| GOD? "Nisi Dominus Vanus" was the school motto and one was supposed to believe in GOD. There was NEVER any discussion of other possibilities, other faiths - or indeed of NO faith. On the evidence available I conclude that the existence of "GOD" is a fantasy. I might hope to be wrong, but for me evidence, Reason and Logic are fundamental. In a sense, they LIED to us. Kids should be taught to THINK, not WHAT to think. They had the best motives, but it was wrong. |
PHILOSOPHY: Constrained no doubt by the Cambridge Syllabi we did not really learn much about philosophy or the famous philosophers. The only time I can recall being asked a philosophical question was by the wonderful PAtrick Hutton, who gave us an essay in the Lower VI: "Why is a rose beautiful?" I can't remember what I wrote, but it was probably pretty pathetic! We will never know: lost in the mists of time like so much else. The question: "How do you KNOW that?" is a fundamental one to ask about ANYthing that one "knows", but it was never asked.
My favourite branch of philosophy concerns how one reaches conclusions with evidence, Reason and logic. I really didn't learn anything much about this until I got to uni and we did philosophy as part of in our first year.
PHILOSOPHERS: I don't recall studying the lives and thoughts of ANY of the great philosophers. Taking a quote for discussion would have been great. I have since made a collection of philosophical quotes: they are inspiring and thought-provoking: exactly what one needs as a teenager, or indeed at ANY age! https://www.cs-efl.net/en/phil/1.htm |
| CHEMISTRY: After year 2 we had to choose between Chemistry, German and Greek. I chose German because I was very good at French, but I have always regretted not being able to do chemistry. Time and exam constraints again, but chemistry is a fundamental part of our existence. German is interesting and useful, but not in the same league! Was a COMBINED science course available at "O" Level? If so, pity we could not do that. |
| BIOLOGY: I loved the subject and Pop Corner was always interesting, but we never went out into the fields and woods to look at things first hand. There's nothing like studying Nature on site as it were.
Jim Hyde did marvels with the YFC, but a visit to a local farm would have been GREAT. Farming isn't very exciting for kids these days (and people take a constant and easy supply of food for granted), but it has been absolutely fundamental to human existence for many thousands of years. It would almost have been worth studying as a GCE subject! |
NUTRITION: Time and exams again, but NOTHING is more important than what one consumes - and we learned nothing about it as far as I remember. We did eat well (I would NEVER complain about the meals at WHS), but we left school without a real understanding. I have only started eating really well in terms of nutrition in my 70s!
(My diet website! https://www.cs-efl.net/en/food/def.htm) |
| SMOKING and ALCOHOL: I don't remember anything much being taught about these. BOTH were of course "cool" and actively pursued by many - even though one knew they were harmful - though exactly HOW harmful has only become clearer in the last few decades. Of course, teachers telling kids NOT to do something is often an incentive for them to DO it! However, I could never understand why smoking was so popular because even then we knew it was bad for fitness, and I was a rugby player! |
| WWII: I do not recall learning ANYthing about WWII, including and perhaps especially the Holocaust, one of several dreadful shames that evil men inflicted on Humanity over the ages. Others included events in the rule of Genghis Khan, Timerlane and others, but the Holocaust only ended 13 years before I started at WHS. Too harrowing? Sorry, but Veritas Omnia Vincit. We deserved to know the truth. There was at one stage in my third year a copy of "Five Chimneys" by Olga Lengyel being passed around, but I never got my hands on it.
Many of the teachers were of course involved in the war, but none ever spoke about it in our year - understandable in a way, but still a shame. Of course, HAD a few teachers talked about what they had done then ALL the teachers might have been faced with the question: "What did you do in the war, Sir?" |
| SAILING & CRICKET: I cannot remember how one chose or was selected for either in the summer term, but it was rather sad that if you did cricket then you might NEVER have got onto the Orwell. I did ONCE in SEVEN YEARS when the wonderful Clive Winter took me out to crew for him on a Sunday. Some way could have been found to give cricketers SOME experience of sailing. |
| LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: I really did not know much about the Berners family or estate while at WHS. Why could they not have given us a few days induction to the history of both - taken us to some of the local places of interest: the old obelisk, Freston Tower, the ice-house .... one picked up things, but they didn't really exploit the history of the estate. Visual aids were limited in those days of course. |
| GROUP PHOTOS: The school photos were amazing (I still don't understand how a moving camera can take sharp images!), but they were incomplete. There were hardly ANY house photos and after the earliest years NO inclusion of the ANCILLARY staff. The former would have been easy to arrange but the latter more difficult to get everyone together in one place at one time. Still, it was a pity. |