What were you good - and bad - at in school?

[summerdays]

I've been invited to meet up with some old friends from school that I've not seen for almost 30 years.... no idea what everyone will have done in the intervening years as I've only kept in touch with one of them!! They were one of the really good bits of school... I was good at chatting to them, not always at the correct times!

 

[theclaud]

Earning a school report that opened with the (unforgettable for me) words: '[Marmoset] has spent a sixth form career fraught with idleness and insouciance...''

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Good at maths science, shy with girls

 

[Dayvo]

Good at sport, English lit., history and geography: reasonable at French: shite at science: good at arithmetic but shite at maths.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

What soft skills are these? I hear employers banging on about them all the time but very wary to pin them down a bit more.

What private schools 'teach' on the other hand...

People skills. The importance of understanding another's point of view. How to apply influence. How to motivate others. How to understand personality styles and to vary your approach to suit. How to build and maintain your profile. How to deal with conflict. How to negotiate. That sort of thing. All completely absent from my 1970's comprehensive.

 

[Profpointy]

I've still got some of my educational awards in a box somewhere, all for Perfect Attendance .

There was a lovely moment on a TV programme where Brian Cox was talking about Patrick Moore's influence on him as a kid. Cox was showing one of Moore's books he'd won as a prize in school. He recalled it was, not suprisingly, for physics, but having opened the book again, spotted it was actually for good attendance

 

[byegad]

I was good at looking interested in class and really bad at handing in homework.

 

[Sandra6]

I was pretty academic and enjoyed school until about the fifth year, when it all started to be more of a popularity contest.
I wasn't unpopular, and I knew most of the "in" crowd to talk to , but I was never really in with the crowd.
I was especially good at maths and english, which wasn't possible according to my teachers, who said I had to choose between the two. Unfortunately I wasn't very good at doing as I was told, and was particularly adept at starting arguments in empty rooms. I think the latter has stood me in good stead over the years
Basic things like spelling and mental arithmetic have been the most useful to me as an adult, but geography and physics haven't really come into play.