some kind of intolerant idiot, but that isn't the case. I knew the 6th form would be like that, and I just needed to and confirm my suspicions that there were lots of places to go that are so much better.
I do miss the friends that I left behind there, but we keep in contact. Plus, I think it was a good move for me to have a change of environment, meet new people, and do new things. It's still school, but school is so much better when it isn't tied with feeling depressed about stuff. I'll be back there (to school, not depression) next Thursday for this award presentation where I'll get my exam certificates, and some kind of award for English. One person got an award for each subject, and apparently I got the highest mark in the year group for English Lit (which I didn't even get told about until I heard it from someone else who had hounded teachers for all this valuable information). This year's AQA English Literature papers were appallingly marked-loads of people in my new school got remarks, and some went up by 2 grades! I also know someone who got marked up from a D to an A, so that's just an indication of the kind of morons they've got marking exam essays, which aren't just straight forward "right or wrong" questions.
Also, tomorrow is Remembrance Day (link there to the Poppy Appeal website, for anyone who isn't familiar with what I'm on about). Basically, the 11th of November marks when the first world war ended (at 11:11am), but remembrance day extends to other wars which have happened since then. We had this completely over the top, pretentious assembly at school today, where some war veterans who were former students came in to be given some wreaths. The whole of the 6th form had to "dress smartly" for the day, which was totally ridiculous, because aside from the fact that these visitors were coming in for 40 minutes of the day, the hall is huge, and they were probably too blind to even catch a glimpse of everyone sitting on the balcony. Everybody was given a programme, which included the words to 'God Save the Queen' and some other hymn. I refused to sing either of them though, and lots of people (you know the type-"I'm an atheist") were up in arms over how bits of religion had been incorporated into their Thursday morning.
Oh well, at least it'll be another year until I have to go through all that standing up and sitting down again.
posted by Miss Waffle @ 2:42 pm
2 Comments:
At 9:23 pm,
Unknown said…
:-)
At 8:48 pm,
Emlyn said…
Yeah, I know which self-righteous poncy little price you're talking about. How a man who so clearly loathes either himself, students, or both is allowed to remain in charge of a school blows my mind. Argh! Though I should be happy... I could still be working there, instead of having been forced out and into a much, much better job. Huzzah!
PS. Again, congrats on the academic GCSE successes!
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