Recently, there has been much in the media concerning problems in education, both locally and nationally.

I am particularly interested in reading about the heinous crime committed by parents who take their children on holiday during term time.

This, apparently, can cause unsolvable problems for a child, who can never make up for time lost.

Could become resentful when unable to get a job. Could be marred for life. The practice could bring down the whole education establishment.

During my final year at a humble primary school in Croydon, I shared a classroom with 51 fellow pupils and just one dedicated teacher.

Often, three, or even four of us squeezed into desks made for two in order to share text books, and woe betide anyone who wasted paper, a precious commodity in short supply. This included lavatory paper, which had to be requested from the teacher, three sheets of Bronco per child, but only if ‘ really needed.’

In spite of obvious difficulties and lack of resources, that year 23 of us ‘passed’ the stringent written and oral tests of the Eleven-Plus to take our places in local grammar schools.

My first teaching appointment was at a secondary modern girls’ school in Bermondsey.

Space was limited, so the playground was on the roof of the school (very draughty during the obligatory play ground duties in winter) and teachers took turns in holding classes in a decrepit, unheated sports hut, situated about a mile from the school.

Class numbers dropped dramatically in September when many pupils accompanied their parents to the hop fields of Kent.

This was a time honoured custom, and I imagine any talk of fines would be given short shrift by the indomitable Londoners.

As teachers, we were required to cope with the month’s absence by a third of our classes.

Today, the bright, warm classrooms of schools seem to be overflowing with books, computers and every conceivable teaching aid, including numerous support workers. I am in regular contact with some of those who shared the life of those chalky classrooms, and we wonder...

Susan Gow

Overcombe, Weymouth