Mr Bacchus and an education for life

Two years’ previously the school had been one of London’s top Grammar schools with under 400 boys and many of its Grammar school traditions remained. So, there was this larger than life man up on the stage, voice as deep as Brian Blessed’s, wearing a Mortar and Cape, with his right hand gripping his cane.

He welcomed us to the school, made nice friendly jovial noises, before getting onto discipline. Gripping his cane tighter, “If you receive six detentions in a term you will have an appointment in my office” – glancing at his cane with a smile on his face. Worse was to come, “You are all boys, so if you do not get one detention in a year we will also meet. Are you so clever I need to keep an eye on you? Is there something wrong with you – I’ll need to find out.”

The only reason I received a couple of detentions each year was to avoid meeting him. My parents never accepted the excuse that Mr Bacchus encouraged me to misbehave.

Us baby boomers have a lot to answer for. After our generation had moved on, the school was closed down due to lack of pupils, and the site redeveloped for housing and the relocation of a much smaller church school.

Apart from learning that a little misbehaving can lead to a happier life, I also learned how to manage Oxford Circus tube station at the height of rush hour in the Christmas shopping period. 2,500 boys changing classrooms at the same time with lots of pushing and shoving was a lot harder to manage than Oxford Circus, especially when nearly everyone else was bigger than you.

I am not sure how that school, which was already over-crowded - it was intended for just under 2,000 boys - would cope with social distancing. The 11-year old me would use the delays in changing class to justify missing most of the next lesson. That could be a quick win detention to avoid Mr Bacchus.

Excuse me for reminiscing, but my experiences at that school contributed to my values and beliefs and possibly many of my biases.

Ignoring Mr Bacchus, many of the teachers I came across were great motivators and at the same time brilliant social workers. Many who went through that school achieved far more than they would otherwise have been expected to. It’s my belief that we should try and get the children back to school therefore as quickly as we can.

On the other hand, the buildings were overcrowded; I am glad it is not my problem to decide how to do it safely. Nearly a third of its pupils could be classed as near adults.

This also illustrates that there are never any ‘one size fits all’ solutions.

Looking at the other end of the age scale, it is becoming more apparent that many of those approaching retirement will have problems they did not expect at the beginning of the year. A fall in the value of their pension savings; interrupted earnings in the last years of working; losing their job with little prospects of decent replacement employment; and prolonged periods of ill health.

The simple answer I have seen expressed is that they will have to work longer. For some that may be true. But look again at why their retirement plans may not be fulfilled.

There appears to be a growing acceptance that retirement savings may be inadequate and more will have to call on their housing wealth to finance their retirement. I have seen debates proposing downsizing is better than equity release and vice versa. I have seen debates in pound terms about which is the better value.

This is wrong. A house is an emotional possession. It holds memories, good and bad, neighbours could be priceless or a pain in the neck. Only when those issues are understood can you move onto the next stage.

What are the values and beliefs of the individuals concerned? What are their retirement objectives and reasons for wanting to use their house to help finance their retirement? Are they consistent with their values and beliefs? How do the alternatives to using the house compare?

Now we are getting down to a pound comparison of the alternatives available.

But at all times we should remember that a pound of happiness is worth far more that a pound in your wallet. Perhaps that’s something that I did learn from my school experiences.