They are two types of school in England: state schools and independent or public schools.
STATE SCHOOLS
They are schools run by Local Education Authorities (LEAs) and financed by public funds. The state is divided into ninety six LEAs: they guarantee free education in their area. The Department for Education and Skills periodically makes some checks. 97% of children in England attend states school.
INDEPENDENT or PUBLIC SCHOOLS
They are 2500 independent or public schools in England. They are called public because everybody can apply. Unfortunately they are very expensive, so only 3% of children can attend them. Parents pay for their children to attend these schools. The most famous public schools are Eton, Harrow and Winchester.
WHAT DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCHOOLS DO YOU HAVE IN ENGLAND?
- Nursery school: before five years old, here pupils play and do some creative activities.
Primary education: from four – five to eleven years of age. Compulsory schooling starts and pupils learn the Morse code and the arithmetic. Students of primary education are usually taught by the same teacher for all subjects. They are two kinds of primary education: infant (5 – 7 years old) and junior (7 – 11 years).
Secondary education: from eleven to sixteen years of age. There are three types of secondary school, comprehensive school (it is open to all the children and it is mixed sexed school), grammar school (it requires an entrance exam to attend it, it’s selective and it’s single sexed school) and high school (it is the last segment of compulsory education). Compulsory schooling finishes at sixteen years of age.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY?
COLLEGE Students usually attend a college for two years. Colleges generally do not support research or offer graduate degrees. The world “college” means one area of study, that is because the first American universities have divided their studies into many areas and called each one a college.
UNIVERSITY Universities usually are much larger than colleges, they carry out research and they offer several kinds of degrees in many areas of study. They last four years and they offer bachelor’s degrees after four years of study. Universities also offer graduate degrees that require additional years of study, such as master’s degrees and doctoral degrees.
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
All the schools have programs in common, it is called national curriculum. The national curriculum was introduced in 1988 and includes four “Key stages” and ten subjects: English, Maths and Science until eleven years old, English, Maths, Science, Information/Technology (IT), History, Music, Arts, Geography, Physical Education (PE) and foreign language from eleven to sixteen years old.
The “Key stages” are:
- Key stage 1: until 7 years old.
Key stage 2: 7 – 11 years old.
Key stage 3: 11 – 14 years old.
Key stage 4: 14 – 16 years old.
The move from Primary school to Secondary school occurs without exams, because students take exams when they are seven, eleven and fourteen years old (SATs, national exams).
GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION (GCSE)
GCSE includes a lot of exams. You must take these exams when you are sixteen years old, when you finish the Secondary school. The number and the choice of the subject depend on students’ abilities, but Maths, English, Science and foreign language are compulsory. If you pass this exam you can have access to professional training courses or to work but if you want to carry on with your studies you can attend the college.
VOCATION GCSE
This exam prepares you to a professional education. It must be taken together GCSE or you can take two GCSE.
GENERAL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION ADVANCED LEVELS
It can be taken by very good eighteen students to enter a higher education. It includes several exams; if you pass some exams of different subjects you can attend the University.
TERMS
Schools are open for 195 days each school year. The school year is 39 weeks long and is divided into six terms.
Every term is separated by holiday:
- Term 1: September to October (followed by a one week holiday).
Term 2: October to December (followed by a two week holiday).
Term 3 : January to February (followed by a one week holiday).
Term 4 : February to March (followed by a two week holiday).
Term 5: April to May (followed by a one week holiday).
Term 6: June to July (followed by a six week summer holiday).
School holidays are:
- Christmas - 2 weeks
Easter - 2 weeks
Summer - 6 weeks. Summer holidays are from mid-July to early September.
The local educational authority decides the dates of the school terms.
SCHOOL DAYS
School days are from Monday to Friday. Usually the school starts at 8:55 am and finishes at 3:15 pm.
A SCHOOL DAY FOR A CHILDREN OF EIGHT YEARS OLD
School begins at 8:55 am. Childrens line up in their class groups and they go to their classrooms. On arriving in their classrooms,childrens empty their bags and put their homework in some boxes. Then they hang their bags and coats on the pegs in the cloakrooms. Later the teacher reads out each child’s name in turn and she notes down if every child is in school or not. At 9:10 am childrens go to assembly in main hall. In assembly childrens listen to a story,sing and pray. The story is either taken from the Christian Bible or is a story with a moral. The first lesson of the day begins at 9:30 am and lasts for an hour. Their morning lessons are usually Literacy (English) or Mathematics. The children have their morning break from 10:20 a.m. to 10:35 am. They bring a snack from home to eat in the playgrounds. After that they have an hour and fifteen minutes before lunch time. The first fifteen minutes may be spent giving the children their weekly spelling test, times tables test or used for mental maths. Lunch time is from 12 noon to 1:10 pm. The children can have Midday Supervisors who help out and supervise them during lunch time. Lessons resume with reading activities. The rest of the afternoon is spent learning one or two of our other school subjects. Afternoon lessons continue until 3:15 pm when the children go home.
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
There are many different clubs and activities for the children like sport and music activities. They are run by teachers.
A SCHOOL DAY FOR A THIRTHEEN
I leave home at 6.45 am and I walk 20 minutes to catch the bus. When I arrive at school I go to Tutor Room for Registration. We listen to announcements to know some special news about our school. At about 8:50 am we leave Tutor Room to start our first period. Every day I have a different lesson at the first period. Each period lasts an hour. All my lessons are in different rooms and places around the school. I have a locker where I can store some of my stuff. Every student carries a swipe card. It let to know that we have attended that certain lessons and to know where we are in case of emergencies. On the swipe card there are two stripes, a brown and a black. The brown is to swipe into lessons and the black is to get into the toilets and buildings. We can put money on our swipe cards instead of carrying cash around. We learn Maths, English, Science, IT, Drama, Music, Art, PE, History, Geography, Religion, French or Spanish.
TIME TABLE
- 9.00 am: 1st period
10.00 am: 2nd period
11.00 – 11.2oam: break
11.20 am: 3rd period
12.30 am: 5th period
1.30 – 2.10 pm: lunch
2.10 pm: 5th period
3.10 pm: end of the school