I DO not know the figures but Malvern seems to have an almost non-existent population of ethnic minorities and, therefore, it is not surprising that your report on the allegations of "Institutional Racism" against Malvern Link CE Primary School has met with a range of responses including incredulity and denial.

From my experience, bullying and other negative attitudes come as a package with racism and it seems from the evidence in one of the letters that this school was, at the very least, ineffective in dealing with bullying.

But what actually happened at this school is, with respect to your correspondents, of rather less importance than the general principle raised, but not addressed, in the letters page.

The problem is that all too often institutional racism is invisible, sometimes conveniently invisible, to all except those on the receiving end. We should not forget in the case of schools (as some of your correspondents appear to have done) that this matter relates to children and the effects can be widespread as whole classes of children will learn from what they see adults do, or fail to do. That is the significance of the institutional racism finding here, I believe.

I am quite confident that Malvern has its fair share of unpleasant characters, including those who wish to justify their racist (or homophobic or misogynistic) attitudes wherever they see fit; the point is that one does not have to propagate such attitudes for discrimination to flourish, merely to be ineffective in confronting it.

If your correspondent, Mr S Williams (Your Letters, July 18) genuinely wishes to facilitate cross-cultural understanding in the way he implies, I have to say I am perplexed by the tone of the rest of his letter. Racism is not a "vile concept" as Mr Williams suggests; it is a real thing that damages and destroys, and must be confronted firmly and clearly, not minimised and dismissed.

Finally I have to say the Malvern Link case is not isolated as I can, regrettably, testify in relation to the very damaging experience of a mixed-race child within my family at another Malvern primary school.

As this matter has, now, been brought to Julien Kramer's attention it would be wrong to make further comment, as I am hopeful that he will demonstrate there is a real will to do something about this whole issue.

NAME & ADDRESS SUPPLIED.