Teaching Today

ENGLAND

OCTOBER 2013

TH ED E U CO CA ST TI O O F N

NASUWT MEMBERS’ MAGAZINE

ISSUE 89 ISSN 1758-2466 £3.00

● TUC Congress ● Events and Reminders ● Overwhelming support from teachers for strike action

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Teachingtoday October 2013

IN THIS ISSUE Teaching Today October 2013

NEWS 4

Teaching in Mexico

4

Funding call for safety watchdog

4

5

Teaching in Mexico NASUWT member Arabella Yandle shares her experience teaching in the South American country.

Learning from the past, teaching for the future

6

TUC Congress 2013

8

Children missing out as cost of education rises

6

19 Political brief

TUC Congress 2013

The fight is on to defend workers.

FEATURE 10 The Fight Continues

DIARY DATES

11 Overwhelming support for action

Rallies and marches were held in Birmingham, Cambridge and Sheffield.

14 Events and reminders

PUZZLES 22 Win ÂŁ100 general knowledge crossword 22 Sudoku puzzles

The largest teachers’ union in the UK

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NASUWT, Hillscourt Education Centre, Rose Hill, Rednal, Birmingham B45 8RS Telephone 0121 453 6150 Fax 0121 457 6208 Email teachingtoday@mail.nasuwt.org.uk Website www.nasuwt.org.uk Printed by: Printed by: PCP Ltd

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www.nasuwt.org.uk/teachingtoday October 2013 Teachingtoday

3

NEWS

Teaching in Mexico NASUWT member Arabella Yandle has moved to Mexico to experience the life of a teacher in South America. In her first column for Teaching Today she shares her first impressions of the school system.

I moved to Mexico to work at a bilingual school in the capital at the beginning of August. The move to Mexico was partly prompted by a desire to teach sixth form, but also to escape the relentlessness of Ofsted. Sitting in the first meeting...and I thought I

was in a parallel dimension! The school is trying to be ratified by the Council of British Independent Schools, so we are told to expect an Ofsted-style inspection this year and are told that there will be learning walks, observations, work sampling and all manner of checks

and balances. What to do? We all just bite the bullet and get on with it. The school is lovely, the kids are great. Mexico is new and exciting.

This is a great opportunity and I’ll grasp it with both hands.

read more www.nasuwt.org.uk/NationalNews

Funding call for safety watchdog The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) must be better resourced in order to ensure higher levels of workplace safety, the NASUWT has argued.

schools from pro-active safety inspections are all putting the school workforce and children and young people at greater risk, the Union has argued.

Responding to a Coalition Government review of the safety watchdog, the Union has stated that the failure to prioritise health and safety issues in schools and colleges is jeopardising the welfare of pupils and staff.

The review of the HSE will assess whether there is a continuing need for the HSE’s functions and whether the HSE in its current form is the best way to deliver them, prompting concerns from safety campaigners that the HSE may be disbanded or have its work hived off to the private sector.

Asbestos in schools and colleges, the dilution of local authorities’ role in education and the Coalition Government’s decision to exempt

4 Teachingtoday October 2013

read more www.nasuwt.org.uk/HSEConsultation

NEWS

NASUWT International Solidarity Award 2014 – nominations open This award recognises the bravery and commitment of individuals around the world who work tirelessly to promote human rights and to defend the rights of teachers.

Burmese opposition leader and democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi was the winner of the inaugural award in 2012, followed by Bahraini teacher and trade union leader Jalila Al-Salman in 2013.

Nominations are now open for the 2014 award which will be presented at the NASUWT’s

Annual Conference in Birmingham. Visit www.nasuwt.org.uk/ISAward where you can make your nomination.

for all children and young people; ● demonstrating values of solidarity, equality and democracy; and ● challenging violence, injustice, bigotry and hatred.

Nominees must be involved in: ● educating/teaching in their country; AUNG SAN SUU KYI ● defending human rights; ● defending trade union rights of teachers; ● working for JALILA AL-SALMAN quality education WINNER 2012

WINNER 2013

read more www.nasuwt.org.uk/ISAward

Learning from the past, teaching for the future NASUWT member and history teacher Emma Chester from Astley Community High School in Northumberland has recently returned from a teacher training course to Jerusalem, organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust. Here she describes her experience for Teaching Today.

