The Real Enid Blyton

[Rob Houghton]

It will be in Poundland by Christmas.

[Courtenay]

Or — even better — the 99p Store.

[Rob Houghton]

Or — even better — the 99p Store.

And probably at half price.

[Courtenay]

Can't be half price at the 99p Store — we don't have ha'pennies any more.

(I do remember I once bought a couple of books at a 99p Store and one of them wouldn't scan at the till. Fortunately, they didn't have much trouble working out what the price was meant to be. )

[Boatbuilder]

(I do remember I once bought a couple of books at a 99p Store and one of them wouldn't scan at the till. Fortunately, they didn't have much trouble working out what the price was meant to be. )

But were they able to add the amount to the rest of the items you bought?
Oh, I forgot, the till would have done that for them.

[Courtenay]

Oh, don't start. I've worked in a few small shops that didn't have a till — charitable organisations and so on — and I'm thankful I learned from the start to count up the change from the price of the item(s) to the amount paid. I suspect plenty of cashiers have no idea how to figure out the change if the till breaks down.

[Boatbuilder]

Well you started it. It sounds as though you think I was being critical of you rather than the shop assistants. Mind you, these days I do wonder how many of them can add up in their heads. Maths has always been my favourite subject and it annoys me when shop assistants can't add up even two small amounts in pence. At one time I used to add up my weekly shopping in the supermarket as I went round, and not just a few items, just for the fun of it.

I always made the point to my children about the importance of at least knowing their times tables when they were at school as I believed then, as I still do, that if you can master them and be able to give an answer straight away and without hesitation to any multiplication sum up to the twelve-times table then that is half the battle won.

I have a neighbour, now aged about 30, who moved here about three or four years ago and who at the time was a gymnastics teacher at one of the local comprehensive schools. About a year or so ago when I was talking to her one day I asked her how the job was going and she told me that she had recently moved from gymnastics to teaching maths at the same school. When I told her maths was my favourite and best subject she actually told me she wasn't very good at it. What does that portray about the standard of maths that seems to be getting taught in some of our schools these days?

Apologies if this is all a bit off-topic.

[Wolfgang]

I have a neighbour, now aged about 30, who moved here about three or four years ago and who at the time was a gymnastics teacher at one of the local comprehensive schools. About a year or so ago when I was talking to her one day I asked her how the job was going and she told me that she had recently moved from gymnastics to teaching maths at the same school. When I told her maths was my favourite and best subject she actually told me she wasn't very good at it. What does that portray about the standard of maths that seems to be getting taught in some of our schools these days?

Apologies if this is all a bit off-topic.

It may have the benefit that the teacher knows where pupils may struggle - if something comes to someone naturally it's a bit hard to understand the problems other people face. Of course the teacher has to know and understand what to teach.

[Courtenay]

Well you started it. It sounds as though you think I was being critical of you rather than the shop assistants.

No, I didn't think that at all — I knew you weren't being critical of me, just of shop assistants who would need the till even to work out the change from 99p!

[Rob Houghton]

I was never very good at maths, although I can get by with adding and subtracting and generally can survive everyday life! I was excellent with art and very good with English. I have always believed that the way pupils are taught at school - that everyone should be good at everything - is wrong. Some people have strengths in one particular area, some in another. What I hate about todays teaching is that all children must be equally as good in maths, English etc - the academic subjects - while art and music etc are being sidelined and in some places done away with altogether, as they don't help the league tables.

Even more off topic, lol!

[pete9012S]

[Courtenay]

Hey! That cartoon's by Ron Tandberg from The Age (Melbourne newspaper) — I'd recognise his style anywhere.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I've now seen it brand new for around a tenner - should I take the plunge, or is it likely to drop even lower in price?

Was that in a shop or online, Pete? I haven't seen a copy in a shop yet, though I've looked for it a couple of times.

[pete9012S]

I don't want to cause a stampede or anything, but it was on amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listi ... w&qid=&sr=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks, Pete, though I see there are postage charges on top. Like others, I'm prepared to wait and see if the price drops as time goes on.