This is an unexpectedly delightful book, in the sub-genre of people with potential ultimately finding themselves, only a good deal funnier than those normally are. Presented as a series of excerpts from journals, letters, and reports (none the least bit dry), it was an unalloyed pleasure to read, and falls shy of 5 stars by dint of being not quite as funny as my favourite funny books, though it comes quite close, and because some of the secondary characters are harder to pin down and remember compared to, say, the Lucia series, where even the domestics were drawn to a T. ( )

A truly charming and wonderful book about teaching and being a teacher. ( )

Très drôle, malheureusement en très mauvais état; à jeter ( )

I decided to read this book having been very impressed by "A Month in the Country", also written by J.L. Carr, and which has rocketed into my list of all time favourite novels. This is a very different type of book but nonetheless skilfully written and very enjoyable. It's an amusing, touching, wise tale about the UK state school system in the early 1970s. It's written as a report on a temporary head teacher, whose story unfolds through a series of school logs, notes, letters and memos. It's a delightful time capsule that has the unmistakable tang of authenticity as petty bureaucrats, envious colleagues, aggrieved parents, unions, outmoded attitudes, personality clashes all combine to create humour, truth and absurdity. The authenticity is not surprising as writer J.L. Carr was a Primary School teacher for almost 40 years, including 15 years spent as Head Teacher of Highfields school in Kettering. ( )

I've read this twice and it has never really delivered for me. I have some loose connections with the education world and thought it was quite insightful. I think Mr Harpole was out of his depth and doesn't seem to have picked up the experience he would need. It's written by an ex teacher and I hope it's an exaggeration. Alas I think it may not be.
The book has comedic moments but really these are not up to the mark. ( )