At last, some intelligent discussion on this issue. I have been head at Sheringham Community Primary School and Nursery for 13 years, having previously worked in very challenging schools, and have witnessed much that is described here. It is right that funding and resources are directed towards our most deprived areas but there is much coastal and rural poverty, albeit in small pockets compared with the large urban areas, that is totally ignored by the policymakers. Our funding has been in the bottom 5 per cent of schools for decades and although my great staff achieve fantastic outcomes for our children it is significantly against the odds.

Dominic Cragoe, Headteacher, Norfolk.