Posts by Amy Gale
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There is also a counter argument that every minute students spend picking out clothes is a minute they don't spend learning.
certainly didn't apply, because I wasn't getting dressed on school time. Uniform inspections DO happen on school time.
When I wrote that, I was thinking of homework and study, not class. We didn't get dressed in class either. (Except PE, obviously.)
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The contrast in those photos is outstanding, indicative of the extremes of views in education I'd say....
Possibly, although it might just mean that one is taken by the LC Scott people that come to your school and line you all up and instruct you on hand/foot placement[*] and the other isn't. (Or maybe it is - but the characteristic chalkboard does seem to be missing).
[*] "Put your right hand over your left hand, now drop them in your lap. Put your feet together." Don't take my word for it, just look at school photos from the lower North Island (at least) over the last few decades.
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Here is one of my schools photos, from the time I was there.
Ooo! Let's all play this game.
Here is my 7th form cohort. Look how contemptible we are!
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__ In my day it was mostly the 7th formers who noticed the petty infringements and dished out the correctives (taking out the hair tie/pulling up your socks/going to their common room at lunch to clean your shoes/etc).__
Well here's the origins of your toxic hierarchy. In my country it would have been considered very peremptory and bullying to even express and negative opinion about another person's appearance, let alone presume they had the right to force their will on that person. How humiliating for the person with lower rank. How contemptible that someone should enjoy exercising that power, and how sick the adults in charge invest one child with that sort of power over another.
You might be surprised at how non-humiliating it is to have a trusted older student ask you to please pull your socks up. If you asked me about it at the time, I would have rolled my eyes and offered that that way the way it was and there were other schools I could go to if sock-related freedom was important to me. If you ask me now, I'll probably giggle and try to come up with something else to make you laugh too.
(Like, oo, I know: The uniform store sold uniform undies!)
I actually find the accusation of sickness/contemptibility extremely offensive. I am neither, my friends were neither, my seniors were neither, my teachers were neither.
The 2005 ERO report for QMC says "Students at Queen Margaret College demonstrate pride in belonging to the school community. They are involved in a wide range of co- and extra-curricular activities that enhance their personal and social development, together with their academic challenges. Classrooms are purposeful, nonthreatening, busy and settled workplaces where students are respectful, polite and welcoming. The tone in the college reflects the espoused values of respect, honesty, compassion and honour. Students confidently demonstrate a range of thinking and problemsolving skills in an environment of trust."
I'm inclined to believe it, too.
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Bearing in mind that every minute school staff spend enforcing such absurdities is a minute they don't spend um, educating, surely a case could be made for scrapping uniforms to enhance educational achievement.
In my day it was mostly the 7th formers who noticed the petty infringements and dished out the correctives (taking out the hair tie/pulling up your socks/going to their common room at lunch to clean your shoes/etc). So in theory, the teachers didn't lose much teaching time.
There is also a counter argument that every minute students spend picking out clothes is a minute they don't spend learning. In general schools with fearsome uniform regulations seem to have pretty good outcomes, but it's probably impossible to tease out uniforms from all the other factors at work without running some gigantic experiment.
Might just be the Stockholmer in me talking, but I do see some benefit in having a setup where very minor things can be "naughty": you don't need to bunk school and go off to shoot heroin if you can rebel by wearing red earrings.
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Most seem to have knee length skirts, Wellington East has optional long skirts for Muslim students, and only Queen Margarets seems to have it as standard. They also have regulation hair tie colours.
Tsk tsk, it's Queen Margaret - no plural or possessive.
Unfortunarely for my current stock of stories, it was a largely nice place with largely nice teachers where I had a largely tolerable time.
And fortunately, I live in the US, where I can still get lots of mileage out of "We wore unforms! We had houses! There were no boys! Except when we shipped them in for dances! We got in trouble if our socks were down!". Etc.
Wikipedia lists no famous alumnae. Then again, my cohort alone contained an Olympic snowboarder and a Rhodes scholar. So, well, y'know.
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Two cheerier airline stories for you, both from this month.
1) Jet Blue
-------------Have Jet Blue flight booked on a Sat afternoon to get to JFK, thence to fly out internationally. Midnight Friday, get a phone message from airline saying flight has been cancelled, here is number to call for help. Stress ensues. What will I do? Earlier flight? Drive to NYC? Argh!
Call number, lovely rep absorbs the situation and then helps me rebook, but not before checking multiple sources to make sure that the original cancellation wasn't for some reason that could lead to other cancellations later. Even notes that I had paid for extra legroom ($10, bloated class enemy that I am) and arranges for appropriately nice seat. Apologises for problem, and is generally awesome. I make my connection (with enormous wait at horrible horrible JFK, but that can't be helped) and the world is rosy once more.
2) Virgin Atlantic
--------------------I order duty free on the plane (yes, I know, but I already told you I was a bloated class enemy). Hand over my remaining euros and pounds, plus my credit card to make up any shortfall. Attendant says she's not sure if she can take euros as usually they only take currencies from places they fly to, but will check.
She comes back with my credit card and says the euros were fine, and since there was only 80p left to put on my credit card they didn't run it and it was "on Richard".
This one in particular seems trivial, and yet I think plenty of companies would have been mean/difficult in a parallel situation. Especially most airlines I've met.
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Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn
Vor uns liegt ein weites Tal
Die Sonne scheint mit Glitzerstrahl
Short, shameful confession: my first thought was this was going to turn out to be a German translation of How Bizarre.
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<seizes upon chance to get rid of middle child>
She'll be on the first plane.
I can see it now. Auntie Amy's Homestays for Luckless Children
PRO: buys chocolate in five kilo boxes
CON: will make you do your maths homework
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I distinctly remember some sort of KFC knock-off, but with a green-striped colour scheme instead of red, perhaps with the word "country" in the name, which I used to look at longingly when we drove up to visit my grandparents.
The green stripes were "Homestead Chicken". I have no particular recollection of ever having chicken from there, or indeed anything except the fried sweetbreads which - I swear I am not making this up - were one of their standard side dishes.