LETTERS Teaching is not for wimps Should Boris stay – or go? Sacked for speaking up Better off in Britain Splash the cash, Ma’am

Doing it by the book

WhAT a terrifying read (essay) from Madeleine Kearns, an enthusiastic and idealistic young teacher forced out of the profession by the disaster that is the Curriculum for excellence.

When you chase trendy ideas they lead you to trying to teach Shakespeare by the medium of emojis.

Not everything about the old ways of teaching was good, but previous generations got a grounding in the basics that today’s generation lack.

JUne taYLOR, Glasgow. hOW rude to call the young man who has dropped out of teaching a snowflake (Mail).

People who have never done this arduous job have no idea how difficult it is. I have been teaching for 25 years and have watched the decline of my profession. Too much paperwork detracts from the real purpose of delivering interesting lessons to the children.

It is a job that never ends. We work from early morning through lunch then until late at night marking homework and preparing lessons, but it is never enough.

The young man who has left teaching has saved himself a lot of unnecessary stress. I hope he moves on to better things.

sHeLaGH sPenCe, Birmingham. CLAIMING that ‘our parents, grandparents and teachers are responsible for mollycoddling us’ (Letters) is yet another example of a young person refusing to accept responsibility for their own actions.

Someone else is always to blame, even if it’s their nearest and dearest who have loved and nurtured them all their lives. It’s time to grow up.

s. HOOD, Cambridge. TheRe seems to be a movement that says only Remainers want to see Boris Johnson kicked out as Foreign Secretary.

This is not about the eU. It is about having a senior Government minister who can concentrate on the job in hand for five minutes and not make a complete fool of himself.

Stephen Daisley (Mail) called Boris a dilettante – he is being over-generous.

eLaine HiLL, aberdeen. UNLIKe many who say they shrugged off sexual harassment in the Sixties and Seventies (Letters), my experience is entirely different. I worked as a secretary for a large trade union and one of the district organisers would walk into my office when I was alone and put his hands inside his trousers.

I told another employee about how uncomfortable this made me feel and was subsequently summoned to a senior official’s office to be dismissed for ‘disrespect of a superior’.

They said it would not be mentioned in my reference and put the reason for my dismissal down to an office re-organisation. maRGaRet DiCKens, Bridgnorth, shropshire. IN The more light-hearted sisterhood of former years, women in offices warned each other by the nicknames they gave their male colleagues: Mr Pervy, Mr Octopus, Mr Creepy, Mr Lovely and Mr Dropdead Gorgeous.

We were able to repel lechers, while feigning respect, and thus everyone kept their jobs. PatRiCia m. PieRCe, sale, Cheshire. I hOPe someone starts the hashtag #not me for all those who have not been sexually harassed at work. sHiRLeY HaRRies, angmering, W. sussex. I See the Arctic Circle Forum is coming to edinburgh to talk about ‘Scotland and the New North’.

Nationalists are, of course, delighted because they would rather talk about anything other than the fact we are a key part of the UK.

Nicola Sturgeon claimed Scotland ‘is the Arctic’s nearest neighbour’, but so what? how many of us work for firms based in, say, Iceland or Greenland compared to how many are employed by UK firms?

Many Nationalists point to places such as Norway and the Faroes as examples of what an independent Scotland could be like.

The Norwegians salted away billions from oil in their sovereign wealth fund. The UK spent the oil money on generous benefits and the NhS over decades – who’s to say that was a bad idea?

And the Faroes rely heavily on support from Denmark but are still struggling with depopulation.

This ‘look North’ stuff is a distraction. We are part of the UK and better off that way.

W. maRtin, Dunfermline, Fife. I AM glad Prince Philip is enjoying his retirement, living quietly in a cottage at Sandringham where he

enjoys reading and painting (Mail).

It endorses my view that the Queen should be able to spend the rest of her life enjoying the freedom to do what she wants, with her devoted husband of 70 years.

The indomitable Philip has been let off the leash, and after all her years of service to this country, the Queen deserves the chance to join him.

MARGARET MELLOR, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Present tense

I WAS going to buy some Christmas presents, but then I thought that if the recipients really wanted the gift, they would have got it for themselves. So I would be wasting my money by buying something they do not want and placing them under an obligation to get me something in return.

And if I buy someone a gift they want, but can’t afford, I am placing them under an obligation to reciprocate with a gift of equivalent value that they can’t afford. Such a logical Christmas would be very far from merry! PETER COUCH, Plymouth, Devon.

Brothers in arms

I WAS surprised to be stopped last week by a man who said it was strange to see a Sikh wearing a poppy.

I politely explained that thousands of Sikh soldiers died in both world wars.

Marching into battle, these lions from a warrior race, with their distinct identity of turbans and beards, fought with their brothers in arms.

Today, the identity of the traditional Sikh male is under threat. Following 9/11, Sikhs have been mistakenly targeted in the United States, while here, hate crimes are on the rise.

I was held at JFK airport for seven hours — it appears U.S. immigration staff need an RE lesson — and my turban was removed at Charles de Gaulle airport because the French have an issue with religious headwear.

I am fourth-generation British, proud there are Sikhs guarding Buckingham Place and that Winston Churchill honoured Sikh soldiers for their bravery and courage.

JAX SINGH TAAK, Peterborough, Cambs.

Forgotten heroes

I SUPPORT the call for a campaign medal for Bomber Command during the Second World War (Letters).

I served in the RAF for nearly 20 years as a pilot and when I think of the thousands of young men dying while serving King and Country, never to enjoy life as I have, I feel emotional. A medal recognising their sacrifice is overdue.

I recall visiting a British military cemetery in Germany and seeing grave after grave of bomber crews buried together.