We’re are you popular at school?

Passed my 11 + and went to an all girls Grammar school but none of my contemporaries did so I was little nobby no mates when I first went. I did have an older sister already at the same school but I think she (at the time) would rather be with her own friends than me so no help at all. After what seemed weeks (probably only days) a girl came up to me and uttered those life saving words "would you like to be my friend" Oh joy of joys!! My sister was rather naughty at school so I was viewed as another one of those troublesome girls but I was incredibly shy - the polar opposite of my sister.

Looking back on it I don't know how, as young girls, we coped with all that, getting used to having periods, and all that too when we were still children. Now the cycle begins again as my granddaughter starts secondary school this September. I really wish I'd made more of the education which was on offer to me then.

I was not popular either so not a particularly happy time, I just tried to become a shadow and get on with my work. I passed my 11+ which enabled me to get a really good grounding for many subjects, I’ve come to appreciate that more as life goes on.
As a Granny I can make people laugh but it’s take me as I am or leave me, I try to grow old disgracefully in the memory of the peer group pressure during those years.

I loved school, except my secondary school, but this didn't stop me enjoying learning. Having gone to so many schools, I had experience of single sex and mixed schools, and which ever school I was at, I was always on the periphery, which never really bothered me. I never really understood other children anyway.

NO, never have been and no doubt never will be, but hey ho, my animals love me????

No I wasn't popular always the last to be chosen in netball etc. It knocks your self confidence for many years . Surely the school don't pick teams like that anymore . I hated school couldn't wait to leave.

No I wasn’t popular, didn’t want to be if I am honest, I saw what it did to popular girls over the years I was at school, you were expected to be always happy! Or funny tease other girls like me who were quiet and shy, brag about boyfriends.
Couldn’t wait to leave Kidbrooke comprehensive. Awful school
I was much happier at work and made lots of friends.

I feel so sorry for the number of posters who felt so unhappy at school and were bullied or felt left out. Interesting to know how many of them went to all an girls school. They say girls can be the worst.
I was incredibly shy at school and blushed easily and only "came out" when I started college but after these posts I now know how lucky I was. I didn't find learning easy and dreaded exams (being born 31 August also made me the youngest and smallest in every year) but our school and teachers were brilliant and would help all they could. My art teacher called me Minnehaha (from Hiawatha) as I had long dark hair I wore in 2 plaits. I remember being told off for running down the corridor but didn't say it was because one of the boys in my class was chasing me with a pair of scissors threatening to cut them off!

I was desperately unpopular.
I was a scholarship girl in a posh grammar school, and my father was 'only a tradesman'.
That was bad enough, but I was undersized, unsporty and studious.
I won every academic prize for which I entered, so I daresay my fellow pupils would have liked me dead.
I'm still very unpopular because I am pedantic and intellectually snobbish. I know a few like-minded persons with whom I get on reasonably, but not terribly well.
For some unknown reason, I am incredibly popular with babies and very young children. I suppose it's because they lack judgement.

I went to an all girls Grammar, and felt like an outsider for the whole time. Skiing trips, school visits to Russia and America, were all completely beyond my parents resources - they struggled to buy the uniform. As for popularity, I made a couple of friends but plodded on without being noticed in any way to the sixth form, and then left. 'Never picked for any teams as I hated sport and was hopeless. I cannot say I enjoyed the senior school years, disliked some of it intensely, but still have one of the friends!

I had my friends (and still do!!) but we weren't part of the "popular" group.

Not many friends. Not popular. Still a bit of a loner.

I consider myself unfortunate to have lived in an era, late 1940's/early 50's where a slap or the cane was part of every day life in the classroom.Never dared tell my parents.

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Bit like Kim19 never really thought about it.
Had friends both girls and boys, at secondary school was good at sports-played for school in hockey and badminton and was elected Head Girl, unanimously the Head of Year said. Not sure why that was, maybe I didn’t ruffle too many feathers!
I was quite academic too but not in a geeky way and because, I think, I ‘only just’ failed my 11+ ( see other thread if interested ) I didn’t worry too much about the work.
Having interests outside school also widened my circle of friends which was also a good thing too I think.
I enjoyed my school years and look back with affection and feel sad for those for whom school was torture and they couldn’t wait to leave. Children and some teachers can be very cruel.

