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Charley Junior's Schooldays was the seventh in a series of eight public
information films designed to convey key facts about the Labour government's
social reforms in the immediate postwar period. Here, animation company Halas
& Batchelor's trademark fusion of clarity of expression and humour is the
vehicle for some quite dense information about the proposed radical reforms to
the British schools system. The changes were first conceived in the Education
Act 1944, devised by Conservative education minister Rab Butler.
One of the key changes was the introduction of a tripartite system of
secondary education, consisting of three different types of secondary school -
grammar, technical and secondary modern - with pupils allocated to the schools
best suited to their 'abilities and aptitudes' based on their attainment in a
new 'eleven-plus' examination taken in the last year of primary school.
The Act's complex ramifications are summarised here in an entertaining
exchange between the omniscient narrator and the unborn baby son of Charley,
the everyman star of the other seven films in the series. Charley Junior is eagerly
awaiting his transfer from the celestial heights to a family home "down on the
earth of England", and is told how he and his generation will reap the benefits
from the new system: "When you're eleven years old or so you leave your junior
school and go to a school for bigger boys. There are three different kinds of
school course, and you'll go to whichever one suits you best... your Dad's going
to have a time with you! But you'll be having a much better start in life than
ever he had."
A Scottish version was made after the Scottish information officer decided
that "English systems of education differ in nature and terminology and the
film... would not be suitable for showing in Scotland." The script was modified
to include Scottish colloquialisms (such as "Ooh, bless its wee heart"), which
it was hoped would better connect with audiences north of the border. Max
Adrian's commentary was re-voiced by Scottish actress Molly Weir, subsequently
better known as Hazel McWitch in the hit children's series Rentaghost (BBC,
1976-84).
Katy McGahan
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Complete film (8:42)
