Your report of the death of Lady Plowden (TES, 6 October) is a timely reminder of how far current politicians have moved from the central concerns about education. The Plowden Report - with its concerns for reduction in class sizes, varied teaching approaches, increased provision of support staff, awareness of both the least and the mst able, and intention to debate school calendar reform - was a masterpiece. Maybe what our education system needs now is Neo-Plowdenism. We need to revisit the fundamental tenet that it is the child who is at the centre of education.

Professor Trevor Kerry

University of Lincolnshire amp; Humberside

Lincoln