YP Letters: Time to bring the joy back to learning

From: Ann Busfield, Skipton.
Let kids be kids...parents protests over school tests.Let kids be kids...parents protests over school tests.
Let kids be kids...parents protests over school tests.

EVERY Monday and Thursday, I make time to read Jayne Dowle’s pieces. She sounds like a very sensible, grounded young woman. More often than not, she expresses in clear and accurate prose many of my own feelings about the world in which we live.

Her writing about her children’s school experiences brought me to tears (The Yorkshire Post, May 5). I was a primary school teacher for 30 years. I had to take early retirement soon after the national curriculum was first introduced.

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The two were almost certainly connected. It was heart-breaking to read of Jayne’s children’s school experiences, particularly with relation to the current obsession with testing. I cheered out loud when I saw the news about the parents who withdrew their children from school in protest against SATs.

All heart has been taken out of teaching. Everything seems to be geared towards achieving targets.

We must find a way to bring back joy and happiness in learning.

Praise for RAF vigilance

From: Timothy Kirkhope, Conservative MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber.

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I AM somewhat amazed that a number of our region’s MPs are still raising the issue of the sonic “ booms” which we experienced across Yorkshire a few nights ago in a negative context.

They seem more concerned at the disturbance which we all experienced for a moment or two than the potential security threats which confront us day in, day out in this very unstable 21st century.

I am greatly encouraged to have a clear demonstration from our excellent RAF pilots that they are vigilant and ready to defend us instantly whenever a threat to our security is suspected.

Football and the fan base

From: Brian H Sheridan, Redmires Road, Sheffield.

I AGREE wholeheartedly with your view that the feelgood factor in Leicester, one of the country’s most multi-cultural cities, shows that sport can be a force for good (The Yorkshire Post, May 4).

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However, I must challenge your claim that “this region is home to several clubs who... have a far bigger fan base” than Leicester City.

The Foxes’ home attendances for 2015 averaged over 31, 000 and only fell below 23,000 once in the five previous seasons spent in the Championship. No club in Yorkshire can match this. Moreover, the new Premier League champions have only once been relegated to the third tier of the Football League: which is more than can be said for some so-called big clubs in our region.

Anonymity worries in poll

From: Pam Bradnum, Back Street, Bainton.

WE have just been to vote for a police and crime commissioner and l am a little concerned.

I thought we had a free, fair and anonymous voting system and l have always been very proud of the UK for that. A few days ago, we got a letter using our full names as they appear on the voting card, thanking us for voting last time and asking us to vote again this time.

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Why are all our voting cards barcoded if it is anonymous and how did the gentleman concerned know we voted last year and how does he know we voted for him?

A community to treasure

From: Stephen Wood, Town Street, Chapel Allerton, Leeds.

AS a cradle Catholic, I have always treasured my relationships with the Jewish community, nurtured by my late mother, born 1902.

I am grateful for and admire the huge contribution made by so many Jews to this country and especialy to the city of my birth – Leeds.

Shalom!

Late call on farming plea

From: Pamela Frankland, Hull Road, Dunnington, York.

THE NFU and CLA are asking Environment Secretary Liz Truss what is going to happen to farming if we exit the EU. Why have they left it to the 11th hour to do so? I wrote last month in The Yorkshire Post with regards to the parlous state of British farming and several other letters have since been published.

The power of Yorkshire

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From: Nigel Sollitt, Chair, Yorkshire Devolution Movement, York Hub, Popeshead Court Offices, Peter Lane, York,

THE great success of the Tour de Yorkshire for a second year, along with the determination to win the bid for the Tour de France that inspired that event two years ago, shows what we are able to achieve when the whole of Yorkshire pulls together.

Surely it is time we had the powers to apply that determination to matters that affect everyday life in Yorkshire, powers to realise our full potential in the same way Scotland and Wales have. With a parliament of our own, just imagine what we could achieve in areas like health, education, transport and the environment.