North East Buses

(30 Jan 2015, 8:13 am)MrFozz wrote [ -> ]Sounds like me and my mam on a Forster Family Outing

Lmfao XD, shes got off now but by god, she was loud.

(30 Jan 2015, 8:22 am)Michael wrote [ -> ]Lmfao XD, shes got off now but by god, she was loud.

I am normally the loud one

after waiting over 30 minutes for a bus into Darlington in the freezing cold the bus keeps stopping at every stop for OAPS asking if it's 0930 yet!

Some old guy sticking his nose in my business which was nobody's business but my own.

(30 Jan 2015, 1:44 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Some old guy sticking his nose in my business which was nobody's business but my own.

What business would that be then?

(30 Jan 2015, 5:39 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote [ -> ]What business would that be then?

His.

(30 Jan 2015, 5:39 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote [ -> ]What business would that be then?

Non of your business. (only joking)

Nowt bad or anything just don't want people I don't know finding out bits of my life.

(30 Jan 2015, 5:43 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Non of your business. (only joking)

Nowt bad or anything just don't want people I don't know finding out bits of my life.

My brother's taxi driver was like that - he must of always insisted to do my mam's taxi requests. Once as we had been to Asda he seen a baby seat in the shopping - he asked who was that for - my mam replied that it was for a baby due in May - the following day my brother (Jacob) had told his school and mam that the taxi driver was acting funny (like not turning the music off and not stop singing) - the day after, Jacob refused to get in the taxi at the school - so my mam was called to go and collect him. Alternative transport was provided by the school in the form of a Variety Club Iveco minibus. That taxi company has never been used ever since - nosey bastard of a driver.

(30 Jan 2015, 7:02 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote [ -> ]My brother's taxi driver was like that - he must of always insisted to do my mam's taxi requests. Once as we had been to Asda he seen a baby seat in the shopping - he asked who was that for - my mam replied that it was for a baby due in May - the following day my brother (Jacob) had told his school and mam that the taxi driver was acting funny (like not turning the music off and not stop singing) - the day after, Jacob refused to get in the taxi at the school - so my mam was called to go and collect him. Alternative transport was provided by the school in the form of a Variety Club Iveco minibus. That taxi company has never been used ever since - nosey bastard of a driver.

I know a woman where I live that we called Neighbourbood Watch, she knew everything and was quite nosy...Dont get me wrong, she is nice enough, but her nosiness wound me up something bad...

One day...I had enough of her, I got a piece of paper and with Black Marker Pen wrote KEEP OUT MY BUSINESS YOU NOSY OLD SOD with her name in thick bold letters and stuck it to a window at the side of my house

(30 Jan 2015, 7:35 pm)MrFozz wrote [ -> ]I know a woman where I live that we called Neighbourbood Watch, she knew everything and was quite nosy...Dont get me wrong, she is nice enough, but her nosiness wound me up something bad...

One day...I had enough of her, I got a piece of paper and with Black Marker  Pen wrote KEEP OUT MY BUSINESS YOU NOSY OLD SOD with her name in thick bold letters and stuck it to a window at the side of my house

Then did a car with blue and yellow checkers turn up outside your house?

(30 Jan 2015, 7:42 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote [ -> ]Then did a car with blue and yellow checkers turn up outside your house?

You have lost me mate 😕

(30 Jan 2015, 7:49 pm)MrFozz wrote [ -> ]You have lost me mate ?

Feds. 

(30 Jan 2015, 9:31 pm)aureolin wrote [ -> ]Feds. 

Ah...The Five-0...no

@Dan - I've just been looking at the start of this thread - and you mention your private education...

I'd just like to let you know how lucky you are. lol

I'm being serious, sometimes mainstream school is HELL. I'd rather be stuck with a bunch of stuck-up posh twats in Year 9, than a bunch of smoking cunts...I'd do anything. ANYTHING.

Just throwing it out there...

Yesterday in Music, which I have Period 5, I had been virtually by myself in Art (Period 4) because the rest of my mates are the Skiing Trip to France (my best friend isn't in my tutor, and Art is with your tutor sadly) - but I had no other people in my sad pathetic tutor who I could get along with. The rest are all loud angry bitches and absolute freaks...

Since I'd been stuck alone in Art with nobody to talk to, I was in a mood so went into Music with the wrong mindset. I threw my bag and coat onto the chair next to me, forgetting its occupied by a total slut who sleeps under a bridge...well, the 4 biggest bitches walking (one is a boy - the queerest I've ever met), and when she noticed I was in her chair - she quietly asked me to remove my stuff. She was so quiet, I didn't hear.

