The Importance of School Uniforms and Social Dynamics
Every morning after I left the house to get the school bus to secondary school, I’d roll my skirt up so the hem was in line with my thighs, not below my knees. It was already a rule-breaking skirt by being black, not grey. My maroon and blue striped tie was tied in the only acceptable way; with the thin side showing, and the uncool fat bit, tucked away. My rucksack was worn on one shoulder – never two, before it was ditched in favour of a hessian army bag.
These things were important if you wanted to be a cool kid at my school, and I loved hanging out with the cool kids. However, at 14, unlike them, I didn’t drink, smoke or have sex at mixed sleepovers (which some of my friends were doing). We’d all hang out at the youth club after school, but us girls mainly chatted in the loos, while the boys ran off around town to get into fights. In my memory, someone was always going to knife someone outside Burger King. I was happy to be picked up at 9pm on the dot, to be taken home by my Christian parents.
Discovering the 93% Club
Recently, I discovered a community called The 93% Club, which is the world’s first state school alumni network. Apparently, 93 per cent of us are state-educated in the UK, but something like 93 per cent of the top jobs go to privately educated people. This week, the 93% Club celebrated 10 years – and I went to the party, and I felt “state school proud” to be part of this brilliant movement.
Sophie Pender set up the club to meet students like her when she was at the University of Bristol a decade ago. She spoke passionately to a room full of 93% Club members, state-educated professionals and graduates, who believe in sticking together. We sipped champagne, ate cake and chatted with name badges on, at what was a joyous networking event without a hint of snobbery.
The Role of the 93% Club
While all state schools differ, the one unifying factor used to be that once you left school, there was no support system for finding a job or embarking on a career. Now, the 93% Club have filled that gap: there are over 50 university 93% Club societies around the UK, and it has helped tens of thousands of young adults segue from university and into careers. The 93% Club works with top employers to give state schoolers the same access to the hot jobs – a leg up, a foot in the door, like their private school counterparts get; with mentorship, guidance on job applications, CVs and LinkedIn, with local and annual networking events, too. The party was great for networking, especially when I finally met Sophie. I certainly wish it had been around when I was trying to find a rung on the journalism ladder.
Growing Up in Guildford
I went to school in the 80s and early 90s, in Guildford, Surrey, where there is a three-tier system. So I went to first, middle and secondary school. When I talked about being state-school educated on my Instagram, it provoked a debate between some readers who reasoned that state school in Guildford is very different to state school in an inner-city suburb up north. Quite possibly!
State school in my neck of the woods felt fun. Our year group was a brilliant, mixed group of friends that engaged in playful banter. Everyone snogged or “went out” with everyone else. We weren’t stuck up like the richer kids I’d see around town that went to “posh school” (as we all called it). Of course, later in life I’d discover that privately educated kids had a lot of fun, too, it’s just their parents paid an awful lot of money to enable it. At our school, we had fun, for free!
School Life and Lessons
Our school didn’t take sports particularly seriously. We had double PE lessons at the new local leisure centre, the Spectrum. In the autumn term, we did tenpin bowling. In the spring term, we did ice skating, and in the summer term, swimming.
We must have had some serious lessons, too, as I achieved three As, five Bs, and one C (before A or A* existed). A couple of teachers stood out; Mr Williams, who taught religious education, played Simon and Garfunkel during lessons, and – on a sunny day – suggested we walk around the field while he talked to us about religion. My favourite teacher ever! Then there was Mr Danielavich, the science teacher, who used to shout so loudly that you could hear him in other buildings; his face went purple with veins popping. Interesting that I got my As in religious education and double science, respectively.
Career Path and Challenges
I always knew I’d be getting out of Guildford after school, as I wanted to love London and had dreams of being a fashion journalist, but many friends I went to school with never left Guildford. One of the boys I remember being in love with found a career at 16 on the shop floor at Halfords, and another friend got pregnant soon after school finished. I went to sixth-form college in Godalming, where I encountered private school kids up close for the first time. I made friends with a group who had all sorts of family connections and ways “in” to future careers, which they would take up after their gap years.
I got my first rung on the career ladder through a work experience placement. I sent out around 50 letters to different magazines and newspapers asking to join them. I had a dogged determination to get to work on a publication that made me feel proud. I received many “nos” from my 50 letters, because I didn’t know anyone on staff already. Certainly, private school networks help with that sort of thing. Finally, I got a week’s work experience at The Guardian, and after that, I started as a fashion assistant on a paper in 1998, and worked my way up to shopping editor on a weekly magazine, before I went freelance in 2006.
Networking and Confidence
During my time on publications, it struck me that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know, but also, I envied the quiet confidence colleagues from private schools possessed. They talked about things like “going for supper” or “visiting the hygienist”, two things that were a foreign concept to me. At the weekly magazine, this felt omnipresent: my editor was best friends with David Cameron’s wife, Sam Cam, while the features editor was old friends with Jemima Goldsmith. They were always sticking other friends in the magazine, asking friends to write articles or asking me to put their accessories in my shopping pages (which grated on me).
Often at glittery fashion parties, I felt like a sore thumb, as I didn’t know how to work a room; instead, I’d take great delight in scoffing down as many free canapes as possible, bagging a goody bag on my way out (and sometimes selling the freebie I got on eBay afterwards). I may not have had private school finesse, but I had fun!
Supporting Future Generations
I love the idea of us Generation X and millennial former state school kids, supporting Gen Z and alpha state school kids into their future careers. It’s not a question of one type of school being better than another; it’s about offering the same support networks that so many other, more affluent kids take for granted. As I send my own three kids off to their state schools, with their rucksacks firmly on two shoulders, and ties the right way round, I feel the future’s bright if we state schoolers all stick together and look out for the future generation.
