The excellent feature “Wise words for my younger self” (31 May) should make salutary reading for those younger teachers in England obsessed, or coerced, by the need to move from “good to outstanding” (the current mantra of Michael Gove, education secretary for England, and the schools inspectorate Ofsted). Nowhere in their letters do the six correspondents even use the word “outstanding”, although their commitment to educational excellence is implied in their advice. In whatever country or context we teach, we can aspire to excellence. Not all of us can become “outstanding”. If we did, paradoxically none of us would be outstanding.

Colin Richards, Spark Bridge, Cumbria.