0:00:03 > 0:00:07'Just over a century ago, the motion camera was invented
0:00:07 > 0:00:11'and changed forever the way we record our history.
0:00:11 > 0:00:16'For the first time, we saw life through the eyes of ordinary people.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23'Across this series, we bring these rare archive films back to life,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26'with the help of our vintage mobile cinema.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33'We'll be inviting people with a story to tell to step on board
0:00:33 > 0:00:37'and relive moments they thought were gone for ever.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43'They'll see relatives on screen for the first time,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46'come face-to-face with their younger selves
0:00:46 > 0:00:50'and celebrate our amazing 20th-century past.'
0:00:50 > 0:00:54This is the people's story - our story.
0:01:19 > 0:01:24'Our vintage mobile cinema was originally commissioned in 1967
0:01:24 > 0:01:26'to show training films to workers.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31'It's been lovingly restored and loaded up with remarkable footage,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34'preserved for us by the British Film Institute
0:01:34 > 0:01:37'and other national and regional film archives.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42'In this series, we're travelling to towns and cities across the country,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45'showing films from the 20th century
0:01:45 > 0:01:48'that give us the "reel" history of Britain.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57'Today, we're going back to school in the '60s...'
0:02:00 > 0:02:03# Multiplication #
0:02:03 > 0:02:07'..to capture the spirit of secondary modern education.'
0:02:11 > 0:02:15# ..Multiplication That's the name of the game
0:02:16 > 0:02:18# And each generation... #
0:02:22 > 0:02:24We're in the Francis Combe Academy in Watford
0:02:24 > 0:02:29to find out whether the eleven-plus in the '60s hindered or helped pupils.
0:02:35 > 0:02:41'Coming up, a former pupil who comes face-to-face with his younger self.'
0:02:41 > 0:02:43I look at that pimply, untidy child
0:02:43 > 0:02:48and think, "I could be outside playing rather than in here."
0:02:48 > 0:02:51'The TV presenter who fell foul of the eleven-plus.'
0:02:51 > 0:02:55I failed - and it was shock horror.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59'And I hear what secondary modern schools meant for children.'
0:02:59 > 0:03:03It was considered to be one of the more pioneering aspects
0:03:03 > 0:03:05of the education system.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20'We've come to the Francis Combe Academy in Watford
0:03:20 > 0:03:25'because this school was chosen to be the subject of a 1962 film
0:03:25 > 0:03:30'about a day in the life of a secondary modern school.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38'Today, it's a thriving comprehensive with over 1,000 pupils.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40'But we're winding the clock back
0:03:40 > 0:03:45'to capture the spirit of secondary modern education.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58'We all have schoolday memories,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01'but if you were a ten-year-old in the '50s and '60s,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04'one memory might be stronger than most.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09'Your future rested on the outcome of a single exam, the eleven-plus.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13'In 1944, the Butler Education Act brought educational reform,
0:04:13 > 0:04:18'designed to break down class barriers in England and Wales.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20'Scotland followed in 1945.
0:04:20 > 0:04:26'It made secondary education free and compulsory for all children.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33'The Act also created the eleven-plus exam,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37'to select pupils for the right school.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41'Passing granted you access to grammar school and university.
0:04:41 > 0:04:47'Those who failed received a vocational education, occasionally at a technical school,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49'but usually at a secondary modern.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53'Supporters of the eleven-plus argued it gave working-class kids
0:04:53 > 0:04:55'a fairer chance of success.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00'Critics said it meant failing one exam at 11 doomed you for life.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05'On Reel History, we'll be hearing how this exam affected the lives
0:05:05 > 0:05:08'of all those pupils who sat it.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19'Joining me today are former pupils from the '60s
0:05:19 > 0:05:25'who've come from all over the country to tell me their experience of secondary school life.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29'Many of them will be seeing our films for the first time.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33'Some will be watching themselves on our silver screen.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38'Marylyn Mason has travelled here today from Lincolnshire.
