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How crazy is our Government !!!!! Latin in State Schools !!!!


oldypigeonpopper
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2 hours ago, fallowbuck said:

Don’t you think texting and Social Media are far more responsible for poor grammar and atrocious spelling than poor schooling?! 

 

 

 

Auto correct is behind 99% of mine. 😂 sometimes I look back and I sound completely retarded.  

On 01/08/2021 at 12:07, Mice! said:

I always blame fat thumbs and auto correct 😋

This.  

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15 hours ago, WalkedUp said:

Very true. I live in a borough that maintained grammar schools. I went to a state school in Birkenhead as the 4th of 5 children in a single parent family. I achieved 5 As at A-Level, my eldest sister only achieved AAB but is a solicitor and partner at PriceWaterhouseCooper. The two neighbouring boroughs abolished grammar schools and so it is a choice between private education, a very expensive house in a good catchment area, or a poor comprehensive. 

My point exactly. We moved to this town in 1984 because there was a grammar school here. The LEA had run it down and underfunded it for years along with the girls high school on the same campus in a failed attempt to put them out of business. Under Thatcher, schools had the opportunity to get away from the dead hands of LEAs such as Gloucester and that's what happened here. The two schools had a long history as part of the local culture and many locals who hadn't attended them happily signed the petition to retain them. The schools achieved direct funding in 1986 and haven't looked back. My 3 sons all went and all achieved 10 or 11 GCSEs and 3 A levels. They all have good careers...

Today those 2 schools are thriving, and whilst the  4 local comprehensives are under subscribed, pupils are bussed in from all over the county and even from as far away as Swindon to get a grammar school education.

Grammar schools as such were never the problem. The 11 plus was a desperately poor method of selection and many - such as my brother- who would have done well in a grammar ended up in the dumping ground known as the secondary modern. He got out after a year and transferred to a technical school in London which worked well for him.

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16 hours ago, fallowbuck said:

Don’t you think texting and Social Media are far more responsible for poor grammar and atrocious spelling than poor schooling?! 

 

 

 

The last time I opined about poor grammar on PW, everyman and his dog were offended……….to the point that the thread got shut down😫  Sow theez dais i just axept thart ilyteracey is part and pacel off the woke era, and feelins are far mor impowtent🙄

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At my grammar school, the A streams did Latin, the B streams did woodwork.

I used to feel very envious that my older and younger brother could bring home some woodwork article to be cooed over by the family. The ability to translate Caesar's Gallic Wars and a Latin O level seemed to me a poor substitute.

Fortunately, in the sixth form, I had a spare period and persuaded the woodwork master to teach me how to use the lathe. By the end of the year, I had a teak fruit bowl which took pride of place on the dining table.

Latin - Schmatin

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6 hours ago, KB1 said:

The last time I opined about poor grammar on PW, everyman and his dog were offended……….to the point that the thread got shut down😫  Sow theez dais i just axept thart ilyteracey is part and pacel off the woke era, and feelins are far mor impowtent🙄

ROFLMAO! P.S Thats not Latin!😉

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14 hours ago, amateur said:

At my grammar school, the A streams did Latin, the B streams did woodwork.

If I remember correctly, Latin was a basic requirement for entry to Oxford or Cambridge and was taught to upper streams, just in case they wanted to go on and study there.

I did Latin for 5 years, starting at 9- far too young. A complete waste of time and of no practical use in life. I later studied law and would use Latin expressions like Ultra vines, mens rea etc but these were legal principles in common use and no knowledge of Latin was required.

Kennedy’s shorter Latin primer was every schoolboys nightmare 😱

Who else remembers being forced to stand up and decline Amo, Amas, Amat etc? (I love, you love and he loves). Pure torture.

Going off the point slightly, my son was not particularly academic and chose Drama as a soft A level. I hit the roof and said what employer needs a person with A level drama? My wife, who knows more than I did, said Drama was a recognised skill for employers and very useful for confidence and work presentations etc.

She was quite right, my son now has a very well paid job and the confidence to stand up in front of any crowd and do a presentation. Meanwhile, with my classical education, there is no way I could do that! 

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1 hour ago, Sciurus said:

If I remember correctly, Latin was a basic requirement for entry to Oxford or Cambridge and was taught to upper streams, just in case they wanted to go on and study there.

In light of the woke demands that Oxford & Cambridge accept more students from state schools, it's worth bearing in mind that in the 50s and 60s around 45% of entrants to those top universities were from grammar schools. Of course back then it was socially acceptable for them to accept students purely on merit. A bit different from today's "Inclusive" society where other considerations can and frequently do, trump ability.

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3 hours ago, Sciurus said:

........ Kennedy’s shorter Latin primer was every schoolboys nightmare 😱

 

Ah yes! The Shortbread Eating Primer, which we all altered our copies to read, and was a thrashing offence if caught.

"Omnia Gallia divisa est in partes tres" is forever imprinted in my memory. Ta Julius

 

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