“When I applied for the Holocaust Educational Trust’s annual teacher training course in Jerusalem, I had no idea what to expect. Yet I was very aware that this was a once-in-a­ lifetime opportunity.

The experience did not disappoint. It was a privilege to engage with a range of leading academics, who helped us to deepen our knowledge of many different aspects of the Holocaust, and it was also very beneficial to participate in practical workshops and to discuss ideas with other teachers – I have taken away many ideas from them.

The visit demonstrated the need to consider the wide variety of different experiences during the Holocaust. We heard testimony from Shalom Eilati who was a hidden child in Lithuania.

He described his experiences in the

Teachers involved in the Holocaust Trust training course in Jerusalem Kovno Ghetto and how he was smuggled out into hiding. Experiences like his are often ignored during our teaching. As a group, we all felt that we had never considered this and it is certainly something that we all intend to add to our schemes of work to examine a more complete story of the Holocaust.

I will only fully understand the benefits of this course over the coming months as I teach the topic and discuss with colleagues what I learned. I found it a remarkable experience.”

read more www.het.org.uk

October 2013 Teachingtoday

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NEWS

TUC Congress 2013: The fight is on to defend workers

The looming crisis in education triggered by the Coalition Government’s policies was highlighted by the NASUWT at TUC Congress 2013 in Bournemouth.

Fair Pay and Standards in the Public Sector The NASUWT warned that the demolition of the national framework of pay and conditions of service for teachers is being used as a mechanism to privatise education and will trigger a spiral of decline in education.

NASUWT ex-President Suzanne Nantcurvis told Congress: “The Government is short-changing our children. In the education system, we are moving towards those old divisions – those who can pay and those who cannot.”

Stop the Attack on Teaching Assistants Teaching assistants play a vital role

6 Teachingtoday October 2013

in the education of children and should be protected from the Coalition Government’s axe-wielding policies, the NASUWT told Congress.

“

The teaching profession is under attack. The consequences are extremely profound, not only for teachers, but also for the effect that this will have upon children and young people.

”

Teaching assistants are an integral part of the ‘critical team’ around the child, and in threatening to deprive schools of their skills, the Secretary of State risks damaging the education of children and young people, said Senior Vice-President Geoff Branner. He told Congress: “Teaching assistants are qualified

professionals in their own right and deserve the Government’s respect and support.”

Attacks on Trade Unions NASUWT President Mick Lyons told delegates that in countries like Bahrain, Iraq, Zimbabwe and Colombia, teacher trade unions are facing intimidation and even violence in protecting their pay and conditions and the public education service in their countries.

He said: “The teaching profession is under attack. The consequences are extremely profound, not only for teachers, but also for the effect that this will have upon children and young people.”

The NASUWT told Congress that these attacks are part of a carefully constructed global attack on teacher trade unions to enable publicly funded agencies to marketise and privatise public education provision.

NEWS

Occupational Diseases The reckless dismantling of important health and safety and equality safeguards was a key theme throughout Congress.

The NASUWT highlighted the specific risk to pupils and staff from exposure to asbestos in schools, calling it a ‘disgrace’ that in the 21st century lives were recklessly being put at risk by preventable occupational diseases.

Speaking to Congress, Junior VicePresident Graham Dawson reiterated the NASUWT’s call for a strengthening of the Mesothelioma Bill to cover victims of all fatal asbestos-related conditions and ensure that all victims receive their full compensation entitlement.

The NASUWT calls for the release of jailed Colombian trade unionist Huber Ballesteros.

Section 28 Congress heard a passionate debate about the insidious re-emergence of Section 28-style policies in schools.

The NASUWT argued that the Coalition Government’s failure to promote equality has resulted in some schools developing policies which foster discrimination and prejudice.

