Edenham High

Who'd be a headteacher?

As I said when all the Selsdon High stories kicked off earlier this year, it's easy to pin all the blame on the school and overlook a) parental responsibility and b) problems in society as a whole.

With regards to the latest incident at Edenham High (see the story on the home page), I've got no idea about Jacey Downes' abilities as a head teacher. However, I don't see how anybody could have stopped an incident like Wednesday's in advance.

It's abundantly clear there are huge problems in schools across Croydon, and it's likely to become a vicious circle.

Schools will struggle to attract the calibre of staff they need if teachers think they'll be walking into a war zone every day, and discipline will deteriorate even further if they are forced to employ weaker candidates as a result.

Talking of war zones - and that's one hell of a clumsy link - I find myself in the unusual position of being a bit uneasy about the Drudge Report's decision to break the Prince Harry embargo.

Most of the time, embargos are placed at the top of useless press releases by PR plonkers because it makes them feel like they're 'managing the news'.

They usually say something like: 'Survey reveals Stilton is now the UK's favourite cheese. STRICTLY EMBARGOED until noon on February 16.'

But in Harry's case, when you are talking about putting people's lives in danger, I don't feel particularly comfortable with it.

Finally, I'm glad to see the supplement with 651 pictures of Croydon mums seems to have come out as intended - believe me, there were many things which could have gone wrong - but less pleased with a typo in a prominent picture caption which has ruined my mood.

(Incidentally, if there ARE any mistakes in the supplement , don't call me, call promotions executive Kim Fyfe on extension 6655 instead.)