0:05:38 > 0:05:44'She is among three out of four pupils to fail the eleven-plus in the 1960s.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49'That didn't stop her from carving out a career in television.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52'She was the face of Calendar TV in Yorkshire,
0:05:52 > 0:05:57'and co-presented a programme with Richard Whiteley for 20 years.'
0:05:57 > 0:06:01- You failed to pass your scholarship. - I did.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06- I used the word "fail", which people don't use nowadays.- You're right.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10- You felt that you failed.- Yes, because all through primary school,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14through junior school, I'd been in the top three.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17There was never any doubt
0:06:17 > 0:06:20that I was going to pass and go to grammar school.
0:06:20 > 0:06:26- I failed, and it was shock horror. - Did you enjoy being at the secondary modern?- Oh, yes.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31I had a marvellous headmaster, because when I went there,
0:06:31 > 0:06:37he said, "You're better being a big fish in a small pool, than a small fish in a big pool."
0:06:37 > 0:06:39I thought, "Oh, yeah."
0:06:39 > 0:06:44The people who'd gone on to grammar school thought they were the elite.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47They had everything in front of them.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51My father actually said to me, "This will make you fight harder.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56"You will work harder to achieve more." I suppose I did, in a way.
0:06:56 > 0:07:02'Today, we're taking this former TV presenter back to her schooldays.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14'What memories will these films evoke for Marylyn?'
0:07:17 > 0:07:21I thought I was back there. It was absolutely amazing.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25I knew that we were going to see film from the '60s,
0:07:25 > 0:07:29but you actually see yourself.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32It's so true that you think, "Oh! That could have been me!"
0:07:32 > 0:07:36And the school looked exactly like my school. So yes, amazing!
0:07:36 > 0:07:39Transports you right back there.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44'Marylyn sat her eleven-plus in 1958.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49'Her mother was a teacher, so there were high expectations.'
0:07:49 > 0:07:54My mother was absolutely devastated. It was the end of the world.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57It had shamed her in front of the family.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01I'd let her down. She was SO upset.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04I cannot tell you how upset she was.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06It was awful.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11She blamed my father for moving his job so that I had to move school.
0:08:11 > 0:08:17'The eleven-plus tested pupils in three areas - writing, arithmetic
0:08:17 > 0:08:19'and general problem solving.
0:08:19 > 0:08:25'Critics believed the exam was elitist and put young children under stress,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27'according to this BBC Panorama programme.'
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Mummy and Daddy want me to pass.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33- Yes.- Daddy said if I don't, I'll get a thick ear.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36- Did he?- Yes. - Are you frightened of that?- No.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39I'm sure he didn't mean it...
0:08:39 > 0:08:43'Marylyn thrived at her secondary modern, Ribbleton Hall in Preston,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46'and passed eight O-Levels,
0:08:46 > 0:08:51'but the stigma of failing her eleven-plus was difficult to shake off.'
0:08:54 > 0:08:58You do feel a failure. I'd felt a real failure
0:08:58 > 0:09:01throughout my time at secondary school.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05You think the people at the grammar school are the clever people.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07I felt I had a lot to achieve.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11I had to prove myself, so I did work hard at school.
0:09:11 > 0:09:17'Secondary modern schools didn't have sixth forms so Marylyn's headmaster helped her transfer
0:09:17 > 0:09:20'to Chorley Grammar School to take A-levels.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23'She later became deputy head girl.'
0:09:23 > 0:09:27I found it daunting, thinking, "How am I going to manage at A-level
0:09:27 > 0:09:31"with all these clever grammar school people?"
0:09:31 > 0:09:36I fitted in very well and found that I was just as good as they were.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41I really enjoyed my time there. There were some good teachers there.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Had I always gone to the grammar school,
0:09:45 > 0:09:49I probably would have, inevitably, gone to university.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53'Like many other former secondary school pupils,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55'Marylyn went on to achieve success.'
