Just Patty (1911)

As a deputy head teacher, he recognises that free, compulsory, universal, comprehensive education as a noble and humane objective.But as a realist he would advise teachers never to forget that most pupils turn up to lessons because they have to. This is the story of one person who was helping staff and students to cope with the gap between the dream and the reality.‘It does not help a teacher when confronted by trendy governors to reveal too much awareness of the realities of the job …“The eye of a needle through which a good man must pass is the unqualified approval of his headmaster or, as I dare say, his headmaster’s wife …’‘Nothing happens until you teach all pupils irrespective of ability as if their success meant as much to you as that of your own children …