Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms What could you have done better at school?

Answer.......................Everything.

BUT...........In my first year at "Gramar School" (listen to me!)........I was put into a metalwork class. In my ignorance I wanted woodwork, but knowing what I know now.......Phew! we had a fully equipped workshop with lathes and bench drills, and grinders, and oxy acetylene....oh my god it was heaven.

BUT, I didn't see the obvious. The Headmaster was ex RAF and built a plane which eventually he flew off the school fields, which were huge....................

There was also an LNER scale model pacific locomotive which was unpainted, and about four feet long. I never asked who built it. So there, I should have capitalised on metalwork, but couldn't wait to stop doing it.

Everything else I took the easy route, so no swotting, all seat of the pants. Knowing what I know now I should have worked a lot harder.

EVERYTHING !

Academically Im as thick as hospital crockery. I was always the class clown and never wanted to learn though teachers said I had the potential. Apparently!

I always wanted to be a fast jet pilot but I just haven't got the smarts. My maths is horrendous, I really struggle with numbers. Im sure I've got dyscalculia.

Would have loved to have had metal work & more practical skills. I went to grammar school so basic woodwork was it.
Also languages would have been useful. I picked up "Angl o Saxon " ones easily (German & Dutch) but latin ones were a weakness,
As a scientifically biased person the terrible lack of rules made languages for me a fog.

Everything! And at least a little bit more than I did.

I had chosen the wrong type of school so all my efforts were to graduate there with as little effort as possible. Unfortunately I was quite successful with my efforts.

On the other hand: if you learn to swim and survive in an unfriendly environment you can enjoy everything else even more and swimming is a skill one never forgets.

Worked harder. I was quite bright - hardly worked at all for O-Levels then did 7 days revision. A-Levels, I worked a bit harder - just enough to get a place at Loughborough to study Physics where I worked just hard enough.

Could have made much better use of the members of the sister school but I was clueless. That said I did OK at school but completely messed up at university. I was working in the same laboratory, studying the same subject, at the same time as Stephen Hawking, and I think its fair to say that he made rather better use of his opportunities!!! As did fellow students who went on to be ministers in government, ambassadors and even F1 drivers ( Piers Courage).

Me? I'm Mr Ordinary.

It would have helped if anyone had known I'm dyslexic and a bit ADHA.

Anyway, I got to Grammar school... to the surprise of all.
There I proved to be a dismal linguist, but quite a good scientist, essentially I did well in the subjects that were well taught, but I got board rather easily.
Managed 3 acceptable A Levels, it would have been better but I didn't really concentrate: for example my chemistry report in the Lower 6th was "Jenks would do better if he followed our syllabus and not his own"...
I could have gone to a good University, but instead I got into Brunel through the clearing system.
4 years I emerged with a 2nd class (upper division) Honours degree in Applied Biochemistry.

46 years later it seems to have served me well enough. I still feel a bit sorry for the teachers who couldn't understand why I tended to be disruptive, unfocussed and prone to focus on what interested me. Now of course I'd be in the hands of the educational psychologists and special needs: would it have helped me? I'm not sure.

Dated even more girls

Too many beautiful girls and too little time, I enjoyed my school days but lost count of the times I was laid low with glandular fever the Doc couldn't work out why but I could have told him.

The teachers lacked the imagination and skills to fire me up apart from the sciences and Maths so Electronic Engineering it was and we have done quite well out of it meeting some great characters on the way and world travel in many countries which is the greatest education of them all especially when the company paid for it all and generous expenses allowances.
A lot to be thankful for.

Thanks to failing my 11+ I was sent to a relatavily new Secondary Modern school. Here we had classes in Woodwork, Metalwork, Engineering Workshop Theory & Practice and Technical drawing (reached A level in that). Then I went to work and served an apprenticeship where we learnt all those properly.

Favourite at school were the engineering classes. An old Rover, a fire damaged MG T series courtesy of banger in petrol tank and bought for a fiver, an old Case tractor and various stationary engines kept us well occupied. The woodwork on the MG was rebuilt and it eventually ran although disappointingly slow with a retrofit 100E engine. Still one of our class got it running fast enough to spin it on grass in the vicinity of a telegraph pole. Car esentially undamaged, same couldn't be said for my schoolmates blazer.

How does it go - regrets I have a few. Might be an understatement!

I would do many things differently but at the end of the day we are who we are.

You could have made a simple summary of my time in Comprehensive, Sixth Form and Tech College (I had to resit a few things)

c+ for attainment, d- for effort. Alistair does just enough to achieve the required score unless the subject gains his interest. This was my Biology teacher in the 4 year. The rebel in me then proceeded to get an A in the mock O level and a C in my real exam just to tweak things.

I did however find out the combination to the computer room door lock and could usually be found attached to the various equipment available to learn from. An ICL 2900 mainframe with 8K of RAM for its RS232 connected terminals. A Commodore 2001 Pet personal computer held more interest. It all went right/wrong from there depending on your viewpoint.

I wasted time in several lessons which is clear from my Engrish and grimmer. I passed up several opportunities that make me think I must have been triggers stupid brother.