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The whole thing is sick. a very disturbed head teacher i would say who is arrogant enough to push now for sausages from a pig she wants to buy. educate children by all means but not like this. if she was that honest about it then show them pictures or a video of a slauhter house in action that would change their minds. marcus trusted humans and once againas we read so often we failed him. i have written a letter t the editor with my views for the silent ones.

anne norton

eastbourne

east sussex

Did speak to the headmistress she stated that they will go head with raffle and Marcus will go to slaughter. THE HEAD CHAIRMAN was very agreeable with what was going to happen to marcus. I DID THINK THE WAY THE SCHOOL WENT ABOUT THIS IS THE WRONG WAY. parents should been told in a PRIVATE LETTER then we could of explained this to our children what was going to happen. anyway does make it right that he is still a pet they will not listen, will YOU. I HOPE U R SAY MARCUS XXX.

Let’s just take a reality check here! You all sit there feeding chicken nuggets and standard shop bought meats for your kids to eat. Virtually no-one stops to consider the way the meat got onto your plates. How poorly treated the animals were never crosses your mind. Then when you have an opportunity for your kids to learn and understand how a lamb can be looked after properly and well suddenly you all get sad over it. So basically what you are saying is it's ok to eat meat no matter what kind of life it's had but you don't want to know about it - and when its an animal you know has been well looked after then you don't want to see it slaughtered. GO VEGETARIAN or be a hypercritic! Next time your kid asks mummy what are chicken nuggets made from – tell them the truth. Then ask them what would they rather eat a happy free range animal or bird that they’ve seen well looked after or some poor beast that’s been crammed into a small space all it’s life and machine slaughtered – if neither then help them become vegetarian. The only thing I feel was wrong was that the school named the lamb and in farming you don’t do that! You name pets. Well done to the school for finally getting parents to wake up and kids to understand the reality of modern living. My kids have known since they could talk exactly what meat is and I often ask them about stopping eating meat – neither have, but at least they understand!

My children already knew where meat came from long before the head at Lydd bought animals to rear for slaughter. She says she's teaching the children about the food chain and how animals become dinner. She's missing the part where Marcus will actually be turned into meat at the slaughterhouse. Petting it, feeding it and naming it and then sending it away to die isn't really teaching them anything except how to feel loss for an animal that you have formed a bond with. Taking the children that voted to send Marcus to slaughter to see him killed and turned into meat for the raffle would be a very harsh thing to do. Even letting them see an animal slaughtered before they had voted on Marcus's fate would have been harsh enough. Still, that would have been the ONLY way these children would have known the exact fate of the animal they have sentenced to death. Not a great responsibility for a headmistress to put upon a child is it?

Seriously, please everyone come back down to Earth here with the rest of us meat eaters.

Firstly, I would like to correct a typical emotive newspaper 'error' - the sheep WASN'T NAMED!!!!! If he was, it definately wasn't by the kids...and again, if he was it was something like Market, just to make it clear!

I don't find animal slaughter for meat cruel, or sick. And neither do you - you're all just whipped up in the media frenzy. What I do find sick, is the fact that the headmistress is now being targetted - seriously targetted - and all because she made a simple decision to get rid of one of the sheep and at the same time teach the kids something about the food chain....it's not like she was going to take them to SEE a slaughter, which, by the way WAS shown on a recent TV series....didn't see any complaints about that. Are you all suggesting we stop killing animals for meat full stop?! Because all those kids KNEW that sheep wasn't a pet...What about school trips to the farm?? You pet and feed sheep and cows there...and they're all for the chop!! It's the same thing!

She IS teaching about the food chain...she's teaching them that in life, certain things have to be. No kid needs to know exactly the process of a slaughtering...that wasn't her aim. That would be scary! It was a lesson in real life. This is where meat comes from.

Grow up! Spend yout time doing things that matter!!!

And leave that poor woman alone for God's sake!! She's the best thing that's happened to that school in a long time. Stop making a fuss where there's none to be had.

I cannot believe this headmistress would go to these lengths! Children should be taught to love animals - which is what happened. They can be taught about the food chain of course - but what Andrea Charman did was disgusting. What goes around comes around - and I beleive in Karma.

I hope one day she will realise her mistake. Those children may be traumatised for life - thanks to her.

Yvonne Walsh

How dare Andrea Charman take the course that she did knowing there people against this decision. What she did was arrogant and cruel and the fact that she sent poor Marcus to slaughter ahead of time rather shows the total disregard of feelings as I am sure that she was afraid if the argument went on any longer she would lose. Indeed I am surprised that she did not supervise his end for herself. I feel that she should be made to stand down over this action.

My heart goes out to those most deeply affected by this episode from the pupils and parents to people like Paul O'Grady who kindly offered money to save the life of Marcus they too must be completely sickened by her actions.

It is not necessary to teach our children where meat comes from in this way and my only hope is that this will stop other schools from following suit.

Childhood is fleeting and children should be allowed to maintain a little of its innocence we have to face the harsh reality too soon as it is.

Sir

Can we step back from the media hype over this story and consider the wider issues. The children of Lydd in the main live within a farming community. Most will know where their sunday roast comes from already. All will realise that the fluffy whie things in the field are not there merely for decoration. Give these children some credit. From what I heard, admittadly via the media the childen themselves voted as to what was to be done with one of the three sheep. From what I read 'Marcus' was never named by any of the children, and they were all aware that the carcass would be raffled off after it's demise.

I suggest the only people who are complaining about this completly natural act of providing meat for our plates at the same time teaching the children a serious lesson in human nature are a small minded group of vegetarians and incomers to the marsh who are trying to once again inflict their narrow minded attitudes onto the rest of us.

Personally I say well done to that headmistress, leave her alone because as I see it she has done nothing wrong at all. Less than fifty years ago death was a daily occurance, children would have experianced it and thought nothing of it. We simply have removed that aspect of the life cycle and hidden it away. Is that why we become so hysterical when something like this is thrust upon us.

Once again a local issue that in normal circumstances would have gone unreported is blown out of all proportion. To those mothers that are 'traumatised' I say grow up. If you don't like what has happened why didn't you speak out before or was it because then you wouldn't have had your fifteen minutes of fame.If you feel so deeply then move your children to a school that doesn't offend your sensitive feelings.

Surely with everything that is going wrong in the World at the moment there are far more news worthy items to cover. Good God even our troops who are suffering every day of the week don't get this sort of coverage. Thought for the day send the carcase to Afganistan with Lydd's best wishes and give some of them a treat for a change. As for the headmistress well done and don't allow the nimby's to wear you down.

Yours sincerely Dave hopefully a voice of reason