Hard Work and the Eleven Plus

We went to watch Bee Movie today.

We booked seats on the Internet. An email confirmed the booking. At the cinema I popped my card into the ATM and the tickets were dispensed. There was no one on the gate of the Multiplex. We collected popcorn and drinks through Self Service. I said `thank you’ to the attendant for taking the money. There was no one on the door of the multiplex cinema. We found our sets with speaking to any one else.

What a change from years ago. The whole set up today was designed to move people through the doors and into seats with as few people on duty as possible.

Bee Movie has a simple story line. One special bee, Barry, leaves the hive and meets a glorious girl. She is astounded to hear him talk.

Barry is horrified to see humans taking bees and honey for granted. The overwhelming message the film is that bees have to work hard to achieve the heights. If you are a bee you can take pride in a menial job. It does not matter if you do a repetitious job because you are contributing to the common good.

So this was a morning of wide contrasts. We encountered a business attempting to minimise having to employ humans. We also met a movie saying that hard work has real dignity.

So if you need to drive a message home to your Eleven Plus child, take him or her to the cinema on a wet Sunday morning. You can show your son or daughter a big business run with remarkably few people. You can make the point that it may not be enough to expect to have the job of your dreams without hard work – and that some jobs may simply disappear in the future.

Bee Movie is so powerful that you may not need to make too many points. The script will do it for you. You could just whisper on the way home: “Take pride in what you do, be adventurous and life has some unexpected twists that you can not plan for.”