I may be biased, but the idea that a governor would know the difference between a decent teacher and a failing one without having it tattooed on their foreheads by the headteacher is hard to believe (”‘Shape up or ship out’: but six in 10 governors say it’s too hard to shift bad apples”, 15 July).

Most governors do not understand the day-to-day running of a school or the requirements of classroom teaching and teachers’ contracts. If a teacher doesn’t fulfil the terms of their contract, they can be subjected to the standard warnings, and reasonable support as required. If they continue to break the terms of their contract it’s “goodnight Vienna”.

The thing that makes it difficult is that the senior management team often fails to follow the procedures properly or fails to investigate the problems properly, so the case they present fails. They deal with things in isolation and then all attempts to deal with a problem fold like a house of cards.

Sunblest, Via www.tes.co.uk.