As my unrecognised difficult times at primary school came to an end I was faced with the 11 plus. A way of segregating children based on their performance in a one off exam, when aged 10 (as I was) or 11, dependent on when one’s birthday fell. The result meant a grammar school or secondary education.
The whole thing was a mystery to me and inevitably I failed the exam. Then the local authorities said they had no secondary school for me to go to, another strange thing to me. A sense of not being wanted was strong and fortunately my dad knew there’d be a way out of the impasse. He approached the neighbouring education authority, known then as the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) to see if they could help. ILEA happened to be his employer albeit in a very different area, so he had a contact or two to get advice from.
The upshot was going to Southfields School, a burgeoning comprehensive that was being rebuilt with a recently appointed new headteacher. So a new school beckoned, but fractured local friendships as we went separate ways. Then this word entered my world and has had a lasting impact.
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