Re: study of red****rting (late entrance to kndergarten)

In article <us3m84l8372l4bbtapbjl8epdqs6tei9rp@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
 Rosalie B. <gmbeasley@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> >The idea here is to give some responsibility to those students who are
ready 
> >for it and who are accepted as leaders by the student body.  I suspect
that 
> >there was some vote-rigging going on -- probably teacher votes were
included 
> >(or worth more than one point) or unsuitable elections were ignored.
> 
> I don't know that 'leaders' need to be recognized at the lower levels
> - it can change so much, and I wouldn't think that an election where
> unsuitables were weeded out artificially would be really appropriate.

Depends how many were keen to vote in a person they knew very well was 
unsuitable, just to see what would happen!  (Yes, it was rumoured to have 
occurred at my high school the year I was elected, though I never found
out 
the truth of it for myself.)

> >Assemblies are still held outside at my son's school, and announcements
are 
> >given mainly by teachers and so on, but at special events, such as 
> >prize-givings, the captains give the formal welcome to parents and 
> >dignitaries 
> >on behalf of the students.  Oh -- no in-school telly here AFAIK.
> >
> What do you mean by outside the school?  Like at a hired auditorium or
> something?

Oh no -- just outside the buildings (when it rains, the kids go straight
to 
their own classroom).  We have morning assembly, where the school lines up
in 
class lines.  This is when awards are issued, some announcements given,
and so 
on.  Once a week they sing the National Anthem (alas, the taped music is 
pitched slightly too high for most people to sing comfortably!) and school

song.

> >Crikey, no wonder you guys have an obesity problem.  And disciplinary 
> >problemstoo, I shouldn't wonder -- where do the kids run off their 
> >energy and get rid of the fidgets?  When do they talk to their friends?

> Our kids in middle school had a half an hour for lunch.  Even at that,
> the lunches run from 10:30 to 1:30 because each group eats separately.

I never realised what a blessing it was to live in a mild climate and have
a 
good amount of room around our schools!  Children here eat their lunches 
outside unless it's raining.  We don't need cafeterias -- we have canteens
(or 
tuckshops, as they are sometimes called) -- that is, the area where
children 
queue to be served is often outdoors, though it may be covered.

> >Just looked through some of my old re****ts, and I would never have got
into 
> >such a thing in primary school, despite being the proverbial "excellent

> >student, joy to teach". My handwriting wasn't dreadful, but it wasn't 
> >excellent, and my maths was often not in the top band either, though
overall 
> >I would have been in the top 10%.  Going by my son's re****t, it is now
even 
> >more difficult to attain the top band than it was -- the rumour is that
an 
> >A is about two years ahead of grade level, as C means competency "at
grade 
> >level".  As for PE...!!  I spent Years 7-10 at high school terrified
that 
> >I would fail PE and be forced to repeat a year.  My high school marks
are 
> >percentages, so it's rather difficult to tell, but I think I'm pretty
safe
> >in saying that such an honour roll at an Australian school would be a
list 
> >of one or two names -- say 1% of students.
> >
> I don't think you would be required to repeat because of PE here 

Well, as an adult I know that I would never have been asked to repeat for 
failing PE, but as a gullible and uncoordinated 13yo the prospect was 
frightening.  Also, the pass mark for PE was for some reason 60% instead
of 
50%.  I usually managed to get something in the low 60s, but I was never 
entirely sure that the PE teachers knew my name...

> >> When we got to college, the people who had the requisite grades were
> >> on the Dean's List (or in the case of the military academies, the
> >> Superintendent's List).  
> >
> >LOL, and what privileges would *they* get?  The mind boggles... a free
beer 
> >at 
> >the bar?  First choice of rat for dissection?
> 
> No privileges for honor roll at any level.  Just recognition.  DH was
> on the Sup't's list about half the time of his last two years.  I was
> NEVER on the Dean's list, and was on academic probation for the last
> two years because I managed to flunk a 5 credit course in German and
> that sabotaged my GPA.

Oooh, painful for you!  When I was at Uni we didn't quite have that
system.  
We were graded:

HD -- high distinction (85%+)
D -- distinction (75-84%)
C -- credit (65-74%)
P -- Pass (50-64%)
PC and PT -- Pass Conceded and Pass Terminating (You got a bare pass, but
we 
don't think you know the material well enough to use this for a subject 
prerequisite)
F -- Fail

If you failed enough subjects, you would go before a special academic 
committee to "Show Cause" why you should not be asked to leave and get
your 
head together.  The Student Union had an officer who would assist in such 
cases.  I suppose there must have been some kind of probation after Show
Cause 
but I never had cause to find out!

Part of the requirement for attempting an Honours degree (a one-year
addition 
to a bachelor's degree) was that your undergraduate degree had a Credit 
average (65%+).

-- 
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia 
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

http://chookiesbackyard.blogspot.com/