13. Primary school

By primary school we usually mean in practice schools for children from five to eleven, although officially the primary stage also includes pre-school institutions. A primary school in the generally accepted sense is usually divided into two parts, or departments:

the infant(s') department — for children from 5 to 7

the junior department — for children from 8 to 11 These may be in

separate buildings and have separate head teachers, but they are normally

very close together or are housed in. the same building under one head. If

there is one school, the expressions infant(s')/junior department are used;

if there are separate schools, infant(s')/junior school. Infants/juniors are

also used as plural nouns for children of infant/junior school age.

e.g. Margaret used to teach infants, but this year she's taking juniors

instead.

14. Elementary school

This term was formerly used in England, but is now obsolete, referring to the period between 1870 and 1944. It de notes the state schools established by the Elementary Education Act of 1870 for children from five to thirteen. After the Education Act of 1944 these schools became secondary modern schools. In America, however, elementary school is still the usual word denoting a public

6 school (BrE state school) for children of 6 to 12 or 13.

15. secondary school

This is a general term for any school taking the age group 11-16 and over (up to 18/19).

16. Grammar/technical/modern school

These are the three types of school in the so-called tripartite system of education introduced in 1944. This system was retained in most areas until the early 1970s, but was increasingly replaced by the comprehensive system (see unit 17 below). By 1979 the majority of local education authorities had reorganised secondary education in their areas on comprehensive lines, and the older, tripartite system now continues to exist only in about a quarter of all local authority areas. The rest of this unit therefore applies only to these areas.

Grammar schools provide a predominantly academic education and prepare pupils mainly for higher education. The name grammar school was given to them because grammar, particularly Latin grammar, formed an important part of the curriculum of the original grammar schools, some of which were founded as early as the Middle Ages.

Technical schools were the heirs of the junior technical schools, which date from the beginning of this century. The new secondary technical schools were planned as the academic equals of the grammar schools, but

specialising in technical subjects. However, there were never many of these schools, and for various reasons they were widely considered inferior to the grammar schools.

Secondary modern schools were established in 1944, on the basis of the former elementary schools (see unit 14). The word modern implies a contrast with classical. These schools were to teach modern subjects, in contrast to the grammar schools, where classics (that is, Latin and Greek language and literature) traditionally formed an important part of the curriculum, although their importance is now declining. The modern schools were given the task of providing a general, non-academic education for children of average ability. Most secondary modern pupils leave school at 16 (the minimum school-leaving age since 1972), either to start work or to do some kind of vocational training.

Children are allocated to the different types of secondary school according to their results in the eleven-plus (11+) examination. The name eleven-plus appears to refer to the age at which children transfer to secondary school, rather than to the age at which they take the examination (in their last year at primary school, at about 10 V2). There is no national examination; each local education authority devises its own. However, they have much in common, and generally consist of intelligence tests, tests in English and arithmetic, and sometimes English composition. In addition to the examination, some LEAs take into account primary school teachers' assessments, and some interview the children. Those children with the best results go to a grammar school, on the assumption that they are capable of benefiting from the academic type of education provided there. On average 20% of children go to a grammar school, although the percentage varies from one part of the country to another, according to the number of grammar school places available in each area. In districts where there is a secondary technical school, children who do well in the 11+ may go there instead, if their parents choose. Since the prestige of the technical school is often lower than that of the grammar school, children with slightly lower marks are often accepted. All other children, that is, 75-80% of the age group, go to a secondary modern school.