English Recordings

School daze

What happened when the pupils at £9,000-a-term Wellington met under-privileged teenagers from Burnley? Elizabeth Day reports on a remarkable school swap

School exchange programme, Wellington College
Donna Taylor, 14, (far right) hesitates to join the lunch queue with the pupils of Wellington College. Photograph: Richard Saker/Observer

The driveway leading up to Wellington College is a kilometre long and cuts through a vast green blanket of lawn, the edges of which have been cordoned off to ensure the damp grass is not trampled by careless feet before the end-of-term rugby match. Walking up the long drive, there is ample opportunity to admire the impressive red and white brick building as it emerges from the early-morning mist. As you get closer, you notice the carved stone pediments silhouetted against the sky.

Established in 1859, the college was founded by Queen Victoria and the Earl of Derby as a national monument to Britain's great military figure, the Duke of Wellington. It is a school that exudes privilege from every pore, with its 400-acre grounds, its golfing greens, its shooting range and its extensive stretch of private woodland. A term as a boarder at Wellington costs £8,975, and last year there was a 100% A-level pass rate. The school's motto, inscribed in Latin in the chapel hymn books, is Heroum Filii - Sons of Heroes.

Chris Uthman, 15, is the son of a truck driver and an Accident & Emergency nurse. He lives on a council estate about four miles south of Manchester city centre with his mother - his parents split up when he was six. Until relatively recently, Chris went to school at Chorlton High, a comprehensive where fewer than half the pupils are white British and a high proportion have English as their second language. In 2008, it was given a "satisfactory" rating by Ofsted.

When he was 14, Chris was excluded from his school. He had been playing truant from lessons for more than a year and had fallen out with a new maths teacher. It came to a head one day in the classroom and Chris became verbally aggressive. He is a broad-shouldered teenager, well over 6ft and with an expression of glowering discontent on his face that he adopts whenever he feels threatened or uncomfortable. It is easy to see how Chris could appear intimidating.

Positive Inspirational Quotes

"The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong one, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark." Barbarba Hall
~♥~ Noetic Alchemy

Positive Inspirational Quotes

There's a point in life when you get tired of chasing everyone and trying to fix everything, but it's not giving up, it's realizing that you don't need certain people and their crap. Sometimes you have to distance yourself from people that only call when they need something. Fair weather friends only want to come around when they need your sun to shine on their dark and gloomy days. In the end, you'll realize you only have a few true friends. But that's better than having many fake ones.-Search Quotes!

Positive Inspirational Quotes

If you're having a hard time letting go, realize that if they wanted to stay they'd still be there. Sometimes you have to forget what's gone, appreciate what still remains, and look forward to what's coming next. It sucks when you know that you need to let go, but you can't, because you're still waiting for the impossible to happen. Although it may seem like the wrong thing to do, you have to forget about the person who forgot about you. Some people are meant to stay in your heart, but not in your life.-SQ

Positive Inspirational Quotes

Find someone who can change your life, and not just your relationship status. Find somebody that will be there for you through thick and thin, and who isn't just with you because of the way you look or because of what you can do for them. Everybody deserves someone who makes them look forward to tomorrow. The one who is meant for you encourages you to be your best but still loves & accepts you at your worst. Don't continue chasing the wrong person while the right person is dying to be loved by you.-SQ

Positive Inspirational Quotes

A day should never pass without the precious gift of your love; your soul shines brilliantly the beauty of your heart, your truth to life. Believe in yourself, respect yourself, have pride and dignity and never feel sorry for yourself. We are here for a very short time; it is time to reinventing you. Do not try to be someone else, simplify your life and become the very best of you. Get rid of the negative drama and you will have no insecurities. Life is a gift and should never be taken for granted. Appreciate your life; your life is your hearts beauty gifting true love. Unconditional love will always shine ~♥~ Lee Held

Positive Inspirational Quotes

You are the gift of light when skies echo color of gray; you are love breathing heavens wind, glowing flow of true love. You are the precious heart treasuring unconditional love; you are the heart and soul of life shining your compassion and truth. Love comes to life with your heart coloring beautiful rainbows with your soul. You are only to be you; you have a true heart, never love a fake love. Open your eyes and be the true you, the truth is in your heart, your beauty is no lie. Give your heart to life and gift your love ~♥~ Lee Held

Positive Inspirational Quotes

One key to obtaining and maintaining happiness in our lives is to stay away from comparing ourselves to others. Some people feel awkward because they're not like others. Be yourself and let others get inspired to be like you. You may not live up to everyone's standards, but there's someone out there who will love you just the way you are. Don't change so people will like you. People judge you regardless so you might as well be yourself when they do.-SQ

Happiness In Your Life

You cannot receive true love until you love yourself first.

We see only a reflection of ourselves in other people.

You will only accept the love that you feel inside.

If you don’t love yourself, you will think it’s love when someone treats you poorly, even though in your mind you may know you should be treated better. If you were treated better, you would lose interest because it would not match the feeling you have inside.

We reject anything more than we feel we truly deserve.

Love yourself, accept yourself, and you will no longer be attracted to those who don’t treat you with love and kindness.

Feel love, receive love.

~Doe Zantamata

When the elephant disappeared from our town's elephant house, I read about it in the newspaper. My alarm clock woke me that day, as always, at 6:12. I went to the kitchen, made coffee and toast, turned on the radio, spread the paper out on the kitchen table, and proceeded to munch and read. I'm one of those people who read the paper from beginning to end, in order, so it took me a while to get to the article about the vanishing elephant. The front page was filled with stories of SDI and the trade friction with America, after which I plowed through the national news, international politics, economics letters to the editor, book reviews, real-estate ads, spots report, and finally, the regional news.