Being British XII

[Hermy101]

Does anybody here know any private schools for a 13 year old girl in the London area? She's supposed to be really smart. I need some help with this!

[Equinox Chick]

Do you want a real one?

Oh and by private, I guess you mean paying.

Okay two near me that take 13 year olds are Wimbledon High - you have to be very bright to go there (and also wealthy) or Emmanuel College in Wandsworth which is a mixed school.

If she's bright she could get into a good selective grammar school which is free, but they only take the best. An excellent girls school in my area is Tiffen Girls in Kingston.

Carole

[jubjub15]

There is a massive long list if you look up 'The private schools directory 2010' and then pick London. Some of the most competitive schools (in North London at least) are mixed, and they are more competitive for girls because the boy/girl ratio is slightly off and there are more boys but i dont know if you want a mixed school or all girls.

But the list has loads of schools on it, all of which are good

[Padfoot Patronus]

I'm using the word 'break up' as in of a couple but in context of the Marauders. As I read the sentence though, I'm wondering if it comes off as modern usage. Not that I'm looking for something medieval, but I just want to be sure it's okay to use, or would it be better if I indicated a break up without using the word at all.

Comments?

-Akay-

[Sapphire at Dawn]

I think you would be okay with that term. I'm not 100% sure about the late seventies, but we were definitely using the term in the early nintes when I was at primary school. It wouldn't sound odd to me if I read the term in Marauder Era fic.

Sarah x

[Equinox Chick]

Break up, split up ... I'm fairly sure my sister (who is Marauder era) 'dumped' several of her boyfriends.

You'd be fine with those expressions.

~Carole~

[welshdevondragon]

Hermy101

Does anybody here know any private schools for a 13 year old girl in the London area? She's supposed to be really smart. I need some help with this!

If you want really, really smart than Wycombe Abbey- it's on the outskirts and is boarding (albeit weekly) so might not be what you want. Alternatively City of London School for girls OR St. Paul's School For Girls (both of these have a brother school). Hope that helps!

[AidaLuthien]

Bit of a historical question here (surprise surprise)

Would a British man in the colonial days, send his children back to Britain to be educated? How old would they be when that happened?

If he was a nice guy (or maybe just has ulterior motives) would he send a child by his mistress to Britain for proper education?

[Equinox Chick]

Would a British man in the colonial days, send his children back to Britain to be educated? How old would they be when that happened?

Yes, very possibly he would send them back to Britain for a proper education. He might employ a governess (tutor) to teach them at first in India (or wherever your man is), but as soon as they hit a certain age (say 11) he'd want them to receive a more British education.

British boarding schools will take children from as young as four, though.

If he was a nice guy (or maybe just has ulterior motives) would he send a child by his mistress to Britain for proper education?

Depends on the circumstances of the relationship, I would think. If she's an established part of his life and also if she's white, then I think he'd pay for the child to be educated. He probably would not admit to being the father though, and would either pay anonymously or claim the child was his 'ward'.
If his mistress is just a fling then I doubt he'd pay for a 'proper' education. I also think that the nationality/race of the mistress in question would pay a very important part in his decision. He'd be more likely to pay for the child to receive an education in India.

If he has an ulterior motive, though, then you have free rein with this.

~Carole~

[Equinox Chick]

EDIT: This really isn't a double post, but supposed to be in response to Gina's questions. Another snafu, I think.

Is 'graduation' a term you use like we do when it comes to high school and college?

Not sure about these days, but certainly Marauder and Trio era you wouldn't 'graduate,'. I think we just 'left'.

As far as snog/kiss, and mate/friend, we use both. Snog is slang after all. It wouldn't mark a story out as being particularly 'un-Brit' if James and Lily were kissing rather than snogging (although 'pashing' would be too out of era). A really lovely term we used to use is 'got off with' -- As in. "I got off with a really fit bloke last night. That tended to mean you hooked up with a guy and spent all night kissing, but not much else.

Um, we 'go out'. We don't 'go steady' (at least we never used to, that was something I first heard in Grease). Although, there used to be some awful girl's mags in the 80's that had quizzes saying 'Are you ready to go steady', I don't recall anyone using that term unless they thought they were Sandy Olsen and Danny Zuko.
We dump people or 'chuck' them.

Bear in mind that this is from a southern England POV and may not be relevant to modern day and/or another part of the British Isles. My fellow barmaid is probably laughing at me, as I type.

~Carole~