IT IS about this time of year that county seeks fresh blood, ie new school governors.

The education department provides the training, the school pays for the sessions and the new governor provides the transport and picks up that cost.

Apart from the initial local session this can be anywhere in Hampshire, and usually in the dark evenings of the winter months.

When a school is put into ‘special measures’ by Ofsted, no matter how long the Chair of Governors has been in the Education Services, or how well connected the governors are in the community, or how new they are, the first group who are persuaded to resign “for the good of the school” are always the volunteers – the governors.

After that, County looks at those teachers who are close to retirement age – and they go next.

County may then turn their attention to their own inhouse liaison staff and, when all other avenues have been explored, they will finally look at the poor-performing school staff.

Meanwhile, the initial measures taken by County to get the school back on its feet have still not worked because sacking the governors is always the cheapest option.

However, County has demonstrated to the wider world that they realise there is a problem and they are doing “something”.

Veronika Pond, 21 St Birstan Gardens, Andover