Thank you for your editorial “Recognise the mountain and teachers will climb it” (6 April). I teach in a deprived area and we are working with a challenging cohort of young people. We never make excuses, we work hard and we give them the best we can.

I agree entirely with this article. In my view, as he drives his politically motivated policies, education secretary Michael Gove is totally out of touch with what actually happens in schools.

I am a strong opponent of academies and free schools. They will do nothing to raise attainment, but will simply further drive inequality and social division. I specialise in behaviour work and I am concerned by the exclusion rates from academies, which are four times higher than local authority-maintained schools.

Secondary teacher, London

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