What a timely Ann Thrope article (“My Doc Martens take a kicking”, TES Magazine, October 29). I had had the same conversation with a fellow teacher at another school. We had had “all staff” emails that ranged from a lost coat button (hello?), a lift home needed, changes in exam timetables, new starters to safeguarding, and health information.

Sifting through this hodge-podge of information is timely and frustrating - although not as annoying as the smug colleagues who back themselves up by saying, “Well, I did email you about it,” when you’ve missed something.

I worked for a decade in local government before I became a teacher and this “self-insurance” policy of sending an email to cover your own back was as sickening then as it is becoming now.

What is wrong with a morning briefing in the staffroom with these notes emailed out in one go? Or even ... dare I say it ... popping into another classroom and speaking to someone?

Helen Brierley, Manchester.