Something to read while you are waiting
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Something to read while you are waiting
A true story of some Bucks kids:
Many years ago, Kate, Rob, Gary, Will, and Pete all qualified at 11+ (or 12+, as it was then) and went to Grammar School.
- Kate was a brainbox, did stunningly well in her 10 O Levels and 4 A levels and went to a Redbrick university
- Rob got 9 reasonable O levels and went to Polytechnic
- Gary got 6 O Levels and left after one year of sixth form to work as a clerk in an insurance company
- Will and Pete messed about constantly at school, did disastrously in exams (2 O Levels each) and left school immediately.
So what happened to them all?
- Kate worked for big five accountancy firms and now lives in a very nice house in a South Bucks village
- Rob is self-employed and is ‘comfortably off’ in a South Bucks village
- Gary is a postman and just about gets by financially. Lives on the edge of Wycombe
- Will runs a fairly successful but very time-consuming small business. Lives near Gary.
- Pete made his £million running printing businesses and then emigrated.
So surely Pete was the most “successful” in life? Well not quite, that prize goes to Tom.
Who on earth is Tom and where did he come in?!!
Well he didn’t pass the 11+ at all, went to upper school and flunked all his O Levels.
He is now a multi-millionaire business owner living in Beaconsfield.
But if he had also gone to Grammar School, he just might have got a handful of O Levels and gone to work as a clerk in an insurance company.....
Many years ago, Kate, Rob, Gary, Will, and Pete all qualified at 11+ (or 12+, as it was then) and went to Grammar School.
- Kate was a brainbox, did stunningly well in her 10 O Levels and 4 A levels and went to a Redbrick university
- Rob got 9 reasonable O levels and went to Polytechnic
- Gary got 6 O Levels and left after one year of sixth form to work as a clerk in an insurance company
- Will and Pete messed about constantly at school, did disastrously in exams (2 O Levels each) and left school immediately.
So what happened to them all?
- Kate worked for big five accountancy firms and now lives in a very nice house in a South Bucks village
- Rob is self-employed and is ‘comfortably off’ in a South Bucks village
- Gary is a postman and just about gets by financially. Lives on the edge of Wycombe
- Will runs a fairly successful but very time-consuming small business. Lives near Gary.
- Pete made his £million running printing businesses and then emigrated.
So surely Pete was the most “successful” in life? Well not quite, that prize goes to Tom.
Who on earth is Tom and where did he come in?!!
Well he didn’t pass the 11+ at all, went to upper school and flunked all his O Levels.
He is now a multi-millionaire business owner living in Beaconsfield.
But if he had also gone to Grammar School, he just might have got a handful of O Levels and gone to work as a clerk in an insurance company.....
Re: Something to read while you are waiting
I love this!
It's true will a child turn out more confident and potentially more successful if they are at the top of a school or feel like a nobody somewhere near the bottom?
It's true will a child turn out more confident and potentially more successful if they are at the top of a school or feel like a nobody somewhere near the bottom?
Re: Something to read while you are waiting
I do think sometimes that if you have a string of academic qualifications and follow a profession it must be very diificult to give up the security and salary to start up on your own, which is usually where the fortune can be made.
Re: Something to read while you are waiting
Nice story Dad40. Are you going to tell us which one is you ?
scary mum
Re: Something to read while you are waiting
I was thinking the same , Unscary. I reckon he's Tom.
Re: Something to read while you are waiting
Actually I'm hoping DD3 will go into business as she has a bit of an entrepreneurial streak. She is also very generous, so when she makes her millions maybe she will pay off her older siblings' student loans. We can but hope!
Marylou
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Re: Something to read while you are waiting
Kate, surely?scary mum wrote:Nice story Dad40. Are you going to tell us which one is you ?
Re: Something to read while you are waiting
No I'm "Rob". I'm closest friends with Pete but bump into Tom quite a lot these days.
Last edited by Dad40 on Fri Nov 25, 2011 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Something to read while you are waiting
I should have added that all individuals grew up together in fairly average 1960s-built 3-4 bedroomed houses. So we had very similar life chances.
The only one who didn't was Tom, who had the handicap - or rather the blessing - of a Bucks upper school education.
Good luck everyone.
The only one who didn't was Tom, who had the handicap - or rather the blessing - of a Bucks upper school education.
Good luck everyone.