SMALL WONDER: WHILE statistics can be unreliable, it is interesting to note that, in the league tables for Darlington's junior schools, the first five ranked schools are, with one exception, the four smallest schools in the borough.

Fortunately, the five largest schools do not fill the five lowest rankings, apart from one instance.

If we are to believe these results, it is clear that smaller establishments have greater educational success than large ones, for obvious reasons.

Were this principle to apply in secondary education, then keeping Hurworth Maths and Computer School in its current form would be better than incorporating it within a mega establishment. - Brian Jefferson, Darlington.

ACADEMIES

IAN Holme again puts forth his own interpretation of the information about academies (HAS, Dec 3), and wants to prevent any information being made available to the public which contradicts his view.

We want to hear from all sides so we can make up our own minds.

I presume he is criticising the single, folded foolscap sheet which has been given out by the council officers at the information sessions. Hardly a glossy brochure.

I found the leaflet very useful when discussing the proposal with friends and family, and it is encouraging debate among a wider group of people not as informed as Mr Holme.

As for the books, hasn't he heard of computers, the Internet and interactive whiteboards, all of which are available in our schools and are the main teaching tools of the 21st Century? - J Black, Darlington.

EXTEND HURWORTH

COUNCILLOR Chris McEwan, cabinet member for children's services (HAS, Nov 18) justifies the case for a city academy to "have the right number of places for the south east of town".

The concentration on Eastbourne has been a constant theme in the policies coming out of the town hall.

In her March report, Margaret Asquith, director of children's services, pointed out: "If it were not that other local authorities were performing worse than Darlington, the Department for Education and Skills would be considering intervention into Darlington."

What we need is a policy for the whole town. As she rightly says, it is essential that Hurworth is retained within the control of the local authority as a Beacon school.

Coun McEwan must be extremely gullible if he believes a city academy will 'play a key role in a borough-wide school improvement partnership'. The record of existing academies demonstrates the opposite.

Their main concern is to improve their own performance by selection and with a high number of exclusions.

The governors, mainly appointed by the sponsors, will be concentrating on the problems of combining two entirely different schools with a new staff.

Since neither a city academy or foundation status will achieve this aim, it would be better to retain Hurworth. Even better would be to extend the school to 900 pupils so that more children could benefit from its success - Brian Fiske, Press Officer, Darlington Liberal Democrats.

PEDESTRIAN HEART

BEFORE this project started, Darlington had adequate areas of pedestrianisation within Skinnergate, Post House Wynd, Queens Arcade, Cornmill Centre, Northgate and High Row etc, and a good central transport system.

Over the past few weeks, we have now been able to see what further pedestrianisation will mean to residents of the town.

The one-way bus routes have been concentrated through the main pedestrian areas without any thought of pedestrian road crossings at Priestgate and Tubwell Row, and bus stands are being removed from High Row.

We now read (Echo, Dec 1) that the taxi drivers are now unable to assist the elderly and disabled collect their pensions due to restrictions caused by the new pedestrianisation project.

This way of life is a massive retrograde step to the previous and we don't need the ensuing aggravation.

Yet we see the council's chief defending its decisions by saying they have had wide-ranging consultations with all parties, we will have to get used to it and it is needed for the future vibrancy of the town.

What an illogical load of tosh. Can anyone on earth believe this?

We can now see what has been imposed on the residents by our elected council and life won't get any easier for us.

In my opinion these facts alone qualify the council for a well deserved vote of no confidence. - L Hume, Darlington.