In the 14 June edition of TES, Anne Thrope was “Getting steamed up”. She said that “state school kids are traipsing off to their Auntie Flo’s hair salon to sweep up split ends for a week”. Meanwhile, luckier students are offered internships at Coutts Bank.

Surely all work experience is valid, not just at Coutts Bank? The importance of good hygiene practice and how to keep a salon tidy are relevant learning goals. The students can also observe other jobs that they may find interesting.

If Anne Thrope is still not convinced she should consider the life of the late Howard Fugler, a boy whom I was at school with. He left at age 15 to sweep and shampoo for Vidal Sassoon eight hours a day. By the 1970s, he was styling for the likes of Elizabeth Taylor. Not bad work experience, was it?

Stewart Morris, Edgware, Middlesex.