Education letters

Cuts will hit FE hard Last week lecturers in 11 further education colleges and three universities went on strike over cuts and job losses. Some comments from our website: It makes me sick that the shitheads in the City get to share a few billion between them when our higher education institutions are being squeezed. Education is our future and bankers could well be our demise. stevetyphoon We have to make massive spending cuts across the board. It is hard to argue a case for higher education to be better protected from this than, say, health, social services or children's education. Higher education is massively subsidised and favours the better-off. The challenge is simple – for anyone who disagrees with these cuts, you have to identify where in public services you would prefer to see this level of cuts made. Scouserlee Striking is old skool and futile. Far too many students are going to university, but the problems don't end there. Universities are offering daft courses and doing pointless research. For example, we have enough PhD theses on Shakespeare, thank you, and most social policy or economic research does not even attempt to solve social and economic issues. Macdonagh The majority of those on strike are at FE colleges. The staff at FE level are criminally over-worked and under-paid: far more than in HE or schools. FE is a vital stepping stone, not only in school to university progression, but for those wishing to move into trades. FE level has been underfunded and ignored for too long. No, I do not work in FE. sloganeer Great leaders wanted Last week Louise Tickle wrote about efforts to recruit teachers in challenging schools, following the case of the teacher acquitted of attempted murder after pupils provoked him. I think all teachers want the same things: the trust and support of an excellent senior leadership team. Schools should be focusing on getting the leadership right in challenging schools. There are far more empty headships than there are unfilled teaching posts. Pipsqueak Good article. We need to find a sustainable way of recruiting. Contrary to popular belief, Teach First is not a sustainable solution. Depsite the enthusiasm Teach First teachers exude, recruiting inexperienced teachers who have no intention of sticking around will cause more problems. Smaller class sizes, less pressure from Ofsted and good leadership from headteachers is a better place to start. ABriggs • Your article on efforts to attract staff to work in difficult schools rightly points out the real challenges teachers face. But it quotes the general secretary of the NUT, who claims Ofsted's ethos is not to make positive suggestions and that "constant monitoring" increases pressure on teachers. Under Ofsted's new inspection arrangements, good and outstanding schools will only be inspected once in a five-year period. This is far less frequently than previously. I believe Ofsted is right to focus its inspection on improving weaker schools, giving less attention to schools that continue to perform well. The productive dialogue that arises out of joint observations means inspectors and staff praise the strengths of a school's work as well as talking about areas that need improving. Senior leaders are left in no doubt as to what is working and what they need do to move the school forward. Heads tell us they feel inspections are being done "with" them not "to" them. Patrick Leeson Ofsted