I think school uniform has different effects on different people. Some people, like Xanatos said feel more relaxed without it and others simply just get on with wearing it without fuss and it makes no difference.Myself i didnt really mind the uniform it was simply something i did without much thought but school uniform created a bit of a problem because some people (emos and goths) took to customising theres and thus the uniform didnt really have a purpose because a portion of the school looked completely different to the rest.

 

Hmm. I suppose a great deal of it has to do simply with what you're used to. If you've worn a uniform to school from day 1 then that's what you're more used to and wearing "casual" clothes to school could be a distraction I suppose. Then again, for those of us who wore casual clothes to school from day one the idea of uniforms seems...restrictive...I suppose would be the word.

Oddly, as I was in JROTC in High School I had to wear a uniform to school once or twice a week and it was never a problem. Funny how something goes from being "not a problem" to an idea worth fighting against with so small a change. Very curious, but ultimately a subject for another discussion.

Moving on, I believe these questions got lost earlier as the were an edited add-on to another post. So...

Since the mid/late '80s early 90's computer labs have been fairly common in most of the middle to upper class schools in the U.S. The same for TVs, video(and later DVD) players, and other technologies used as teaching aids. Has the same been true in the U.K.? If so, for how long?

What is the school administration like? What's the basic "chain of command" so to speak?

 

Headteacher
Deputy Headteacher
Heads of Departments (e.g. Head of History, Head of English...)
Teachers
Assistants

Most classrooms will have a few computers these days, and a school will have a few dedicated computer rooms.

Other gadgets include interactive whiteboards, laptops and DVD players connected up to projectors, and other fancy stuff.

As for how long they've been around...well, I remember there being a couple of Mac "computers" at my school back when I was 6, which would have been roughly 1994, so at least since then. The computers were so terrible though that I doubt they got much use.

 

Computers,Tv and video are common in most secondary schools and primary schools normally have one or two computers last time i checked. I know the secondary schools in my area have replaced black boards with computers screens and projecters now (they've up dated the whole school, i think only the science block still has black boards).

In my school the chain of command is made up of one headmaster followed by three deputy heads (one for each stage of secondary school:- key stage 3(year seven-nine) key stage four(year ten to eleven) and sixform. And after deputy heads come normal teachers.

 

Okay, the last questions I have for now are fairly simple ones.

1. What sort of amenities do most schools have? Example being vending machines for drinks or snacks, student lounge, open cafeteria etc.
2. Regarding cafeterias (if applicable) what's a "common" lunch like? Is there a selection of meals, or just one offering per day, etc. etc.?
3. Is smoking allowed on campus? In the U.S. smoking has been banned from school grounds (most places) for a fairly long time (early 80's). Is the same true in Britain?
4. What are the rules about food and drink in the classroom (if any)? Most schools do not allow any sort of food or drink in the classroom or hallways. In some cases students are not allowed to even possess bottled water due to the concern that it may actually be alcohol.
5. If a student breaks a rule how does the disciplinary system work in most cases? In many cases students will get several warnings first, followed by detention, In-School Suspension, Suspension, and then Expulsion depending on the violation. In some cases, depending on the violation, precurser punishments may be skipped.

Thank you all very much, again, for answering these questions.

 

Every single one of those depends completely and utterly on the school. Well, except for this one:

No. As of the first of July, 2007, all smoking in public places is illegal. Even before that, pretty much every school had rules against it.

...Out of interest, what story is this for?

 

Wow, no smoking in any public place? Not even bars or clubs?

As to the story, this information will go into the backstory for an OC being introduced near the end of Chapter 5 of Legacy. While the character is only in a support role in the story he will be a frequently appearing support character. While I'm sure not even half of the notes I make on him will end up in the fic I like to have a good feel for the character before I write.

I know it may seem cheesy to want to know so much about something that will play an apparently small role, but like I said I like to know the character. The way the OC is planned the reader will get to know him and his background fairly well even if he's not "on screen" as much as even a few of the regular supporting characters from Stargate. I don't want to write a character whos background very much molded him into the character presented without understanding such a key element of that background.

Also, I've had a few concepts for fics where Harry attends muggle schooling for a longer period than in canon. Obviously if I ever decided to take any of those fics past the drawing board stage I needed a far, far better idea of what that schooling would have been like. What I know from my schooling is obviously a far cry from what Harry would experience.

I appreciate the time everyone's taken to help me get a better feel for the differences. While I obviously can't write a day-to-day account of a students life in England I do feel that I can at least write backstory now without making an ass of myself.