My Week - A week of teachers drives me to drink

Wednesday: At the Department for Children, Schools and Families for a meeting about the proposed new framework agreements by which it will contract organisations from the voluntary, public and private sectors to deliver work on its behalf. It's good to see a genuine attempt being made to "tidy up" the commissioning process, which is often time-consuming and complicated for both sides. The challenge will be to ensure that long-established agencies with a strong track record aren't overlooked, and also that smaller organisations can absorb the opportunity cost of getting involved in public procurement.

Thursday: No sooner have I started my role with the GTC than a controversy develops, as the union NASUWT mounts a petition against the new Code of Conduct and Practice for teachers, claiming it intrudes into teachers' private lives and infringes their human rights. It's a strange objection, since the code is based on what teachers, as well as parents and employers, have said they expect from teachers. The GTC has only ever heard two cases of teachers' misconduct outside school. In one, a teacher had encouraged unsafe sex on a website, and the other had appeared on a porn programme. In both cases, it's not hard to see why action was taken.