ANDREW Vaccari’s views about developments at QE School ("Courier", March 25) are always welcome.

As a parent of students at the school, he is brave to make public his response to decisions affecting students, staff, parents - and, to some extent, the community at large.

I imagine that choices made by the leadership of QES are as a result of pressures typically facing most state schools. However, in Crediton where our unique secondary school is central to community life, its well-being is of fundamental interest to all of us, both in the town and the surrounding area.

Important decisions about the school’s structure, curriculum, employment conditions, and so on, have an impact far beyond the school grounds.

Since QES joined the Government’s Academy programme, the school has operated outside the control of the local authority.

One consequence of this is that controversial decisions made by its own leadership team, can no longer be deflected on to Devon County Council’s Education Department. Any negative criticisms now land squarely on the head-teacher’s desk.

From recent headlines, it is plain to see that on-going choices by the QE leadership on how the school’s resources are allocated are likely to provoke considerable local reaction.

In the current funding climate, everyone understands that "difficult decisions" have got to be made, but it would be damaging if our school were to feel under attack from all quarters, and its senior staff adopt a bunker mentality as a result.

If the public was regularly invited to debate issues over resource allocation, this might go some way to soften the impact of recent negative headlines.

QE has no obligation, of course, to open up its decision-making processes to public involvement, but it might benefit from doing so.

As well as diffusing tensions and the impact of bad publicity, it would enable parents (current and prospective) and other interested parties to understand the conflicting pressures on an over-stretched school system – and possibly contribute to new solutions.

By comparison, football clubs which ignore the views of fans, on whom they depend, eventually gain a bad reputation. The same is true of our secondary school, in which we have so much invested. We are – or should be – all in this together.

Paul Vincent

Crediton