It is interesting to see that David Cameron and Boris Johnson both feel they have to come to the rescue of Michael Gove following his pronouncements about Blackadder being used in schools to create a biased view of WW1.

Have any of them actually taught? All excellent teachers will naturally expose their pupils to many different points of view and by doing this will be giving them a base for unbiased opinion.

By exposing young people to all interpretations, you are engaging them to examine all the evidence, search for the truth and make considered judgements. Blackadder is a parody of what happened and can be likened to the poetry of Sassoon and Owen.

The final episode of the programme is very powerful in depicting the futility of the battles as are the rows and rows of graves in France and Belgium, to which many schools take their pupils to feel the empathy about the losses of the time.

We no longer have a British Empire and should no longer be teaching as if we do!

It is time teachers were allowed to get on with teaching without unfounded criticisms.

Alison Sherratt, president, ATL