Next thing - I was told to kill myself...you wouldn't get that in a private school, would you?

(30 Jan 2015, 9:52 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote [ -> ]@Dan - I've just been looking at the start of this thread - and you mention your private education...

I'd just like to let you know how lucky you are. lol

I'm being serious, sometimes mainstream school is HELL. I'd rather be stuck with a bunch of stuck-up posh twats in Year 9, than a bunch of smoking cunts...I'd do anything. ANYTHING.

Just throwing it out there...

Yesterday in Music, which I have Period 5, I had been virtually by myself in Art (Period 4) because the rest of my mates are the Skiing Trip to France (my best friend isn't in my tutor, and Art is with your tutor sadly) - but I had no other people in my sad pathetic tutor who I could get along with. The rest are all loud angry bitches and absolute freaks...

Since I'd been stuck alone in Art with nobody to talk to, I was in a mood so went into Music with the wrong mindset. I threw my bag and coat onto the chair next to me, forgetting its occupied by a total slut who sleeps under a bridge...well, the 4 biggest bitches walking (one is a boy - the queerest I've ever met), and when she noticed I was in her chair - she quietly asked me to remove my stuff. She was so quiet, I didn't hear.

Next thing - I was told to kill myself...you wouldn't get that in a private school, would you?

Private Education is not all it is cut up to be...Yes, the standard of education is good and at a very high standard...

I wish I stayed in mainstream education...I genuinely believe the pressure put on me at 9 yrs old fucked my head up...At 13 I was expected to keep going in Private Education, but failed an Entrance Test for the Sunderland High...

I am still reminded to this day what was expected of me growing up...

Some of those 'posh twats' as you refer to them were cruel at times...

I also think my nan putting me through private school was 'reverse snobbery' on her part, trying to be someone she wasn't and I was being used for those ends!!!

I know people who have been through private education and to be honest, you would never know they had in some cases.

A person can be a 'tw*t', whether they have gone through mainstream or private education.

Both wipe their arses in the same way, doesn't make them anyone any better or any worse.

(30 Jan 2015, 10:04 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]I know people who have been through private education and to be honest, you would never know they had in some cases.

A person can be a 'tw*t', whether they have gone through mainstream or private education.

Both wipe their arses in the same way, doesn't make them anyone any better or any worse.

I crossed paths with some right pricks at Durham Choristers, most of them lived in houses where you would not get much change from 500k, going round in Jags, Aston Martins, top of the range jeeps/range rovers...I lived in a council house and went round in a rusty banana(ancient Vauxhall Astra)...Nearly got expelled for good when I was 11 for breaking someones hand who took the piss Mainstream was even worse, I was bullied everyday till the day I chased someone with half a brick in my hand, I would have murdered him if I caught him lol

Can't even remember bringing it up before...
There are advantages and disadvantages of private school education, Marcus. The main disadvantage depends on your social status, and for me, it was the pressure of coming from a different background, and trying to fit in.

Like most primary state school students, I thought I would also be venturing off to a secondary state school for further education after Year 6. My teacher in Year 6 had other plans for me, based on the dedication and level of enthusiasm I showed for education throughout primary school. I was always a bit of a geek in primary school, and many considered me to be "teacher's pet." The teacher had always wanted to give her two children the benefit of private education, but her children had learning difficulties and she feared they would fail an entrance test, so she didn't want to put them through that. With hindsight, I do think she had a maternal attitude with me during primary school, and this is seemingly why she pushed so much to get me into private education. I passed the entrance exam with flying colours, was eligible for a scholarship, and also a bursary. Without the help from my Year 6 teacher, I don't think I could have done that.

I'll try and keep this as brief as possible as I wouldn't wish to turn this into a sob story - Year 7 was quite difficult for me. I didn't immediately make friends; as most of my classmates came directly from the Junior School, I found it hard to get involved in friendship circles which were already formed. Those who did not come from the Junior School were already friends with some of those who were in the Junior School or came with friends from their own primary school, so integrated with greater ease. I, like many of my peers at primary school, came from an average background. I am by no means particularly wealthy, and I was judged because of this in Year 7. As Fozz has already said, some students at private schools can be cruel. After weeks of feeling segregated from the group, I did eventually make a small friend group, and I found that we didn't judge each other.

My year group was still rather divided into Year 8: there was multiple small friend groups, and the friend groups only talked to one another if they had to.

