I read Derek Trimmer’s statement regarding his change of heart about the academy plans with interest.

He said: “Indeed, we will only continue to improve if we are prepared to challenge our own thinking and our own practice; to be prepared to learn from the experience of the people we meet with the same intensity with that which we share our own knowledge and our own expertise.”

But thereafter he sets out why he will continue to retain existing practices adopted by other schools in his sector and gives no indication why he believes that a multi academy trust would fail to meet the needs of his students.

While acknowledging that the latest Ofsted report for his school shows improvement, shouldn’t all schools be producing ‘good’ results as their minimum benchmark?

Isn’t it a fact that heads of industry are reporting that many students are ill-prepared to meet the demands of today’s global market and isn’t it a fact that many immigrants who arrive in this country from other EU states are better educated?

So how long will it take to achieve the ‘outstanding’ results that our students require to give them the edge in the market?

How many more students will leave school not having achieved their full potential because schools are adhering to existing practices?

Mr Trimmer says that iPads have seen improvements.

But aren’t these a gimmick, the cost of which will have to be met by taxpayers and isn’t there a danger that they will provide a shield for bad teaching?

In my view, the purpose of education is to teach students how to live their lives – by developing their minds and equipping them to deal with reality.

The training they need is theoretical ie conceptual. They need to be taught to think, to understand, to integrate, to prove.

They have to be taught the essentials of the knowledge in the past and have to be equipped to acquire further knowledge by their own efforts. Such a situation will only be achieved by involving them in the cut and thrust of open discussion in the classroom under the direction of competent teachers, not iPads.

I do hope that Mr Trimmer and those with whom he conferred are challenging their thinking and practices. Opportunities for ‘change’ are rare and should be nourished.

Neil Kelly Tredcroft Road Hove