A shadow over my childhood
This advert tucked inside the January 1960 Meccano Magazine contrasts with all the rest that are devoted to childhood leisures and pleasures. My own destiny with the dreaded 11-Plus exam was to come one year later. The anticipation of it was already casting a shadow over my life.
Being aspirational middle-class parents, they were most determined that I should pass that exam and get to grammar school. The trouble was, my primary school performance to date made that prospect most uncertain.
Rather than resorting to a crammer’s correspondence course, my mother sought advice from the school teacher father of one of my friends, and bought a vast number of IQ test books. I had to stay indoors for large swathes of the school holidays having to crack those tests, while the rest of my friends played outside. I also had to practise improving my handwriting, as one of my primary school teachers had been obsessional on the issue.
I did pass the 11-Plus when the day came, but turning me into a junior swot came at some cost to my nascent social skills.
A shadow over my childhood
This advert tucked inside the January 1960 Meccano Magazine contrasts with all the rest that are devoted to childhood leisures and pleasures. My own destiny with the dreaded 11-Plus exam was to come one year later. The anticipation of it was already casting a shadow over my life.
Being aspirational middle-class parents, they were most determined that I should pass that exam and get to grammar school. The trouble was, my primary school performance to date made that prospect most uncertain.
Rather than resorting to a crammer’s correspondence course, my mother sought advice from the school teacher father of one of my friends, and bought a vast number of IQ test books. I had to stay indoors for large swathes of the school holidays having to crack those tests, while the rest of my friends played outside. I also had to practise improving my handwriting, as one of my primary school teachers had been obsessional on the issue.
I did pass the 11-Plus when the day came, but turning me into a junior swot came at some cost to my nascent social skills.