Tuesday, July 1
Today we got another early start at about 6:00 AM. We went on
the Underground to the northwest section of London to a place called Harrow
on the Hill. There we met up with Edwina M., who had offered to spend the
day with her family and to take us to her son's school. We drove to John Lyon
school (all boys) which felt very strange because in England they drive on
the left side of the road an
d
the steering wheel is on the right. When we arrived, we were given a tour
of the school by a student. I was a little embarrassed walking through the
buildings beca
use
the students were all staring at me wondering why a girl would want to observe
an all-boy school Through the tour, we discovered many similarities and differences
between education in England and in the U.S. Some of the similarities we noticed
were the subjects they studied, the field trips they took, the activities
in their art department, and the diversity. Although these similarities were
noticeable, there were also some major differences between the education in
the U.S. and England. Some of these differences include how they organize
groups of students, and the types of testing they perform.
I took notes of several interesting points during the tour, including:
- Average class size is 20 in early years - decreases as you get older
- Public schools are called "State Schools" in England. What we call Private schools are called "Public" in England.
- Students are grouped into "Houses" - these groups compete against each other in athletic events
- Large emphasis on music and art programs
- Geography is offered as a course through all years
- Most popular sport for students is football (soccer).
- School starts at 8:35 and goes until 4:00 - this is much longer than at home
- There is about 1 1/2 hours of homework each night - this is much less than at home
- Algebra starts at age 11
After this informative tour, we ventured to a café on Harrow Hill and had, as the English say, "a spot of tea." ~Katie
We then spent a wonderful afternoon and evening with Edwina, Tony, Adam and Jonathan M. at their home in Harrow. Although we hadn't met in person before today, by the end of the evening we all knew that we had just begun a friendship which was likely to last. We had great conversation, and found that we share very common perspectives about what is important in life. We also got some excellent advice about how to spend our remaining days in the U.K. After a fantastic dinner, we took the Tube back to London and got back to our hotel at around 11:00 PM. ~Steve
Distance Walked: 1.75 miles
