Grandchildrens School Play Today.

[Caran]

They leave their primary school this week. The play was called School Days.
It was about grand parents relating their experiences 50 years ago in 2017 as the the year was 2067.
What made me laugh was granddaughter had the role of a mother whose son was about 18 inches taller than her.
It was well done and I enjoyed it. Sad to think an era is over as grandkids have been at the village school since 2001. But we have to move on!

[Mamyalynne]

Happy and a bit sad, funny days aren't they?

[Buenchico]

What? No stretched limos?
http://tinyurl.com/y84gjtjw

[Caran]

Chris the stretched limo's are for school proms where everyone dresses up for a ball and they are a bit older than primary school age.

[Mamyalynne]

In 2067 Chris, what with global warming - no way ;-)

[Buenchico]

Read my link, Caran!

It seems that school proms (with the expensive dresses and the stretched limos) have now found their way down to primary school level in some places!!!

[Caran]

Chris not our primary school.
My older grandchildren did have very dressed up prom dresses but none had outlandish transport.
Nothing against any children who go the Full distance with a prom night though.

[ducksie]

My BiL had a limo firm (he passed away last year)and he even had parents booking his limos for toddler birthday parties and for Christenings etc

[Buenchico]

I wasn't actually suggesting that your granddaughter's school should have had a prom (with parents forced to fork out hundreds of pounds for dresses and transport).

Indeed, I welcome the fact that they went down a far more traditional route. (I regard it as ridiculous that primary school kids should have proms. Also, having taught kids who couldn't even afford a cheap ball-point pen for school, I do worry that many secondary leavers will end up excluded from their end-of-school activities through the 'Americanisation' of the whole thing).

I don't remember anything special when I left either primary or secondary school. We simply walked out of the door and that was it. Later, when I was teaching at secondary level, we abandoned end-of-school discos because we knew that nearly all of the kids would get blind drunk, knowing that there was absolutely nothing we could do about it.

[Buenchico]

I overheard a neighbour telling his friend that, on reflection, he thought he might have gone a little over the top by spending £2000 on fireworks for his daughter's 6th birthday!

[ducksie]

Scandalous isn't it Chris - all these graduations from toddler school, every class and like you say, some poor child can't afford a ball point pent. Like you, we just left school, no fanfare - moved on to work/college whatever road we took we worked hard to get there, even that BiL with limos, he said it was just a souped up bus - brought him big bucks though

[Caran]

They did have an end of term disco last Friday. I can assure you no alcohol was involved.
BUT!
Grandson who is interrailing holiday at the moment started his holiday in Amsterdam. The first place they went to was a wacky backy bar. He even had the nerve
To tell his parents about it. In my day we wouldn't have had the nerve to tell our parents we had tried anything like that.

[Jackdaw33]

What I find particularly annoying are those 'ceremonies' when kids move from infant to junior school and have a 'graduation' dressed in so-called gown and mortar board made out of binbags and cardboard.

[Buenchico]

>>> Grandson who is interrailing holiday at the moment started his holiday in Amsterdam. The first place they went to was a wacky backy bar

In my day there was no need to go to Amsterdam. Simply walking into our 6th form common room and inhaling once was enough to get you high for a week ;-)

[Caran]

I don't think it works like that now Chris. This was his and his mates first ever intro to anything like this. At least he was honest with his parents what he was upto.

[Buenchico]

Ducksie:
We seem to be in agreement.

I've taught a 12yo lad whose only Christmas present was a pair of gloves from a pound shop. How the hell are familes like that expected to cope with 'proms'?

[Buenchico]

Be fair though, Caran.

When I was in Amsterdam last year I noticed that it was far easier to find a "coffee shop" (as they're called) than it was to find a pub!

[Caran]

I remember it well when I left schools. We just walked out, never a disco or a prom. I can imagine if I said to mum I need a prom dress and outlandish transport for end of term ball.
It would not have happened as in those days we could not afford anything like that.
OK times have moved on. We have to accept that. Our grandchildren are more fortunate than we were 50 years ago.

[Caran]

He's Chris, he did find it easy to find a coffee bar for wacky backy. He said he wasn't interested in alcohol after that!

[Eleena]

Hi Caran,
I'm fairly new to all this. Believe it or not, the nursery my granddaughter will soon be leaving had the children dressing in cap and gowns for a final leaving pic. Now what do they understand about that process? My granddaughter refused to wear it ... made me giggle! I'm not against the leavers ball when they're older, it's a bit of fun. As long as it's not over the top with flash cars and trying to out do one another. I know schools have clamped down on that part. What's not to like about a lady looking gorgeous or the man looking handsome, it's an event both look forward to and a memorable occasion.

[Cloverjo]

I'm so glad we didn't have leavers' proms - primary or secondary - when I was young. It would have a source of excruciating nervousness, and I probably wouldn't have gone. I preferred the school discos, when you just bought an outfit from New Look and cider from the farm down the road. :)