27th Feb 2007
Dear H
What a wonderful day I have just had! I got home last night from Jersey very late but very very happy. My trip to Jersey was a rare treat which I will remember for a long time. Your School is wonderful and I now know why you said you love it. Mrs F showed me around and I spotted that you are doing very well on housepoints with lots for Fundraising and community service. What a great gym and theatre. I cannot tell you how different it is from the facilities and opportunities that I had at School and most children in the state sector experience.
Mrs F had put together a nice timetable for me to meet with most of your teachers and I cannot describe how proud of you I am and how pleased I was to hear so many wonderful things about you.
First I saw Mr B who showed me your portfolio of work and told me that you were a delight. Next I saw Mr J who raved about your creativity and attention to detail in DT He even said he expected you to attain an A* and the clock you were making was fab!
Miss D continued in a similar vein with nothing but praise for your work in clowning with Jenna and that you were growing daily in confidence and always happy to ask questions and learn. (I was almost in tears by this point overflowing with joy at what I was hearing)
Miss J was lovely and both her and Mrs C raved about your use of vocabulary and how advanced you were in your SATs score. They asked if you read much at home and I couldn’t help reflect on the mammoth Harry Potter readings we used to have especially the day we stayed in bed and read the whole book together. Never a truer example of practice makes perfect.
Mrs C was telling me about the Lady of Shallot and that you will be giving speeches soon which is such a fantastic skill to learn early. As I have to stand up and talk all day in my job it is easy to forget just how scary I first found giving a speech especially in front of friends or people who know you. Luckily the more you do the more you come to really enjoy it and recognise that people are really interested in what you have to say and would love the confidence to do it themselves. With the creativity you clearly have, the English skill and ability in drama you will be a great orator H.
In history Mrs C said you were doing brilliantly and were a joy to teach. She said your English helped so much in getting your ideas and thoughts across on the Middle Ages. I understand you are doing King John next - Robin hood’s time! Or was it the Battle of Hastings?
French with Miss S was interesting. 88% and doing really well in what is the top set. Good on you girl! She told me you would be choosing another language next year…Italian or Spanish. Difficult choice me thinks….. I was thinking which would I choose if I was you and I really don’t know. Italian is based on latin which is the route of most modern languages so would really be useful if you wanted to study medicine or botany where you need to know the latin for everything. Its such a beautiful country too so you would really enjoy the place and the people if you went on exchanges. Spanish on the other hand is becoming really really important as a language. It is based on latin so Spanish and Italian speakers can often understand each others language. More importantly there are now more Spanish speakers in the US than English and all of South America speak Spanish (except Brazil- They speak Portuguese which is very similar too) so it would be really useful to you when you go travelling…. also great on holiday in Spain if you go and see Angie and Darren again. Let me know which you choose!
Mrs D raved about your risotto and as Head of year had nothing but praise for you. She said you had won a merit in the Sainsbury award and you were one of few to do so.
Mr P talked a lot so it took a while to see him but I was really pleased I did as he told me about your progress in maths and how you were working hard to move up to the top set.
Miss A wasn’t available but in a note said you were a model student and your commitment and enthusiasm were exemplary.
Miss S seemed lovely and I am sure you are really lucky to have such a nice form tutor. She was very pleased with your progress and really pleased to see how quickly you had developed new friendships and grown in confidence.
Miss Le B said you were really good at Hockey but that you weren’t that sure about it yourself but had great talent. Your height in netball was also an advantage and that you were starting badminton this term. Mum is really good at that so you should play together.
Miss Moss was funny and said you were really enthusiastic and bright and a good scientist but a bit gobby! However she did say it was normally around the experiment and was your interest not gossiping. It did make me smile.
Overall H, I was completely blown away by how well you are doing and how much all your teachers like you and have real respect for your enthusiasm, hard work and intelligence. To say I am proud, impressed and overjoyed is putting it mildly.
I also have an apology for you. I did not mean to embarrass you with the flowers I just wanted you to get them and to know just how much you are loved. I’m sorry you chose not to take them and hope they went to a good home. I wont send you flowers at school again but I cannot promise not to keep thinking of you and loving you every day as you will come to understand one day when you have children of your own.
Im sure this letter is vetted before you get to read it H So a message for Mum……..Thank you. You are very obviously doing a wonderful job bringing up our daughter. Despite all my reservations and upset about pulling H out of Kent and over which school, JCG is perfect and I was pleased to see that the only concern I had about mixed versus single sex education was addressed by my visit. I was impressed by the balance of gender in the teachers and the fact that Victoria and JCG run joint lessons and interact. Definitely the best of both worlds and avoids the Daniel Dressner concern you had.
H your'e brilliant and you should be very pleased with yourself for how well you are doing in what has been a very difficult situation for you.
Love you
Dad xxx
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