It wasn't until Year 9 that my year group was forced to integrate. At my school, the form groups stay the same in Year 7 and 8, and you have all of your classes with these students. In Year 9, the form groups are changed slightly. The Head of Year 9 works with the Head of Year 7 and 8 to discuss existing friendship groups, and they discuss which friendship groups could be matched up to provide a more-or-less even number of students in each of the two forms. This is when my small friend group expanded; indeed, my entire class formed one big friend group. It was clear that there was quite a big divide between the two form groups, though. I was in the well-behaved form - the one that had students who typically received better grades in exams.

I started to enjoy school a lot more from Year 9. As you will know, Marcus, it's quite a big year, as you have to decide the subjects which you're going to take at GCSE. The choice of subjects at my school is quite limited (compared to a state school) and you have to choose approximately ten subjects, but there are some compulsory 'choices.' I knew from the start of the year what I was good at (and conversely what I wasn't good at), so I knew exactly what I was going to take at GCSE. Subjects such as Art ended up becoming a lesson where I had more fun, as I'd mess around, knowing that I had absolutely no intentions of taking it at GCSE. I was invited to parties, and school life did get a lot better.

We retained the same form groups in Years 10/11, but more often than not, we were forced to integrate with the other form, if they had chosen the same subjects as us for GCSE. It was from Year 10 onwards that we integrated more as a year group. We'd all matured, and I certainly felt that I was judged a lot less. By the end of Year 11, we were all one close family. Like most families, we argued a fair bit, but we made up in the majority of cases. I was certainly quite saddened to wave goodbye to some of them at the end of Year 11 - but I was also glad to see the back of some of them too.

I really love our little year group in Sixth Form (Year 12). We integrate with Upper Sixth quite a bit, and we're all really good friends. If anyone has a house party, we all tend to be invited. My life in school is completely different now to what it was in Year 7. Some students are still a little arrogant and narrow-minded towards those who aren't of the same "social status" as them, but I've learned to ignore it, with most of the comments being made in jest anyway. If I didn't ignore the comments, I would perhaps take offence. Not just because some of the comments could be offensive to me - but also the friends I have in state schools. Until this year, there was still members of my year group who hadn't ever used a bus before, as they're used to daddy pulling up in the Lambo to pick them up from school and suchlike. With age, the more arrogant members of my year group have piped down a bit and got off their high horses.


As Fozz has already said, the standard of education you receive is very good. Even from GCSE, you can find you have class sizes of just one student! I take four A-Levels and all of my class sizes are very small (English Lang/Lit - 2, Media - 2, Business - 5, ICT - 5). The resources in a private school aren't amazing, and this is what lets us down. I believe that state schools can (and do) receive money from Government to assist with improving resources and buying new facilities to improve the education offered to students. This doesn't apply to private schools, though. You pay for the teaching which can be done on a one-to-one basis, and this is the huge upside of private education. I have a weekly 'tutorial' period in Media Studies in which I discuss the progress I've made in the course - the feedback I receive from the teacher completely differs from the other student in my class because we do different levels of work. Sadly, this also has its downsides. Teachers do put a lot of pressure on you to do well, and constantly remind you about University. One girl in my year group recently received three Us and a C in her mock exams - she had to take some time off last week because she ended up getting herself so down about it. Not only did she feel she'd let herself and her family down, but also her teachers. She didn't want to face the teachers.


It's quite ironic that you've brought this up tonight, Marcus. Prospective Year 7 students for the new academic year in September undertook their entrance exams at my school today. During my free period today, I was asked (with three others in my year group) to gather the students and talk to them. We were told to talk to the students about how we felt six years ago, when we were in the same position. It actually brought these memories back, and reminded me of how I didn't really enjoy my time at school until a few years in. Of course, I didn't say any of this to the students...

Despite all of the downsides, though, I probably would recommend private education to anyone who can afford to go for it. With a scholarship and bursary, there's certainly no reason why even those of an average working class / middle class background cannot afford to go to a private school.
#danslifestories
#hashtagsonNEB

(30 Jan 2015, 11:01 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]Can't even remember bringing it up before...
There are advantages and disadvantages of private school education, Marcus. The main disadvantage depends on your social status, and for me, it was the pressure of coming from a different background, and trying to fit in.

