The Edmondson Blog

Teacher comments from old school reports, as reported in The Daily Telegraph Letters to the Editor:

• My chemistry teacher wrote "lazy but cheerful" in my report. My father was unimpressed.
• My home economics report said "Liz does not make full use of her mixing bowl." How useful is that?
• My report from Cheltenham Ladies' College in 1951 stated that "she is indolent, late and badly behaved." The next year things had improved slightly, for "with more sincere ambition and higher moral standards she should do well." I am still trying to improve my morals.
• My PE master wrote: "Rugby: he has useful speed when he runs in the right direction." Thereafter I preferred cross-country running in the winter term.
• My piano teacher wrote: "Paul plays very well, considering he does not have a piano."
• On the verge of puberty, I was most encouraged to lean from my woodwork teacher's report that "He holds a hammer like a woman."
• One of my son's reports ran: "The tropical forests are safe when he enters the woodwork room, for his projects are small and progress is slow.
• My brother's once said: "Continues to amuse himself, but sadly no longer us."
• My English teacher wrote in my report for 1964: "The stick and carrot must be very much in evidence before this particular donkey decides to exert himself."
• One of my masters once reported: "French is a foreign language to him."