Playing catch up

Some parents admit that they have found home-schooling difficult.

Some have found it difficult to create a learning routine and environment.

Some have realised (and most of the population have not) how little they know about the demands placed on children and teachers by the National Curriculum in every subject.

Unfortunately, schools are likely to have found, from work submitted or not by their students, that some parents didn’t even get started or gave up by Easter or soon after.

No wonder the Government is insisting that all children must be back in school in September or else.

Once again, another impossible job (or is that three jobs ?) for the schools and teachers.

John Davies (ret’d NAS/UWT)

Byron Avenue

Royal Wootton Bassett

We can’t re-write history

Peter Smith really doesn’t understand anything that I wrote, does he?

Did I apologise in any way for our part in the “Slave Trade?”

Or indeed try and pretend it never happened. Of course, it happened. Anybody with a modicum of intelligence will agree. Should we be proud of it? Of course not.

But and here is the real point of it. We cannot look at what happened years ago with the hindsight of today.

Of course, it was wrong. Nobody in their right minds would disagree with that. But it happened. It’s a part of our history. And everybody knows you cannot re-write history.

But the facts remain no matter how you look at it. The general belief is that it originally started off with one group of Black people selling other Black people into slavery to Arab slavers. This went on for a very long time. And then some of these slaves were sold to Europeans and also to us the British.

Mostly these were taken to the Caribbean to work, yes as slaves in the Sugar Industry. Was it wrong? Yes of course it was as we well know today.

But we must also remember that it was the British who outlawed Slavery and made the practise a crime. And indeed, many British sailors were to lose their lives in the stopping of the Slave trade.

He then goes on to remark upon the Windrush Generation. Immigrants mostly from the Caribbean. Lovely people most of them. And yes, they were abused by some. Not all though. This was because of ignorance on the part of many British people (Yes, it’s still going on today?) as we can all see.

But with all generation s of immigrants, coloured people included. There is always going to be a few bad apples. Immigrants know this also.

Most of the immigrants are extremely nice people. i.e. I don’t get rabid letters from them about my posts! I have worked with quite a few coloured people during my working life, Both good and bad. The good ones always outweighed the bad.

So, am I racist? Personally, I don’t think I am.

Others may disagree. and of course, that is their prerogative and I might add their right.

The only thing I ask is: Get your fact Right.

But I have to add, we have a lovely Older Black couple living near to us.

You couldn’t meet a nicer couple, Polite and very friendly. Better than a lot of white neighbours I have known.

David Collins

Blake Crescent

Swindon