How close is peak oil?

[UndercoverElephant]

The UK education system has been going down hill ever since the abolition of the grammar schools. When we had grammar schools we had a fairly steady rate of passes in the exam system. Since their abolition the pass rate has steadily risen as the exams have got easier. The literacy rate of children entering secondary school has also gone down so teaching in primary schools has also got worse.

What is a grammar school? And a secondary school? Is that analogous to an elementary school in America, and a secondary school is analogous to a middle or high school?

Err....so you don't actually have the first f******g clue about the educational system in the UK then. Glad we got that one sorted out.

Our education system is not perfect, but it is still much better than yours. At least most Brits leave school having some idea what is going on outside the borders of their own immediate locality. I get the distinct impression that many Americans don't even know what is going on in the next state, let alone other parts of the world.

Grammar Schools were/are for people who pass an exam called the Eleven Plus (at age 10/11).

Secondary Moderns were/are for people who fail that exam.

Comprehensives are for everyone - the people who go there do not take an Eleven Plus.

The above are all part of the state system.

Got any more ill-informed comments to make?

[JohnB]

I passed the 11 plus and ended up in a comprehensive! My good grammar school merged with the crap secondary modern next door, and it was downhill after that.

[UndercoverElephant]

I passed the 11 plus and ended up in a comprehensive! My good grammar school merged with the crap secondary modern next door, and it was downhill after that.

I went to a comprehensive - a very, very bad one. I lived in the ultimate leafy commuter town, where almost everybody is rich and sends their children to private schools. The comprehensive I went to was sort of the dumping ground not only for the poorer kids in Caterham but also to quite a few who had been expelled from other state schools. It was a classic "sink school." Dreadful exam results, dreadful behaviour, very high staff turnover.

To give some idea of just how bad it was....I was the only person in my year, out of about 12, who passed biology A-level. And I got an E.

It is apparently now on the national list of "100 most improved schools", although that isn't necessarily saying much.

[PS_RalphW]

I passed the 11 plus and ended up in a comprehensive! My good grammar school merged with the crap secondary modern next door, and it was downhill after that.

Similar story.

Hy school was founded by Henry 8th. When my brother started, it was a boy's boarding grammar school. By the time I left, it was a 14-18 mixed comprehensive day school with a different catchment area.

[RGR]

[quote="UndercoverElephant"]

[Kentucky Fried Panda]

Nice to see that RGR has now adopted plain old trolling as his modus operandi here on powerswitch. Instead of just being a peak oil theory contrarian.

What did your private education teach you about people who constantly crave attention RGR? Enlighten us, while we groupthink about what an annoying twat you are when you swerve off topic.

[madibe]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 494421392#



2008 SATS


# 1 Korea, South: 552
# 2 Japan: 550
# 3 Finland: 538
# 4 United Kingdom: 532
# 5 Canada: 529
= 6 Australia: 528
= 6 New Zealand: 528
# 8 Austria: 519
# 9 Ireland: 513
# 10 Sweden: 512
# 11 Czech Republic: 511
= 12 France: 500
= 12 Norway: 500
# 14 United States: 499
= 15 Switzerland: 496
= 15 Hungary: 496
= 15 Belgium: 496
= 15 Iceland: 496
# 19 Spain: 491
# 20 Germany: 487
# 21 Poland: 483
# 22 Denmark: 481
# 23 Italy: 478
# 24 Greece: 461
# 25 Portugal: 459
# 26 Luxembourg: 443
# 27 Mexico: 422


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/19/ ... z1L7RY0RfH

[woodpecker]

I can't make up my mind whether this guy is on skunk, a retard, or both.

[biffvernon]

I would regard all league tables of education as deeply flawed and it comes as no surprise that the ordering of that list of countries does not correlate with anything obvious.

[RGR]

[quote="woodpecker"

[postie]

....We've had maroons running for office since the inception of America.....

There's a joke in there somewhere.

[kenneal - lagger]

Grammar Schools were/are for people who pass an exam called the Eleven Plus (at age 10/11).

Secondary Moderns were/are for people who fail that exam.

Comprehensives are for everyone - the people who go there do not take an Eleven Plus.

The above are all part of the state system.

Got any more ill-informed comments to make?

Grammar schools offered pupils an academic biased education from tha age of 11 to 18 whereas Secondary Moderns offered a more technical or vocational (manual skills) education from the age of 11 to 16. Children could go from secondary modern to grammar schools if they passed exams at 13+ or 16+. Comprehensives now only offer an academic education so there are very few manual skills taught in UK schools.

That's why we have so many builders from Eastern Europe working in the UK. It's a good job that we import most things because we have a shortage of skilled engineering employees as well because that is no longer taught. Perhaps the reason that we have so much obesity is that cookery is no longer taught either, which contributes to the amount of junk food fed to our kids.

I'm not saying that our previous educational system was perfect, but it was a lot better than the one we have now. You only have to look at the standard of English of various contributors to any website in this country. You can usually tell the young by the lack English skills.

[vtsnowedin]

I want to point something out but I promised to never criticise anyone's typing, spelling or grammar skills considering my own deficiencies but some times it is so tempting.

[RGR]

[quote="kenneal"]

[RGR]

[quote="vtsnowedin"]