I am not local, but was very moved by your Learning Without Frontiers talk on Escaping the Matrix. My daughter received the label Gifted/Learning Disabled when she was six and I have struggled continually with the hierarchies the IQ tests set up, how actually meaningful the categories are, and in fact whether creating these labels is not on balance harmful. If say I’m a gifted 10 year old, and I have the abilities of someone who is 18, what does it mean when I’m 50? Here in Canada, gifted children are expected to put on quite a performance for the edification of the adults, but I’m convinced that this focus will badly harm the long term prospects of these children for genuine well-being and life satisfaction. What you said developing a sense of identity is to me an absolute core need of children, far more important than impressing adults with feats of academic derring-do.

I could go on, but just want to say that I very much look forward to hearing more about your work in the future. More power to you.

I think that the ‘media’ should be ‘persuaded’ to look at this area from the opposite direction private services should have to justify themselves – why should the public be on the defensive – programme makers always frame it that state schools are a problem, how about starting to turn it around !

kiind regards
John Davies [ retired from Warrington Collegiate]
ps found Fiona very helpful with website please thank her.

email sent to Guardian I think ;priviate schools are allowed to be secretive – they need to be subject to the same scrutiny by the media.

27 February 2011 12:46PM
As a teacher in FE/HE for 23 years I feel a bit of an outsider here but it is interesting that the ‘narrative’ [ impressed ?] in all of these debates is a questioning and interrogating as to whether the state school system is any good.It always seem to have to constantly defend itself; the same with the NHS. This is the case in print, internet, TV radio for example Moral Maze [ Michael Portillo on a programme about morality ?? ] I digress.

For the sake of that golden mean of balance there really should be a series of debates over a substantial period focusing upon whether the private school sector is making an effective contribution to our society. There needs to be full public scrutiny, interrogation, hard hitting interviews relating to the claims of the private sector and a more questioning approach of the claims of say Oxford and Cambridge on the basis of are they up to the job – are they effective, efficient, of the quality they claim to be. They need to open up their books for scrutiny and transparency. The same with private medicine such as BUPA , again a series of regular scrutiny and questioning of their performances and contributions. In FE we had no problem in being open to questiioning by employers and other professional groups, we would be perfectly happy to defend our reputation.
So come on Greyfriars, St Trinians, Hogwarts, Eton, Harrow, Marlborough,Charterhouse, BUPA lets have a good long regular look at just what you are up to -any takers ?