1. Explain or paraphrase the bold-faced words and expressions.

2. Answer the questions:

1. In the first paragraph, what is the contrast that the writer makes between his new school and how he felt on his first day there?

2. What were some of his fears?

3. What did he do with his “three half-crowns”? Why?

4. Why didn’t Churchill understand the task that the Form Master set him?

Do you think he knew what Latin was? Did he know what declensions are?

5. Why did the Form Master threaten to punish Churchill?

6. Churchill obviously felt very miserable on his first day at school. Find the words in the text that describe his negative attitude to the day.

Discussion

1. Have you ever learnt Latin or Greek? How was it taught?

2. Have you ever learnt a modern language in the way Churchill had to learn Latin? What did you think of learning in that way?

Reading 4

1. What are the differences between the following types of British schools?

a comprehensive

b alternative

с public

d boarding

Which are state schools (paid for and controlled by the government) and which are private schools (where parents pay)?

2. Divide into three groups. Each group should read one of the articles about schools.

Group 1 reads about life at a comprehensive

school.

Group 2 reads about life at a public/boarding

school.

Group 3 reads about life at an alternative

school.

a First predict, in groups, what you think the students will say about these topics. Check first that you understand what the topics mean.

School rules

Extra curricular activities

Typical daily routine

What she thinks of school

b Read the article and make notes about the headings in a.

с Make sure you know the exact meanings of the words listed in a box beneath the text you have read.

Name: Katy Roberts

Age: 16

School: Backwell School, Backwell, Avon

Type: Comprehensive School

“I’m in the fifth year at Backwell School. Like most of the 1.000 kids who come here, I travel here every morning on the school bus. I get here for 8.50 when we have to register with our tutor group. At nine the buzzer goes and we have our first two 50 minutes’ lessons, then a break of 20 minutes. We have two more lessons, then lunch, which lasts 50 minutes. I usually hang out with my friends or boyfriend at lunch, but there are lunchtime activities I could do.

We have a 25-minute tutorial after lunch and before our next two classes, where we receive messages, chat to our tutor groups or go to assembly. Our school is strict on discipline with detentions for swearing or breaking the school rules, but the uniform’s quite relaxed. We have to wear navy or black but we can wear any style we want, although if something’s too fashionable, for example, a brightly coloured coat, we have to take it off. I like our uniform. It’s comfortable to wear and the colour’s okay. The activities at school are really good – both the kids and teachers are into them. There’s loads of after-school clubs and trips: we can do weight training, squash, trampolining, hockey, music lessons, orchestra, drama club, ski trips, cookery trips to France, school discos for the younger kids, charity fetes, etc. I like my school – it’s friendly and my mates are here. People might think you get a better standard of schooling by paying to go to a private school, but I think Backwell has a high standard of education and a good reputation. I’d never want to go anywhere else!”

tutorial tutor group a buzzer detentions mates charity fetes

Name: Emma Langford

Age: 17

School: Cobham Hall, Kent

Type: Public/Boarding School

“I’ve been going to Cobham Hall for seven years and I love it. The average day here begins at 7 a.m. when we are woken up to have breakfast. By 8.25 a.m. we have to be in our tutorial groups where we read the papers and see what’s happening in the world. At 8.40 a.m. we all go off to morning prayers and lessons begin at 9 a.m.

I suppose our school day is quite long because we don’t finish till 4.25 a.m. but after that we can do what we want. We can either watch TV, have dinner or join one of the activity classes such as Keep Fit or Tennis. At 7 p.m. we have to do homework till 9 p.m. I’m now in the upper sixth, so I don’t have a set bedtime, but the lower years have to be in bed by certain times. For example, fourth years have to be in bed by 10 p.m.

I think that things are quite relaxed here at Cobham. They are strict about some things, like smoking, drinking and seeing boys, but apart from that we are allowed to go out at weekends and a couple of nights a week.

There are always loads of things to do at school like sport, swimming, weight training etc. I don’t even have to wear uniform and can wear jeans to lessons.

I used to be a day pupil for the first couple of years because my family live so close but now I board as I have much more work to do. Boarding is good fun and I love it. I share with three other girls.”

Name: Sonnie Ashdrow

Age: 10

School: The Rudolf Steiner School, Bristol

Type: Alternative School

“My school is a bit different from other schools. It’s based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (a European educational philosopher), and is for children aged between 4 and 14. There’s not a big emphasis put on exams at our school because the teachers don’t believe in competition, but in cooperation. We do take GCSEs but they are not as important as they would be in state schools.

It’s different in other ways too. It’s funded by parental contributions, and we don’t have a headmaster – our teachers make decisions between themselves.

There’s a lot of emphasis on the arts at Steiner schools. We do Eurythmy, which is a sort of music and dance, and music and art. We learn French and German from an early age and even perform plays in foreign languages. We do English three times a week and Math twice a week. The only thing I don’t like about our school is that we aren’t taught to read until we’re about seven, which I find a bit late. We don’t have many trips but we do most sports. We aren’t allowed to do football. I think it’s to do with not believing in competition.

School starts at nine o’clock when we have to say a verse. We do this every day - the same verse, although I’m not too sure why we do this. Then we have a lesson with our main teacher for about an hour, then a break and two more lessons. Lunch is half an hour to an hour, after which we have three lessons.

I like my school because it’s so friendly and we don’t wear school uniforms, but I don’t feel we learn enough here. Once when I visited another school some girls teased us about going to this school. I have thought about going to other schools but it’s hard to leave my friends and the teachers, who I like here”.

funded parental contributions a verse teased

Do the following exercises