0:09:55 > 0:10:02Because I felt I'd let my mother down so badly, I had to prove that I could achieve things in life.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06I suppose my A-levels were the next big thing.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09So I felt I'd achieved something.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Made amends! LAUGHS
0:10:23 > 0:10:27'My next guest also failed the eleven-plus.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31'58-year-old Barbara Lee from Twickenham suffered all her life
0:10:31 > 0:10:34'from a lack of confidence.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38'She believes that being told she wasn't good enough at a young age
0:10:38 > 0:10:41'had a long-term effect.'
0:10:41 > 0:10:45The word "failure" sticks in your mind. It's the word, isn't it?
0:10:45 > 0:10:49'Barbara came from a traditional background in Hendon,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53'and was expected to raise a family rather than have a career.'
0:10:53 > 0:10:59This is a diary from 1963, all the things we did when we were younger.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03We'd better keep that private. Had enough in the newspapers.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08'We're going to transport Barbara back
0:11:08 > 0:11:12'to the days when she was an 11-year-old schoolgirl.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20'Will this BBC documentary made in 1962
0:11:20 > 0:11:25'about secondary modern education bring back difficult memories?'
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Well, Janet, you're 11 years of age now.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33You've left the primary school and come to the secondary school.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38'It shows an 11-year-old girl at her new secondary modern school.'
0:11:38 > 0:11:41We were rather sorry Janet failed the eleven-plus.
0:11:41 > 0:11:46Well, I hardly think that "failed" is the right word, Mrs Kitchen.
0:11:46 > 0:11:52'When that teacher mentioned about failing the eleven-plus,'
0:11:52 > 0:11:57it got a weakness in me because that's what I did, I failed the eleven-plus.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01What happened was that Janet took a test so that we could find out
0:12:01 > 0:12:05exactly which school would suit her best.
0:12:05 > 0:12:11You were pigeon-holed. They saw you as having that ability for the rest of your life.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15She would have failed had she been selected for the wrong school.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20If she's been selected for the right school, then she's passed the test.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24That's quite damaging for children to think at that age
0:12:24 > 0:12:28that is going to be them for the rest of their life.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35'Barbara remembers how the two sexes were typecast.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38'Boys got metalwork and woodwork.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42'The girls were steered towards typing and cooking.'
0:12:42 > 0:12:44We were doing domestic science.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49If you went to grammar school, you might have been doing a language
0:12:49 > 0:12:51or literature or more academic subjects.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56So you were very much put in that "womanly" subject area.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02For us, it was either be a secretary
0:13:02 > 0:13:06or teacher's training college if you got the qualifications.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11But really, it was a stop-gap before getting married and having a family.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15'At 22, Barbara embarked on seven years of night school,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17'obtained a degree in social science
0:13:17 > 0:13:22'and today she's an adult education lecturer.'
0:13:22 > 0:13:26How many quarters do we need to make a whole one?
0:13:26 > 0:13:31I haven't gone round in my life saying, "I failed the eleven-plus."
0:13:31 > 0:13:34The word "failure" carries such a powerful message,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38if you get it when you're younger it's difficult to shake it off,
0:13:38 > 0:13:40whatever you do as you mature.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52'So what was the thinking behind an education system
0:13:52 > 0:13:56'that gave many children like Barbara a sense of failure?
0:13:56 > 0:14:01'The Francis Combe Academy was one of the new secondary modern schools
0:14:01 > 0:14:07'built to accommodate the 75% of children who failed the eleven-plus.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13'I'm off to the woodwork room to find out more from educational historian Kathy Burke.'
0:14:13 > 0:14:16What did the eleven-plus do?
0:14:16 > 0:14:20In shorthand terms, it sorted children. It sorted them.
0:14:20 > 0:14:25Whether it tested or measured their intelligence is subject to debate.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29And it was a fierce debate that occurred in the 1950s.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34But it effectively sorted children so they could be slotted in,
0:14:34 > 0:14:40and it would fit them, then, on a route for life in general.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47'The secondary modern schools that sprung up in the 1950s were light,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50'airy and modern in design.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53'Free from the constraints of preparing children for exams,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56'teachers could afford to be experimental.'
