The Class Clown!

Addition by Ruth:

Finding Dad's school reports tucked away was quite a revelation!  Here are three reports from Cobden Street Junior Boys' School and some entries from Limehurst Secondary Modern Boys' School report book which give insights into Dad's character and sense of fun. 

Report from midummer 1945 when Dad would've been 8/9 years old. 

Above the form teacher writes: "Does good work nearly every time. Conduct, at times, is 'silly'."

The headmaster adds in red at the bottom: "Has improved in his work but his behaviour is not always good."

Report from July 1946 9/10 years old

Nothing much out of the ordinary to report on the one above except 2 late marks - tut tut!

Report from Xmas 1946 10 years old

The headmaster adds to the bottom of the report above: "Progress only fair. Peter does not work all the time - he will slack & play if he is not watched. I hope he will resolve to put his back into it as time is short."  Presumably referrring the the fact that Dad would soon be moving to Limehurst school.

 

The first entry in the Limehurst report book, Xmas 1947, shows mainly B & C grades and similar comments for each subject - except P.T. and Games where the teacher writes "Good but inclined to be silly".

Each page of the report shows steady progress and an increase in grades and you can see by the last page (pictured below), dated Summer 1951, that Dad was gaining mainly A grades.

However, the path was not always smooth as some choice entries, particularly for P.T. and Games, show. Here are some snippets:

Easter 1948: (PT & Games) "Still the class clown."

Summer 1948: (PT & Games) "No improvement." (Geography) "Lazy and indifferent." - although on this report he was noted as showing 'special aptitude' for mathematics.

Xmas 1948: (PT & Games) "Rather poor work."(Handicrafts - woodwork) "Very good worker but a 'gasbag'." - this report noted a 'special weakness' as being "too easily distracted."

Summer 1949: (PT & Games) "Work spoilt by silly behaviour."

Xmas 1949: (PT & Games) "Repetition of last year." (English) "Rather haphazard." Under 'special weakness' the teacher notes "He spoils his work by dissipating his energies in foolish antics."

Easter 1950: (PT & Games) "Steady improvement - silly behaviour."

Finally, below, the headmaster offers his final report  just before my Dad's 15th birthday: "Peter has good ability and has concentrated more this term. He should be more serious in his attitude towards his work for life is not all laughter. He is a boy of good average intelligence."

So, the theme of being easily distracted and lacking concentration recurs with regularity but what really shines through to me is Dad's love of fun and the idea of 'not taking life too seriously'. That's a philosophy I admire and Dad's humour is one of his most endearing qualities and one that I'm glad was not completely drummed out of him at school. Whenever any of us spend any amount of time with Dad we always end up having a good laugh and I'm sure all his family and friends would agree with that - he's a wicked 'wind up merchant' much to my mum's exasperation!  When I read the headmaster's final report to my sister, Julia, she said "no, life may not be all laughter but it certainly helps!"

© Ruth Coward 2012