Letters recently written to retiring teachers by a high level education department bureaucrat (let's call him "Ronald" for the sake of a name in this item) are the current topic at the water cooler in a couple of Clarence valley schools this week. Ronald forwarded letters to a number of long-serving staff and community members to congratulate them on their retirement and thank them for their years of service for public education in NSW.Ronald's intentions, however noble they might have been, were seriously marred by a number of monumental stuff-ups. While Ronald probably managed to get the names and addresses correct, that's about as far as he got.
It seems Ronald had next to no idea who he was writing to or about. The list of errors included getting the positions and roles of the letter recipients wrong. So too, were their lengths of service. And, to cap things off, Ronald credited some with tasks and deeds they'd never performed and overlooked the real deeds they performed.
Postscript: Although Ronald had many things seriously wrong, the good deeds of those retiring from public education in the Clarence valley made definite and positive impression on their schools' communities. Well done retirees!
