REGARDING the cancellation of the watersports activity holiday by Clitheroe Royal Grammar School and the refusal of the teachers to allow a diabetic child on this trip (LET, November 11), my child was due to go on this trip and is naturally disappointed at its cancellation.

However, we must realise school trips only go ahead because teachers are willing to give up their own holiday time to supervise them.

Any professional -- doctor, lawyer or teacher -- has a duty of care to those who place their trust in his or her hands. Should this trust become misplaced, then that professional is deemed negligent and will most likely find themselves in a law court being sued for negligence.

When teachers take children on trips they must feel totally confident that they can cope with any problems which may arise, medical or otherwise.

The teachers at CRGS have been faced with the dilemma of being asked to take responsibility for a boy with a medical problem. Teachers are not medically trained. If they have decided they do not feel suitably qualified to care for this boy then I think their decision should be respected.

I would not wish my children to be taken into anyone else's care if I did not feel they were able to look after them in any situation that may arise.

Taking legal action against CRGS cannot, in my opinion, solve anything. Should the Disability Rights Commission win this case, all that will happen is that not only will CRGS think very carefully before arranging any more school trips, the same will happen in schools up and down the country.

Teachers must have the discretion to refuse a place to any child they feel unhappy about taking away for any reason, not just medical. As parents, our children are ultimately our responsibility, we can only ask other people to take on that responsibility, not expect them to do so.

Name and address supplied.