In your article on salaries at Heathrow's Terminal 5 (17 January, page 9), under the subheading "How T5 salaries compare", the salary for a teacher in London is quoted as £26,000.
It would appear that your excellent magazine has been hoodwinked, along with the rest of the media.

Although the average teacher's basic salary may well be £26,000, most also receive a combination of additional allowances or "points" for management responsibilities (£1593–£10,275), recruitment and retention allowances (£975–£5262) and special needs allowances for those working in special needs establishments (£1626–£3219). This raises the average teacher's salary after five years' service to £31,000 or more in an average secondary school. That's without London weighting (£792–£3927).

If comparisons are to be made with skilled construction workers, who deal with harsh site conditions, shouldn't we also consider that a teacher is only expected to work 195 days a year (39 weeks)? And let's not forget the length of a school day!

Despite this, sickleave among teachers is at epidemic levels (according to the DfES). Perhaps, in the final analysis, the lads on T5 and the rest of the construction industry should be paid more.

Postscript

Graham Holden, Kent.