Foreword to Fish Can’t Climb Trees

‘I first met Helyn Connerr in 1983 and was lucky enough to play a small part in the development of her groundbreaking system, the Mercury Model. I used the early Learning Style Profiles to aid me in working with a very disturbed group of young people in a Special Education Unit attached to a mixed comprehensive school. It was a remarkable experience both in terms of how easy the Profiles were to use, and how immediate the impact of using them was demonstrated by each student’s success in the classroom.

The clear and precise Learning Strategies that Helyn identified enabled me to guide and advise my teaching colleagues. They in turn found that the basic truths of the Mercury Model were unquestionable.

The result? A reduction in disruptive incidents in the classroom. A harmonious learning environment with each individual engaged in the material being taught. The steady integration of so-called problem children out of the shadows and into mainstream education. The realization of gifts and talents in individuals previously misunderstood and overlooked by the system.
I can truthfully say I consider the Mercury Model to be the greatest development for education in the last 200 years.

There are many adults now living a useful and happy life who have benefited directly from my use of Helyn Connerr’s revolutionary system. How different might the world be now without those people contributing to society, believing in themselves and using their talents to help others?
The Mercury Model has proved itself beyond doubt with some of the most disengaged and demanding young people I have ever taught, giving them confidence, self-awareness and the ability to perceive where their unique talents lie and are applicable to real world tasks and situations.
Whether you are a parent, teacher, student or one of the many adults who have been to a greater or lesser extent failed by the mainstream education system, all the tools you need to change your perception of learning, communication, yourself and your family are within this book.

Find the way in which a person learns and you will tap into a wellspring of that individual’s unique gifts. Use it with your children, pupils or students and you will uncover an unquenchable hunger for learning and recognition.
Apply it to your family and where possible, heal rifts, create harmony and start rediscovering your loved ones in a way that makes space for their distinct ways of communicating, processing information and understanding the world.

Apply it to yourself and discover, sometimes for the first time, your true talents and learn to nurture and develop them.

It is never too late to use the Mercury Model to revolutionize your life and the lives of those around you. The changes it creates are truly magical. Enjoy it.’

Chris Lane, PhD, M.N.G.S., M.R.S.
Ambleside, Cumbria
April 2015

Back to previous page