In the news

Volcanic ash

While the volcanic ash cloud was disrupting flights after Easter, much of the attention was on whether schools would have to close. ASCL's line was to reassure parents that school and college leaders were prepared and able to cope.

John Dunford was on Radio 5 and Radio 4 on the weekend before most schools went back after the half term. He was also quoted in the Guardian and Martin Ward appeared in the Sunday Telegraph and was quoted on BBC online.

John said: "No doubt many schools will be short staffed because of teachers being stranded abroad. "

However, except in very small schools, this hopefully will not cause major disruption as schools have good contingency plans in place to cope with teacher absence."

Safety measures

The TES on 7 May published a letter from John Dunford on the conflicting regulations schools and colleges have to deal with. John's letter recounted a recent example from a member: "A fire safety officer insisted that an exit door in the school had to be kept open but an Ofsted inspector, visiting the following day, said the safeguarding regulations meant that the door should be kept locked. Says it all."

Election blog

John Dunford's Twitter comments and election blog on the website were widely followed by journalists, political advisers and politicians including, we're told, Michael Gove and David Laws. To read them, go to www.twitter.com/johndunford and www.ascl.org.uk