Carshalton College
Created by Fleur 7 years ago
I have such fond memories of Mike from our days working
together at Carshalton FE College. What I most remember about Mike was his
quick wit, his kindness and support, his great intelligence (the only person I
ever knew who could create – not to be confused with complete - a cross-word
puzzle from scratch with no template or any other guidance in his 10 minute
break between lessons for the amusement of his students) and his utter disdain for
anything suggesting ‘political correctness’!
In the auspicious surroundings of a South London FE College
where excessive PC and other such nonsense was part of daily life, to the
delight of those of us fortunate enough to share the privacy of a staff room
with him, Mike would surpass himself by likening certain students to characters
from Viz Magazine. On more than one occasion the gales of laughter from our
room would result in a ‘visit’ from our Line Manager suggesting that we should
ourselves grow up – resulting in even greater hilarity.
Despite these
distractions to get us through days of exasperation and desperation in trying
to teach to those who didn’t want to be taught – Mike was an exemplary teacher.
He was patient kind and dedicated – to all our students, including ‘Pathetic
Shark’ and ‘Roger Mellie’ – as well as to those who really wanted to learn. He
had a rare skill of employing humour, charm and patience (usually!) in the way
in which he imparted knowledge.
Mike was popular with everyone and I know
without any shadow of a doubt that there are many of his students whose lives
were changed by him. What a wonderful legacy to leave.