A month ago it seemed as if nobody was prepared to utter the term performance, now it seems the term is liberally scattered through every sentence and delivery. So what has changed?

Is it that we were all initially softened up through feigned incompetence in that it is now widely admitted that threshold and performance management have been delivered the wrong way around?

This seems very strange indeed when one is expected to attend these sessions, and if that is the case, then one would expect a more efficient organisation.

I subscribe to the conspiracy theory: it is a deliberate plo to ensnare teachers with additional cash and workload respectively.

The other issue to emerge from the training session is nobody seems to be able to either validate or justify the research and evidence base for threshold and performance management. None of the Department for Education and Employment “glossies” carries valid references that are dated and properly referenced.

It appears to be an unholy mess at a vast cost when we all could benefit from less bureaucracy, better resources, less stress and more support through a sensible pay structure.

One suspects the Government would want this issue resolved several months before a general election, hence the indecent haste.

Richard Carter

Headteacher

Beacon community junior school

Tregothnan Road

Falmouth, Cornwal