Anthony Seldon’s heartfelt piece about the elephant in the room is a masterpiece of the faux-naif (“Why can’t we be one big happy family?”, 16 March). We pretend not to understand because we are educated, well-brought-up people who know polity demands avoidance of topics that might lead to embarrassment.

Let me spell it out. Schools full of richer children selected by ability are likely to outperform schools full of children of all abilities from ordinary backgrounds. The “intelligent response to Britain still being the most socially divided country in the developed world” is to educate all children together in state schools. How embarrassing to be in a room with a public intellectual who can’t grasp that. No wonder they thought he was “weird”.

Carolyn Roberts, Headteacher, Durham Johnston School, Durham.