Jennifer Moses

Alan Phippen, NASUWT Representative on the TUC LGBT Advisory Committee, said: “Despite the fact that a decade has passed since the infamous Section 28 laws were taken off the statute books, the legacy of this destructive piece of legislation remains prevalent in schools today.”

Don’t let the Racists Divide Us

Alan Phippen

Mick Lyons

Geoff Branner

The NASUWT warned against complacency in thinking groups like the BNP and EDL were a spent force.

Jennifer Moses, NASUWT National Official for Equality and Training, spoke at a fringe organised by Unite Against Fascism, where campaigners warned that the effects of savage austerity measures had created a climate of resentment which fascist groups can exploit.

Suzanne Nantcurvis

Graham Dawson read more www.nasuwt.org.uk/PressReleases

October 2013 Teachingtoday

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NEWS

Rising cost of education A hidden tax on parents The NASUWT’s second Cost of Education survey of parents has revealed that children’s access to critical educational opportunities is becoming more dependent on their parents’ ability to pay.

The survey, which received thousands of responses from parents and carers, shows the escalating costs parents increasingly face.

The NASUWT is concerned that the education policies of the Coalition Government are exacerbating the financial impact on parents, given high levels of unemployment, declining incomes, cuts to benefits and the rights now given to schools to set charges for any activity outside the core curriculum.

Equipment ●

Well over a quarter of parents reported they were required to purchase textbooks and reference books for their children.

●

Four out of five parents were required to provide writing instruments for their children. Three quarters were expected to provide other stationery.

Over half of parents spent well in excess of £25 per year, per child, on this equipment.

●

Of those parents spending more than £300 on school equipment, almost seven in ten said that they had to buy at least one computer in preparation for this academic year.

●

Nearly one in eight parents had to buy specialist equipment for the courses their children were taking, including children with special needs.

8 Teachingtoday October 2013

NEWS

Extra-curricular activities ●

Over a third of parents said they had to make a financial contribution to enable their child to attend after-school activities or clubs, a 5% increase on the 2012 survey. The average amount of money parents have to pay for these activities has also increased on the 2012 survey.

Educational trips and visits ●

Over a fifth of parents reported that they were required to pay for field trips that are compulsory elements of the examination courses their children had chosen.

PE ●

Over a sixth of parents were required to provide essential equipment, such as armbands, bats and balls, for their children.

●

Well over four fifths of parents had to purchase clothing and footwear for PE lessons, costing more than three in ten parents in excess of £50 per year, per child.

School meals ●

Just under half of parents who elect not to give their child school meals gave poor value for money as their reason for not doing so. ● The majority of parents said they spend between £2­ £3 per day on school meals for each of their children.

●

The vast majority (93%) of parents reported that they were required to pay for other educational trips to museums, theatres or nature reserves. This is an increase of over 10% on the figure for 2012.

●

Almost half of parents paid more than £50 over the last year to ensure that each of their children could participate in educational visits required by the curriculum.

School uniform ●

Over half of parents spent over £100 on their eldest child’s uniform alone.

●

Two thirds of parents were required to purchase uniforms from a particular supplier, an increase of 6% over last year’s figure.

School funds ●

Nearly four in ten parents made regular contributions to a school fund, with some paying up to £1,000 per year. There has been an increase of 15%, since the 2012 survey, in schools requesting contributions from parents.

The full survey report will be published shortly.

Parents’ views in brief “I do feel that there is a pressure to pay for trips, although they are 'voluntary' contributions, as you are told in the letter that the trip will only go ahead if enough funds are raised.”

“One of the most costly activities at school is swimming, which is part of the National Curriculum. This means that if a parent is unable to pay, their child is excluded from part of the curriculum to which they are entitled.”

“The cost of ingredients for GCSE cookery is a problem.

The course demands pupils use a wide range of ingredients from many cultures, some of which are expensive. Also it often asks for expensive cuts of meat. This course is unrealistic in the present economic climate.”

“My daughter started Year 12 at school last year and I had to pay for her books because the school didn't have enough to go round.”

“Many schools like children to have specific items of PE kit or summer uniform with logos on. These are three times the price of same-colour items without the logo.”

