Like Estelle Morris, I believe in the comprehensive ideal. But:
* If some schools are paid extra to fly, then some others will surely sink. For every school that selects 10 per cent of its pupils by aptitude, a school somewhere else will have fewer pupils with aptitude.
* If comprehensive schools are not the same, does this explain the national curriculum, target-setting, the key stage 3 strategy and secondary school performance tables?
Secondary schools do not find that annual league tables cherish either their differences, or their diversity.
C Alston
40A Holden House Deptford
London SE8