Like most primary state school students, I thought I would also be venturing off to a secondary state school for further education after Year 6. My teacher in Year 6 had other plans for me, based on the dedication and level of enthusiasm I showed for education throughout primary school. I was always a bit of a geek in primary school, and many considered me to be "teacher's pet." The teacher had always wanted to give her two children the benefit of private education, but her children had learning difficulties and she feared they would fail an entrance test, so she didn't want to put them through that. With hindsight, I do think she had a maternal attitude with me during primary school, and this is seemingly why she pushed so much to get me into private education. I passed the entrance exam with flying colours, was eligible for a scholarship, and also a bursary. Without the help from my Year 6 teacher, I don't think I could have done that.

I'll try and keep this as brief as possible as I wouldn't wish to turn this into a sob story - Year 7 was quite difficult for me. I didn't immediately make friends; as most of my classmates came directly from the Junior School, I found it hard to get involved in friendship circles which were already formed. Those who did not come from the Junior School were already friends with some of those who were in the Junior School or came with friends from their own primary school, so integrated with greater ease. I, like many of my peers at primary school, came from an average background. I am by no means particularly wealthy, and I was judged because of this in Year 7. As Fozz has already said, some students at private schools can be cruel. After weeks of feeling segregated from the group, I did eventually make a small friend group, and I found that we didn't judge each other.

My year group was still rather divided into Year 8: there was multiple small friend groups, and the friend groups only talked to one another if they had to.

It wasn't until Year 9 that my year group was forced to integrate. At my school, the form groups stay the same in Year 7 and 8, and you have all of your classes with these students. In Year 9, the form groups are changed slightly. The Head of Year 9 works with the Head of Year 7 and 8 to discuss existing friendship groups, and they discuss which friendship groups could be matched up to provide a more-or-less even number of students in each of the two forms. This is when my small friend group expanded; indeed, my entire class formed one big friend group. It was clear that there was quite a big divide between the two form groups, though. I was in the well-behaved form - the one that had students who typically received better grades in exams.

I started to enjoy school a lot more from Year 9. As you will know, Marcus, it's quite a big year, as you have to decide the subjects which you're going to take at GCSE. The choice of subjects at my school is quite limited (compared to a state school) and you have to choose approximately ten subjects, but there are some compulsory 'choices.' I knew from the start of the year what I was good at (and conversely what I wasn't good at), so I knew exactly what I was going to take at GCSE. Subjects such as Art ended up becoming a lesson where I had more fun, as I'd mess around, knowing that I had absolutely no intentions of taking it at GCSE. I was invited to parties, and school life did get a lot better.

We retained the same form groups in Years 10/11, but more often than not, we were forced to integrate with the other form, if they had chosen the same subjects as us for GCSE. It was from Year 10 onwards that we integrated more as a year group. We'd all matured, and I certainly felt that I was judged a lot less. By the end of Year 11, we were all one close family. Like most families, we argued a fair bit, but we made up in the majority of cases. I was certainly quite saddened to wave goodbye to some of them at the end of Year 11 - but I was also glad to see the back of some of them too.

I really love our little year group in Sixth Form (Year 12). We integrate with Upper Sixth quite a bit, and we're all really good friends. If anyone has a house party, we all tend to be invited. My life in school is completely different now to what it was in Year 7. Some students are still a little arrogant and narrow-minded towards those who aren't of the same "social status" as them, but I've learned to ignore it, with most of the comments being made in jest anyway. If I didn't ignore the comments, I would perhaps take offence. Not just because some of the comments could be offensive to me - but also the friends I have in state schools. Until this year, there was still members of my year group who hadn't ever used a bus before, as they're used to daddy pulling up in the Lambo to pick them up from school and suchlike. With age, the more arrogant members of my year group have piped down a bit and got off their high horses.


As Fozz has already said, the standard of education you receive is very good. Even from GCSE, you can find you have class sizes of just one student! I take four A-Levels and all of my class sizes are very small (English Lang/Lit - 2, Media - 2, Business - 5, ICT - 5). The resources in a private school aren't amazing, and this is what lets us down. I believe that state schools can (and do) receive money from Government to assist with improving resources and buying new facilities to improve the education offered to students. This doesn't apply to private schools, though. You pay for the teaching which can be done on a one-to-one basis, and this is the huge upside of private education. I have a weekly 'tutorial' period in Media Studies in which I discuss the progress I've made in the course - the feedback I receive from the teacher completely differs from the other student in my class because we do different levels of work. Sadly, this also has its downsides. Teachers do put a lot of pressure on you to do well, and constantly remind you about University. One girl in my year group recently received three Us and a C in her mock exams - she had to take some time off last week because she ended up getting herself so down about it. Not only did she feel she'd let herself and her family down, but also her teachers. She didn't want to face the teachers.


