People expect schools to heal the ills of society – no wonder there’s so much stress in education

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Accountability is high but support networks for teachers are often fragile (Getty/iStock)

James Moore’s heartfelt and personal account of the staffing crisis facing education will be recognised by many who work in schools and by those who have subsequently moved on to something else.

Behind each example of a teacher leaving the profession is a backstory. For many this will involve months, maybe years, of unhappiness, falling confidence, exhaustion and, for some, serious mental health problems. Of course, not only the teacher is affected during this period of secret misery, because children too are denied confident professionals.

This is why it is critical for the education secretary to order a comprehensive and detailed review into the factors affecting teacher recruitment and retention. Low pay and the ridiculous workload will be factors but I would suggest a close look at the extraordinary situation of headteachers in this country.

These dedicated, talented individuals are expected to master skills and abilities quite beyond their training and, often, beyond their experience.

Apart from pupil attainment and progress, pupil behaviour and wellbeing, safeguarding, teacher performance (including salary progression) and preparing for inspection, they must also take responsibility for financial and premises management, health and safety, salaries and personnel as well as technical and legal aspects of admissions and special educational needs and complaint handling.

They may find themselves representing the school in quasi-legal hearings and investigations. Many deal with aggression on a daily basis. Additionally, there are frequent local or national “initiatives” where schools are expected to heal the ills of society, usually for minimal funding.

All of this applies to the head of a one-form entry infants school as well as to the head of a large secondary, both of which have to contend with shrinking budgets.

Accountability is high but support networks are often fragile. Professional mentoring of headteachers is intermittent and inconsistent although governors and academy trustees can play a role.

In many cases the teachers are as isolated as the heads. The stress is felt daily, even hourly, in too many schools. Headteachers and teachers are running to stand still. We should not be surprised when many decide to run in the opposite direction.

A new, possibly collegiate, system is needed which gives head teachers the space to breathe. Then they can get on with what they do best – nurturing outstanding teaching and learning by supporting and valuing their staff.

David Lowndes
Soberton

Bringing world class care to the NHS

It will be interesting to see how the technology improvements will come about. Currently our Bournemouth Hospital cannot even communicate by email to our local GP in Poole, never mind reaching outside of the UK to get best practice.

John Wardle
Address supplied

What Theresa May’s Brexit deal really offers

The Brexit referendum promised the NHS and/or other social programmes an extra £350m per week that would otherwise be paid to the EU, omitting the fact that the effective amount was about half this when the EU’s subsidies to the UK were taken into account.

The Brexit supported by only a little over half the votes also omitted any mention of how the Irish/Ulster border could be rearranged, and ignored the fact that the majority of both the Northern Irish and the Scots were strongly in favour of remaining and would be welcomed as standalone EU members.

It is a bit rich for Theresa May to claim now that rejection of her Brexit deal would erode public trust in democracy when her deal falls so short of what the first referendum offered and ignores the (democratic!) rights of both Northern Ireland and Scotland. The deal will also certainly tempt Eire to offer a deal that Ulster cannot refuse when compared with the economic disruption of May’s border arrangements.

In short, May is offering a path that will lead Great Britain to be reduced to Little England.

Let parliament do its job and offer a second referendum on the real Brexit vs remaining in the EU. The time has come for all backbenchers to vote for Great Britain.

George McGregor
Malvern

Ireland and Denmark have both had second EU-related referendums. And last time I looked, their democracies were doing just fine. Rather better than the UK’s, in fact, which has given cheats and conmen free rein. Time to ditch the cynical pretence that the 2016 referendum result was UK democracy’s finest hour: it was fraud, on a grand scale.

Paula Kirby
Inverness

More bad behaviour in sport

I make sure that I virtually never feel sorry for misbehaving sportspeople – usually men, I must add – and on this occasion I see no reason to change my position.

My comments stem from the reports that Wayne Rooney was arrested at an airport in Virginia in mid-December for intoxication and profanity. The penalty was small, but what price should one put on bad publicity and one’s reputation?

Let us hope that his considerable array of assistants and advisers point out to him that it is now the new year and we are in “Dry January”, not to mention professional sportspeople need to be in shape to function correctly.

Robert Boston
Kingshill

What’s the point of Trump’s wall?

Trump’s need to build a US-Mexico border isn’t a state of emergency, nor is it anything more than a nationalist performance. Clinton’s fences have already demarcated the border in question so what, if not a reflection of power or waste of money, is the point of Trump’s wall?

Bea Morrison
Newcastle