I should like to draw your attention to a statement in the article headed “A suitable case for preservation?” by Dennis Hecteman (TESS, May 24). Mr Hecteman described Torphichen Street school as a venue for teaching English to immigrants and suggested that classes had just been disbanded.
The school was used for over 25 years as a base and resource centre for Lothian Region’s English as a second language service. Following disaggregation this service is continuing in the four new authorities. The City of Edinburgh service is currently based at Darroch Education Centre and supports bilingual pupils in mainstream schools.
The pupils we support come from the resident ethnic minority communities, the “short stay” student and business communities and more recently from the war-torn former Yugoslavia. Mr Hecteman’s use of the term “immigrants” is inappropriate in this context.
Susan Watson
14 Braehead Grove
Edinburgh
