Combined Cadet Force
I still have a hard time explaining this to people who don't know what it is.
Essentially, kids are "voluntarily" put into this thing after school where they dress up in uniforms and berets and forced to do marching drills.
You then pick whether you want to do Army/Navy/RAF, and you get to do some shooting drills. Guns are brought into the school (without ammo) and kids are shown how to shoot.
Every year each group goes on a summer camp type excursion where they get to fire real weapons or fly gliders or something.
And that's it.
I've never heard of this thing, but we had a similar programme where I grew up, where an older kid called "Scouse Jimmy" taught us to make play-explosives out of cap-gun caps, sellotape, 1p coins, matchstick-heads and tennis balls.
I don't think it was officially organised by the school - probably a lack of funding for that sort of thing, so it was more of a voluntary self-led after-school community activity.
Kids taking a keen interest in their own education should always be praised, and I salute you and your three remaining fingers.
Hahaha :)
Surprisingly, we all got through that phase with (to my knowledge) zero injuries, and other than a selection of slightly molten or de-limbed action figures, never harmed anyone else except a snowman, a tree and a cardboard cutout of a long-forgotten 1980s TV celebrity.
that snowman had it coming, and, from what I hear, so did Jimmy Saville