Even worse off is our new headteacher - appointed last spring. He has been job-sized downwards by a similar amount, but of course is not on a conserved salary. All the promoted staff in the school have seen their posts job-sized downwards except for three.

These are two principal teachers who are responsible for several subjects and the principal teacher of guidance who has become the sole guidance teacher for a school of more than 300 pupils.

Even these three have only been job-sized upwards by a few hundred pounds.

I have resigned from the Educational Institute of Scotland and I understand that others with similar experience of the exercise have done so.

In his reply to my letter of resignation, Ronnie Smith, the EIS general secretary, claimed that 30 per cent of teachers had been job-sized upwards or had maintained a salary within a few hundred pounds of what they had before. This would seem to suggest that 70 per cent have been job-sized downwards.

I am concerned that, as depute head of the school, I have been job-sized only a little above a chartered teacher who has no responsibilities.

The impact on the promotion structure will also be great. We now have secondary schools full of promoted staff on conserved salaries who are unable to consider applying for other posts which could bring a drop in salary.

The new job-sized downwards salaries would seem to render many promoted posts very unattractive anyway. The lack of clarity and the cynical timing of the whole exercise, combined with the negative results that it has produced, will have a long-term negative effect on the teaching profession.

Ian McLaren Depute head Arran High School Isle of Arran