I had to check the calendar to make sure it was not April 1 when I read about Dorothy Stringer School banning the abbreviations BC and AD for fear of offending ethnic minorities (December 12).

When I realised this was not a joke, I spoke to a Jewish friend, who said that Jews frequently used the abbreviations BCE and CE (common era) but were not offended by BC and AD.

Jews count this as year 5763, calculated from what was originally believed to be the date of the creation. I am not offended by this custom.

Muslims count the year from the date of birth of the Prophet so this year is 1432 to them. I am not offended by this, either.

If Dorothy Stringer School fears giving offence in what is officially a Christian country with an established church (the Church of England) by referring to the fact that we calculate the year from an event 2,002 years ago (since shown to be slightly inaccurate), it should go the whole hog and calculate the date from a secular occasion.

This could be the date of birth of Alderman Miss Dorothy Stringer (I remember her well), after whom the school is named.

Peter E H Bailey, Beaconsfield Villas, Brighton

-Editor's note: The Islamic calendar in fact dates from the year the Prophet Muhammad left Mecca for Medina (AH, anno hegirae, or AD639) to escape persecution from his kinsmen.