JANET Hughes is wrong to say Canon Slade did not organise a summer school this year (August 16).

Someone really ought to check the facts before going to print, because we did and it was extremely successful.

However, it was a rather different type of summer school.

It was organised for more able, talented and gifted Year Six pupils, with 60 coming from all over the town to experience a variety of mind-stretching activities organised by our staff.

Everyone had a wonderful time and our teachers are looking forward to having the opportunity of repeating the event in future years, should Government funding be available.

I am puzzled as to why we were referred to in the article as "opt-out ... Canon Slade".

Obviously, we were formerly grant maintained but are no longer -- it might be argued the Government, through its funding reforms, has now made all schools de facto grant maintained.

However, in the context of the article, the term seemed to imply either that we and St James' School sought to exclude ourselves from the summer school scheme, or were excluded by the LEA. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We are now very much part of the LEA family, and our new Beacon School status will mean the development of even closer links.

In fact, it was the LEA which invited us to organise this special summer school and it selected the children who participated. We, for our part, were delighted to respond positively to the initiative.

Peter Shepherd

Headmaster

Canon Slade School