Sir – A few years ago, children of three and four in an Oxfordshire nursery could be taught to read their own books within one or two years.

The two years in an infant school used to achieve the same for the majority of children. Children now go to school at four rather than five, but in too many cases are less able to read than previous generations.

While counties such as Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire preserved the standard of the 11-plus, Oxfordshire lurched from one new educational experiment to another.

Pupils and teachers alike have suffered —many good teachers took early retirement, unable to use proven teaching methods.

Failing schools need to look at similar but successful schools rather than unproven theories.

People may sneer at schools in the past which used class sets of hymn books, history, geography, song and science or nature pamphlets, but children were reading vast amount every day in this situation.

Poor working-class children in a class of 40 or more in junior schools could all read the Oxford Children’s Library books, published for eight to 11-year-olds.

Children who can’t read miss out on all the wonderful children’s literature available.

Helen Meyrick, Witney