Thursday 13 August 2009

It doesn't add up for Biggles



The school the boy attends, is one of the very best. Academically, it has been the top performing co-educational school in the country for many years, and only occasionally slips, particularly when the government starts playing around with statistics. It's not a sweat shop and there is a lovely community, with people from all walks of life. I think the boy is very lucky to go there...he has some great friends. I too was lucky as a lad and won a scholarship at the 11-plus which enabled me to attend first as a day boy and then latterly as a boarder, and my good fortune encouraged me to send the boy three years ago. It was an upheavel as we were living just by London Bridge, so we had to up sticks and move to the countryside.

At Bancrofts, I did well, achieving some good grades at 'O' level, including an A for maths. One of my maths teachers was Mr Hagerdorn, and he taught well. He must have done, as I was far from gifted as a maths student. But it's all in the results. It's been a long time since I studied maths, and it seems that Mr Hagerdorn has not maintained his own maths standards, as you can read on the BBC.

Perhaps he was feeling under par. And now he's feeling a little teed off.

So for anyone who fancies it the question is, "How much fuel do you need if you fly from Essex to Scotland and have to divert because of bad weather?" Extra points awarded for showing your workings and a large bill added for an incorrect guess.

5 comments:

  1. Am I cruel for sitting here laughing out loud at such misfortune?! And well done for picking up on a key point that the BBC seem to have missed!

    Now back to the question : do I have to take gradient into account? It's up hill all the way to Scotland isn't it? Although down hill when you get there if you believe the immigration people!!

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  2. At least Biggles came in handy!

    Perhaps there's something about teaching maths and flying planes because my maths teacher at school was ex RAF. We used to refer to him behind his back as 'Squadron Leader' with a fake salute. He was one of the most sarcastic people I have ever met.

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  3. And now he's a management consultant, raises eyebrow...

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  4. Oh dear, dish out the dunces's hat.

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  5. Hmm. Was that a bird or a plane? No..just "SuperHagerdorn".

    What amuses me more - is that in German hager = thin and dorn = thorn. He will be a thin thorn after that experience. Or was that his natural habitat and he was drawn to it?

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