WHY all this fuss about a headteacher earning almost as much as a banker? And a primary headteacher to boot!

The assumption here, of course, is that he deserves less than his secondary school colleagues.

Mark Elms of Lewisham is obviously doing a great job and has my support for getting a lot of dosh, although I'd like to discuss the actual amount of £231,400 when he's got a minute.

Being in charge of hundreds of children under 11 years old is not an easier option than organising a secondary school; having responsibility for a child's start in life is surely as important as guiding them to a decent future.

I was a primary schoolteacher for 15 years (and enjoyed it) but it was a long time ago now and society has changed dramatically since.

The dedication of teachers today never fails to impress me. They now have to be social workers, agony aunts and healthy food experts as well as educators.

Teachers are even expected to cope with children who have been traumatised by war, some having lost entire families. They teach these youngsters to speak English, help them integrate and treat them with compassion. Perhaps, most importantly, they enable them to trust adults again.

Staff working in disadvantaged areas are, of course, then 'rewarded' by being slapped down if their pupils' results don't match up to neighbouring middle class schools, where children are swimming in books and floating - sometimes drowning - in parental support.

Another thing that gets my goat is people who still call headteachers 'headmaster' and 'headmistress', when everyone in the education world has used the non-gender specific title for decades.

I'm sure it's not deliberate, and they are open to the best person for the job, male or female, but hey, we've got a word such as 'doctor' or 'prime minister' or 'comedian' that covers both sexes - let's use it! * FINALLY: On a lighter note, but still on the nuances of descriptive language, I was amused to see this notice in the garden of an 18th century pub in Rickmansworth: 'Please do not leave any valuables in your car, as some of life's social misfits operate in this area'.

What a nice way to put it.