1 MARCH 1968, Page 26

Sir . : I read with interest Mr Maclure's suggestion (23 February)

of providing boarding hostels at ex- isting schools since this is just what I myself experi- ended right back in 1914! The Maynard School, Exeter, a high school for girls, with (as far as I can remember) about 170 or so day girls, took a large

private house near the school, which held about thirty boarders.

I do not know whether the venture was a private one on the part of the then headmistress, or whether it was started by the board of governors.

At any rate it appeared successful, and served a useful purpose, as a number of the boarders came from country villages where in those days it was very difficult to find suitable schools for the chil- dren of parsons, doctors, etc.

I myself came from a remote country parish in Holderness, East Yorkshire.

There was no question of state help in those days, but it was less expensive than a good private school. Were we, all unconsciously, in the van of progress in those far-off days?

St John's, Angmering Irene Lauderdale