The Bettanys' old schools
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#1: The Bettanys' old schools Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:09 pm
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I strongly suspect that the answer to this is "no" Sad , but are we told anywhere which school Dick Bettany went to? We know that Joey and presumably also Madge went to Taverton High which, whilst it was presumably a very good school where you could get an excellent education if you worked hard, in terms of "prestige" (/snob value/whatever) wouldn't have been in the same league as Winchester, where we're told that the 2nd generation Russell and Bettany boys went.

I think what I'm vaguely getting at is whether the choice of school for Madge and Joey just shows differences in attitudes towards male and female education - i.e. Dick went to Winchester or somewhere similar, but Madge and Joey went to Taverton High rather than somewhere like Cheltenham Ladies' College because less emphasis was put on female education than male education by their guardian - or whether we're meant to think that the Bettanys "went up in the world" - Jem and Jack very much seem like public school men - so to speak.

Hope that makes some sort of sense!
#2:  Author: Jennie, Location: Cambridgeshire PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:48 pm
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In many families, the boys go to board at a good public school whilst the girls go to the nearest independent day school.

One tragic case that I knew of, the girl was at a comprehensive, and her parents wouldn't make the financial declaration for her to go to university, though she had walked into a good Redbrick, because they were going to send her brother to Eton. I call that criminal behaviour.
#3:  Author: Kate, Location: Ireland PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:54 pm
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A family that I knew decided in primary school that their daughter was bright but their son wasn't - they sent the girl to a very fancy boarding school but the boy to the local school. The boy ended up doing a better Leaving Cert than the girl...
#4:  Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:13 pm
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In Girls of the Hamlet Club, Mirry has to go to Miss Macey's while her brother gets to go to the good boarding school, because there was only enough money to send one of them. I *think* it was because he needed more help, academically, but I can't remember properly.
#5:  Author: LizB, Location: Oxon, England PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:42 am
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In Lorna at Wynyards, Lorna is told she can't go to the school her older sisters went to, so that there will be enough money to send her baby nephew to public school when he is old enough.
#6:  Author: Caroline, Location: Manchester PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 8:53 am
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I'd always rather assumed that both Madge and Dick were sent home to boarding schools from the age of 8, when their parents were still alive and living in India.

When the parents died, and there was Joey to look after and their home became that of their guardian in England, I'm imagining that Madge might have left her boarding school to live at home with Joey whilst Dick took common entrance and moved on to public school, but there's actually no evidence for Madge leaving that I can remember. She could have stayed at her boarding school until she was 18 - Jo would only have been 6 at that point and hardly even out of the nursery....

Also, we don't know when they lost their money compared to Madge's / Joey's ages. Maybe by the time came for Jo to go to school there wasn't enough money for boarding school? Or maybe Jo's ill health was responsible for Madge and Dick deciding not to send her to boarding school?

Isn't Dick's old school mentioned at some point when they are all talking about where the boys will go to school?
#7:  Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:05 pm
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Róisín wrote:
In Girls of the Hamlet Club, Mirry has to go to Miss Macey's while her brother gets to go to the good boarding school, because there was only enough money to send one of them. I *think* it was because he needed more help, academically, but I can't remember properly.


Mirry and Dick were both offered scholarships to boarding schools, but there was only enough money to give one of them all the extras they would need. As the eldest Mirry was given the first opportunity to take up her scholarship, but she had also been offered one to Miss Macey's where she wouldn't need much more money spent on her. So she let her brother go to boarding school because that way they both got a chance of a good education.

With the Bettanys, I had always thought that School At came right after their financial problems. So Dick and Madge would have probably been to boarding schools, whilst Joey didn't because of her health.

Which does raise other questions. Where did Joey live when she first came home from India? Madge and Dick could have been spending the holidays at their boarding schools, but Joey needed somewhere to live. How did they come by the house in Taverton? Was it bought for them, or did their parents leave it to them? Who ran it until Madge was old enough? And where did their guardian come in?
#8:  Author: macyrose, Location: Great White North (Canada) PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:23 pm
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It would be interesting if someone would write a prequel book to School At just like there's a commission for a prequel to Anne of Green Gables.
#9:  Author: Carys, Location: London PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:41 pm
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A prequel to Anne of Green Gables has been commissioned! Oh please tell me more Very Happy
#10:  Author: macyrose, Location: Great White North (Canada) PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:27 pm
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Budge Wilson, a Canadian author, has been commissioned to write a prequel to Anne of Green Gables to commemorate the 100th year of the book's publication. There will also be a movie prequel directed by Kevin Sullivan who did the three Anne of Green Gables movies with Megan Follows. Two nice things to look forward too!
#11:  Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 7:42 am
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macyrose wrote:
It would be interesting if someone would write a prequel book to School At


That's exactly what Helen Barber is doing. That's why her story in the Christmas book was set in that time.
#12:  Author: macyrose, Location: Great White North (Canada) PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 7:11 pm
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That's great! Something else to look forward to!
#13:  Author: Emerence, Location: Australia PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:48 am
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Yaaaaay! An Anne prequel! This is the kind of thing that makes me veeery happy. Now let's just hope it holds up its end Very Happy
#14:  Author: Hannah-Lou, Location: Glasgow PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 4:43 pm
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Confused Am I alone in thinking that a prequel to Anne is not a good thing? I love the Anne books, and the first one is one of my favourites, but I think the background is all well explained, and part of the charm of the book is getting to know the characters as the reader, just as they're getting to know each other.
#15:  Author: Billie, Location: The south of England. PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 9:59 pm
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Hannah-Lou, I'm also a bit wary of a prequel to Anne. Possibly because the last time someone else tried to write about the characters with no relation to the books, we ended up with The Continuing Story. I don't quite trust other people with Anne. Razz
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