In her interesting article on New York schools (“Pioneers of progress in the Big Apple”, 21 June) Chloe Combi states: “What fearful places many British schools have become.” She cites performance league tables and Ofsted inspections as the reasons. I can only comment that if British schools have become “fearful places” there must be other “fear factors” in schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales as they are not affected by either of these processes. An Anglocentric view of British education is further illustrated by her describing Every Child Matters as “an initiative that requires schools in England and Wales to work with other children’s services ...” I quote from Every Child Matters: change for children: “This document applies to England only. A number of sections of the Children Act 2004 apply to Wales but the information in this document about the implementation of the Act is only about those sections which apply to England.”

Alun Morgan, Llandaff, Cardiff.