It's quite ironic that you've brought this up tonight, Marcus. Prospective Year 7 students for the new academic year in September undertook their entrance exams at my school today. During my free period today, I was asked (with three others in my year group) to gather the students and talk to them. We were told to talk to the students about how we felt six years ago, when we were in the same position. It actually brought these memories back, and reminded me of how I didn't really enjoy my time at school until a few years in. Of course, I didn't say any of this to the students...

Despite all of the downsides, though, I probably would recommend private education to anyone who can afford to go for it. With a scholarship and bursary, there's certainly no reason why even those of an average working class / middle class background cannot afford to go to a private school.
#danslifestories
#hashtagsonNEB

Is it Sunderland High you go to Dan???

I failed the Entrance Test there when I was 12 to go into Year 9 which is why I ended up back in the state I lost the little group I was with at 8/9 years old, so had to start again at 13 and that period of my life is directly responsible for the problems I now have, my nans snobbery and expectation of me, I went to Durham Choristers, completely for the wrong reasons.

For me, people took the piss out of my accent, a posh person mocking the mackem accent sounds funny and me telling people to fuck off in a put on posh voice sounded just as funny.

In time, I became liked at Durham, was always in trouble for something, but the teachers liked me, I was not evil, had a couple of fights and messed about a lot, but the effect on me was huge, from acing the entrance test to my ultimate failure with Sunderland High. In my family it is now accepted I should probably have stayed mainstream and I dont know if my mam would admit it publically, but if we could go round again, she may have stood up to her mam and said no.

I hate the fact I was given the chance, me and my nan never saw eye to eye, we actually sorted out our differences 2 days before she died.

Private Education can be beneficial, and it sounds like every penny put into you Dan has paid off, proud of you pal, not many kids get the chance you have and it seems like you had good support around you as a primary student...

1 question Dan, out of your primary school friends, did you drift away from them or did you keep relationships up, when I moved back to mainstream from private, I had no friends, the kids I knocked about with at Primary had there own group of senior school friends, and for all of year 9, I did not have a friend in the world, in year 10 I was moved tutor groups and from then until I left school I only had about 4 friends, all girls [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH]...

I am probably starting to drift off a bit now, but Private Education did me some good, it made me eager to help people, through being teased and bullied, It helped me when I was in Care to become the person I am now, it gave me the skill to listen to people, my experience taught me not to prejudge someone because of there social background and it helped me to bring out my caring/sympathetic side, which some people here will probably agree with

I agree with Dan, Private Education can be a benefit, and if a Young Person shows dedication/enthusiasm then by all means.

I may moan sometimes about it, but if I given the chance to go round again, I would probably do most of it all exactly the same

(31 Jan 2015, 9:01 am)MrFozz wrote [ -> ]Is it Sunderland High you go to Dan???

I failed the Entrance Test there when I was 12 to go into Year 9 which is why I ended up back in the state I lost the little group I was with at 8/9 years old, so had to start again at 13 and that period of my life is directly responsible for the problems I now have, my nans snobbery and expectation of me, I went to Durham Choristers, completely for the wrong reasons.

For me, people took the piss out of my accent, a posh person mocking the mackem accent sounds funny and me telling people to fuck off in a put on posh voice sounded just as funny.

In time, I became liked at Durham, was always in trouble for something, but the teachers liked me, I was not evil, had a couple of fights and messed about a lot,  but the effect on me was huge, from acing the entrance test to my ultimate failure with Sunderland High. In my family it is now accepted I should probably have stayed mainstream and I dont know if my mam would admit it publically, but if we could go round again, she may have stood up to her mam and said no.

I hate the fact I was given the chance, me and my nan never saw eye to eye, we actually sorted out our differences 2 days before she died.

Private Education can be beneficial, and it sounds like every penny put into you Dan has paid off, proud of you pal, not many kids get the chance you have and it seems like you had good support around you as a primary student...

1 question Dan, out of your primary school friends, did you drift away from them or did you keep relationships up, when I moved back to mainstream from private, I had no friends, the kids I knocked about with at Primary had there own group of senior school friends, and for all of year 9, I did not have a friend in the world, in year 10 I was moved tutor groups and from then until I left school I only had about 4 friends, all girls [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH]...

I am probably starting to drift off a bit now, but Private Education did me some good, it made me eager to help people, through being teased and bullied, It helped me when I was in Care to become the person I am now, it gave me the skill to listen to people, my experience taught me not to prejudge someone because of there social background and it helped me to bring out my caring/sympathetic side, which some people here will probably agree with

I agree with Dan, Private Education can be a benefit, and if a Young Person shows dedication/enthusiasm then by all means.