“My son is now having to go further afield to go to sixth form because of the compulsory rise in school leaving age and there is no help with transport. It will cost me £25 a week and the Government has made this attendance law. It’s another tax on me.”

“My child's primary school is constantly fundraising and a lot of pressure is put upon parents to contribute.”

read more www.nasuwt.org.uk/CostofEducation

October 2013 Teachingtoday

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FEATURE

THE FIGHT CONTINUES All members in England have now taken part in a rolling programme of strike action to defend the teaching profession and stand up for standards.

The campaign continues.

The attacks on teachers’ pay, pensions working conditions and jobs across England and Wales remain.

PAY ● The national pay framework for teachers has been abolished and teachers can now have no aspirations or expectations of any pay progression, regardless of how well they perform.

● Teachers have faced a significant pay cut, with Michael Gove awarding just a 1% pay rise in 2013/14, following a sustained pay freeze. This is far below the rate of inflation and represents a real-terms pay cut. ● TLRs, SEN and other allowances are also being reviewed to be replaced by temporary one-off or non-consolidated payments.

Implement the action short of strike action instruction to secure fair pay and performance management policy.

Your most recent successes Members taking a strong stand and enforcing the action short of strike action have secured a string of notable successes locally and nationally and are winning significant support from parents and the public. ●

Significant progress has been made towards resolving the dispute with the Welsh Government following constructive talks with the Welsh Education Minister, Huw Lewis – the progress enabled the planned rolling strikes to be withdrawn.

●

Punitive appraisal policies have been resisted across the country.

●

WORKING CONDITIONS ● the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) will be examining how non-pay conditions of service can be reformed. This threatens school holidays, working hours and contractual entitlements on cover, administrative tasks and PPA time.

Implement the action instructions to defend your contractual entitlements – use them or lose them!

PENSIONS ● Not content with the damage inflicted already, the Government is now moving to further worsen the Teachers’ Pension Scheme from 2015. It plans to reduce further the benefits which teachers will receive in retirement and increase the normal pension age.

Punitive, debilitating monitoring and surveillance, masquerading as classroom observation, has been stopped in schools.

●

Increases in workload have been prevented by implementing the action short of strike action instructions in full.

●

Schools applying the action instructions in full have been judged good or outstanding in inspection.

●

Thousands of parents, young people and members of the public have packed out the NASUWT and NUT joint ‘Rallies for Education’ across England and Wales to show their support for the stand teachers are taking.

● Further increases in pensions contributions on top of the ones already in place could be on the cards as the Coalition Government has yet to set out details of contribution rates from 2015.

Implement the action instructions to defend your pension.

10 Teachingtoday October 2013

read more www.nasuwt.org.uk/IndustrialAction

FEATURE

Second day of rolling strikes receives overwhelming support Tens of thousands of teachers attended rallies and marches across the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside and Eastern regions showing their overwhelming support on 1 October for the NASUWT and NUT’s second day of action on pay, pensions, jobs and conditions.

Rallies and marches were held in Birmingham, Cambridge and Sheffield, with packed venues echoing to the sound of cheers as speakers spoke passionately about the need to defend the profession from the relentless attacks of the Coalition Government.

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, told the crowds in Birmingham that the action was sending a strong message to the Secretary of State that we “have had enough of the myths, the misinformation, the distortions and the downright lies he and his Coalition ministers pedal day in day out about our education service and teachers.” © Paul Herrmann

© Paul Herrmann

© Justin Tallis

As Teaching Today went to press, NASUWT members in London, the South East, South West and North East were preparing to take strike action on 17 October. A full report will feature in the next edition of Teaching Today.

To huge cheers, she added: “I’m really proud to stand here today in a hall packed with all of you who care passionately about our education service. You and your colleagues right across the country are playing a vital role in the lives of children and young people.”

Speaking in Cambridge, Dr Patrick Roach condemned the Secretary of State’s refusal to engage in negotiations with the NASUWT and NUT to resolve the dispute.

He said: “Teachers are not to blame for this strike; this strike is the fault of Michael Gove’s intransigence. The threat to children’s education does not come from your action; it comes from this Government’s attacks on the education system.”

