Because I wanted to encourage as many teachers as possible to use the computing facilities, and because the headteacher had told me that his definition of my success was having people banging on the doors of the computer labs demanding to be let in, I allowed teachers to book the rooms for the whole term.

The problem with doing so, however, is that people booked a room for a particular period of the week for the whole term — “just in case we need it”. That has two effects, neither of which is desirable.

First, it blocks the room for everyone else. Secondly, it provides no incentive for the person doing the booking to really think about whether it will be necessary.

A far better approach is to apply the laws of supply and demand. If the supply of something — in this case the use of a computer room — is scarce in relation to demand, its price will go up. In this case, the “price” is having something worthwhile to do in the computer room.

So, allowing the rooms to be booked only a week or two in advance is really a better strategy.