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Shorts were not compulsory in the main school but some of those who were moving up from the "prep" department wore them to start with along with those of us who were still had our primary school shorts in reasonable condition to wear out. I don't think I gave much thought to starting my secondary school in shorts - I think I assumed it was part of the uniform i.e. all first year boys would be wearing them or something. I did not immediately get long trousers on starting at secondary school like my older brother did. This is because when he did move on to secondary school I inherited all of our school shorts - and Mum bought me a new pair too (along with that jumper I told you about) in order to be "fair" (I had been pestering her for a pair of the new-style BHS shorts since I had come back from Germany). When we moved my little brother was due to go to a non-uniform school so the grey school shorts would not go down to him and Mum decided that I could start my new school in them. I wasn't so bothered about getting long trousers as my brother was - and I had been pleased during my last year at primary school with having the shorts all to myself so that I could wear the best ones (the most modern) without having to fight with my brother over them. As I have told you when I went for the interview at my Grammar School we were shown round by prep school boys and they all wore shorts as was the rule for them. I assumed that all of the boys starting at the school would be wearing shorts - and in fact as I wrote earlier about half were - those coming up from the prep department and those of us who still had our primary school shorts to wear out. The only extra expense for Mum was buying the socks in the school colours. We had to get them at the school's own shop and they were very expensive. Of course when school began I noticed that a lot of te other boys had long trousers when we gathered in the main hall to be allocated our forms - but their was a fair proportion of other first year boys in shorts as well - and these were augmented by all of the boys in the "prep. departement".
British schools had a variety of rules about short trousers. This varied widely from school to school. Shorts were not compulsory in the main part of our grammar school. They were earlier, but not by the time I reached the school. They were, however, still required in the attached prep school, but not in the grammar school. Many secondary schools in the 1960s required the younger boys (often the first two forms) to wear shorts, but this was no longer the rule at my school and was in fact during the early 70s was being discontinued at many other schools.
The school also had a "preparatory department" which took in boys from the age of 9-11 who then went on to the main school as well as boys joining from various state primary schools from all over London. Prep referred to preparatory school which in England meant a primary-level school preparing boys for entering the secondary-level public schools. HBC has quite a bit of information on preparatory schools. Most grammar schools did not have prep departments. Ours was different. Being a direct grant school, this meant that it was essentially a private school. Several private schools at the time did have prep departments or prep schools that they were closely assiciated with. The prep department at our school had the same uniform as the senior school. The different was that the prep boys wore short trousers. In the senior school only the first year boys were required to wear shorts, at least at the time that I entered the school. It was almost like a public school for day boys - very different to the grammar school my older brother went to. Mine had a prep department - where the boys paid to go to and then entered the main school. I not only had to pass the 11-plus to get into my school, I also had to sit their own entrance exam too. It is why I was so out of place there.
Some of those who were moving up from the "prep" department wore them to start with along with those of us who were still had our primary school shorts in reasonable condition to wear out. I don't think I gave much thought to starting my secondary school in shorts - I think I assumed it was part of the uniform i.e. all first year boys would be wearing them or something.
I did not immediately get long trousers on starting at secondary school like my older brother did. This is because when he did move on to secondary school I inherited all of our school shorts - and Mum bought me a new pair too (along with that jumper I told you about) in order to be "fair" (I had been pestering her for a pair of the new-style BHS shorts since I had come back from Germany). When we moved my little brother was due to go to a non-uniform school so the grey school shorts would not go down to him and Mum decided that I could start my new school in them. I wasn't so bothered about getting long trousers as my brother was - and I had been pleased during my last year at primary school with having the shorts all to myself so that I could wear the best ones (the most modern) without having to fight with my brother over them. As I have told you when I went for the interview at my Grammar School we were shown round by prep school boys and they all wore shorts as was the rule for them. I assumed that all of the boys starting at the school would be wearing shorts - and in fact as I wrote earlier about half were - those coming up from the prep department and those of us who still had our primary school shorts to wear out. The only extra expense for Mum was buying the socks in the school colours. We had to get them at the school's own shop and they were very expensive. Of course when school began I noticed that a lot of te other boys had long trousers when we gathered in the main hall to be allocated our forms - but their was a fair proportion of other first year boys in shorts as well - and these were augmented by all of the boys in the "prep. departement".
There was a rumour at my primary school that when you got to be five feet tall you would be allowed to wear long trousers but only one child was that tall when I was at the school and she was a girl so we never got to test out that theory! Anyway as I said wearing shorts for school was never an issue amongst us when I was 11 as most primary schools required them (even some of the non-uniform ones) - it only became an issue with some boys at secondary school and that was mainly with boys whose Mum's still had them wear shorts while most of their year group had graduated to longs.
As I mentioned above, it was also the case at my secondary school that shorts were compulsory in the prep department. Because caps were compulsory for them too some of the upper school boys still in shorts would be asked where their caps were by the prefects on the gate when they were leaving or arriving. They then had to state which form they were in to prove that they were upper school boys and so didn't have to wear caps!It happened to me a couple of times when I first started at the school - and that was the first of my many run-ins with over-officious and power-mad prefects at that school!
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