Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
The standard English schools were primary and secondary schools. The ages vaied somewhat, especiall after the 1944 educational reforms. We note some regional variations in these schools. Some involved abreviations which are not readily recognizable to non-English readers. We will add any abbreviations we find in the names of English schools here.
CoE stands for Church of England. They are schools sponsored by the Church of England. They are not entirely Church finded as the Government provides much of the funding. Most of the CoE schools are primary schools. Discipline tend yto be stricter and acacademic standards higher. Almost al CoE schools require uniforms.
There were County Primary Schools (CP schools) outside of Inner London - the so-called "Home Counties".
A British reader tells us, "A C S School is almost certainly County Secondary school. County just meant it was under control of the local authority (i.e. not a private school). My old primary school was known as Crookham C P School, so C S as Secondary would follow." One example of a CS School is the Patcham CS School. A reader tells us about another CS School in London. "I went to a County Secondary School in West London entering 1st Form in September 1959. The school was a "boys-only" school and although the school did have a uniform it was not compulsory to wear it. I wore short trousers because my mother preferred to have me wearing them - she told me many years later that she thought that be wearing them I would retain innocence for longer! Another reason was that our family was far from wealthy - my father had died when I was just three-years-old and I was the
youngest of four children (two older brothers and an older sister). The clothes that I wore were generally "pass-me-downs" but in those days we were not fashion-conscious and seemed to understand the financial constraints within our family. I got my first pair of long trousers when I was 13-years-old but they were "best" and I was not allowed to wear them for school; these were
originally worn by my brother who was nine years older than me. I first wore long trousers for school when I was about 14." I am not sure if these schools were grammar schools or secondary moderns. A British reader tells us that the CS schools without uniforms almost certzinly were secondaty moderns. To further complicate the situation, pparently some primary schools also used the term CS.
There were also Junior and Infant Mixed Schools (JMI schools). These were less common than the plain Junior School where the infants were in a completely seperate school. Some authorities - not Inner London - had First, Middle and Upper Schools - being 5-8, 8-13 and 13-16 years respectively. A reader tells us, "I think Ealing (an Outer London Borough to the West of London) was one of these. Some of the boys at my Grammar School were from Ealing. I think - because of Ealing's school set up - they abolished the 11+ before most authorities and that is why a lot of these boys' parents took them out of the state system and sent them to private schools, including my school's prep department, as they wanted them to go to a Grammar school. Some of these state Middle Schools still had boys wear short trousers well into the 1970s when boys stopped wearing shorts in most secondary schools. Some of the boys objected to this as over the border in Richmond, which had a more common Infant, Junior, Secondary set-up boys could normally wear long trousers at secondary level - 11 years - not wait until 13 as in Ealing. Later these Ealing Middle Schools allowed boys in the last 2 years the option of long trousers so they were then the same as boys in the neighbouring boroughs."
RC refers to Roman Catholic. Catholic schools in England are usually designated Roman Catholic and not just Catholic. Like the CoE schools, most Catholic schools receive substantial government funding. Almost all Catholic schools require uniforms.
Related Chronolgy Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[The 1880s]
[The 1930s]
[The 1940s]
[The 1950s]
[The 1960s]
[The 1970s]
[The 1980s]
Related Style Pages in the Boys' Historical Web Site
[Long pants suits]
[Short pants suits]
[Socks]
[Eton suits]
[Jacket and trousers]
[Blazer
[School sandals
