The Billericay School — a school equivalent to an American high school — is alive with activity. In the school library, students giggle and chat with each other while working on a project about Germany.
The walls of the corridors are plastered with photos from school plays, and of recent field trips to France, Spain and other countries in the mainland of Europe — also known as “the continent.”
About 230 staff members, just under half of which are teachers, work with 1,700 students facing crucial choices about the next step in their career or education paths.
In England, students can leave school at age 16, in many cases to enlist in apprenticeships or certification programs. But whether to do so is a source of debate, as suggested by lively chat room comments at the online form, UKresident.com.
A few students shared with the Billerica Minuteman their thoughts on school culture and on what the future holds for the next generation in the British workforce.
“I chose leisure and tourism and business studies, and physical education,” said Curtis Berry, 15, when asked about courses he is taking to help him decide on a vocation. “I quite like the idea of starting my own business.” He will soon face the choice of leaving school, something he said his father supports in the name of making early inroads in the workforce.
Curtis grew up in Billericay and said, “There is not enough to do in Billericay.”
Sophie Shand, also 15, and Chanal Shayler and Isabel White, both 14, expressed similar concerns.
“I don’t think there is that much,” said Sophie. All three said Billericay could do with more activities for teens.
There is a skate board park, the result of a collaborative effort between the Town Council and a Youth Council, made up of teen members who advise the council on needs for young people. “They just put in a skate park, but that’s just for skaters,” Curtis observed.

The dress code debate

During the recent visit to Billericay, one topic was constantly in the news: school uniforms, which are compulsory in British public schools.
Many adults — including some visitors from Billerica — find the uniforms are attractive. Some even said uniforms would be a boon for American parents, saving money on clothing and discouraging the forming of cliques.
“From that point, I can see that side of it,” said Curtis. “But with teachers, when you confront them and ask, ‘What’s the point?’they say, ‘It’s to prepare you for work.’” But if one takes a job where uniforms are required, then the worker will wear the uniform because it’s required, not because of a lifetime of wearing uniforms to school, Curtis said.
“They’re horrible,” pronounced Sophie. “They just make you look stupid.”
Students with a non-conformist streak wear their neckties short. Likewise, girls sometimes roll up the waist of their skirts to shorten them, which prompted some schools to ban skirts altogether and require girls to wear slacks, like the boys.
“No one wears [uniforms] properly. They wear their shirts untucked,” said Isabel.
The girls said cliques can often by recognized by their musical tastes, such as hip-hop, hard rock, punk rock, or Gothic music.
“Even with the uniforms, you still have people in groups,” said Chanal.
So-called Gothic girls, said Isabel, “wear all black and a load of eyeliner.”
The students said one redeeming quality about uniforms is that they de-emphasize differences among students, at least during school hours. The girls said that at their school, students generally get along despite their differences.

Seeking a good start

As in American schools, topics such as bullying, learning disabilities and fitness are concerns in British primary and middle schools.
By the time visitors from Billerica and the Billericay Mayflower Twinning Association arrived at the Buttsbury Junior School, the students were ready.
The visitors were divided into small groups, each of which was led by two polite but firm young guides who kept to a tight time schedule.
In the class rooms, eager hands shot up as students peppered their visitors with questions about life in the United States.
“My mother told me that Hawaii is a country in America. Is this true?”
“What language do people speak in America?” (The answer: American English.)
Many have already been to “The States,” including Florida, a popular vacation destination, and Michigan, the home base for Ford, a large employer in the area.
A poster alerts bullying victims to a toll-free phone number. A ‘buddy’ bench built by students allows those at recess with no one to play with to sit there, a sign that other students should come and join their lonely classmates.
Administrators and staff at the school, where 498 students ages 7-11 are enrolled, are facing issues similar to those in Billerica public schools.
Schools were a focal point of the visit, with stops at three public schools in the town. Here, one sees the new face of the town, as more families seek a quiet life in the suburbs and quality education for their children.
At the Quilters Infants’ School, a school equivalent to an American elementary school, children work on lively projects in brightly-decorated classrooms. A study unit on Africa is reflected in the children’s hand-made models of masks, animals and even a hut.
Boys are dressed in bright yellow shirts, and girls in smart blue and white jumpers. They congregated for an assembly, where special guests – the Billerica delegation – sat on a small stage.
The youngest member of the delegation – Rebecca Burns, 8, a student at the Hajjar School, presented them with gifts, including a T-shirt and a water bottle with the school’s emblem. Rebecca participated in the trip with her parents, Sandra Giroux, a member of the Billerica Board of Health, and Ed Giroux, a member of the town’s Finance Committee.
Here, as on other stops, delegation members present ceremonial citations from the state Legislature honoring the connection between the two communities.
Like their American counterparts, British educators must also reconcile increased demands for awareness of food allergies, including peanut allergies. There are always concerns about class size. Obesity among children has received great notice by health officials and the press, and this, too, is a problem educators said they are trying to attack.
But some obstacles are unique to British schools. A head teacher explained that a lush green field behind the Quilter School is off-limits to students, as feisty badgers have claimed it as their own.
There’s nothing to do be done about it — the field is part of a so-called “green belt,” land around the outskirts of London protected as open space.

Comparing notes

Ruth DeMartinis of Billerica, a retired school teacher who has taught both elementary education and severe special needs students, saw many parallels and differences between the two communities’ school systems.
“Their curriculum seemed to instill an awareness of the environment,” said DeMartinis, noting how students were involved in a landscaping project at one of the schools. She said, “If you invest time in something, you are less likely to vandalize things.”
DeMartinis, who taught school for a total of 26 years, said ideas such as the ‘buddy bench’ are a good way to instill a sense of community in students at an early age.
One student had asked her, “Miss, are the [American] teachers strict?” To which DeMartinis said she replied, “Our students are encouraged always to do their best.”

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