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Fisher Act
The school leaving age raised to 14 in 1918 (Fisher Act) –they had now formed seperate primary and secondary schools and were overseen by Local Education Authorities. -
Haddow Report
This is were the 11+ entry exams were introduced as a selection test for students to go to either, secondary modern schools or grammar schools, based on academic ability. -
Butler Education Act
This act meant there was free compulsory secondary education up to the age of 15. There was also free education up to the age of 18 (e.g. college) and the selection through 11+ remained but now students had the choice of three different types of school including: grammar (if you passed) technical and secondary modern (if you failed). -
Comprehensive schools
The 1965 Circular 10/65 declared the (Labour) government’s intention to end selection at 11-plus and to eliminate separation in secondary school education in order for children to have equal opportunities. -
1970 Circular
However, in the 1970 Circular 10/70 withdrew the requirement for Local Education Authorities to become comprehensive. -
Raised school leaving age
During the second half of the 20th century the school leaving age was raised to 16 for all children. -
The Cockroft Report
This report emphasised on the importance of mathematics and its usefulness. It also suggested how mathematics should be taught in schools and why it was important to teach the subject. It stated what adults should be able to do in mathematics and how it is relevant to everyday life. The report also included how assesments and continuity should be carried out. -
Replacing O-levels
O-Levels were scrapped and replaced with what we currently know as GCSEs. -
National Curriculm
The first National Curriculm was published in 1998 (The Education Reform Act). This detailed document sets out all the stages of ability and what all students should know by the end of each year. The curriculum contains the programmes of study and attainment targets for all subjects, at all key stages. It was introducted to ensure each pupil is given the same standard of education. Along with the new curriculum, GCSE exams for 16 year olds are taught for the first time. -
Education Act
The Education Act 1996 required all maintained schools to offer courses in religious education, but parents can opt their children out of the subject. Secondary schools also had to offer a sex education programme - this affected me as it was compulsory for me to take part in a sex education programme in both Year 6 and Year 7. -
The day I was born!
I was brought into the world on the 3rd June 1997 at 1:10am at Good Hope Hospital, weighing 8lbs! -
Started Private Nursery
My parents could not afford to take a long period of leave away from work to look after me and had to put me into private nursery at a very young age. -
Introducing AS Level
A major overhaul of A-levels sees each course was broken down into six modules, three of which are sat a year earlier at the new AS level. This is how my A Levels were also structured. -
Started Primary School
I started Yenton Primary School at the age of 4 in Reception. Lots of children I made friends with at nursery also started at this school with me! -
New GCSE courses
New laws forced all schools to offer pupils at least one course in each grouping of subjects at GCSE: the arts, design and technology, the humanities, and modern foreign languages.
This affected me and when it came to doing my GCSEs I was given the opportunity to take most of these subjects at once. -
Learnt to play an instrument
At the beginning of Year 5, I was given the opportunity to play a woodwind instrument with an external teacher during my lunch break or after school. (not a free service) I decided to learn to play the flute and continued this until I left primary school. I got to take part in a woodwind performance at Sutton Town Hall by the end of the 2 years. -
Change in Syllabus
Labour is criticised for telling schools to strip back the traditional curriculum, removing Churchill and Hitler from the syllabus in favour of courses in debt management, the environment and healthy eating.
This slightly affected me as the environment and healthy eating was much more emphasised in my secondary school than events in history. -
Year 6 SATs
At the end of Year 6 I took 3 SATs in English, Maths and Science which would have an impact on which secondary school I would go to. I did not take the 11+ exam as there wasn't a big emphasis from my parents on going to grammar school at the time. -
Start of Year 7
I began John Willmott School that September alongside a lot of my friends from primary. I was disappointed when I found out I was going to this school because I actually had my heart set on going to Plantsbrook and John Willmott did not have a good reputation at the time. Plantsbrook had a catchment area that made an influence on their decision and my house was just on the border of this; this may have been the reason why I did not get into the school. -
Introducing A* A-level
A level exam marking criteria are adapted to include a new A* grade similar to that at GCSE. -
Year 8 Decisions
In the middle of Year 8, we were informed by our head of year that we would be starting our GCSEs earlier. Therefore, we had to choose one BTEC course to do in Year 9 alongside our core subjects. This was a tough decision for most pupils as we didn't have much knowledge on what BTEC courses were, how it worked or how it would impact us in the future. So, I made the blind decision of BTEC Business because it was something that I had never done before. -
14 year old SATS scrapped
Unpopular SATs for 14 year olds are scrapped, along with the science exam for 11 year olds .
