Being British: Thread the Tenth

[coolh5000]

We call it primary school here to and you start at the age of 4. The first year (age 4-5) is reception and then they just go up from yr 1 to yr 6 which is the last year of primary school. The other thing that it might be worth knowing (since I think in Australia the school year runs from January?) is that our school year runs from September to July, but you might already know that of course.

Oh and with the subway thing, yes it is called the underground but I think it is only in London. There are several other cities which have Metros though, (which are basically trams that run above ground), for example Manchester, Sheffield and Newcastle.

[Josh]

Metros can go underground though, and we also have subway eating places =]



~Josh

[Equinox Chick]

How old are children when they first go to school - on average? Six? Seven?
As others have already said but just to add a bit more information.
The children start the year they're about to turn five. School year runs from September to July. In some schools they stagger the entry times for children so a child that is 5 in the months Sept, Oct, Nov or Dec. will start in September. Children with birthdays in months from January- August will start in the January term.

We do call them Primary schools - unless they're private schools and you're paying. In that case they're called Preparatory Schools - or more commonly Prep Schools.

Just to confuse things even further - the Underground system in London does have some stations above ground but because they lead underground it's all called 'Underground' or 'Tube'.

Carole
xxx

[Ginny Weasley Potter]

There's no point in making her eat at the restaurant. She would never eat there when someone else is also there at the restaurant. Yes, it's supposed to be a sort of coincidence where many people meet at the restaurant. One walks away with a takeaway (thanks, Josh!), the others stay back to eat. And she's got to go, because I've got a big plot for Ron and Hermione. I can't have her sitting in the restaurant.

So that brings me back to the same old question. Which are the famous Indian restaurants in London? Are there South Indian restaurants too? Is there a Sharavanaa Bhavan in London? I was at UAE earlier, and I found many Indian restaurants there which exist in India too. I'm assuming that these people might extend their franchise to London as well, in that case. Sharavanaa Bhavan is pretty popular. In fact, it had two branches at Dubai itself. Ironically, I've never eaten in any of the Indian branches of Sharavanaa Bhavan.

Originally Posted by Carole
I've seen this happen when people order steak and things and can't finish - they usually say they want to take it home for theit dog - ha ha.

Oh, yes, I've heard of doggy bags and am always utterly confused as to why the person has to say that the leftovers are for the dog . That's weird. O_o

Oh, and I have another question: Do you have play schools in Britain? Like here in India, kindergarten starts at four and before that it's just 'nursery'. And how are admissions given, considering the child's age? For example, most people in my class are born in 1991, because the admission system here puts all kids born in the same year into one class. Our term ends in April, so what happens is that everyone who's born before April, 1991 becomes slightly old for the class. But the system is efficient because it avoids a lot of confusion.

Is the system same in Britain? Or do you have kids born in September of a particular year until July of the next year in one class?

I hope I'm not confusing you guys... thank you for all your help!

[Josh]

Do you have play schools in Britain?
Yes, we call them Nursery. Children can join these from 2 years to 4, and they usually are just things life playing with toys or painting etc. These aren't compulsory, yet many parents send them there to break school it at a slow rate.


~Josh

[coolh5000]

Oh, and I have another question: Do you have play schools in Britain? Like here in India, kindergarten starts at four and before that it's just 'nursery'. And how are admissions given, considering the child's age? For example, most people in my class are born in 1991, because the admission system here puts all kids born in the same year into one class. Our term ends in April, so what happens is that everyone who's born before April, 1991 becomes slightly old for the class. But the system is efficient because it avoids a lot of confusion.

Is the system same in Britain? Or do you have kids born in September of a particular year until July of the next year in one class?

I hope I'm not confusing you guys... thank you for all your help!

Anyone born between September and the end of August goes in to one year. So the people in my school year were all born in 1990 or 1991. It means that everyone turns the same age during the school year (very much like the Hogwarts system) but it means you get quite big age gaps for example one of my best friends is just a few days short of being a year younger than the oldest person in the year.

