Name: Diane Reynolds Position: secretary for 20 years at William Patten primary school, Stoke Newington, London borough of Hackney
Q If you had David Blunkett’s budget what would your priority be?
A To repair buildings. There are lots of schools like ours in Hackney and around the country that have been left for years. Schools need to be dragged into the 21st century to make them nice places for children. Coming to school shouldn’t mean having to suffer a loss of dignity.
Q If you had a blank cheque for your own school what would you buy?
A We haven’t had our stircase painted for 20 years, the windows are crumbling and there’s a constant battle with roof repairs. There’s also a designated playground extension but no funds to carry out the job.
Q What treat would you buy yourself?
A Another pair of hands! It would be brilliant not to have to stop in the middle of adding up a column of figures to answer the buzzers to the security gates that never seem to stop for more than five minutes.
Diane Reynolds was talking to Reva Klein. If you’d like to publish a shopping list for education, please e-mail friday@tes.co.uk.
