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That's how I remember it, too.

I attended a private (or public as they would say) school in England for a short time. I have vivid memories of actually going to a laboratory for science classes and participating in experiments where we generated gasses and did various things with them. Back home in Nova Scotia we never did anything comparable to that until I took chemistry for the first time in grade 11.

Now, I work in the computer field now, meaning I have little if any practical use for chemistry or physics anymore, although they were absolutely necessary for my orinally planned career in engineering. I'm always glad, though, that I have at least a basic grounding in these subjects so I'm better able to make sense of technical mumbo-jumbo and pick apart junk science stories in the media. I regret that I didn't take biology, despite having no need of it, just for that grounding in life sciences. I've picked up a lot of that info over the years by osmosis, but I'm sure there's some fairly basic knowledge that I'm missing.

What's frightening is that we moved my Sophomore year, and my second high school required only one math OR one science course to graduate, normally Algebra 1 or Biology. I'd taken both in ninth grade, and they initially suggested I take one over again. Idiots. They finally "compromised" by letting me take Geometry (which I enjoyed mightily). I still shudder over the idea of having to take a year-long course over again when I'd done just fine first time through.

But this rule meant some kids graduated that high school without taking any math beyond basic arithmetic. And it was supposedly a good school system. Very sad.

I attended a private (or public as they would say) school in England for a short time. I have vivid memories of actually going to a laboratory for science classes and participating in experiments where we generated gasses and did various things with them.

Yes, that's definitely hw it used to be when I was in secondary school(for ages 11-16 or 18) back in the 70s. We did all sorts of great experiments in proper labs with bunsen burners and all.

I think my favourite experiment was when we made nylon and had a production line going, to see which group in the class could make the longest threads! The labs still exist in secondary schools, but with this new idea, it looks like they could be on their way out. Pity.