General Chat

This thread was the first I'd heard of the Russell Schools!!

I note with interest that my Alma Mater is a member :-)


In my day, we talked about Oxford, Cambridge, the red brick universities, and the "upstarts" :-)


My Biology teacher at school would not let me apply to Manchester University ............. not that I wanted to as it was too close to home. Her reasoning was that the Zoology school believed in Lamarckian inheritance .............. in other words, a giraffe grew a long neck because it needed one.

Equally, she wouldn't allow me to apply to Hull because it was too new.

Those were the days when you applied to each university individually not to a central clearing house.

Several of my friends from school went to Keele University which was BRAND new, with some very different ideas of how schools were organised ............ they were mainly on the Arts side. One became a very famous economist in the university world.

Later, a new colleague of my OH's turned out to have also gone to Keele in that same intake, and graduated with a very good science degree.

Wonderful Ann......it is all about individuals, not sweeping statements :-)

Claire ..............


well done to your daughter.

So much depends on the individual teachers AND on the parents' support at home.

We find it is the parents' support that is often missing here ............. there is a culture in parts of North America that believes that teachers are responsible for everything in a child's life, that the parents have no role to play.

In Canada, that is often due to the ethnicity of the parents, and to helicopter and astronaut parents.

I happen to believe that a teacher is responsible only for teaching the children and for support in school. Not for educating in social life or acting as guardians.

Well done to your daughter Claire, Kitty I could not agree more. :-D :-D

My daughter attended a school that had it's ups and downs shall we say...she went on to Uni and has now been teaching for the last 13 years!

You're welcome Claire. It's always good to have information first hand :-D

Thanks Kitty and Rose. I'm off topic a bit but thought this thread needed someone with first hand experience rather than something they've read on the internet.

There's every point Rose, we were sidetracked by the first goading snipe then the absolute trashing of Cardiff and everything associated with it :-0

Congratulations to your daughter Claire :-D

Oh go on Rose...........I look forward to your posts :-D

Well done to your daughter Claire :-)

A child who wants to do well will achieve no matter what happens as long as they work hard and have the support of family and friends. Ofsted reports and SATS results are sometimes very misleading.

I was going to comment on the TOPIC but really what's the point...
:-(

I happen to be a parent of a child who attended one of those schools "Poorly" rated by Wales online. It wouldn't have been my choice but choice was something I didn't have given the area we live.

Private education was something I couldn't contemplate, I just don't have the funds.

She did just fine; no she actually did much better than fine, turning down the opportunity to apply for Oxford or Cambridge and settling for a Russell Group university. She graduated last month.

furthermore - you asked me why I had asked the question and now you've had the answer

you have your opinion, I have mine - what he posted was scandalous and until he apologises I will not let it go - you might let it go, but I will not - and as for using open threads, Errol posted that libellous comment on an open forum for all to see

I don't give a jot what you think

AnnC ............


your seeming vendetta with Errol is really rather boring, and has no place on the open threads.

I know not what has gone on between you, nor do I care.

I do object to having to continually read the jibes.


In my humble opinion ............ it would be much better for the rest of us if you could just laugh, and let it all slide in the dim distant past.

AnnG ............

You wre unlucky!!

I was unlucky in the sense that we "academic stream girls" were not allowed to do shorthand and typing ............. the reason was that we would never need it

Oh how wrong they were!!

What did I need at university? A quick method to take notes in lectures

What did I need when I became a research assistant? The ability to type information, research papers, proposals etc.

I taught myself to type while in my first job in the US ........... the boss went away for a 6 week field trip, I finished the work he had left after the 2nd week, and spent the rest of the time trying to teach myself on a Selectric. I still only use 2, occasionally 3, fingers :-D

the reason I asked the question Sylvia is simply because the other night Errol put up a thread relating to my bout of illness - he asked people to rally round as I was a very kind person, even at one time letting him sleep over at my house!!! A blatant lie of course - and a slur on my character - he was asked to apologise but he never did - now had he said the same thing about you, how would you feel, so if I am being personal, that is the reason why - and the fact that he has come on this thread is purely because "Cardiff" features in the title

AnnC ............

I wonder why you ask that question?

it has no connection to this thread, and really is no business of anyone else.

Some of us have no choice in the places we visit ................ work is the most often reason for sending us to a place we don't want to go to, or we find after visiting that somewhere is not where we want to be.

I did not know that I did not want to live in the US until after I'd lived there for a year.

I did not know that there were better places that the town where I was born until I left and experienced those other places. I now know there are many much better places .............. and much as I love where I currently live, I also know there are some other places in other parts of the world where I could be equally happy if we had to move from here for some reason.

Sylvia, no, no opportunity to learn Shorthand/typing. We had domestic science and needlework in first two years only unless doing domestic science at Olevel. I am not criticizing the school by the way, it was an excellent school, just not right for me. Although my Mum was very proud I went there. Maybe thatw as my problem too, my parents had no ability to help me at all with homework.

Well I will be watching it anyway.......despite some poor reviews on this thread :-D :-D