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A Weird Test In School (UK, 1981)

Oh yes! Another memory from all those years ago ;) The headmaster at our school was a real space nut and made us listen to War of the worlds one (very long) summer afternoon in the school hall. I remember it didn't have much impact on me, until they made *that* noise. Can't bring myself to listen to it...not yet :shock: :oops: lol

I wonder if it was just to keep us out the way while the teachers had a meeting or to test us to see who would freak out...
 
Hi,

I've been reading the forum for a while but have never really posted. I'm not sure if this may explain some of the tests a few of you seem to have had in school that you never heard about again as I probably attended school a few years after you.

On first starting high school in 2001, aged 11, everyone was subjected to a lengthy all day test which seemed to be a mix of 'what would you do', logic and problem solving questions. We were never told what the tests were for and were never given results, and the teachers would change the subject when questioned on them. However, around 3 years later I was having a meeting with my mum and a maths teacher where he had a list of all the names of the pupils in my maths class with a number next to each name. He informed me this corresponded to the tests we did aged 11 and they were actually IQ tests. He said that they don't really tell pupils about it but he wanted to let my mum know as I had got the highest score in my borough and one of the top in the country, and this was the reason I was put into special G+T classes and put forward for certain youth organisations. Not sure if this test has been going since the 70s/80s or not but this may be the same test as others have described?
 
Interestingly enough - and I remember things like this quite clearly, at age 10/11 we were marched out into the playground to hear a sonic boom for some reason - what for I don't know. I remember all the Nuclear armageddon stuff as if they were going to drop the bomb on us any minute. The early eighties was a very odd time. And with reference to the last poster I was also classed as Gifted & Talented along with only a few others.
 
The sonic boom stuff is VERY interesting indeed. Growing up and going to school in Wigan in the 1980's, I don't recall any strange tests at all and I have a fantastic memory. If anything, whilst my education was adequate, I don't recall anyone being given gifted and talented status or anything similar. We had sets, but that's about it. I was always bright but didn't really get encouraged in any way and in fact, I always got the impression that teaching was just a 'job' for the teachers and that they really didn't give a toss.

I used to hear those air raid sirens being tested all of the time and it would always freak me out more because I could never pinpoint where the noise was coming from. Interestingly, I heard one the other day in Upton Park, East London!!!
 
Interesting point there, you did used to hear air raid sirens in the seventies. I remember there was a siren nearby.
 
Gifted and talented is a fairly new thing.

The ridiculous thing is that we have to put some children down as being gifted and talented regardless.
I think it's something like 2%. So even if all my class were average I'd still have to put someone down on the gifted and talented register.
 
amyyes said:
Hi,

I've been reading the forum for a while but have never really posted. I'm not sure if this may explain some of the tests a few of you seem to have had in school that you never heard about again as I probably attended school a few years after you.

On first starting high school in 2001, aged 11, everyone was subjected to a lengthy all day test which seemed to be a mix of 'what would you do', logic and problem solving questions. We were never told what the tests were for and were never given results, and the teachers would change the subject when questioned on them. However, around 3 years later I was having a meeting with my mum and a maths teacher where he had a list of all the names of the pupils in my maths class with a number next to each name. He informed me this corresponded to the tests we did aged 11 and they were actually IQ tests. He said that they don't really tell pupils about it but he wanted to let my mum know as I had got the highest score in my borough and one of the top in the country, and this was the reason I was put into special G+T classes and put forward for certain youth organisations. Not sure if this test has been going since the 70s/80s or not but this may be the same test as others have described?
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I remember sitting a similar kind a test not long after we started high school (that would of placed it in '73 or '74) - as a result I was moved up from a middle rate form to the top form in the year, then gradually slipped down again over the subsequent 2 years - mainly due to the fact that school bored the pants off me :lol:
 
liveinabin1 said:
Gifted and talented is a fairly new thing.

The ridiculous thing is that we have to put some children down as being gifted and talented regardless.
I think it's something like 2%. So even if all my class were average I'd still have to put someone down on the gifted and talented register.
Click to expand...

It came about as a "we're doing something about it" response to the complaint that teachers were not stretching the more able pupils.

It got and maybe still gets (ab)used in various ways. Obnoxious pupils could find that their Gifted and Talented status entitled them to a supervised hour playing oil-drums in some isolated place, while the rest of the class got on with their work.

Quacky-voiced boys who got bullied and whose future careers lay on the microphone at Asda, were told they were Gifted and Talented actors. Dramas were endlessly rehearsed that no one ever had the heart to expose to an audience.

I fear the term "G & T" came to be mouthed in conspiratorial tones about all kinds of oddball characters.

