IWAS interested to read the letter from Philip Dunne about primary schools, although puzzled by his statement that the education department will be “consulting widely” on the report on primary education.

I have examined the report in some detail and despite statements of the obvious – such as “some children may well be happier and more confident in smaller schools, others prefer the greater variety and challenge of larger schools” – I cannot imagine that there could be a more comprehensive consultation than the one already carried out by the commission, with 375 written responses from school governors, head teachers, other staff, parents, parish and district councils, church representatives, Shropshire MPs, Shropshire County Council, the Commission for Rural Communities, the National Association of Small Schools, trade unions representing teachers and other school employees, and other interested parties who also gave written evidence.

I suspect that if almost any parent were to be consulted what they would want is a school with dedicated teachers, a head with imagination and authority and the means of dealing with disruptive children (despite the opinion of the report, there are some) and within reasonable distance. Oh, and by the way, with as little interference from Whitehall as possible.

This may sound simplistic, but may also be true.