Your editorial expressing the value of the arts in schools (20 March) prompts me to share what I did for my 70th birthday, which others could copy: I donated a lump sum to my first primary school.
I was supported by donations from family and friends in lieu of any birthday gifts to me. The one stipulation I made to the school was that the money was to be used for creative activities. The result was a sensory garden with artworks created by the children.
Stuart McPhillips
Garstang, Lancashire
• I attended a major public school with huge music, art and drama departments. I was very lucky to get one of the very few places in the carpentry workshop.
Please don’t exclude or forget those children who have little or no interest in “the arts” but can find meaning by expressing themselves in carpentry, metalwork or similar activities. We see the heights scaled by a Gothic arch, but not the skills of the carpenters or masons who built it. Perhaps the true measure of humanity is the “how”, not the “why”?
Robert Barnes
Gortagowan, County Kerry, Ireland
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