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Teachers could have freedom to experiment
0:14:59 > 0:15:02and to teach the way they wanted to,
0:15:02 > 0:15:06design an education within an atmosphere of freedom.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09That was quite a progressive idea.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14- Words.- Snap.- "Snap", not bad. Let's put "snap" down...
0:15:14 > 0:15:19And so, for the first ten years, the secondary modern school
0:15:19 > 0:15:24was considered to be one of the more pioneering aspects of the education system.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27'Kathy herself remembers passing her eleven-plus,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30'but it's a memory full of trepidation.'
0:15:30 > 0:15:33I was acutely aware that, um...
0:15:33 > 0:15:36there was a chance of failing or passing.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40And if you passed, you were somehow safe.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44I knew the physical space I was going to, the school I was going to,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46the grammar school.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Those who failed, who went to the modern school,
0:15:49 > 0:15:54seemed to go into an abyss, you never saw them again.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56I was aware of that.
0:15:56 > 0:16:02We were all told that this was THE most important thing in our lives.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09'Initially, secondary moderns weren't expected to offer O-levels.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13'Pupils received a School Leaving Certificate instead.
0:16:13 > 0:16:19'As the '50s marched on, teachers realised their pupils were capable of more.'
0:16:19 > 0:16:22Some teachers started to put children through examinations
0:16:22 > 0:16:27in these schools, and, lo and behold, they passed.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31So this was a crisis for the idea of the modern school,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34which was to avoid those sorts of things.
0:16:34 > 0:16:40It seemed to be not distinctly different from the lower end of the grammar school.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47'By 1963, one in ten secondary modern pupils were sitting O-levels,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49'and some got very good results.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53'The writing was on the wall for the two-tier educational system.'
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Don't throw them, Brenda. There's a good girl.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08'On Reel History today, we're at the Francis Combe Academy in Watford,
0:17:08 > 0:17:13'to hear some remarkable stories of how the eleven-plus exam
0:17:13 > 0:17:18'affected the lives of children who sat it in the 1960s.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22'This school was thrust into the limelight in 1962,
0:17:22 > 0:17:26'in a documentary about a day in the life of a secondary modern.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29'Paid for by the National Union of Teachers,
0:17:29 > 0:17:34'the aim was to show parents what goes on during the school day.'
0:17:34 > 0:17:37..For ever and ever, amen.
0:17:37 > 0:17:43'We've organised a school reunion for former pupils who appeared in the film,
0:17:43 > 0:17:50'and invited along the film-maker, 87-year-old John Krish.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55Did you have a sense that people felt they'd failed because they'd not passed their eleven-plus?
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Not for one moment. I felt that they were at home.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03They were pleased to be here and they were succeeding.
0:18:03 > 0:18:09'63-year-old Bernie Bachelor was one of the stars of John's film.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11'Bernie was the class clown.
0:18:11 > 0:18:16'He left school without being able to read or write.'
0:18:16 > 0:18:19Did you feel you were well-taught at this school?
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Um...from my perspective,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25in the early days of the school,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29not really - I left school not being able to read and write properly.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33I never got round to it till I started long-distance lorry driving.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36I had to read the place names
0:18:36 > 0:18:39and road signs to get to where I was going.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44I feel that I learnt quite a lot in life skills, having left school.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48'Someone else who starred in the film was Yvonne Shaw from London.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50'She suffered from dyslexia
0:18:50 > 0:18:54'and was a bit of a rebel during her time at Francis Combe.'
0:18:54 > 0:18:57- Did you enjoy it here? - It was an experience.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02Also, coming from any infants school to a big school like this -
0:19:02 > 0:19:05it's big now, it was big then -
0:19:05 > 0:19:07was a cultural change, big shock.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11The company was great. The school clubs were great.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16But any authority that you have to deal with, students have to rebel against.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18I was quite rebellious.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23'Now they're all about to step on board
0:19:23 > 0:19:28'and travel back in time to 1962, and come face-to-face
0:19:28 > 0:19:30'with their younger selves.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41'The documentary featuring Bernie, Yvonne and the others is Our School.
