SIR – Ms Lowman’s response to my letter chooses to ignore the actual points being made regarding Neil Morris, headteacher of Christopher Whitehead Language College:-

1) I quite clearly did not state that Mr Morris wasn’t entitled to an opinion, only that he should use the appropriate channels to voice his discontent. Playing to the gallery when you don’t get quite the response you want says more about the complainant than it does about the complaint. If one of his teachers or pupils disagrees with the school policy that Mr Morris seeks to impose, can they then behave in a similar irresponsible manner and should they be praised for it? Or is that simply a recipe for anarchy and inertia where we all do just what we want, regardless of the consequences?

2) It is ridiculous to paint Mr Morris as a crusading whistleblower – he is not reporting anything that is hidden or illegal. The policies the Government of the day seeks to apply are well known. They may not be to everyone’s taste but that is irrelevant. Until the Government changes then that is clearly the route we are taking.

It is easier to see Mr Morris as a disgruntled malcontent.

What is surprising is that the governors of the school have not chosen to admonish him – the next Ofsted report will undoubtedly make for interesting reading.

3) Regarding the purpose of education, I totally concur that we all want to see emotionally happy, well- balanced children leaving our schools. Nothing contributes more to an individual’s sense of self- esteem than doing a worthwhile job, whatever it is, and the primary function of education is to equip all of our children to take their place in the world.

4) If, as Ms Lowman seems to believe, we live in such a hugely successful country with a wonderful education system, then why is it that nearly all of our major industries are owned by foreign investors?

We are even going cap in hand to the Chinese because we can’t find enough money to invest in our strategically important nuclear industry.

Even the Governor of the Bank of England is Canadian – we are totally unable to find, from a population of 60 million-plus, managers and leaders who are well enough educated to take us forward with many of our genuinely brightest and best who do manage to succeed in spite of our one-size-fits-all system voting with their feet and emigrating.

Even the best players in all of our major sports have foreign imports as their stars with the British players in a mainly supporting role.

The one thing we are truly world class in is moaning and behaving with a misplaced sense of entitlement rather than exercising a sense of civic responsibility and duty.

Instead of constantly puffing ourselves up with misplaced self-confidence, we could do worse than look to the example of Germany who, despite having been crippled economically in two world wars, has become the most important and successful country in Europe, still owning its own car and manufacturing industry and with major trade links throughout the world.

Tim Palmer

Worcester