YP Letters: Teachers need to learn to respect Education Secretary

ONCE again the teaching unions have shown that they serve neither the needs of their members nor those of their pupils and their parents.

Instead of inviting Jeremy Corbyn to address them, the NUT could have asked Theresa May for guidance and protection regarding physical and online assaults by pupils and parents.

Why, too, did the NASUWT heckle rather than co-operate with the Education Secretary who wants primary school children to enter secondary education with basic skills?

There should be only one national union for the teaching profession which should support and protect them in all disputes, guarantee a decent salary and career prospects, promoting also the highest standards.

Until that happy day, we shall have a to endure the annual carnival of confrontation which disrupts real education and lowers respect for professional teachers.

Holiday woes strike chord

From: D Wood, Howden.

JAYNE Dowle seems to be getting rather a lot of criticism for her very good article on David Cameron (The Yorkshire Post, March 28).

Obviously her critics have not counted how many holidays Mr Cameron has had in the last 12 months, not to mention all the fun visits to all his many pals in the EU during the first two months of this year.

The fact that his so called re-negotiations of our membership terms were discussed over dinner shows how serious these talks were considered to be.

One critic stated “he has one of the hardest, most stressful and thankless jobs” but misses the point that no one made him do it, and that he erroneously thinks he is good at it.

From: Beryl Haigh, Mirfield.

HOW dare Jayne Dowle criticise David Cameron for taking a short break in Lanzarote – perhaps he was looking for some warm sunshine and not the rain and cold wind of the East Coast of Yorkshire in March.

Does the electorate have to choose where he goes on holiday? Doesn’t the country owe him a few days away with his wife and family?

From: Paul Morgan, Canberra View, Barton-Upon-Humber.

IT was interesting to read of Jayne Dowle’s horror journey to Surrey and back over the Easter break (The Yorkshire Post, March 31). I’m sure most of us have experienced similar journeys with miles of coned-off motorway lanes with no works apparently taking place, and variable speed limits in operation for no obvious reason. However she fails to recognise that the two main reasons for congestion on motorways and dual carriageways are not the result of Highways Agency actions, but caused by motorists themselves.

The main cause is lane changing with little or no notice, which makes other motorists brake. This causes a ripple effect which often results in stationary traffic several miles back.

The second cause, particularly on dual carriageways, is heavy goods vehicles moving into the outside lane to creep past another one. All motorists have probably contributed to these sort of events at some time.

Cushioning seat blow

From: Nigel Pulling, Chief Executive, Yorkshire Agricultural Society and Nick Ferguson, Chairman, Dry Stone Walling Association; Otley & Yorkshire Dales Branch.

I WRITE in response to the letter from Keith Sturdy headed “Removal of memorial seat shows lack of respect” (The Yorkshire Post, March 25).

A memorial seat was indeed built by members of the Otley and Yorkshire Dales branch of the Dry Stone Walling Association on the Great Yorkshire Showground in memory of Fred Baker.

We had hoped to leave the seat in situ during the building our new exhibition hall which is nearby. However there were concerns that the seat could be inadvertently damaged due to this work. With the agreement of Mr Baker’s widow and in consultation with representatives of the Dry Stone Walling Association, the decision was taken to carefully dismantle the seat to an area of safety with a view to re-building it once the building work was over.

The Association was happy for our staff to do this; each stone has been meticulously numbered and is being stored in readiness for its reinstatement in due course.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the seat can be enjoyed by visitors to the showground for many years to come.

Really bad? Absolutely

From: CJ Moore, Cottingham.

I CONFESS. I have a habit so bad that it is taking over a part of my life – that part spent in listening to speakers on both television and radio. Finally, during the first minutes of Springwatch on BBC TV it took over. I put pen to paper and in one hour recorded the usage of the following three words:

Absolutely – 19 times;

Fantastic – 13 times;

Really – 18 times.

Incredible? Oh, that word may well have reached double figures.

What can be done about this problem?