Schoolies week

[Bealman]

Just wondering if the rest of the world have something called Schoolies week.

Basically what happens here is that when the schoolkids finish their Year 12 exams, they all head off to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast of Queensland and get themselves totally wasted.

It's that time of year again.

When the Bealettes were that age it was something I was not looking forward to, but luckily for Bealman, they were sensible.

Some of these kids get totalled, and there have been fatalities.

Just wondering if it's an Aussie phenomenon.

[keithfre]

Some of these kids get totalled, and there have been fatalities.

Sounds like a regular Saturday night in the UK...

[njee20]

Sounds like 'Spring Break' in the US.

We don't have anything like that really, although Newquay is best avoided just about all year.

[port perran]

Sounds like end of GCSEs.
In late June/early July lots of kids holiday in Cornwall to celebrate the end of exams. It's a week the local police don't particularly look forward to.
Essentially many go to Newquay but the more public school types go to Rock.
No doubt they all have a jolly good knees up (but won't call it that).

[grumbeast]

Yeah,

  sounds like spring break here in Canada too, although I don't think kids here are quite a wild as in the US.  When I finished my 'O' levels my Dad bought me a cream cake and I remember being over the moon!

While I was still teaching in the UK (16-18yr old boys mostly), I don't think any of my students ever did the foolish end of year drinking thing.. mind you they were nerds (and I use that term proudly!).  I'm wondering if its primarily a middle class thing, none of my guys came from affluent backgrounds

[port perran]

Talking of end of year drinking reminds me of my old A Level Economic History teacher (saddly no longer with us).
He had a most remarkable success rate (if memory serves correctly in my year out of two groups of 25 students he had 49/50 passes and something like 90% of us getting an A or B).
He was a great teacher who had a real knack of getting the important information across to us rabble.
However, as part of our studies, we made beer!  We had two big old dustbins in the corner of the room and made beer the old fashioned way with malt, hops and barley. The history room smelled like a brewery and at Christmas we had a party and drank the lot (all in lesson time).
I'm sure it was all very much frowned upon but I guess the higher authorities were happy to turn a blind eye as our teacher was so very successful and so highly regarded. And he was such a nice chap, I'll always remember him.
It was great, harmless fun.
I'm sure nothing like it happens today.

[Bealman]

What a great story! 

My biology and chemistry teacher along with the school religion teacher would go to the pub every Friday lunchtime. Chem on Friday afternoons was interesting!

[The Q]

I've a feeling those who go on such binges are the fairly well off, I certainly wouldn't have had the money, and none of the extended family would have the money. I left School, walked out the gate and thought what do I do now. Well the first thing was to go back to the hostel pick up my stuff and get a different train, during my last term my parents moved,  298 miles, so it was actually nearer to me than they were before.. Got home, next morning, got handed the paper ... start looking for a job..

[Bealman]

That's exactly what I did. Walked out of Houghton-le-Spring grammar school, went to the bus stop, and thought, well, that's it. Don't have to go back there any more. No ballyhoo or bright lights.

Strangely I did the same thing when I retired. Just the way I am, I guess.

But the kids are different these days. It's a big deal, and TV fodder. Some of the news reports and videos of these kids on the Gold Coast who think they're so grown up and clever are scary.

I think one fell off a high rise balcony some years back.

[Newportnobby]

At my senior school in Northampton it seemed the tradition at the end of the last term was (much to the disgust/anger of parents) the ritual burning of school blazers, ties, socks etc (no juniors, though) such that, to all intents and purposes, we walked out of the gates as 'civvies'.
The school also had a 3 storey Physics block and I vividly remember us hearing a roaring noise and a flight of ME109s went over. Mad dash to the windows ensued and total loss of control by the teacher. This occurred several times over the weeks as they were filming some of the 'Battle of Britain' film at Sywell Airport just a few miles away Heady stuff for us, seeing all these warplanes in the flesh!

[railsquid]

The school also had a 3 storey Physics block and I vividly remember us hearing a roaring noise and a flight of ME109s went over.

Mad dash to the windows ensued and total loss of control by the teacher. This occurred several times over the weeks as they were filming some of the 'Battle of Britain' film at Sywell Airport just a few miles away Heady stuff for us, seeing all these warplanes in the flesh!

For a moment there I thought you were going to reminisce about being strafed or something, then I did the maths.

[Skyline2uk]

The school also had a 3 storey Physics block and I vividly remember us hearing a roaring noise and a flight of ME109s went over.

Mad dash to the windows ensued and total loss of control by the teacher. This occurred several times over the weeks as they were filming some of the 'Battle of Britain' film at Sywell Airport just a few miles away Heady stuff for us, seeing all these warplanes in the flesh!

For a moment there I thought you were going to reminisce about being strafed or something, then I did the maths.

I thought exactly the same Sqiddy, but must say Nobby that is still very cool.

*Puts on nerd hat*

Of course they were Spanish MEs as at the time of filming very few / if any actual airworthy Luftwaffe 109s were available.

*Takes off nerd hat*

When I finished A-levels myself and a mate (later a best man) had to wait an afternoon for the rest of our friends to finish their exams before we all bundled off down South for a week camping.

We were told to behave ourselves as it was a long drive.

Yeah right, to the pub!

By the time we were picked up, we were both quite, erm, happy.

Still, we had a great week and didn't destroy anything / annoy anybody in a remote farm field 

Skyline2uk

[themadhippy]

walked out of skool on wednesday thinking "thank christ that's over" only to walk into a factory the following monday,an hour earlier than school started,no play time,only half hour lunch and finished an hour  after school had kicked out,however the brown envelope i received  on the friday soon made things much  more bearable.

[railsquid]

Talking of end of year drinking reminds me of my old A Level Economic History teacher (saddly no longer with us).
He had a most remarkable success rate (if memory serves correctly in my year out of two groups of 25 students he had 49/50 passes and something like 90% of us getting an A or B).
He was a great teacher who had a real knack of getting the important information across to us rabble.
However, as part of our studies, we made beer!  We had two big old dustbins in the corner of the room and made beer the old fashioned way with malt, hops and barley. The history room smelled like a brewery and at Christmas we had a party and drank the lot (all in lesson time).
I'm sure it was all very much frowned upon but I guess the higher authorities were happy to turn a blind eye as our teacher was so very successful and so highly regarded. And he was such a nice chap, I'll always remember him.
It was great, harmless fun.
I'm sure nothing like it happens today.

The classroom of my A-level economics teacher always smelt of paint, we brought it in ourselves to watch it dry, as that was much more interesting than the actual lessons. I got a C. I have vague memories of a couple of post-result pints down the pub, before life sent me to Berlin to sell newspapers for a couple of years (long story).

[Newportnobby]

The school also had a 3 storey Physics block and I vividly remember us hearing a roaring noise and a flight of ME109s went over.

Mad dash to the windows ensued and total loss of control by the teacher. This occurred several times over the weeks as they were filming some of the 'Battle of Britain' film at Sywell Airport just a few miles away Heady stuff for us, seeing all these warplanes in the flesh!

For a moment there I thought you were going to reminisce about being strafed or something, then I did the maths.

I thought exactly the same Sqiddy, but must say Nobby that is still very cool.

Of course they were Spanish MEs as at the time of filming very few / if any actual airworthy Luftwaffe 109s were available.

At the time none of us knew that, but I did wonder why Adolf Galland had a penchant for paella