In a TESS interview (28 September), Jackie Brock was described as the former senior Scottish civil servant who had been in charge of developing Curriculum for Excellence.

She expressed disappointment that East Renfrewshire Council had opted to defer its implementation. The subtext to its decision is surely that it felt it would undermine its reputation for having high-achieving local authority schools.

Meanwhile, in the private sector, the principal of Erskine Stewarts Melville College in Edinburgh is quoted in a Scotsman independent schools supplement as saying: “We don’t do the Curriculum for Excellence.”

This was intended, no doubt, as a simple statement of information but it could be construed as a powerful selling point by prospective parents.

One wonders if Jackie Brock’s successor will be any more effective in communicating the benefits of CfE.

John Samson, Blinkbonny Gardens, Edinburgh.