Reportage

17 May 2001
Jamie, Year 10, Form Teacher Mr Morris.

Dear Mr and Mrs J-,

As we come to the end of another term, I find myself presented with a number of differentiating reports from your son's various subject teachers. You will find them all enclosed - some make more enjoyable reading than others! - but there are some points to which I would like to draw your attention.

The overall consensus, as always, is that Jamie's academic potential is not the slightest bit in doubt. Mr Cripps, Classics, highlights his 'extraordinary intellect and capacity to retain information, even of the most apparently trivial kind', while Mr Jackson, History, has been impressed with his 'quick and sharp mind in class'. Such comments you will find echoed throughout these end-of-term reports, and they should encourage you and your boy.

Indeed, on the occasions I have hosted a class blessed with Jamie's presence (you may have heard that our English Head, Mr Hutchings, has been only intermittently fit to teach this term), he has regularly produced insights one would not expect from a boy some years above his level. I do not think I would be exaggerating were I to say that his best work is among the most impressive seen at the school in recent memory; without wishing to build the boy up too highly, a scholarship is a foregone conclusion and, given the right school, nothing should be beyond his reach.

So far, so positive; sadly though, our statuesque subject may turn out to have feet of clay. The two masters cited above also draw attention to a disturbing fluctuation in the standard of Jamie's work, it appears, from the sublime to the ridiculous (forgive the cliché, but on this occasion it is remarkably apt). It seems bizarre that a child who one day produces a succinct yet astoundingly insightful analysis of a Manley Hopkins poem should the next find himself incapable of copying an account of the Battle of Bosworth out of a history textbook. Similarly, whilst he grasps the intricacies of complex foreign grammatical structures with ease, his marks in weekly vocabulary tests are among the lowest in his year.

These alarming discrepancies are reflected in his performance in the more physical disciplines. While giving his all on the football and hockey pitches - Miss Wallace notes that 'with improved fitness, he could certainly make a team next year' - he has only attended two classes of Physical Education this term. His constitution on Monday afternoons appears particularly vulnerable to the latest viral cold or stomach upset, and therefore Mr Barry has been unable to give him an overall grade for PE (noting only that 'unless he begins to take PE more seriously, he is in danger of becoming obese').

There is also some concern over Jamie's attitude towards masters. Generally attentive and polite (even Matron, notoriously hard to please, has commended his manners), he often appears sullen and even on occasions rude in class. At times, this has been overlooked because he has clearly grasped the subject under discussion and is frustrated at the lack of progress being made by the rest of the class; on other occasions, he will simply waste time cutting open ink cartridges with a compass when new ground is being covered, and fail the subsequent test. Worse, these failures do not seem to motivate him to improve his attitude; if anything, he delights in them, as his stock among his classmates rises with each detention accorded him. There is even a suggestion that he has failed tests deliberately in accord with 'dares' put to him by his colleagues.

I have been compelled to invite him into my office to discuss his attitude this term, and I must confess to being perplexed by our conversation. Here is a boy who showed, when questioned, the greatest desire to succeed, and talked fluently on many and varied subjects, reassuring me that he was to do himself justice; yet no sooner had he left my study than he reverted to his old ways.

You may ask why I worry, as scholarship success is so likely - surely Jamie is doing enough work to succeed? But this is my concern: a talent such as that possessed by your son should stretch itself, not rely on outside help. If he continues to rest on his laurels, while at the same time seeking the approbation of his peers above that of his elders, he will fall behind those less gifted but more dedicated; the effect of this situation on a mind like Jamie's is to sink it into even greater apathy. He will become not only obese, as Mr Barry suggests, but mentally flabby as well; his highly promising pool of an intellect will begin to stagnate. I suggest you sit Jamie down and discuss his attitude; I expect improvements before his 12th birthday next term, or we may already have lost the fight.

I hope to see you at the Head's reception next term; until then, I remain, as ever,

Yours sincerely,

Mr D. G. H. Morris