There were lots of teachers favourite pupils st my school

Not popular or unpopular, good at sport so coped by excelling at 5gat at Grammar School. I hated it! Left aged 16 went to technical college, worked, teacher training college. Quite popular there.
I know who my friends are now and one has lasted since Grammar school.

Think I was popular at school. Never really thought of it that way. Was a bit of a swot which possibly endeared me to the teachers. Also successful at team sports - athletics a huge no no - which helps building friendships, I think. I remember being a 'random sample' with two other lad classmates to sit our qualifying exam a year early. Selection was made by DoB and I passed with flying colours. Probably because of lack of pressure. Must say I still think of my schooldays with total happiness and joy. Oh yes.

As far as I can remember, I enjoyed junior school. However, I went to Grammar School, having passed the 11+. I hated languages, still no good at them but enjoyed the arts. I loved classical music and got bullied because of that, I was not one of the in-kids iyswim. Also, I was an only child and never really enjoyed interactions with other children, probably never learnt how to. I got through my school days and am still in contact with junior school friends.

I always had lots of friends at all the schools I attended (infant, junior, grammar), and am still in touch with most of them. However, I never thought of it as being popular - perhaps I never needed to, as I had friends. I feel sorry for those of you who had a bad time at school.

Sadly, due to moving around during the war years having been bombed out a few times, I seemed to be attending new schools all the time. There never seemed time to make friends.
This changed after the war, passed 11+ and went to a fabulous G.S. I was very sporty and athletic and with a group of like minded girls we represented the school in many sporting activities. This made up very popular as a whole and individually. The boys seemed to like me too!

Never thought much about it, small class numbers at local grammar school so we all seemed to get on together, don't remember being bullied or bullying anyone. Good at sports so very popular when it came to being picked for teams.

I too attended a secondy modern school - the 11+ was the most unjust method of assessment. My sister and I both 'failed'. Brother went to Grammer school. My sister had a senior position as a special needs teacher , I taught adults with special needs. Took my degree in Manchester as a mature student and gained a first

This sounds like a rerun of my life! I attended Manchester Uni as a mature student, got a 1st in psychology then went on to do a masters and a doctorate. I became an academic and never went back to my original job of librarian.

I was not popular in school as I was a swot and good at all the academic subjects. However I had my own close circle of friends who were also academic like me. We all (our gang) hated sport, cookery and needlework. All the "girly" type subjects. I wanted to do woodwork and metalwork but it wasnt allowed back then.

All the popular girls were sporty. They were also from better off backgrounds so I did not have the right clothes to be invited to their parties.

No I wasn't and the scars took many years to fade. I wish I could tell my younger self not to care, as things do improve with age. Teenage girls can be very cruel and I often wonder what happened to those popular but unkind girls.

I wasn’t ‘popular’ or unpopular ....there was 4 of us that hung out together .... me ,Pam, Janet and Anne , we’d knock for each other, walk home together as we all lived between three streets. We went through whole of secondary
school...together , three of us ‘dragging ‘ one along with us as we were all in top stream but one of us struggled slightly with the work. She was also useless at PE as well but we didn’t care..... we were mates! Teachers mostly were nice and didn’t seem to have favourites..... although the pretty girls were obviously more popular with the boys. Luckily us 4 were neither pretty nor ‘duds’. We were just four girls enjoying each other’s company. I remember school days quite fondly !

i was bullied from 1st year to 4th year, not physical but words hurt more, i met one of the girls about 10 years ago when i was on a bus taking me back to the place i grew up, she was sitting behind me and tapped me on the shoulder a few stops before she was getting off the bus, she said i know you from school, i said in a loud voice...yes you do...you bullied me all the way through school, probably should not have done that but then again,,,,i had one good friend, all the brainy kids sat at the front i was often at the back, i learned years later that i might not have got an A in science, history and geography but i do have a lot of skills like being a people person, organising and sorting problems while the brainiacs scratch there heads...lol

I thought I was, but when I went to a reunion a couple of decades later, hardly anyone remembered me!