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Letters

Star letter

A spelling rhyme for the DfE

A spelling rhyme
for the DfE

The application of half a grain of common sense should reveal even to a politician that although English orthography is founded on a phonetic alphabet, it is so liberally fraught with exceptions that while it is essential, it is unreliable as a teaching approach. Other tools – flash cards, rote recitation, etc, are absolutely necessary. Some might advocate concentrating on the exceptions. For example, this rhyme about female deer:

Does does not rhyme with shoes

But does with nose

Which does not rhyme with lose

Which only shows….

Garth Scott, Colchester

Is Mr Gove seeing us off?

Is Mr Gove seeing us off?

I had time the other day to think, after the school in which I taught was placed in special measures and splashed across the local paper as a failing school (not actually, but there you are), about how much longer I can keep up the breakneck pace of change in the profession before it gets too much for me. It dawned on me how Mr Gove is going to save money on pensions and schools.

Is it possible that he is going to oversee a profession which places so much stress and unhappiness on teachers (and children and families) that we don’t last long after working till 67 or even don’t make it to retirement? That would certainly sort out the shortfall in funding.

Helen Steward, Norfolk

Leadership is the key

Leadership is the key

As a teacher in just one school for nearly 40 years, I am well placed to see how the attitude of the head teacher influences the school.

I have seen how the best head teachers allow/encourage their staff to be creative in applying the curriculum, and value and display children’s work, with walls and surfaces full of things created with pride. Staff are encouraged to develop their strengths and the head uses a supportive approach.

Now each classroom and lesson has to fit a cloned pattern. Working walls covered in Post-it Notes, scruffy paper with work in progress. I am sorry to say they just end up looking messy and the children’s best efforts are confined to the corridors.

The pressure of targets and capability hangs over all. This heavier approach leads to staff too stressed to do their best. A previously happy, thriving school can be brought to its knees this way. I hope the fun comes back into teaching, for the sake of the children and staff.

M Ros, address withheld

Part-timers short changed

Part-timers short-changed

I read your Upfront article on defending members’ pay and conditions in colleges (September/October) with great interest.

I work at a sixth form college in the south which is currently employing part-time staff on lower contracts than the hours they work and then increasing pay during teaching time. Last year my permanent contract was for 0.3 but I worked 0.8 of full-time hours (and 0.95 in the final term when another member of staff went on maternity leave). As the college only has to pay the higher 

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