Being laid up from work means that I (at the moment) have no 'fresh stories' of life at SGO...though I'm sure some will come to mind or attention over the next couple of weeks. But perhaps now is the time to tell my readers something of my school-life; well, at least the period of time at Castle Vale Comprehensive School from 1970 to 1975. To do that, I should set the scene. The 'Comp' as it was known, always looked like a battleship which had run aground on the outskirts of Birmingham.
Castle Vale was, at that time, a notoriously rough housing estate which had been built on old airfields, which is why nearly all of the huge blocks of flats were named after airfields around England. (This building no longer exists! According to Wikipedia: "Castle Vale Secondary School opened in newly constructed, purpose-built premises in 1967, although the buildings were completed and officially opened in 1969. At its peak in the early 1970s, it had 1,100 students, but this declined to 362 students by 1993 as truancy became widespread problem on the estate. Half of the building was empty and this space was occupied by the Castle Vale Housing Action Trust.")
Yes, Castle Vale was rough! Theft, burglary, violence, and vandalism were commonplace - as was bullying at the school. At one time, it was said that the estate had one of the highest suicide rates in Europe - there was a sick joke that people would sometimes chalk an 'X' at the bottom of the blocks of flats for would-be jumpers to aim at :-( And I chose to go there, rather than to a more select grammar school, mainly because it was nearer to home, and I couldn't be bothered to travel too far...and some of my friends would be attending too, though at that time, I didn't have too many, for I was quite shy ;-) As you can see, a LOT of students used to be at the school, and it was the kind of school where you could easily lose yourself as a newcomer.
My first day was spent in fear. We new ones had heard of a terrible initiation ceremony which was given by older, more 'mature' students, simply called 'The Blue Goldfish'.
Apparently, if you survived the first day without being initiated, then you'd be okay. I was in dread of an older student gently, and yet forcefully, offering me to go and see the legendary blue goldfish...which involved a trip to the toilets where, if you were naive enough, you would put your head over the big white bowl of the toilet, eagerly looking for a trace of blue in the water...when your head would be pushed down and the toilet flushed! I survived...
I guess over the next few days, I will tell you about:
- what kind of student I was like
- Favourite/worse subjects etc
- my teachers...well, those that I remember!
Hope you enjoy this trip down (for me) memory lane... ;-)
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