[Ginny Weasley Potter]

Anyone born between September and the end of August goes in to one year. So the people in my school year were all born in 1990 or 1991. It means that everyone turns the same age during the school year (very much like the Hogwarts system) but it means you get quite big age gaps for example one of my best friends is just a few days short of being a year younger than the oldest person in the year.

Hmm... so I take it that there's no exception? Like amongst two of my friends, one was born in Jan, 1991 and the other was born in July, 1992. Ideally, only people who were born in 1991 should be in my class but evidently, my other friend started schooling a little early. She is an exception to the usual rules. In fact, we've got both extremes in the class. While this same July girl turned 16 not very long ago, another guy in the class just turned 18 in October. No, he didn't get detained in a class or anything. He just started school when he was about to turn five. But that makes it a huge age difference between the two of them. So are such people granted admission in British schools?

[coolh5000]

I don't think there are any exceptions. Occasionally someone may be allowed to skip a year or even be held back a year, though as far as I am aware it is incredibly rare. I think I know of one person who has been able to move up a year but generally speaking everyone in a school year will have been born between sept and August of the same year(s) as everyone else.

Everyone starts school at four, in the school year they are going to turn five (though it is sometimes staggered as has already been said) so for I example I started school in 1995 when I was four and turned five later 1995. Some people were not five until 1996 but still before the end of August. Only rarely would you find someone who had more than a one year age gap with others in their year. I'm in the final year of school and there are a couple of people redoing the year in order to get better grades but other than that, everyone was born 90/91.

I think I'm being confusing now...

[Josh]

Hmm... so I take it that there's no exception? Like amongst two of my friends, one was born in Jan, 1991 and the other was born in July, 1992. Ideally, only people who were born in 1991 should be in my class but evidently, my other friend started schooling a little early. She is an exception to the usual rules. In fact, we've got both extremes in the class. While this same July girl turned 16 not very long ago, another guy in the class just turned 18 in October. No, he didn't get detained in a class or anything. He just started school when he was about to turn five. But that makes it a huge age difference between the two of them. So are such people granted admission in British schools?

Not in the same class I don't think, they'd have to be privately tutored or put into a specialist set. Though I imagine it wll be quite rare, as you legally have to send your child to school at the age of 5, and only bright people get moved up, and never moved down...


~Josh

[Equinox Chick]

Pooja

I posted an earlier answer about school starting dates - here it is.

The children start the year they're about to turn five. School year runs from September to July. In some schools they stagger the entry times for children so a child that is 5 in the months Sept, Oct, Nov or Dec. will start in September. Children with birthdays in months from January- August will start in the January term.

My son has a friend in his class who's birthday is September 1st 1999 He also has a girl in his class wh's birthday is 31st August 2000. They are just about a whole year apart yet in the same class. Cut off is very definately 31st August. However if you have a younger born child (ie any time from June-August) you can delay them starting school. They can skip reception if you feel they're not mature enough. The problem then is that the children go straight into Year 1 with the other children and are unused to school. They have to have started school the term after they've turned 5. Does that make sense?

Indian restaurants- we don't really have chains, I don't think. They're all called quite cliched names like 'Star of India.' There are more Chinese or Thai chained restaurants. Waggamamma'a, Mongolian Barbecue.

A fairly famous Indian in London is 'Chutney Mary's' in Chelsea (I think). It's a bit pricier though that your normal curry house. Near me (SW London) I have the Nilma, Jaipur, Amaranth (that's a Thai place) Thai Girder (that's fun you can sit at a bar on stools and eat- bit like a sushi bar). In Wimbledon Village there's a place where a lot of the tennis players go called the 'Rajdoot' it's very good.

I just googled Sharavanaa Bhavan and funnily enough your question was the only one that googled back at me . There are some restaurants called Saravana Bhavan. One's in Wembley and one's in East Ham. Never been so I have no idea what they're like.

Carole
xxx