Comments on a Correspondent

Graeme Paton, the Education Correspondent of the Telegraph wrote about parents `buying’ places at grammar schools.

The article consisted of a number of quotes from different sources. One was that up to a third of children admitted to grammars in some parts of the country have received tuition at fee-paying preparatory schools.

Many parents would like to be able to send their children to fee paying school – and not just so that their child would win a place in a grammar school. Many parents would like to be able to pay for their child to be able to go to a tutor.

In our work we also meet parents who prefer to let heir child attempt to earn a place in a grammar school on sheer ability. We have met parents who refuse to coach or prepare their children for the eleven plus.

Graeme Paton did bring out the point that 81 of the top 100 schools were grammars – according to league tables published earlier this year.

Well done to the teachers and head teachers in the grammar schools. They have good `raw material' be it from the state or private sectors. It is the teachers and the parents who educate our children to reach the heights.