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The American and increasingly the modern British reader is acustomed to associating school uniform with exclusive public schools. In fact the first English school uniforms were introduced by charity schools like the hospital or blue coat schools. The boys at the public (private) schools wore their individual clothes. Many would choose outlandish styles. To end this and to discorage such attention to fashion, uniforms were gradually introduced in the 19th Century and were widely accepte by the late 19th Century. The uniforms worn were extrodinarily elaborate and included outfits for many different occasisons and sports events. Minor differences were established and enforced rigorously to show one's status. Junior boys could in some schools, for example, had to close all their jacket button. Boys at another school showed the status by the width and color of he ribbon on their straw boaters. Junior boys at many schools wore knickers or after World War I (1914-18) short trousers. Eton School played a major role in establishing Public Scgool uniforms and he Eton collar was widely worn for years. Beginning in the 1920s it was mostly replaced with Blazers and soft collars. The uniform at the moden school has been greatly simplified, but most schools continue to require the boys wears blazers or suits.
The English Public school has taken on an almost mythical role in the country's history. Wellington is often quoted as saying that the playing fields of Eton is where England's battles were won. Others have more realistic assessments. Prime Minister Churchill during the dark days of World War II returned to his school, Harrow, after it had been bombed. (He was very unhappy at Harrow and did not do well there.) He told the boys, "Herr Hitler in one of his recent discourses, had declared that the fight was between those who had been through the Adolf Hitler schools and those who had been to Eton. Hitler had forgotten Harrow and he had overlooked the vast majority
of the youth of this country who have never had the privilege of attending such schools, but who are standing staunchly together in the nation 's cause and whose skills and prowess is the envy of the whole world. When this war is won by this nation, as it surely will be, it
must be one of our aims to work to estabilsh a state of society where the advantages and privileges which hitherto have been enjoyed only by the few shall be far more widely shared by the men and the youth of the nation as a whole."
Despite the ethos of the English public school, the schools themselves were medicore if not apauling academic institutions until the late 19th centurty. The schools were often brutal instituions, especially for the younger boys. Corporal puishment and fagging made the experience a trial by ordeal for many boys. Not only were the schools often brutal if not dangerous institutionsd, but the quality of the education was often poor--if not irrelevent. German-born Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, could not help but notice when he began working with British officials how poorly their public scgool educations servef them. Albert had beeb tutored as a boy and the took university studies. He found that officials with the classical education persued at public schools had little understanding of history, philosopy, science, and other subjects. Albert would, for example, not consider sending one of the princes to a public scool.
Uniforms at Britain's public schools have varied greatly from school to school and over time. Some schools have maintained centuries old traditions, most notably the famed hospital schols. Perhaps the most famous of Britain's public schools--Eton, maintains a uniform from the early 19th century. The uniforms adopted at these schools for both school and sport have had a major impact on boys' clothing around the world. Two major styles, the Eton asnd Rugby suit are named after those two famous schools. The blazer was in large measdured popularized when aopted--in typical English fashion--as a sporting garment. The peaked school cap was also popularized at the public schools. While many schools maintained uniform traditions, many public schools, especially the newer ones appearing in the late 19th century chose to base their uniforms based on contemporary fashions. The styles adopted came to be the classic school uniform styles that were adopted or influenced schools around the world. A reader writes, "It's iteresting that the older boys in the show I watches, 'To serve them all my days" wore black pants and straw boaters, but most (but not all) of the younger boys wear the long shorts and kneesocks. Wonder how many schools during that period allowed such a variance in outfits?" HBC is still acquiring information on public schools. While we know about the uniforms at some specific schools, we are not yet sure of genetral patterns, especially in the yearts before World War II.
England's public schools are some of the oldest amd most repected secondary schools in the world. The most famous are the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. These included: Charterhouse School, Eton College, Harrow School, Rugby School, Shrewsbury School, Westminster School, and Winchester College. St Paul's School and Merchant Taylors' School managed to get themselves omitted from the Government list because they argued that their fojunding documents made them legally 'private' schools and their constitutions could not be altered by public legislation. Over crowding at these historic schools caused many new chools to be opened in the mod-19th ceb=ntury to meet the demkands created by an expanding industrial economy and empire. Some of the new schools included: Cheltenham, Cifton, Lancing, Marlborough, Radley, Wellington, and many others. We have collected some basic information on several individual public schools. We encourage readers to add information to our list, especially English readers who have attended these schools. The new schools were accused of mimicing Eton at popular prices.
