Education Quandary

'Help! My husband is a school head who lives and breathes for his job. What do you get a man like this for Christmas, when he has only one interest, and you have no time?'

HILARY'S ADVICE

Hurry to an internet bookshop and order David Winkley's Handsworth Revolution, that most unlikely thing, an adventure story about education. In fact, order it for anyone – parent, teacher, student – interested in children and what helps them grow.

The author spent 20 years turning a troubled primary school in a deprived part of the West Midlands into what The Times suggested was the best school in Britain. This is the story of how he did it. But that's not all; David Winkley has devoted his life to pondering what children need from a school. His book weaves these thoughts together with a vivid account of the daily highs and lows of school life, to give a picture of how hard it is to keep steering towards high educational ideals when your time is taken up with surprise visits from squatter neighbours, meetings with your bull-headed education authority, coping with violent families and local vandals, searching for truants and hosting pompous school inspectors.

At the heart of the book are the children, with their problems, resilience, good humour and unpredictability. Winkley writes of the girl whose mother was so mentally ill that she hid under a carpet when he visited, and of the Vietnamese boy whose astonishing musical talent was only discovered by chance, and others who passed through his hands.

This is the school that pioneered literacy and numeracy hours, careful tracking of children's progress, on-site withdrawal units for troubled children and programmes to advance the gifted. It's no surprise that the incoming Blair Government turned to Winkley for ideas on primary education, or that he was later knighted.

As his book makes clear, you don't educate children by jumping them through tests, or measure success by how many hit attainment targets. The children who do best aren't always the most able, but those who are quietly determined and able to bounce back.

Any head will read this book with cries of recognition. But maybe the person who would most benefit from finding it in his Christmas stocking is Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary – as a gift from a wise man who knows that providing a good education is always more complicated than politicians think.

READERS' ADVICE

The best present is time away from the job. If time is short, book a weekend break at a country hotel over Christmas. My husband had to take early retirement from being the head of a small primary school in Devon, because the stress was seriously affecting his health; his GP recommended he applied to retire on the grounds of ill health. Two years on he looks younger and relaxed, teaches skiing and works part-time in a bookshop. Most important, he has regained his self-esteem. Helen Powell, Exeter

It sounds like you will both need a holiday next summer! How about taking in some local schools elsewhere? If you go to the Third World your husband could begin a lifetime connection with another school and culture. Maggie Mitchell, Shrewsbury

Wish him love, light and harmony. Buy him two bonsai trees, one for school and one for home, to symbolise his two special relationships. Nicholas E Gough, Swindon

NEXT QUANDARY

'A recent circular to parents from my year 11 son's English teacher contained at least two grammatical howlers. My son says she is the best English teacher he has had, and we do not dispute this. The school is a popular comprehensive with a good academic reputation. How do we tactfully point out that the head of English needs lessons in the correct use of English? Or are we making a fuss about nothing?'

Send your letters or quandaries to Hilary Wilce, to reach her by next Monday, 16 December, at The Independent, Education Desk, Second Floor, Independent House, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS; or fax 020-7005 2143; or send e-mails to h.wilce@btinternet.com. Please include details of your postal address. Readers whose letters are printed will receive a Berol Combi Pack containing a cartridge pen, handwriting pen and ink eraser.