Working in retail much improved my mental maths. We were talking about the subject just the other night actually, with Tom. John and I both came across the same problem. Bad teaching. We were at different schools but the systems were the same. We had one teacher for maths throughout the first three years of secondary school and we both had teachers who were engaging and made maths understandable. Both of us were predicted to do well at O level.
We moved into O level groups in the fourth year and had a different teacher. Mine was Mr Sanders. The meanest teacher ever to draw breathe in Hednesford. He was vile. He taught the top set but in reality he just taught the two cleverest, a couple of lads who he seated right in front of his desk and concentrated on. The rest of us were bullied by him and just left to sink or swim. It's a shame because I actually enjoyed maths up until that time. To this day I still detest Mr Sanders. John had exactly the same experience with his O level teacher at his school. Both of us were dropped down to CSE because all of a sudden we weren't expected to do well. We both got grade 1 which was deemed equivalent to an O level grade C.
Thank you so much everyone, this result means the world to me, his dad and Mick Chris and Becky were both blessed with brains and school came easily, but Harry has worked his little (huge!) socks off and I am close to tears, quite honestly
Kaz, Well done Harry. English is required everywhere. When I was at school and took the old School Certificate, you had to pass English Language and five other subjects at the same time. Have still got some of the exam papers.