It is no surprise that he supports the move to a two-tier system as he will be set to gain a large increase in salary as the size of Newmarket College increases.

It is interesting to note that he states: "We cannot teach the key stage three curriculum properly across two schools."

I wonder who he includes in this "we"? Clearly not the teachers of St Felix who have successfully taught many pupils who have gone on to notable achievements, a few of whom were also represented in last week's Journal.

We had a letter from Rosie Snajdr studying a Phd at Cambridge University; a picture of Ross Edgar, Olympic sliver medallist and recent World Champion gold medallist; and Simon Gibson, who is a successful local businessman.

Furthermore, is Mr Cadwalladr aware that County Upper School in Bury St Edmunds has some of he highest results in the county (above those of Suffolk's two-tier schools), and this is at the top of a three-tier pyramid where a significant number of pupils from Newmarket's middle schools choose to attend.

To suggest that teaching is not effective in a three-tier systems is simply not true.

Good teaching comes from a premise of "we can" and a good teacher will enable pupils and find ways to make high achievement possible.

Mr Cadwalladr's comments were not only disrespectful to the dedication and professionalism of the teachers in our town's middle schools, but also shows a lack of imagination and innovation.

Something that was evident in abundance at the open evening for St Felix was the excellent cohesive staff, who are providing an exciting and enriching education for their pupils in the most difficult of circumstances. A good job none of them say "we can't".

Simon Davies
London Road
Newmarket