:rofl:

I had better add that anyone who finds their way to the FT Board really is G & T!
 
A variation on this is the story which went around my primary school in Wigan in the early 80's and was actually spread by the teachers:

'A man has been seen with an air rifle near to the school and has been taking shots at the playground'

I recall that we were not kept from playing out however and also, that the police were not called! However, we were told to be on our guards and look out for him.

Was this some kind of test? It seems inconceivable that someone could be in the area with the intention of shooting at kids yet the Police were not called, nor was the school closed/placed on lockdown!

This was circa 1983/84.
 
breaking news !!! although not as outlandish as some of the posts on this thread

my fortean apprentice is year 4 primary ... this evening she started to describe a really exciting series of events from school earlier on ... i didnt get the whole thing yet but it seems that when they entered the classroom this morning the chairs had been upended their papier mache volcano had been destroyed and there was paper and quote green goo everywhere ... the class and apparently teacher were a bit mystified and various people came to check into it including the caretaker ... when they came back from morning break they heard that there had been similar disturbances in the year 3 classroom while the children were out in the yard ... there followed a lot of drama and the teachers led the class around the school checking into things ... at one exterior door they were checking a huge green finger started to poke through the keyhole (?) and some of the girls started crying ... a green and black figure was seen outside trying to get in and more green goo ... the lady who opens up the school ( the caretaker i suppose ) said that everything was fine at 6am ... eventually the teachers owned up to setting everything up in an attempt to promote creative writing ideas based up on the situation !
 
HenryFort said:
... eventually the teachers owned up to setting everything up in an attempt to promote creative writing ideas based up on the situation !
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Had they been smoking crack? Barmy.
 
she was still quite excited about it all at lights out ...
 
Mythopoeika said:
HenryFort said:
... eventually the teachers owned up to setting everything up in an attempt to promote creative writing ideas based up on the situation !
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Had they been smoking crack? Barmy.
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It's not an unheard of idea.
I've done a similar thing in the past with a box.
Big box in the middle of the room, deny all knowledge of it, discuss what might be in the box, write stories based on our ideas.
 
It's a bit different to potentially scaring the shit out of little 'uns though.
 
:shock: I think I'd have found that rather scary as a lil un.

I love this tho: my fortean apprentice
:lol:
 
yes she is my fortean sidekick ... she reads a few pages of every issue ... mainly the alien big cats and cats with wings and goats standing on donkeys ... but mainly cats ... wont be long before shes on here herself i bet !
 
HenryFort said:
wont be long before shes on here herself i bet !
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Best you trawl through your old posts then and do some light dusting. ;)
 
very good point although theres only so much i can do about that
 
pornosonic1975 said:
A variation on this is the story which went around my primary school in Wigan in the early 80's and was actually spread by the teachers:

'A man has been seen with an air rifle near to the school and has been taking shots at the playground'

I recall that we were not kept from playing out however and also, that the police were not called! However, we were told to be on our guards and look out for him.

Was this some kind of test? It seems inconceivable that someone could be in the area with the intention of shooting at kids yet the Police were not called, nor was the school closed/placed on lockdown!

This was circa 1983/84.
Click to expand...

This could explain something that has puzzled me for years. When I was at primary school around 84/85 I remember one day kids in the playground telling everyone that a man with a gun had been found in the school toilets, but once again no police, no protection etc. I can only assume one class must have been subjected to this panic 'exercise'. It must have been common in schools at that time.
 
that must surely have been pupil-instigated and propagated rumour mongering ...
 
Yes, I would agree that these sorts of 'playground panics' were created and propagated by pupils rather than being some kind of test designed by teaching staff. i recall that sometime around 1980 a rumour went around the playground of our village school in Devon that an aircraft was due to fly overhead at some point and that it would signal the end of the world (the implication possibly being that it would drop an atomic bomb). As far as I recall, it was suggested it would be sent or even piloted by Colonel Gaddafi. I remember keeping an eye on the sky throughout lunch and afternoon break but, of course, nothing of the sort materialised. I don't think we ever questioned how one plane could bring about the end of the world or why but it sounded plausible to young minds at the time!
 
I had a similar experience a couple of years ago in Germany. I was sitting in the garden of a friend's flat in a quiet, suburban area on the outskirts of Munich when all of a sudden a moaning Minnie siren started up, pretty close by and fairly loud!

I also panicked. I was sure some sort of attack was underway but quickly realised that nobody around was taking any notice of it. Weird. I'm familiar with those sirens. I can even remember old WW2 sirens being set off in my town occasionally when I was a child and it never bothered me but now as a skittish adult that familiar wail spells doom in the manner of Pavlov's dogs!
 
I might have an explanation for the air raid sirens...

