Letter: Cheap shots

Jennifer Shearer ( Letters 10 December ) was rightly critical of the letter from Peter Hogan, Head of Loretto School, when she pointed out that the pupil-teacher ratio in Loretto allowed more flexibility than in state schools.

Mr Hogan was also being particularly disingenuous on another matter, when he implied that his "whole school community" faced the same problems as other schools, but his staff were somehow just more conscientious.

He conveniently failed to mention that Loretto is, of course, a large boarding school with probably between 200 and 300 pupils living in. Many teaching and non-teaching staff also live on the campus and, consequently, transport related problems are less of an issue when the weather is bad.

Given the enormous difficulties encountered by school staff and pupils across Scotland over the last two weeks, Mr Hogan should be empathising, not seeking to score cheap points.

STAN ELDER

Avon Road, Edinburgh