Dear Germany

Dear Germany

Greetings and best wishes from a recently retired maths teacher from Downton Abbey Land. I just wanted to write and tell you how much you are admired by generally balanced empathic people around the world. As I approach 60 and think today of the disgrace of our country’s lack of commitment to the refugee disaster, I shudder to think what you, in Germany, and the rest of Europe must think of us. I worry we will never win the European Song contest again through an absolute paucity of voting allies!! Could I bypass our government and appeal directly to you, Mrs Merkel, with Europe being our only hope for social justice and laws that protect and fight for the rights and hopes of working people. My wife and I have two empty bedrooms where greatly loved sons used to sleep but have now flown the coop. We’ll take somebody in a heartbeat and I know we’re not alone here, a sentiment that good people in Germany have shown in exemplary fashion.  I hope crass stereotypical characterizations of the German people, held by some of my countrymen, will now be accordingly rewritten.

When teaching ratios, I used to give examples of recipes or mixing concrete to illustrate the proportional comparison of components. I’m afraid I also used to recall an engagement from British imperialist military history; that of Rhorke’s Drift, South Africa, where a garrison of 100 British soldiers was attacked by 4 000 zulus. That’s 40: 1 relatively. I’ve got to apologize here as I used to play with toy soldiers when I was young where we would work out relative strengths of our armies. Folks, there’s irony here, because twenty years later as a man approaching his thirties, I remember being enraged when this 40:1 ratio appeared again in commonwealth summit negotiations in which about 40 odd leaders of disparate countries tried, in vain, to modify Margaret Thatcher’s solitary implacable opposition to economic sanctions against South Africa.

‘Mrs Thatcher is prepared to go along with most parts of the package, but not with the sanctions. She is opposed to economic sanctions in any form, and even to the threat of sanctions, because she believes that they would not work and would damage Britain’s extensive economic interests.‘

– Sound familiar? A British leader willing to sacrifice, african or in this case middle-eastern lives for political statesmanship. Churchill was undoubtedly the man for the moment during the Second World War but tell that to the Kurds.

‘Churchill was particularly keen on chemical weapons in the 1920s, suggesting they be used “against recalcitrant Arabs as an experiment”. He dismissed objections as “unreasonable”. “I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilized tribes _ [to] spread a lively terror _” In today’s terms, “the Arab” needed to be shocked and awed. A good gassing might well do the job.’

Can anyone else see similarities between the aristocrat Churchill’s view then to our present etonian prime minister’s callous disregard for the Syrian crisis as if refugees lives are dispensable when you’re preoccupied with fighting for votes at home in the Brexit referendum. Bred to think so!

Our derisory offer to take 20 000 refugees in comparison with the 1 000 000 that your country has taken in, is near to a war crime. Especially as, when it suits their purposes, our leaders tell us we’re supposedly the 5th richest country in the world. The figures give a humanity ratio index of 50: 1

We’re getting worse!

Dear Germany

March 8, 2016

Dear  Mrs Double-Glazing

Dear  Mrs Double-Glazing

We all love our children and want the best for them, that seems perfectly natural and laudable to me. I have to draw your attention to one thing though. There’s an old arabic saying, ‘Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother’; but when you teach 200 children and look after a tutor group with all the pastoral responsibilities that brings, from a teacher’s view many a gazelle can feel like a beetle!

In state education, we teach everyone and anyone. I now appreciate and am grateful to private education like never before for taking away from me, people who generally feel they deserve a bigger slice of the pie.

Here is a series of e-mails that have been exchanged over the last six months between myself and a very caring but over protective parent about her daughter. Bless her!

All names and personal details have been changed.

Hello Mrs Double-Glazing

Apologies for not replying earlier to the letter you sent me, this is the first time I’ve had to draw breath. Phoebe has made a very good start to the year, I’m very pleased with her attitude and commitment to do well. Higher level maths is a big step up and I want to impress on all year 10 students to be prepared to constantly practise the topics we are covering.

