Spelling is so important in era of the text generation

I WRITE in response to the article concerning spelling tests in schools.

In my view, correct spelling is an important part of the school curriculum and its consequences are depicted in later life.

For instance, today, as most children use texting in an abbreviated form of writing, it becomes very difficult to construct a letter or CV without referring to the computer's spell-check facility.

I was one of the fortunate children to obtain a scholarship to grammar school and spelling was a strong part of the English language lesson.

I was born during the war years, and goodness knows how much stress we kids were under then, with bombs dropping and sirens blazing, but we still had our spelling tests, and the results have been appreciated.

I feel there is too much importance placed on children's stresses in school these days. After all, we go to school to learn how to cope with the stresses which will inevitably come in later life.

Competition remains an important issue in school life and results in a sifting process to recognise where the strengths and weaknesses lie in each child.

Mrs J Young Burnham-On-Sea Somerset