I may moan sometimes about it, but if I given the chance to go round again, I would probably do most of it all exactly the same

It is indeed, Fozz.

I have a fairly strong Mackem accent, and this caused a few issues for me in the lower years of the school too. Paired with my accent, I regularly used words specific to our dialect, and this was also a reason why I was on the receiving end of a few digs in the lower years. Those who did mock me for using words or not pronouncing words correctly soon realised that I formed a coherent argument and could use words that they hadn't even heard of before, which shut them up. I was always better at Maths than English at primary school, but I guess I ended up becoming a better English student as proving everyone wrong acted as motivation. What's more is that I was one of the very few people last year to get the highest grade for English Speaking & Listening. It used to form part of the English Language qualification but was separated last year to be graded on a scale of 1 - 5, with the latter being the best grade possible. I got a 5, which proved that you don't need to come from a family who owns businesses worth millions to speak well.  

Without a private education, I'm inclined to suggest that I wouldn't have achieved as well as I did at GCSE. I came out with A*s in ICT and English Literature; As in Business Studies, English Language and Physics; Bs in Media Studies, Dual Media, Biology, Chemistry and Maths; and a C in French. Whilst the pressure from teachers can go wrong (as I said in the post above), it does work as a motivational factor too. In our Business Studies lesson yesterday, we discussed that teachers are often motivated by the reward of students doing well. Even if students don't thank a teacher on Results Day, it does provide a "warm fuzzy feeling" inside, as the teacher contributed to the success of that student. Not many students come out with 11 GCSEs and a 5/5 in English Speaking & Listening, that's for sure. Some of my friends from state schools actually gained more A*s than I did, but that's because their education was more concentrated on between six and eight subjects opposed to the eleven I did.

I drifted away from the fair majority of my friends I made in primary school. As I became more accepted at SHS, I drifted away even further. I remember attending some sort of athletics competition up at Silksworth in Year 7 or 8. The P.E teachers at my school knew I hated P.E, and seemingly used that as a punishment to make me take part in the longest run possible at the event. To prove a point to them, I stuck my earphones in and walked it all. It embarrassed them more than me. A large number of state schools were present, including Sandhill View. As I used to live in Plains Farm, and attended primary school there too, Sandhill View was the school most students were carted off to at the end of primary. They were all delighted to see me, and the feeling was mutual. They weren't quite as pleased to see the rest of the students from my school, though. I'd obviously told them how I didn't really fit in compared to primary school (when I was friends with the entire year group), and they didn't like how I was being left out. Fair to say they threw a few comments - and those at my school didn't say anything back. When I lived nearby Chester Road in 2013, I was quite close to two of the lads I used to go to primary school with. I wouldn't really chat to them for long, but we'd often see each other when they were walking to school and I was waiting for the bus to go to town. Aside from them, I only stayed in touch with about three girls who I was very close to in primary. I discovered that, over time, a lot of the friendship groups from primary were destroyed in secondary, as everyone made new friends. With year groups sizes of 200 and above, that came as no surprise really. I still talk to the three I stayed in touch with, but it's very irregularly. Other than these, though, I can walk past people from my primary school in the street and they won't recognise me. Only reason I recognise them is that they post photos on Social Media websites of themselves - something which is fairly uncommon for me to do.

Ultimately, I think I'm probably in one of best positions. One of my friends from Argyle House (another private school in Sunderland) said he likes to watch programmes such as "Benefits Street" as he can't believe people are in a position like that. He studies it as if it's like a documentary about some sort of endangered species of animal. I've seen that directly - I went into the houses of really deprived kids when I was younger. Money can buy a lot of things, but it certainly can't buy love. I'll never forget the love I observed between one of my friends from primary and his mam - they were living in poverty but they got each other through it. At my school now, the love often seems limited. The child is often like a voo-doo doll, with the parents making all of the choices for the child and the child complying. Despite all of this, I've also received a very good standard of education at a private school. Not only did I (eventually) make friends with those at my school, but I also had a few friends from primary, and new friends I made from other secondary state schools. I can't pass through Park Lane without seeing someone I know, which is why I very rarely take photos of buses there. Also poses problems, mind, as I've been asked by three different friend groups to go to T in the Park now. I can obviously only go with one!

#dansdeepdiscussions
#hashtagsonNEB