LETTER : Selection of skills in schools

Sir: I suggest that Sheila Lawlor reads Tony Mooney's companion piece to her own (29 March).

Why do the proponents of selection and the re-introduction of the grammar school insist on perpetuating the myth that all comprehensives have mixed- ability classes? It is clear from Tony Mooney's essay, and from my experience of my two sons' comprehensive school, that "setting" and "banding" are quite common. This seems to be a much fairer way of coping with children of varying abilities than separating them by school. It is, as Mr Mooney says, much easier for children to be moved from set to set than it is for them to change schools.

Mrs Marie Paterson

Nuneaton, Warwickshire