GIVEN the current trials and tribulations faced by many Swindon schools and the local education authority it is encouraging to hear the success that Churchfields is having with its "more difficult" pupils.

Many youngsters, often from deprived or emotionally troubled backgrounds, find it difficult to learn in the normal classroom environment.

They become alienated, resent their teachers and all they stand for, and go on to create mayhem.

But Churchfields, which has been going through a torrid time itself following the closure of Oakfield and the need to assimilate the extra pupils without sufficient resources, has shown that such youngsters are not lost to society for ever.

Their teachers need patience, dedication and not a little love, but as they themselves say the job can be so rewarding.

It is interesting to note just what can be achieved if teachers are left, with the proper resources, to get on with the job. Haven't we heard that somewhere before?