I pride myself that I am very proactive in contacting parents throughout Year 10 and 11. I have got into the routine of e-mailing to all parents, schedules of extra revision classes, exam (mock) timetables and general advice. (I might say sometimes, generally to little response)

My main reason for writing is to lay the foundations of selected pupils in this ‘quasi’ higher set having the opportunity to do an additional GCSE Statistics this year. I intend to offer extra lessons after school one night a week later on next term. The course comprises a coursework component, done in the Spring, and a written exam in June 2015. Some pupils will perhaps justifiably consider for their career choice they don’t need to do this course while others are not capable.

I think Phoebe would do very well in this GCSE and I would like her to do it.

I’m interested to hear your views on this.

Kind regards

John Walker

From: Caroline Double-Glazing  [mailto:caroline.doubleglazing@gmail.com]
Sent: 09 February 2015 10:09
To: Walker J
Subject: Re Statistics Homework

Dear Mr Walker,

Thank you for your most helpful outline. Phoebe may come and find you to make sure she is on the right track.

She chose Winter Olympics, Ice Skating and collected the data to show which Country performs best by displaying all the data in different ways and finding average scores. Can you steer her in the right direction?

I can get graph paper or anything she needs to make charts, even A3 graph paper to put all the data to see at a glance and compare. Am I giving her the right support?

Thank you

Caroline Double-Glazing

From: Caroline Double-Glazing  [mailto:caroline.doubleglazing@gmail.com]
Sent: 04 March 2015 08:01
To: Walker J
Subject: Re Statistics

From: Caroline Double-Glazing  [mailto:caroline.doubleglazing@gmail.com]
Sent: 25 March 2015 15:47
To: Walker J
Subject: Re Orthodontist appointment

Dear Mr Walker,

Phoebe has to have her 6 week appointment at the Orthodontists tomorrow at 2.30pm in Chigley. I tried to have it done during the holidays but he will be having two weeks off with his children and this is our last chance.

She is now talking about a test. Is this a Statistics test? Could she complete it at home On Show My Homework during the holidays?  I know she will have a maths lesson with you first thing if you could have a word with her.

There is always two events at the same time! and I am sorry to be taking her out.

Kind regards,

Caroline Double-Glazing

Dear Mr Walker,
I felt sorry for Phoebe tonight, she came so upset and disappointed over her 9/20 result.
Apparently, as soon as the test finished she realised she dropped 3 marks over a mistake she knew the right answer to. She also had very bad stomach pains that day and would have come home but of course she couldn’t.
I understand the course work will be part of her final GCSE  mark but was this test also part of her GCSE mark? How will it work? If that is the case she must work extra hard to get a decent grade now? Such a shame as she grasped all the course work so quickly and was helping a few of her friends. We were secretly hoping she will end up with a decent grade. so if there is any advice you can give that would be so helpful.
Thank you

From: Caroline Double-Glazing  [mailto:caroline.doubleglazing@gmail.com]
Sent: 22 April 2015 07:24
To: Walker J
Subject: Re Coursework improvements

Dear Mr Walker,
I am very concerned about the knock in Phoebe’s maths confidence after receiving her results.yesterday. She must have been having a bad day.
If it is impossible for some pupils to resit the test, please can she at least have her course work back to make improvements and do the Spearman’s Rank diagram that she was supposed to do and perhaps gain a few more marks before she goes into the exam?
Please look at any possibilities of a few more marks from somewhere.
Thank you,
Caroline Double-Glazing

 On 22 April 2015 at 15:23, Walker J <JWalker@bogcomp.shire.sch.uk> wrote:

Dear Mrs Double-Glazing

I have spoken with Phoebe today. The 9/20 was a disaster and a great shame as Phoebe has worked so hard on her project. It can’t be re-sat. If Phoebe were to improve the write-up of her sampling procedure she could perhaps attain 2 more marks for that component of the project. That would bring her up to to 27/40 = 13.5/20 = 6.75/10  = 67.5% for the coursework component (worth 25%) of her GCSE Statistics course. That’s good enough to achieve any grade with a good written exam in the summer.

Hope this helps to allieviate the pain

John Walker

Dear Mrs Double-Glazing, we all love our children…..

February 28, 2016