Writing off GCSE results ignores pupils’ hard work

• HOW dare Labour’s spokesman, Councillor Richard Watts, dismiss my grandson’s GCSE results with a wave of his hand (You must do even better with GCSEs, January 15).
My grandson worked his socks off and is very proud of his results as I am, along with his mum and dad. I find it an outrage the way Cllr Watts and his Labour cronies are so quick to dismiss the hard work of schools and their pupils. 
Islington’s schools are 100 times better than when he and his colleagues ran the council, when they were a byword for poor performance and crumbling buildings. 
Politicians would regularly “slag off” schools and their heads. His own government had to force the council to bring in a private company to run its schools.
How dare he try to take the moral high ground about schools in this borough. It is wonderful that my grandson’s school, St Aloysius’, in Hornsey Lane, Archway, is now outperforming Fortismere and Highgate Wood, so-called “high-performing” schools in a neighbouring borough.
St Aloysius’ College has a great headteacher, hardworking staff and will shortly have a new building. 
Cllr Watts, if you can’t say anything positive about education in Islington, don’t say anything at all.
EDNA SUMMERS
Hornsey Lane, N6

I WANT to congratulate the youngsters at my son’s school and all the other youngsters at Islington secondary schools on their GCSE results. 
Sadly, I don’t think your front-page article did either the schools or the young people concerned credit. Neither do I think the comments by Labour children’s spokesman Councillor Richard Watts did. 
My son’s school has been a building site for the last year or so, but at the same time, under a great headteacher with wonderful staff, the pupils at Highbury Grove have achieved their best-ever GCSE results. 
Why can’t Cllr Watts and his fellow Labour councillors say anything positive about education in this borough? It’s taken a long time to turn around the mess he and his colleagues left back in the late 1990s. Good on the Lib Dems for doing so – they still have some way to go, but have my support, unlike Cllr Watts.
TOM COSGROVE
Essex Road, N1

I FIND the comments made by the Labour spokesman for children contradictory and insulting. To suggest that Islington’s headteachers can only improve their schools if councillors give them ideas is crazy. When Labour ran the council, Islington schools were in an appalling state.
He thinks that any improvements are down to government investment in building new schools. But many schools are only just moving into their new buildings, which means that headteachers and students, with support from the council, have managed to improve results despite having to study on a building site these past few years. St Aloysius’ did an amazing job as did Highbury Grove, IAMS and Holloway and we now have no failing schools. The fact is schools in Islington are improving year on year. We have moved up 11 places nationally and are the closest we have ever been to the national average. Our schools are improving at a much faster rate than in other boroughs and I’m pleased to see that more parents are choosing Islington schools than ever before. In some cases our schools have even improved better than some of the most-sought-after schools in neighbouring boroughs. 
I’m not going to deny that more can’t be done. But Labour should recognise just how much progress we have made and realise why it is taking us so long to move off the bottom of the league tables – because our schools were among the worst in Britain when Labour ran this council.   
CLLR PAULA BELFORD
Lib Dem executive member for children and young people