Sir – Reading councillor Tilley’s plan to second staff from “good” schools to “lagging” schools makes me wonder whether she ever taught in a “good” school. She should know that, apart from individual teacher’s agreement to such an arrangement, heads, other staff, parents and, yes, pupils may be unhappy at the prospect of secondments to other schools, even for the most laudable of missionary purposes; moreover, even the best teachers are not necessarily the best in an advisory capacity. Seconding schools would be concerned about the quality of replacement staff.

How would the £1m earmarked for the scheme be allocated? In the same report, I was astonished to read that, despite poor results for some considerable time, the school improvement team had been cut.

From the mid-50s onwards, advisory teachers working alongside children and their teachers in primary schools and advisers in secondary schools were successful in identifying problems, and assisting in their solution. Perhaps some advice could be sought from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets where the most deprived area of the capital’s schools achieve results which outstrip those of our leafy and affluent county.

Martin Sheldon, Headington