Like all revolutions, Maggie Thatcher’s effect on our education system - which is still being felt today - has been highly contentious, with some positives and many bloody excesses.

Her real legacy is to the modern generation of schoolchildren.

First, there can be no better role model for ambitious young girls than a woman who actually became Britain’s first female prime minister. Although Lady Thatcher was no feminist, she unceremoniously shattered the “glass ceiling” and led by example. Actions, not words. Second, her scientifically trained clarity of thought and a passion for ideas, debate and Socratic argument, hold lessons for any pupil aspiring to intellectual excellence.

Stan Labovitch, secondary teacher, Windsor.