Public schools, are best thought of as The Elite of Schools. Being a private fee paying school, does not make a school a public school. There are numerous private schools in England that are not public schools. Some of the public schools are hundreds of years old, with at times odd traditions. Others weee established more rcently, in the Victorian era as more and more trained administrators were needed to run the expanding British Empire. There are substantial differences among these schools. At first academics was not their strong point, but it is today. One characteristic of virtually every public school is that they excell academically.
Most of the public scgools are located in England, but there are also several public schools located in Scotland, Ulster, and Wales. The Scottish schools are mostly called academies.
There are public schools located in foreign countries as well. The public schools that exist the United Kingdom are all based on the English Public Schools system, and are recognised and rate along side them. They are mostly based in the English speaking
countries of The Commonwealth, formerly known as the British Empire.
All public schools have "feeder schools," mostly preparatory or prep schools. Think of them as junior or primary schools in the private sector. They prepare the boys in various ways, for life in the public schools, and to pass the "common entrance exam" or
it's equivalent. English preparatory schools are elementary-level schools, generally for boys 8-13 years of age. (There are also girls' and coed prep schools, but the girls often leave for their public schools at age 11.) They are called preparatory schools as they were created to prepare younger boys for the public schools. The public schools in the 19th Century could be and often were very rough places. Many had no definite age for accepting children, but were not generally suitable for younger boys. The prep schools were mostly set up as boarding schools and persued an academic and sports program designed to hrlp the boys do well at their public school. Many prep schools were established in the late 19th Century just as uniforms were becoming established and many new public schools were being opened. Like the public school, the preparatory school had a dautingly long list for the boys school kit. Many prep schools were quite strict about the uniform and how it was worn. Headmasters often viewed the boys as walking advertisements for the school and insisted that the boys wear the uniform correctly. The uniform has been significantly simplified at the modern prep school, but it is still given substantial emphasis at many schools.
This is a test of the basic foundation knowledge, required to enter a public school. There is a minimum pass mark (it's slightly flexible.) Fail miserably and you will not get into the school of your choice. some boys will end up applying to several public schools, before being accepted or not. It can be one of the most traumatic times in some boys lives. All the boys, taking this exam, will have some nerves, and in some cases this will affect performance.
All public schools have scholarships that can be awarded to people who, for whatever reasons, cannot afford the fees. They usually goto those with the best academic performance. Some of these are full or partial scholarships. Oh, you do have to apply first for a scholarship, before it can be awarded, and they are usually conditional. Applying to attend a public school, is open to anyone, affording it isn't. That's why some of these boys will have come from state schools (their 'rents maybe able to afford the fees and some won't.) This will also be true of some prep boys. This is a great opportunity for all concerned, even though they may not fully realise it at the time.
We have noted in recent years some outrageous media depictions of the public schools. Several years ago one of the "Inspector Morris" series was set in a hypothetical public scholl in which murders were being committed. I'm not sure when this was made. We recentkly noted another depiction as part of the "Keen Edie" series. I'm not sure when the episode aired in Britain, but was shown on Bravo during 2004. It was in the same veign, basically charging that the stuffy traditions of a school prevented the headmaster from looking after the bester interests of the boys. Bullying in both instances were carried to the extreme of murder. Granted these are movies, not documentaries, but the premise of the shows are so ludicrous that one wonders about who wrote and accepted the plot and why. Surely there are legitimate issues involved with private education in Britain. The charge that the schools do not look after the saftey of the children is not one of them. Are there any media accounts of severe bullying at these schools. We do not know of any. In fact we suspect that there is much more bullying at state comprehensive schools than the public or preparatory schools. A British reader writes, "The newspapers do indeed feature stories of bullying in Comprehensive Schools on a regular basis. Hardly ever do I hear of such goings on in Independent Schools. My experience is that the pupils are looked after very well indeed. Trips at the weekend and suppervised play after school. I thought it was a higher level of care than that which my parents gave." There are left-wing critics of British private schools. We suspect that what is involved here is the work of people who donot like the public schools and simply use the schools as a setting for an unprincipled attack.
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