Chris Husbands raises a faint sneer at my suggestions for how the school curriculum can contribute to a sense of local community (TES, May 3). These are irrelevant, he implies, to communities faced with “economic decay, social dislocation and racist violence”.
This undervalues what many schools are actually doing. For instance, at last week’s TES and British Film Institute Curriculum 2000 Conference, delegates were shown a very impressive film illustrating how teenage boys in Moss Side had managed to overcome the negative image of their community that unduly gloomy adults had been trying to impose on them.
Like Mr Husbands, too many people have low expectations of what can be achieved, and it is good to see these depressing preconceptions exploded.
NICK TATE
Chief executive
School Curriculum and Assessment Authority
Newcombe House
45 Notting Hill Gate
London W11
