Schools are bricks and mortar they are not to blame for teaching standards.

I would have thought it would be more beneficial to increase schools or classrooms. That way children who fall behind would benefit from one-to-one teaching.

In Scotland I believe many of the school classes are for around 20 children. How many children are in our classes? Surely this is a lesson to be learned.

Not all children are academics but all children have different qualities which should be pursued regardless of any government who seems to be playing the popularity card rather than thinking how it is playing havoc with these young lives.

The children at Brierton School have had their schooling disrupted and now they are thinking about closing primary schools on the grounds of excess places.

Rossmere School was the first primary school in Owton Manor, my neighbours and I attended there when it was first opened 52 years ago.

Miss Pinkney was head of the infants and Mr Wood, the historian, was head of the juniors. We also had Mr Lilley, Miss Pounder, Mr Shepherd and Miss Thompson who came from the old Ward Jackson School.

Most children then had arrived on the Manor from tiny street houses (two up two down) and dark narrow high windowed schools like Lister Street, Lynnfield and Ward Jackson schools.

So these modern buildings seemed like palaces – no outside toilets and a field to play on instead of a concrete yard.

But I have drifted away from the main subject, which is the best education for all children,

If there is so much money lying around make the classes smaller and stop taking school land away from the children or the concrete jungle will return.

O Ward,
Spalding Road,
Hartlepool.