As an executive committee member of the London Association for the Teaching of English, I thought that John Hickman (Letters, TES, May 18) might display a better understanding of the language he professes to teach.
I made no claim whatsoever “to leading the boycott of key stage 3 English tests in 1993”.
The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers deliberately decided not to do tht but to do something quite different. Instead it balloted to boycott the excessive workload associated with the whole national curriculum, testing and assessment system. By focusing on workload, rather than the principle of testing, the boycott was declared a lawful trade dispute in the courts.
Nigel de Gruchy
General secretary
NASUWT, 5 King Street
Covent Garden
London WC2
