ASPECT GROUP
Aspect Biennial Report
T
his is a report which covers the main developments within the Aspect Group since November 2011. One of these was the merger with Prospect, which took place in February 2012, but that was designed to enable the Group to continue its work and activities rather than change or disrupt them. Therefore, this report focuses not on internal matters but principally on how the Group has sought to navigate the very turbulent waters in which our members find themselves.
The changing educational landscape The world in which our members work in England is being transformed. The fragmentation of the education system and the reducing role, responsibilities and resources of local authorities are having a major impact on the nature of their jobs and their terms and conditions. Where they were once employed by local authorities on specialist pay and grading systems, they now find themselves in a much more diverse and less certain world. Increasingly, they work in different ways for different employers and on differing terms. Although it is much less dramatic in the devolved administrations, change is also on their agendas. But, whatever their differing circumstances, our members remain united by a common professional ethic and a belief that every child is entitled to a good education.The objectives of the Aspect Group are similarly clear.We aim to protect the individual and protect the profession. The Group Council has agreed a strategy to address the challenges ahead and this report sets out its various elements in more detail.
20 | Improvement | autumn 2013
1. A voice for the profession As the educational system is being radically transformed, the work of the Aspect Group to speak up for the professions involved in education and children’s services has become more important. We have focused on two key areas: the need for an independent, properly resourced educational improvement service as part of the vital role of a ‘middle tier’ and how best to approach early years provision. We have used a number of routes and means to promote the professional interests of our members. Lobbying Westminster and the devolved administrations; responding to public consultations; producing briefings; working through the media; working with other organisations and using Improvement as a forum for debate have been some of the ways we have sought to articulate the needs of the profession for effective standards, recognition and resources and to influence public policy on education. For example, in relation to educational improvement, we have produced an Aspect Group manifesto as a clear statement of where we stand and why those employed in the profession should join us.
2. Relations with external bodies We have worked with a variety of stakeholder organisations including: Ofsted, Early Childhood Forum, National Foundation for Educational Research, Standing Committee for the Education and Training of Teachers, AQA Advisory Committees and others. Unfortunately, our relations with DfE have become much less frequent, reflecting the overall decline of any kind of consultative
machinery (formal or informal). However, we have sought to establish a dialogue with shadow ministers. Our relations with the Local Government Association in England, on the other hand continue, both in terms of industrial relations and on other issues from time to time (e.g. the employer’s Standards Working Group). We have continued to convene the Children’s Services Professional Network. The devolution of all education services in Wales to the Welsh Assembly Government means that Aspect works closely with ministers, elected members, government officials, the GTC Wales and other unions to discuss issues of common interest and respond to various public consultations. In particular, Aspect has championed the importance of the middle tier in all the Welsh School Improvement Education Consortia across Wales. In the light of the plan for a new Education and Skills Authority (ESA) in Northern Ireland, Aspect has sought to protect the interests and jobs of our members in relation to its structure and functions and the shape of the School Development Service. We have worked with and lobbied the NI Assembly, the Department of Education, employing authorities, higher education institutes, GTCNI and other stakeholders such as Education and Training Inspectorate. We have been active in the development of government policy on school improvement, school funding, area planning and leadership development via a number of working parties and other joint bodies. The Early Years National Committee has worked hard to raise their concerns about
www.aspect.org.uk