I work in the construction/mining industry and we still use the sirens. If one of our quarries is blasting the siren will sound shortly before the blast to give everyone warning, and then sound afterwards to give the all clear. During demolition work if an explosion is imminent a siren will again be used as a warning. Usually this is for the benefit of the residents so they won’t be startled by the noise or the rumble!

(for those wondering why they didn’t hear the explosion...using explosives for quarrying/demolition is an extremely regulated activity because it’s highly dangerous. It’s not just the outward force and flying material you need to worry about, but also the shockwaves going into the ground which can cause damage for miles around. Explosions are tightly controlled and often directed to cause the minimal amount of disruption. Sometimes the explosion can be barely noticeable from a distance, and if you’re not in a quiet environment it can be easy to miss)

The sirens have to be loud to ensure everyone in the vicinity can hear it. For people hearing the mystery sirens it could be that you’ve simply heard one being used in a local quarry/building site. If the wind is blowing in a certain way you can hear the siren for miles. No phantom sounds from the 1940s I’m afraid, just some builders and quarrymen blowing stuff up!

I once had a phone call from a friend whilst I was at work, and the siren went off nearby. There was a pause, then he asked “...was that an air raid siren?” I told him that my job involved fighting Nazis :lol:
 
I have posted elsewhere on the forum (as it seems with most of my posts these days) about a siren that sounds in Stockholm on the first Monday of each yearly quarter. It sounds at 3pm and is audible in the entirety of greater Stockholm. I live a 20 minute drive from the city centre and I can hear it clearly.

There are horns and speakers placed in public buildings and in the attics of private homes (who receive a fee for allowing the sirens to be there). This siren is part of a warning system designed to let residents know of an impending disaster or attack. It can be sounded in the event of disaster, fire, flood, attack or you name it really. There are different types of signal depending upon the perceived danger.

The first time I heard this I was seated in an office in the centre of the city. All of a sudden the sirens sounded. The streets were instantly filled with the echoing, urgent sound of impending doom. It was god awful and I almost sh*t myself. I had no idea what was going on and I really thought it was a type of 3 minute warning. I looked around and not a soul stirred. It was as if they couldn't hear it.

Afterwards, I asked what it was for and nobody could tell me nor could they tell me what i should do if it sounds for real.
 
We are in the process of buying a new house and were chatting with the current owners yesterday who said that when they bought the house there was a thing that came up in the searches about a nearby plastics factory. This told them what to do if the sirens sounded.
 
Ringo_ said:
I have posted elsewhere on the forum (as it seems with most of my posts these days) about a siren that sounds in Stockholm on the first Monday of each yearly quarter. It sounds at 3pm and is audible in the entirety of greater Stockholm. I live a 20 minute drive from the city centre and I can hear it clearly.

There are horns and speakers placed in public buildings and in the attics of private homes (who receive a fee for allowing the sirens to be there). This siren is part of a warning system designed to let residents know of an impending disaster or attack. It can be sounded in the event of disaster, fire, flood, attack or you name it really.
Click to expand...

Better hope the disaster doesn't strike at 3pm on the first Monday of the quarter then :lol:
 
AMoffatt said:
’playground panics’
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Oooh, I just have to share the playground panic that I experienced as a kid of seven or eight.

In my school, there were stories of two ghosts or mysterious beings, known as the White Lady and the Black Lady. They would sneak up on you when you were undressed, like after gym class, if you happened to be alone ... They would draw the sign of the cross on your back.

That cross could never be removed. And the White Lady would say, ”If someone sees this cross, they’ll ask you where you got it ... if you tell them it’s from the White Lady, you die.”

Black Lady was a hell of a lot worse. ”If anyone sees this cross: you die.”

A few years prior, of course, one girl from our school actually did recieve the cross from the White Lady. A grownup asked about it, she said too much, ”became bloodied” and died on the spot. Everyone knew this had happened ”in real life”, knew who she had been etc

Anyway, the Black Lady did come to our school one day. There was found a bunch of black clothing draped over a traffic sign on the way to school, and we all knew it was a sign of the Black Lady. All of us were freaking out all day, going nuts. Teachers spent whole classes trying to talk to us about it but didn’t fully understand

Being children, we were not allowed to leave the schoolyard. There was a fence around it, and every break every kid was up against that fence, scanning the outside world for the Black Lady. School was on kind of a hill, and on the other side of the fence was a steep hillside. Beyond was woodland. In there, we were certain, lurked the Lady.

Some kids that were braver than others climbed the fence and ventured into the woods. Only one kid saw her. The Black Lady had a ”square head”

To this day, I get the shivers when I think about that kid, scared to death, and his story of a ”square head” in the woods.
 
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