Knitting therapy
I find knitting enormously soothing. When nerves are jangling, very often a little bit of therapeutic knitting can work wonders. It’s a bit like running in that respect. It keeps me busy, but unless I’m knitting Giotto socks it doesn’t really require an awful lot of mental input and so it’s time when I can sit quietly and think and try to make sure that I keep things in perspective.
The end of the school year can be a very stressful time in Switzerland – particularly if you have one of the 20% of children destined for higher things who have made it to high school or Gymnasium. Completing the Matura at one of these elite schools provides pretty much the only route to university admission. Most of the kids here leave school at 15, complete an apprenticeship and at 18 are well-qualified and possess great skills to enter the workforce. It’s a very sensible system and ensures that we have well-trained people in all works of life and almost no youth unemployment.
But I digress. Back to the Gymi. Boy, it’s tough. If I hadn’t seen it myself I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s way beyond anything I ever went through in my academic career in England. To achieve the Matura, students have to pass in 13 academic subjects and the level is frankly, what would be considered university level in many countries. Twice a year we get a school report and if a young person is failing in more than 3 subjects at any time or can’t compensate those below grades with double the above grades, the school will declare them to be provisional. If they haven’t rectified the situation by the next report, the student will be thrown out of the school and will have difficulty getting another school to take them on. What is really scary, is how often this happens. In my daughter’s class over the last 2 years, 5 students out of 22 have been asked to leave. These weren’t lazy kids, or kids that misbehaved. They were bright students, in the top 20% of the population, who wanted to succeed and worked hard, but maybe they just weren’t that great at languages, or maths and science didn’t quite click. Or maybe their parents were sick or divorcing. It’s tough. No allowances made.
So every year at this time we are sweating it out at our house. How many subjects are below? Are there any tests left that could pull a grade up? Will an oral mark cause a grade to dip below? Can the negatives be compensated with enough positives? It’s the same every year and so far it’s always turned out OK.
This year it’s down to the wire.
Hence the knitting.
Cross your fingers for us please….and send positive vibes this way….particularly if you are a genius in maths or chemistry!
Helen
PS As you can see, the Otello sleeves are coming along nicely. Try as I may however, and despite all the skills I learned on my recent photography course, I can’t manage to get the yarn colour to turn out true in the photo! (And believe me I tried!)
July 7th, 2011 at 1:45 pm
I feel the same way about knitting, if it is a simple, mindless pattern. Anything more stresses me out till I get it down. Sending end of school year prayers your way!
July 7th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Wow, sounds tough at your schools. I send my best mojo your way and hope all your kids are doing well. Keep knitting a simple pattern; everything will turn out well!
July 7th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
I had no idea that school was so tough in Switzerland! WOW! My kids would have been in trouble and two of them ended up being dentists! Now I know why you have been so worried about the end of the school year. ANd speaking of the school year…it is long! Kids here have been out for 3-4 weeks already. They go back end of August, beginning of September. Happy Knitting!
July 7th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
What an interesting school system, it does sound socially sensible but the level of stress sounds crazy. Hopefully the knitting keeps you sane.
July 7th, 2011 at 5:42 pm
I`m no genius at maths or chemistry but sending positive vibes winging their way to you. I imagine it must be so stressful for all of you but really hoping it comes all right in the end!
July 7th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
I’m sending my best vibes to your kids!!!!! It certainly sounds like a stressful school system but, on the whole, it seems better than ours where the levels seems to be lowered year after year to accommodate the lowest denominator rather than trying to promote achievement and even that has not succeeded in lowering he drop out rate.
Keep on knitting and know that these next weeks will soon be over – hopefully successfully.
July 8th, 2011 at 5:40 am
Crikey Helen, the education system sounds extremely pressured and over demanding. As I’ve said before, I thought France was pretty tough, but it’s positively a pussy cat compared with the Swiss way. Big hugs to you all to soothe the nerves and wishing your daughter the best of luck.
July 8th, 2011 at 9:30 am
Hi Helen,
I love your Blog. I am a knitter first and foremost (taught when I was ten, and haven’t stopped), I am hoping to pick up my patchwork after a long time and one thing I would love to start doing is running…so to me you are the complete package.
Good luck with the end of your school year. My girls are very bright and do extremely well in Maths and Chemistry, but I don’t know that we could cope with the pressure you describe.
Interesting education system.
July 8th, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Actually I think that sounds a dreadful and wasteful system. To be discarded at 15 is shocking. Some people are not good at everything but brilliant at something. My sisters daughter only got 4 gsce’s when most people get 10 (there were reasons, others were not taken rather than failed). She got A8 grades for those. Only did 3 A levels where others did 4 or 5 and got all A’s. Went to university and has got a first for her 1st two years and is expected to get a first over all. She will then do a Masters degree. In your system she would not have stood a chance! Very few people are excellent all rounders. It is societies loss when we confined people to other things at a young age. Who knows what they want to do at 15. My mother was condemned at age 11 having failed the 11plus by 1 mark to go and study hat making a a technical college, despite being very bright. She never got to have the chance of taking exams in academic subjects – o’levels in those days. She never got her confidence back. I my self went to university as a mature student with a couple of 50 somethings who went through the same system and had always felt demoralised and stupid. They were fantastic students and both got firsts. Everyone should have opportunities, both for themselves and because society benefits. Competition in education is ridiculous. The kind of stress your children are put through is abusive and unnecessary. It sounds like you have no other choice. I feel for you.