Greta is no match for Lord Nelson!
LEE HILL, the head of Howden Junior School in East Yorkshire, has announced that the school house names in honour of Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake and Lord Nelson are to be changed to celebrate the modern activists Greta Thunberg, Marcus Rashford, Malala Yousafzai and American poet Amanda Gorman (Mail). I doubt any of these names will be remembered in centuries to come, unlike Nelson, one of the most significant figures in our naval history; Drake, who circumnavigated the globe; and the explorer Raleigh, who established some of the earliest settlements in America. What is more astounding is that the head teacher said pupils do not know about these historical figures because they are not part of the curriculum. Maybe the governors and parents should be concerned about the history lessons being taught at the school.
TONY DOLMAN, Bristol.
HOW astonishing that headmaster Lee Hill believes his pupils would more readily relate to modern young activists and celebrities than historical figures. Why was it left to a former pupil to inform him of the ‘institutional racism’ the use of such names could represent? Mr Hill betrays his academic limitations and naive foolishness in bowing to the woke culture that is sweeping the country.
MEL PINNOCK, Glemsford, Suffolk. WHILE the four people honoured by Howden Junior School are worthy in their own right, it would be interesting to know whether the pupils selected them from a wider list. Did this include, dare I say it, any white males and did the choices include retaining the original names? A school name can have far-reaching consequences. I was in Nelson house at primary school, which planted the seeds of a desire to follow this hero’s example and join the Royal Navy.
ROBERT EVANS, Chelmsford, Essex. A SCHOOL’S house names Raleigh, Nelson and Drake are being ditched because pupils don’t know who they were. Isn’t it the job of the headmaster and teachers to make sure that they do?
TOM HULMES, Newton-le-Willows, Lancs.
HAS it ever occurred to the woke generation that national heroes such as Drake, Nelson and Raleigh might not want to be associated with such zeros?
RUSS BALL, Leicester.