I had already taken my SATS in Year 6 before this change but it did mean that I did not do SATS at aged 14 years old. -
Year 9 Decisions
At the very beginning of Year 9 we were given option blocks to decide what GCSEs we would be taking in Year 10 and 11. I was only 13 at the time and only had a vague idea of what I would have liked to do in the future so making a decision like this was difficult and I felt the whole process was rushed. The option blocks also restricted the pupils on what they could do as many popular subjects overlapped eachother. It was compulsory to choose a Modern Foreign Language. -
Scrapping Specialist School Funding
The extra funding given to specialist schools was no longer available, with my secondary school being a specialist school in Design and Technology, this later affected the financial state of my schoool. -
History and Literature
The coalition announced an overhaul of the curriculum, with more focus to be placed on British history and great works of literature. This meant that it was compulsory for me to choose atleast one humanties course and take a GCSE in both English Language and Literature. -
Year 10
Start of all the GCSE courses in core subjects, a compulsory R.E short course and my options: Geography, History and French. At the end of this year I took my Maths, English and Science and French GCSE (modular exams) as we no longer took all of our GCSEs at the end of Year 11. This was quite stressful as we had to fit in all the content into 1 year instead of 2. -
Year 11
Before the academic year we were told our Headteacher was retiring and so our new Headmistress came into action that year. A new and modern perspective was undertaken and the management/success of the school began to develop. I felt more supported by the school and our GCSE process seemed much more organised. In January, I sat my GCSE mock exams. -
EPQ
As I had finished my English GCSE, I was given the opportunity to do the Extended Project Qualification to give me a head start on achieving some UCAS points for university. It was a project with a heavy workload but did benefit me when applying to university. -
GCSEs
I took the rest of my GCSEs and also had the opportunity to retake any modular exams from my core subjects to obtain a better grade. -
GCSE Results Day
On results day I was on holiday in Turkey! My brother collected my results and rang me to tell me how I did. Doing some of my retakes meant I did better than I thought so I felt glad I had the opportunity to do so. Also, I decided to stay on at John Willmott for Sixth Form. -
Raised school leaving age
In September 2013 the education leaving age was raised to 17, and from September 2015 it was raised to 18. These changes allow that becoming an apprentice or going to college are alternatives to school. -
Sixth Form
Over the summer the school had a facelift! When I started Sixth Form, John Willmott was no longer a specialist school in Technology and so the headteacher decided to change the school logo, colours and uniform. I began my A Levels in Maths, English Literature, Physics and Chemistry. -
National Curriculum Changes
GCSE mathematics now included Statistics and Probability to be taught to students. -
AS Exams
I then took my first A Level exams and I was in shock by the big transition from GCSE to A Level. During this time I was also told that my Chemistry teacher would be retiring and so I had already decided I didn't want to continue the subject for A2 and therefore, did not really try my best in the exam. -
Work Experience
With my interest in maths I decided to do a 2 week work experience in Accounting. This made me change my mind and started to consider teaching. -
AS Results Day
I collected my results and was disappointed! Even though I had passed all my subjects, I was shocked at the difference between these results and my GCSEs. On the same day I had to enrol for Year 13 and was told to consider dropping both Physics and Chemistry. That would leave me with 2 A Levels which I didn't want! So, I opted to take on A Level Business and do the course in 1 year instead of over 2 years. -
Year 13
Started my last year of Sixth Form doing English Literature, Maths and Business. -
UCAS
It was time to apply for University and properly think about what I wanted to do in the future. The school were really supportive with this process and helped every A Level student choose what was best for them. I was a bit worried because I knew my AS results were not a true reflection of my ability so this stopped me from applying to Universities/courses I knew wouldn't accept me. -
Skills Test
In order to join the QTS course, I had to take a maths and english skills test (became compulsory to do before course started in 2013) which I passed first time! -
A Level Results
Picked up my results and got into my insurance option. Lots of celebration that night! -
University!
Started at the University of Wolverhampton to study Mathematics with Secondary Education.
