Submitted Article 11 : Success is the best revenge
I was at QE Boys School from 1980 to 1986 approx. Eamon Harris had just come in as head when I left, and the school was yet to 'opt- out' and introduce selective entry. Otherwise I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have had the 'opportunity' to go there.
The general ambiance at the time was like the film 'Scum' meets the Molesworth books, it seems like not much has changed.
I work as a Designer/Illustrator, I've still got vivid memories of QE Boy's, the pointless authoritarianism, the besieged mentality, the reverence for traditions (which, if one scratched the surface were entirely spurious!) and a complete inability to adjust to the modern world. In a lot of ways it was like the whole country in microcosm!
First, let me say, if you have a thousand or so teenage boys concentrated in one area, then it is very necessary to have discipline. At QE Boys however there were batteries of arcane rules, and despite one's best efforts, even the most diligent pupil was likely to be in breach of one or more rules at any given moment. This of course gave the school a ready made pretext to victimise particular boys, which it did with great vigour.
Strangely, minor departures from the dress code were punished much more harshly than harassment and systematic bullying of fellow pupils.
It seems that looking back, my time there was a total waste, the English A level course was so excruciatingly dull that I didn't pick up a book for five years after I left. At the time there was an experimental merged 6th form with QE Girls, an unusually progressive idea, needless to say, the experiment was not deemed a success. I used to look forward to going there, and not just because of my surging teenage hormones, it was simply the fact of being able to relax and get on with the business of studying without someone bellowing at you for having the wrong coloured socks.
I missed several months of school due to a bout of glandular fever and hepatitis during the first year of the 6th form and did not get spectacular results. Although several other boys failed an A level too, the school admitted to only one failed A level in the local press.
I'm not entirely surprised to read that Mr. Dhondy is still there, I mean after all, what else could he do? During the winter months he used to spend his mornings hanging around just inside the side entrance and force boys to remove their coats the moment they entered the building, watching with undisguised joy as you put down your bag, kit bag etc. removed your coat and carried the whole lot to the form room. Productive use of time for a senior staff member! Indeed as he seemed indolent for the remainder of the day I wonder if he was kept on at the school as some kind of American style greeter.
I was my class representative on the school council so I asked him during a meeting what the reasoning behind this practice was. He explained that if we didn't take our coats off in the building then we wouldn't feel the benefit of them once we were back outside! The meeting erupted into hilarity at this, even staff members allowing themselves a smirk. To his credit Mr. Dhondy stuck to his guns and continued the practice with renewed enthusiasm, particularly where I was concerned.
Mr. Dhondy also decided to suspend another pupil for sporting an inappropriate hairstyle on the morning of one of his O-levels, he missed his exams and lost years out of his education. (Happily he is now a lecturer in film studies at a London University.)
Success is the best revenge, I was mostly treated like some no-mark waster at QE, but I feel that I've made a success of my life in every sense now, at least by my own standards. I've got a Degree, well paid work, big house, fast car and all that stuff, but much more importantly I've lived abroad, learnt a language, read widely, married a really fantastic, intelligent woman and I feel really happy, I have a level of self confidence that I wouldn't have imagined possible when I left QE.
Another QE Boy's success story then? Probably not, I don't feel that QE contributed much to my 'success' being geared to crushing pupils into the mould of toadying, besuited yes-men with piles of qualifications but no initiative or sense of self worth. There were of course some decent teachers there from whom I learnt a lot, they tended not to stay for long, if you're in any way creative or independent-minded you succeed in spite of QE not because of it.
So to round off the reminiscences, if parents are considering sending their bo ys to QE, and looking at the league tables there would seem to be compelling reasons for doing so, they should bear in mind the following points:
QE Boys limits students to only taking A levels if they are absolutely certain that they will get a good grade, thereby limiting student's opportunities for further education.
QE Boys is not above cooking the books when it comes to exam results.
QE operates a petty and often vindictive system of discipline to enforce unnecessary and trivial school rules.
QE has a highly political system for organising it's staff, teachers who are willing to sustain the 'boot camp' doctrine can expect to hold good posts, regardless of teaching ability. More liberal minded teachers seldom last long or are forced to just keep their heads down.
QE does not respond well to students who have special needs educationally or personally, preferring to focus on those who will maintain the schools academic standing on paper.
QE ignores and indirectly encourages bullying by engendering an atmosphere of brutality.
QE pressurises parents and students unreasonably to contribute to school funds.
Submission author to remain anonymous.