0:19:41 > 0:19:46'It's a fascinating record of teaching styles in postwar Britain,
0:19:46 > 0:19:51'and was shown on the BBC to millions of viewers in the 1960s.'
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Come on. Get a move on.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57Sit down and get your homework out.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07'Yvonne, now a medical therapist, has never seen the film before.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11'How will she feel now, watching her 15-year-old self?'
0:20:14 > 0:20:18When the solution is pumped in, we pick up current through this brush
0:20:18 > 0:20:22and transfer it onto the copper cylinder, revolving in the solution.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25We can set up a similar arrangement in the lab...
0:20:25 > 0:20:27It was like being back at school.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32You could remember physically being there, so I found it quite moving
0:20:32 > 0:20:35to see that and then see the people around me.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40'Yvonne appeared when the film followed her class on a school trip
0:20:40 > 0:20:42'to a local paper mill.'
0:20:46 > 0:20:50I think the school represented a place of change.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54Seeing very young beings, which I was,
0:20:54 > 0:20:59reminds you so much of those tender feelings which you forget,
0:20:59 > 0:21:02and it was just nice to see them again.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07Just remembering who you were and who one is now,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11makes one feel more complete, brings your childhood back.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15'Yvonne passed 11 O-levels at 16,
0:21:15 > 0:21:20'but until 1972, secondary modern pupils could leave school at 15
0:21:20 > 0:21:25'without taking any exams, and many of them were girls.'
0:21:25 > 0:21:29- Who made the decision that you leave school at 15?- I did.- Me mother.
0:21:29 > 0:21:34- Susan?- My mum and dad asked me and I said I wanted to leave.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38- NEW SPEAKER:- On the word go, up and down the wall bars twice.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42Two backward rolls, touch each of the four walls.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44Ready? Go!
0:21:44 > 0:21:46It's inexplicable.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51Coming back to a physical place where you almost feel the history.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56I don't know. It's something that will take me a while to think about.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03You seem to be finding some difficulty in speaking, Keith.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06- What were you eating? - Chewing gum, sir.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10- Will you kindly remove it? - LAUGHTER
0:22:10 > 0:22:13- And don't stick it under the table! - LAUGHTER
0:22:13 > 0:22:15'The making of this documentary
0:22:15 > 0:22:19'left an indelible mark on Yvonne's memory.'
0:22:19 > 0:22:21It was the outside world coming in.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25There weren't very many instances of being valued.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30That was someone coming in and valuing people, so it was exciting.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35'For Bernie, schoolwork was a necessary evil.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40'What memories does he have of the film being made?'
0:22:40 > 0:22:42I remember the film taking place.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46We're walking along the corridor, me and my mate Terry,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48it was a great time, like.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50We got out of some lessons,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54but I don't think our lessons were disrupted that much.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57I think we found it all as an interesting thing.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00We didn't realise, really, that we were being filmed.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02At least that's my memory of it.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05It was done so well and so natural,
0:23:05 > 0:23:09that it just became part of what we were doing every day.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14This is the sort of scene when you went into London in mediaeval times.
0:23:14 > 0:23:20My part was in the classroom. There are several classroom lessons.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24One of them was where I had to spell the word "people".
0:23:24 > 0:23:28And I think I got it wrong at first attempt,
0:23:28 > 0:23:32but I think I got it right in the film in the end.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35I've never really forgot how to spell it.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40- Bernard, tell them how to spell "people".- P-E-O-P-L-E.- Yes.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44You learned it. Too many of you spell "people" with P-E-E-P-L-E.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47It's not necessary.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52'Bernie had trouble reading and writing and was placed in the bottom stream with Mrs Peacock.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57'But he enjoyed school and got a reputation as "the funny one".'
0:23:57 > 0:24:02When I look at that pimply, untidy child
0:24:02 > 0:24:05going through a spelling test, I think to myself,
0:24:05 > 0:24:10"What am I doing here? I could be outside playing rather than in here."
