Originally Posted By Dean-Royal
I recall obtaining 98% / 100% in my O Level exam in Motor engineering, yes i was if not the first certainly one of them in the UK that took the exam as it was introduced into Secondary Modern, when my father viewed the results he went balistic because i had not achieved 100% in this field, after all i had worked and played in our family garage since i was 9 years of age.
My father contacted the school to investigate why i had only resulted a 98%, the Teacher informed him i could not explain why we required Tappet clearance, sure i new we had to have tappet clearance because i had reset so many, but WHY the clearance had to be there (for heat expansion) was beyond me, rather than be happy with 98, he was unhappy about the lost 2%......thats Fathers for you frown


Having an ex Royal Marine for a father was not a whole ball of laughs either ;-). In my early years in training I did a 2 year Further Education Teachers Certificate, it required a number of hours of assessed teaching practice and I did mine at Solihull Technical College. The old adage is true, 'if you want to learn something teach it to someone else' all the stuff I struggled with at college myself and probably scraped a pass in (trumpet blowing I did get Distinctions in all my City and Guilds exams) became clear and understandable when I revisited the subject in my late 20's as I prepared to teach 'Motor Vehicle Engineering' to sixth formers. It's a very humbling process to prepare for questions from a group of switched on 17 year olds and was excellent grounding for many years as a trainer.

BR Colin
Who used to be a Spanner Juggler