As I get closer to my retirement as headteacher of George Green’s School on the Isle of Dogs, I have been reflecting on what I will miss most when I walk out the school gate in July.

Of course I am going to say the children because that is what we all come into this business for. My pupils make me very proud and they make me laugh. I am always surprised that some people find teenagers threatening or difficult to understand. All they are is slightly larger infants with lots of hormones! Having spent nearly 40 years working with them I will certainly miss them!

I am really going to miss my staff, who work so hard for the young people in their care. I hope that parents and the community at large are not fooled by some of the rhetoric about teachers & education being promoted by our coalition government. Schools have never been so good and teachers have never done their job so well yet they are always striving to get better. I am still astounded by the level of preparation & skill they use to provide the best learning experience in the classroom. I am very proud of what they do and how they do it. To hear Mr Gove and others show such contempt and disrespect for the profession is wrong and is offensive. Those of you with children will know what a good job teachers do on a daily basis. If you are connected to a teacher in any way you will know about the many hours they work. Please don’t let the profession be ground down by unhelpful negative comment about the profession in the media and elsewhere. Stand up for teachers.

So what won’t I miss? That’s easy! The interference from politicians who all seem to have particular views and ideas on education and who think they know all about it just because they went to a school once. Our Secretary of State is so convinced he knows exactly what is needed he does not bother to ask the education professionals what they think. He selects evidence to support his view that is limited in its breadth and scope and is often very old. My greatest wish is for politicians to stop treating pupils as political footballs and let us get on with our jobs educating the young people in our care.