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my son IT's heartening to know that something at long last is being done about the standard of literacy of our Bolton children, but it really annoys me that no one is prepared to look at the needs of our older children who are already at senior school.

Is it their fault that they were taught too many different subjects at five years old, so the teachers did not have time to teach them to read and write?

Is it their fault that they are no longer at primary school, where greater emphasis is now given to the three Rs? And, most of all, is it their fault that they are not 11, but older?

I grieve for my son who is 14 years old. He tries his best but has been constantly failed by the ever changing education system which did not even teach him the alphabet until he was eight years old.

The school that he attends has 28pc of its pupils with a special need, but this school is referred to as a "good" school by a recent OFSTED report. If this is so, it only goes to prove that the standard and method of education is at fault - not the children.

Our children are our future and deserve extra help, regardless of their age!

Name and address

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