21 Rites Of Passage For Everyone Who Went To School In Britain

    Sitting at the back of the bus on a school trip = the holy grail.

    1. Having to wear uniform three sizes too big for you because your mum said you'd "grow into it".

    2. Accidentally playing with something fun and squidgy under your desk, only to realise it was someone's old gum.

    3. Getting banned from the school "nature area" because it had become so overgrown it probably had grass snakes in.

    4. Dying from embarrassment during the parents' races on sports day.

    5. Trading your horrible sandwich for a different horrible sandwich on the coach to your school trip.

    6. Waiting for ages on the coach before leaving for the school trip because no one knew where that one kid was.

    7. Staining your history project with a tea bag, and burning the edges with your dad's lighter.

    8. Getting held behind at break with the rest of your class because one person had done something really naughty and no one would admit it.

    9. Getting a brand new textbook for the very first time.

    10. Spilling your drink inside your school bag and soaking all of your books.

    You'd realise it had come undone when you felt your bum getting wet even though it wasn't raining.

    11. Forgetting your PE kit and having to wear something from the dreaded lost property.

    12. Graduating from sitting on the sports hall floor during assembly to sitting on the benches at the back.

    13. Making your entire class lose "The Game".

    14. Wearing these into school because you'd accidentally left your proper shoes in the changing rooms overnight.

    15. Discovering your entire future with a game of M.A.S.H., and realising you're destined to marry a celebrity 20 years older than you.

    16. Getting peanutted so badly that you literally couldn't get it undone.

    17. Playing football with a stone because all the balls had been kicked over the fence (normally by the same kid).

    18. Having some kind of injury "healed" by an old lady dabbing it with these paper towels.

    19. Watching the same film in class at the end of each school year, because the teacher couldn't be bothered to teach anything new.

    20. Writing your name on the back of everyone's shirt on your last day – and making sure you had everyone's name on yours.

    21. And sitting at the back of the bus for the very first time.