Headmaster Richard Russell thinks private schools can be engines of social mobility rather than privilege, while Helen Brown highlights the benefits for children with special educational needsRobert Verkaik’s implicit assumption that all private schools are like Eton should not go unchallenged (When will Corbyn take on the might of private schools, Journal, 14 June). In common with many other independent headteachers, I would welcome a debate about the role of independent schools within our education system. In particular, I would like us to consider how such schools could become engines of social mobility, rather than privilege, to ensure that “the might of private schools” can be harnessed for the benefit of all. Richard RussellHeadmaster, Colfe’s School, London• Not all of the pupils who attend private schools come from wealthy families. Many hard-working parents pay for their children with special educational needs to go to small independent day schools for the kind of help they do not get in state schools.

Source: The Guardian June 17, 2019 16:41 UTC