Thoughts 25/3/23

Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

Not just teacher but probably the most influential person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting in my life was Mr.Michael Twelftree my Junior school tutor in the two years prior to moving up to secondary school.

I was at Little Reddings Junior school in Bushey Hertfordshire circa 1976/7 our class was in free fall as previous teachers had lost control of us, Mr.Twelftree stepped in for our final two years and boy was he strict. Strict but fair, he had a stack of canes in the corner that he gave you the choice of when it was your turn to receive a wack for some reason. Very rarely administered however just the thought of it made you stay in line.

He taught me and others to sail, something I still try to do to this day, we learnt so much from him, he taught the lot English, Maths, Geography, Science and all sports and made us competitors and despite his strict ethic he taught us respect and he brought out the best in everyone he taught.

We learnt all about different knots as part of our sailing training, this resulted in us having a noose hanging from the classroom ceiling as a demonstration of a knot, you wouldn’t find that in a modern day classroom.

He taught me to be a better person, shaped me up well for my future and prepared me and my fellow students well for the next move in our academic advancement.

I respected this man better than my own father, I know this sounds terrible but he shaped my life and I like to think I didn’t turn out too bad as a result. My own father unfortunately didn’t step up to his role in my life but the less said about that the better.

I would have loved to meet Mr.Twelftree again and shake his hand and say just two small words

Thank you 🙏