Reminiscences - Education

My parents held a firm belief that having a good education was a matter of prime importance and they scrimped and saved and did without themselves to give their children just that.

I can still remember my first school, or rather kindergarten, to which I went at age 4. To this day there is a smell that takes me straight back there. I seem to remember that we had slates, so the smell may be a combination of chalk and milk; of course we still got milk in 1/3 pint bottles, one each per day, provided free until “Maggie Thatcher, milk snatcher” came along and stopped it. I seem to remember that we played a little, but certainly also did some kind of school work. I was definitely reading at this time as no doubt were at least some of the rest of us. I was probably there for a year. I think it was of great advantage to go there as it made a good preparation for school. However it must also have helped my mother to have one child out of the way for part of the week!

I then went on to the school where I would spend the rest of my schooldays, all 12 years of it. Entry was by merit and depended on an interview. I still remember being asked the colour of an apple and, in response feeling somewhat flummoxed, as I felt it was an unfair question. So I said “Well, you can get a red apple, or a yellow apple, or a green apple, or a red and yellow apple, or a red and green apple, or a yellow and green apple, or a red and yellow and green apple”. What an obnoxious child I must have been!

However do you think that this rather good example of permutations and combinations was a portent of my future love of mathematics?

In many ways I was very lucky with the school to which I was sent. Because it was single sex, there were no preconceived ideas of what subjects were or were not suitable for a girl and we were all encouraged to set our academic aims high.

The down side to this meant that we were very definitely not encouraged to mix with boys (who were seen as some sort of strange creature). I am not sure if I have got over that attitude yet! :-)