0:24:10 > 0:24:15'Bernie loved the practical skills he was taught at school.'
0:24:15 > 0:24:19I remember going into the metalwork lessons,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23good lessons where you could get to grips with some materials.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27I always felt I wasn't great an academic,
0:24:27 > 0:24:32but I always liked practical things, engineering, machinery.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36'Bernie left Francis Combe without any qualifications,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39'but he didn't let it hinder him in life.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42'He went on to manage a logistics company
0:24:42 > 0:24:44'and is now a driving instructor.'
0:24:44 > 0:24:49- You could have done a little more than this.- I did this part wrong.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51I had to rub it out and do it again.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55'I enjoyed myself at school. I must say I enjoyed myself.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59'My worst memory is the fact that I didn't do as well'
0:24:59 > 0:25:02as I could have done academically.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05'Although I didn't leave really being able to spell'
0:25:05 > 0:25:10and read properly, I did have the ways and means to learn it later on.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15Wait a minute. Take a breath. Don't rush it. Say it properly.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18What do you think they might be selling?
0:25:18 > 0:25:22- Some banjos.- Well... - They do sell banjos.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27- The old musicians would go la la la. - A sort of banjo in the Middle Ages.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30'When the documentary was shown on BBC television,
0:25:30 > 0:25:34'for a short time, Bernard became a bit of a celebrity.'
0:25:34 > 0:25:38For a while, I was a film star. For about a month,
0:25:38 > 0:25:43people kept spotting you and talking to you cos it was a good thing.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52'The man who made Bernie a star, John Krish,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55'hasn't watched this film for many years.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58'What memories does he have of making it?'
0:25:58 > 0:26:04My job was to bring back the atmosphere of the school on film.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07You said, "Relax, like." Why "like"?
0:26:07 > 0:26:10Don't know. It just...just came out.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14Before I started shooting, I came every day for six weeks
0:26:14 > 0:26:17and sat in every classroom.
0:26:17 > 0:26:22And in that time, decided which teachers I would use
0:26:22 > 0:26:25and which pupils I would use.
0:26:25 > 0:26:26What do you feel about this...?
0:26:26 > 0:26:29'John made his film look like what we now call
0:26:29 > 0:26:31'"fly on the wall" documentary,
0:26:31 > 0:26:35'but in fact, he spent days constructing every scene.'
0:26:35 > 0:26:38I turn each classroom into a studio.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Nothing is snatched. Everything is rehearsed.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46If there's a spontaneous moment, then we have caught it, of course.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Speech is like quicksand. It drags down, it doesn't push up.
0:26:50 > 0:26:56It's a good analogy. If you don't know the meaning of "analogy", you know what to do.
0:26:56 > 0:26:57Look it up in a dictionary.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01The spirit of this school is what I set out to capture.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16'By 1963, with one in ten secondary modern students obtaining O-levels,
0:27:16 > 0:27:24'the idea of dividing young people using the eleven-plus exam started to fall from favour.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28'Two years later, in 1965, the government announced plans
0:27:28 > 0:27:32'to switch to the non-selective comprehensive system.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36'Selective education was finally abolished
0:27:36 > 0:27:38'in 1976.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42'The eleven-plus exam still exists in a few education authorities,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45'but for most of us, it's passed into history.'
0:27:47 > 0:27:49Everybody I've spoken to
0:27:49 > 0:27:52really liked their secondary modern schools.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57They liked the teachers, the lessons, the learning processes.
0:27:57 > 0:28:04But almost everyone felt that they'd failed by not passing this eleven-plus test.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09'Which is why I'm delighted to have marked their considerable achievements
0:28:09 > 0:28:13'and add their stories to the National Archive.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18'Next time on Reel History, we're on Horse Guards Parade in London,
0:28:18 > 0:28:22'to recall the Queen's coronation in 1953,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26'the first royal event live on television.'
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Everybody was wearing their best clothes.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32We were in the presence of the Queen!
0:28:56 > 0:29:00Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:29:00 > 0:29:03E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk