SIR,—Dr. Robin Pedley finds fault with Sir Eric James's review
of his 'book which in my opinion was a perfectly fair and understanding one. Indeed I think that Sir Eric might well have taken a much sterner tone in view of .the fact that the wholesale adoption of Dr. Pedley's scheme for secondary education would mean the, destruction of the long-established gram- mar school tradition in this country—a hap- pening which I for one would view with horror in the light of the proved achievements of these schools which, as a new PEP survey has just revealed, produce more first-class graduates from among their pupils than any other type of schools including the public schools. In view of such evidence Dr. Pedley may well expect stern criticism, and I, for one, as a teacher myself of children at all stages from first form to sixth, resent very much his apparent belief that a highly qualified specialist like myself cannot successfully teach these varying age groups. Such an idea is com- pletely erroneous in my experience in the class- room and strikes at the very root of what we are trying to achieve in the grammar school, namely the education of the child over a period of years culminating in several years in the sixth form where service to the school becomes possible and training in responsibility can be given.—Yours faithfully,
89 Church Road, W6
J. H. K. LOCKHART
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