I read with interest Hilary Moriarity’s article “Why we need people who like to say yes” (TESS, May 10). It paints a familiar picture of a head who thinks that teachers should do whatever they are “asked” without considering the priorities of the job. It is surely a major part of planning any activity in school life that we plan the resources.
It is the head’s job to provide the time for work to be done. To endlessly add tasks to the teacher’s list without considering when they are to be done smacks of the incompetent approach which has characterised school management in this country.
Unless heads are able to allocate adequate time for staff to complete tasks they should not depend on their completion. All too often the tasks that teachers are asked to do in addition to teaching are tasks which properly qualified senior management personnel could do on their own. If heads have priorities for development in schools they should ensure that they promote the people who are able to carry them out.
Schools need teachers who are willing to say no to tasks which divert them from their main task of providing the best education they can for the pupils in their charge.
JOE McGRATH 4A Laird Street Coatbridge Lanarkshire
