IN the midst of a public consultation on the future of one of Glasgow’s best performing schools, it is encouraging to see a glimmer of sense shining through ("Why all-girls schools could be the answer", The Herald, April 12).
Alex Hems makes excellent points on the important values upheld by an all-girls’ school ethos and indeed are testament to what will be lost if the status of Notre Dame High changes.
Many families across our city are actively choosing the inclusive girls-centric approach at Scotland’s last remaining all-girls state school. Yet their wish to have the best for their girls is being called into question by campaigners who believe that very choice is outdated. Those same campaigners state it is unfair on boys in the catchment area of the affluent west end. In a world where gender equality is an ongoing fight for women, taking away a young woman’s choice of a school environment that empowers girls to ignore gender-bias is surely not the answer.
For more than 120 years Notre Dame High has opened its doors to girls from Pollokshields to Partick, from the west end to Easterhouse. Many girls are from our vibrant ethnic communities; many girls hold shared beliefs; many come from disadvantaged backgrounds. All are welcomed and encouraged the same.
This multicultural and inclusive school should be held up as Glasgow’s finest. It has continually proved itself as an academic achiever and is actively helping close the attainment gap and combating poverty in our city. People may Make Glasgow, having a choice of education makes us great.
Michelle Watt,
Chair, Notre Dame High School Parent Council,
160 Observatory Road, Glasgow.
Nuclear propaganda
AFTER enlightening us as to the use of the oxymoron, Brian Quail (Letters, April 10) then reverts to his use of agitprop, although he does focus on the "prop" of that particular portmanteau word. He declaims from his soapbox that “Coulport is the biggest arsenal of hydrogen bombs in Europe”. The implication is that the UK has the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in Europe, and also that Mr Quail is privy to where the Russians and French store their nuclear weapons and the numbers stored at these locations. Apparently he has such special knowledge, along with having the inside information on what is stored at Coulport. Publicly available data on the numbers of nuclear weapons would show the Russians have far more than the UK. France also outnumbers the UK with possession of nuclear weapons at its disposal. Of course, mentioning France as a major European nuclear power, with more nuclear weapons than the UK, does not fit with the narrative.
Unless Mr Quail can actually provide verifiable numerical evidence of his claims on Coulport and the nuclear WMD league tables with France and Russia, including the names of the storage facilities and the numbers therein, all he does is spout propaganda. Such use of propaganda is as annoying as it is predictable.
Dr Ronnie Gallagher,
5 Wyndhead Steading, Lauder.
Different strokes
I NOTE the excitement over an old golf card showing a winning score of 84 over 10 holes at Musselburgh in 1820 ("Golf card from winning round 199 years ago up for auction", April 12).
As an ever-hopeful golfer exceptional only for the consistency of my mediocrity I’ve had plenty of cards showing less than 84 for 10 holes and won hee-haw. What’s all the fuss about?
R Russell Smith,
96 Milton Road, Kilbirnie.
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