Letters: A bad education

I must write in support of Zoe in her Voices letter of resignation.

My wife is a teacher. I am a Chair of Governors at a secondary school.

The havoc that is being visited on our education system is a real and present damage. We are beyond danger. We are being cut for funding despite claims by central Government that education is “ring fenced”.

They are simply lying . Our Sixth Form funding has been cut by a massive percentage. The upshot after two years holding out hoping that common sense would prevail, is that we now have to make redundancies even though recognised by Ofsted as Good across the board.

I am sick to the stomach of hearing that we are not being affected by cuts as I know it's simply not true. I am having to deal with the real damage to my daughter's life chances and those of her peers. I am governing the redundancies of staff who do not deserve this when part and parcel of a Good school.

Put simply. If we can’t make this work for our children , parents and community. Then who can?

No excuses and no justification as our Children and their Teaching staff are sacrificed on the altar of political dogma. And that is all of you Parties. You have made politics of our education system instead of working collectively to improve their lot. Shame on you and your houses.

John Sinclair

Pocklington

In a few weeks the population of this country will be asked to vote on whether or not to remain a part of the European Community.

In out, in out, the decision on which way to vote becomes increasingly difficult with each day as the arguments put forward by both sides become more extreme and bewildering.

In out, in out, shake it all about, is probably the best solution for the ordinary citizen on how to make his, or her, choice.

From threats that an exit from the community will lead to World War Three to a vast drop in the standard of living and unemployment, make it an impossible decision for most people to choose where to place their cross on the ballot paper.

The big names of either side blast each other like Dreadnoughts in a mighty sea battle in world war one.

As people died in order for us to be free and have a democratic vote it is imperative that we do make our mark on the ballot paper.

How to vote and how to come to the right decision is probably one of the hardest decisions we may ever have to make in our lifetime as the result will have repercussions for years to come.

Good luck and may the Force be with you!

Colin Bower

Nottingham

So, younger voters are in favour of Remain will be most affected by the result, but are least likely to vote. The solution is simple. Votes should have a points system based on life expectancy. Me? Oh I'm in favour of Remain but probably score nul points.

Robert Davies

London

The definition of Constable includes the words 'a citizen locally appointed' thus implying the nature of their task would be to maintain law and order in their neighbourhood, town or city. During the miner's strike in which the Orgreave incident occurred officers from all over the country were deployed in Police Support Units across the coalfields. Whilst I was not involved at Orgreave I was deployed, as a Uniformed Sergeant, on several occasions elsewhere. The period, for me, was a defining moment in the relations between Police and public. Undoubtedly we were seen as an occupying army. At one pit we faced each other out across the road awaiting the arrival of flying pickets who would confront those willing to work. This was foreign to me so I crossed over and engaged in conversation with one of the local pickets. We had so much in common, the same love of family, likes and dislikes, the same love of rugby. At an unseen signal he told me the mobile pickets were imminent and it would be best if I went back to my own side. An unpleasant violent confrontation ensued. No arrests were made and as quickly as it had erupted an uneasy peace was restored. I leave it to others to hold forth on the politics of the dispute but I find it a bit rich for one of Thatchers prodigy to challenge the police officers who were carrying out their bidding. Perhaps the politicians who engineered this class confrontation ought to be similarly vilified.

Graham Barlow

Wirral

I sometimes despair at what passes for fact among those who aspire to be our opinion formers. Andrew Griffin’s piece on Everest is riddled with errors and false assumptions. It has been known for decades, if not longer, that the summit of Chimborazo is further from the centre of the Earth than is that of Everest but that is the least of his mistakes. Everest (8848m) is not 1000s of metres higher than any of its closest rivals. Just 237m (less than 1000 feet) higher than K2 and while I don’t expect most people to know the precise details without a quick Google how on earth can the widely reported 14 peaks over 8000m have escaped Griffin’s notice? And since Chimborazo is only a relatively modest 6263m above sea level with a correspondingly higher atmospheric pressure how can that summit possibly be closest to space on any rational measure?

The idea that Registered Nurses take on some of the roles of Junior Doctors sets a dangerous precedent. Nurses are not Doctors and, though many can take, easily and efficiently, responsibility for “minor” problems, it then sets the next precedent that “minor” Nursing duties can then be done by HCAs, who are definitely not trained to do this. We have seen the terrible consequences of this already when even basic Nursing care is not being delivered by people who are only supposed to work under the supervision of an RN and not independently. Nurses are already impeded by the increasing paperwork of recent decades, since the so - called “Nursing Process”, for example, imported from America, where Nursing is completely different in many ways to what it is here.

T Maunder

Kirkstall

Something I sorely miss with the online paper is the chance to do the sudoku with a pencil. How can I put more than one number into a square temporarily while I whittle down the options to find the right answer?

Helen Watson

Reading