The Puzzle of the 'Pompey Yoof'

I am often puzzled by the ‘Pompey Yoof’, maybe I’m getting old, maybe they are a breed apart from the rest of the universe?

This morning I was once more pondering on their education (or lack of it seems often in the press/ statistics), for at the bus stop was one of the reprobates (sorry pupils) of the worst of the Secondaries (its come off Special measures now) in the city. Now in my day a school bag was a general requirement to transport your books/ homework/ writing equipment about from home to school and vice versa. However those attending (I use it in the loosest sense, as it has a large truancy problem) this school rarely seem to carry any bags/books, and those girls who do have bags, they are really handbags and full of make-up/ mobile it seems. So how does Homework happen? Does it happen?

The other schools (it seems with the exception of the Catholic one) don’t seem to fair much better (although our local one has pulled its socks up this year after dire results) … hence the pompey yoof don’t come across as bright and you wonder if they know what homework is (they’re probably too busy drinking/ texting on a street corner/ park to do it anyway).

I think the reason I’m left in shock often is that I went to one of the strictest of the Secondaries in my city (although a small city at that due to a rather important large church like structure) so you wore all your uniform (uniform here is seems in some cases is trackie bottoms, trainers and school polo shirt), tie included (blazer for the boys), you had to have a 20l rucksack sized bag for all you books/ homework and you were chased up if you weren’t in a lesson (including contacting parents).

Mind you chasing up the parents in the case of the worst school won’t do a lot of good as most of the parents of the pupils don’t think of education as being important (there has been a study into it!) as they have few qualifications themselves.

The worst school in our city was the only polo shirt wearing school, but they looked a darn sight neater than the smartest of the state schools around here. It seems the rath of you letting the school down by you behaviour/ appearance (the aforemention worst pompey school has pupils openly smoking in the street/ outside school – my school that equalled detentions!). Do the teachers/ pupils not care about how the outside world views their school from the actions/ appearance of their pupils?

A failing school over the harbour in Gosport was similarly as rubbish as the rubbish Pompey school, but a strict dress and conduct code and the exam results have rocketed and the pupils actually appreciate the reasons why!

The bain of the Pompey Yoof and the schools attitude to them is the main reason for my view of private education changing. Having come from a city who’s state school schools were good (there was little point in private education for the average joe), to a city where the state secondaries are rubbish and even the best (remember this is comprehensive land) is about equal results wise as my non-selective (we have the 11+/ grammers in Kent) secondary with twice the percentage of SENs pupils! (but I'm not starting the results tables arguement here!). Hence round here you scrape the money together and go private if you want your child to achieve anything in life. I suppose the private schools work as our local version of grammers, good see the state comprehensive system works well!

I don’t think any immigrants (ie the rest of the country) to Pompey will ever fully understand the ‘pompey Yoof’, we just aren’t wired up the same way as Pompey born and bred souls, who will never live anywhere else. Either that or I’m out of touch with secondary education these days.