Writing a business letter to someone I don’t know is always a conundrum as I often find myself caught between the “business head” and my jovial self, (knowing that my business head can be such a bore). Producing a letter to send to a Minister of Parliament raising issues of concern about the well publicised National Standards, meant that I wasn’t really caught in two minds because a first time letter to Anne Tolley was not the place for jocularity. Nevertheless the prospect was exciting because this letter could potentially begin my career in the field of political-educational dialogue. An interesting image. Me shooting the breeze, toe to toe with the head honchos. So with phone in hand I called the cavalry, principals from all around Canterbury, to gather ‘info’ on their National Standards views.
It is amazing how freely the cavalry talked. Almost to the point where I couldn’t stem the flow. Visions of a burst pipeline in the Mexican Gulf sprung to mind. It only took a week to gather enough data which I quickly summarised into a well constructed ‘business head’ email. With careful consideration and nods of approval from colleagues I took the final step for this week’s work and pushed the ‘send’ button. This was done with a slight pang of nervous tension. Actually that is not really true, as it was more like fear than nervous tension. The kind you have when you know you may upset someone only then to be made worse by the realisation that you have never met them.
Too late the button was pushed and so I waited. Two hours later I get an email back. Wow heart palpitations. Trevor Mallard (spokesman for education for the opposition) replied, thanking me for the email and the clear summary (heaven knows how he got a copy of the letter so quickly. Bcc). Trev and I are now like that. You know Bro Town tight cause he has emailed me twice. As for Anne she is pretty busy with the next roll out of National Standards. She wants to add 50 more experts to the mix. Hang on didn’t I just find out from principals that the clarity of the standards and their implementation leaves most a little flat? I am reminded of the expression that a number of principals used when talking to me “they are sailing the ship as it is being built”.
Summary: Mr Mallard is waiting for an update on a reply from Mrs Tolley. Brian is waiting on a reply from Anne. Mrs Tolley still doesn’t know I exist.
I know this is a bit weird leaving a comment on your own blog but I just want to test how this works.