It is now blatantly obvious that the Government does not intend to fund primary schools so that they can employ more teachers to provide colleagues with their 10 per cent PPA time.
A letter I received from the then school minister David Miliband in December of last year confirmed this.
I quote: “There will be no one-size-fits-all model, but the agreement is clear that the changes will not be affordable if they are achieved by simply deploying additional teachers.”
Both the governing body and the leadership team at our school are adamant that classes should only be taught by qualified teachers. We therefore recognise that we are on a direct collision course with the Government.
I would be most interested to hear from colleagues who share our views and who would be prepared to state openly that they will not be in a position to meet their statutory obligations in September 2005. Please email peterdavidterry@yahoo.co.uk.
It is my belief that the Government should be made aware of the strength of feeling of headteachers across the country and in so doing come to appreciate that, in a significant number of schools, one of their major initiatives will not be implemented.
Peter Terry HeadteacherKings Road primary school Chelmsford, Essex