iNEWS: As a teacher I was told to hide my Midlands accent and speak more ‘BBC’

I had a Midlands accent growing up, as all my friends did. At primary school accents were never mentioned. It was a happy childhood, full of discovery and play. Most of us were confident and valued as individuals.

When I was eleven I moved to a very selective grammar school two bus rides away from home. Some of the pupils came from private prep schools and had “posh” accents. Here we were required to undertake weekly speech training lessons.