Wet and windy weather made it easier to have a day indoors sorting through the final bits and pieces of my dads things. The last of the precious things that he took with him into the care home where he lived fairly happily ( before covid struck) for about 5 years .
He was head of RE at a Catholic school in Leicester, originally a secondary modern that became a comprehensive in about 1973 , one of the last areas in the UK to make the switch whereas Leicestershire was one of the first . It was the school I went to , having failed the 11 plus and thank goodness I did . The alternative , if I had passed , Would have been the Convent school which was girls only and had a reputation for inadequate teaching . My underfunded and “inferior” school had
some magnificent and inspirational teachers who understood how to communicate their subject. We were one of the few schools which offered Geology which I developed a passion for and then opened the door to the secular grammar school where I did my A’levels . Whereas our school hadn’t enough science labs to go round and only the boys were encouraged to do physics and chemistry the girls grammar school had 7 science labs and so much more . The schools were worlds apart , all down to funding !
Anyway , the important point is that the photograph is of the RE team at the school my dad taught at ( which I went to ) . They were really happy working together , with lots of love and laughter flowing which extended to the children at the school , nothing was too much trouble . I found the photo in an album my dad had put together of all the cards and messages he received when he retired . So many of the messages expressed gratitude for the support he had given over the years to several generations of families , often quietly done , behind the scenes and without fuss . He always used to say that it was really important for teachers to only say positive things about children because people remembered the negatives and it would follow the children around . Looking at the photograph it really made me think about the difference a team of good people working together can make . My dad is on the top left and from the big grins on all their faces someone had clearly cracked a joke or tripped . The smiling woman in the bottom left died not long after my dad , literally hundreds of ex pupils and families posted messages of gratitude on the school face book page , so many stories of help and support offered quietly over years and years. It was moving to read . I could go on and on , so many memories, stories,
I felt too emotional to write yesterday so this is a backblip , I just wanted to try and capture the essence of goodness that is represented in this photo .