PARENTS and teachers must feel their heart sink when they read 'Parents are being forced to bail out schools as the cash crisis deepens,' a headline in The Independent.

How can we put more money and resources into our children's education?

The truth is that we are never going to elect a government which is prepared to raise taxes by enough to provide every school with what it needs, let alone what it would like, to provide the best possible service. But for the majority of 'average' pupils with parents on 'average income' my suggestion offers a greater level of 'customer satisfaction' at a cost many parents are prepared to pay. This is not a solution to the funding crisis in schools.

As a recently retired head of English, I moved to this area last summer and started offering private tutoring in English to supplement the excellent work of local classroom teachers. What did I discover?

One very bright primary pupil needed extension activities to keep her motivated at school where she was in a class of very mixed ability. Her sister was also clever but had problems with spelling and reading which did not merit a Statement and for which the school's over-stretched special needs department could take no responsibility. But one hour's help at home each week increased her reading and spelling age greatly and gave a serious boost to her flagging confidence in all subjects.

Two pupils in Year 10 next September will struggle to achieve a C grade at GCSE but stand a much better chance with help at home once a week after school. Another parent came to me because her son was about to sit his GCSEs and felt he was not making as much progress as he wanted.

After just a few weeks' support he will probably have improved his grade. He certainly felt more confident. Two parents phoned me a couple of months before the A level exams this summer and I was able to give targeted support for particular texts or papers, honing exam-skills and essay-writing techniques in the process.

None of these pupils has serious problems which need the SEN department, but all stand to benefit from more time and attention. One-to-one, not 15-to-one. One of the A-level pupils was going to art college and just wanted a good English grade for her own personal satisfaction. But for the rest, their future careers could well be determined by the grades they achieve in English at GCSE or A level. Help privately funded by the parents is an excellent investment in their children's future.

Your readers would probably like to see this money given to the schools, either directly or through taxation. Can any of them, hand on heart, say that they believe the money would be better spent that way?

This is nothing like a solution to our funding problem but for the majority of middle-stream pupils, some of whose individual needs cannot be met fully by very hard-working teachers, this may go some way.

David Beck

Pewsey