NASUWT speakers were joined at each rally by senior officials from the NUT and TUC.

read more www.nasuwt.org.uk/October1

October 2013 Teachingtoday

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NEWS

Thousands rally for education Thousands of teachers, parents, pupils and members of the public have been taking part in packed rallies across England to show their support for the NASUWT’s campaign to protect public education.

The NASUWT/NUT Rallies for Education attracted members of the public, parents and governors who heard moving testimonies about the damaging impact of the Coalition Government’s education policies.

Packed venues in Nottingham, London, Exeter and Cambridge heard from young people who described having life chances curtailed because of Coalition Government cuts.

Teachers, school leaders and governors described the damaging impact on their ability to provide the best education for children and young people.

The rallies also heard from the General Secretaries and Deputy General Secretaries of both the NASUWT and NUT.

“

speaking at the rallies...

“ DONNA HAMMOND­ HALLAM, teacher:

I want to focus on the needs of the children in my class. I want to be allowed the flexibility to do what I believe is required to address the

teaching and learning of my pupils.

Let’s fight to stop my pupils and your

pupils missing out.

I wouldn’t want my children taught by unqualified teachers, nor would anyone else who cared about their children’s education. Yet this

Government allows academies to

employ non-qualified (presumably much cheaper) teachers. As parents, we recognise that teaching is a difficult job and we need well-trained, well-paid, well-respected professionals in our schools.

”

”

MICK GILLOT, school governor:

“

”

“ ELIZABETH PETTIT, parent:

There is increasing pressure to convert to academies, but in both primary and secondary levels the jury is still out on the effectiveness of the academy system. Schools and governors are coming under increasing pressure to convert all the time.

All of us have one aim: excellent local schools with local accountability, parents having a say in their local school and teachers able to teach in the most appropriate way.

”

MICK LYONS,

NASUWT

President:

“ EMMA THOMAS, teacher:

As teachers, we are told we are lazy.

We are told we don’t like change. I have been teaching for 12 years, but every year I have had to change because every year the curriculum changes, as minister after minister changes their mind. Teachers are playing catch-up just to understand what children need to learn.

”

read more

12 Teachingtoday October 2013

www.nasuwt.org.uk/Rally4Edu

NEWS

Nadia Whittome

Young people tell of struggle The savage effects of the Coalition’s policies on young people were thrown into sharp focus when the NASUWT/NUT Nottingham Rally for Education heard from a sixth-form college student struggling to continue her A-level studies.

Nadia Whittome, 17, is forced to travel 14 miles to and from college each day because her local college, a 10-minute walk from her house, has withdrawn French and German A-level courses.

On top of this, the axing of the

Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) means Nadia and her family are struggling. She said: “Without the EMA, it is difficult to pay for books, stationery and travel to college, or to fund college trips.”

She spoke of the pressure she faces

in choosing to pursue her education: “A small proportion of students who fit narrow criteria receive a bursary, but this does not include all those in need.

“Every day I feel under pressure to leave college and get a job.”

Wales progress in stark contrast to

Westminster intransigence

The NASUWT and NUT were able to call off the planned rolling strikes on 1 and 17 October in Wales, following important progress in the trade dispute with the Welsh Government.

As a result of Education Minister Huw Lewis’s willingness to engage in constructive dialogue with the NASUWT and the NUT, agreement has been reached on appraisal and performance management. Mr

Lewis shares the ambition of the NASUWT to resolve as quickly as possible all the remaining aspects of the trade dispute.

The NASUWT action short of strike action instructions remain in place.

The approach of the Minister in Wales is in stark contrast to the intransigent attitude of Michael Gove in Westminster, who refuses even to acknowledge the deep concerns of teachers in England and

Wales about the attacks on their pay, pensions and working conditions.

His failure to engage in genuine dialogue to seek to resolve the trade dispute, his trivialising the issues and his attacks on the profession have led to overwhelming support from teachers for action.

read more

www.nasuwt.org.uk/IndustrialAction

October 2013 Teachingtoday

13

DIARY DATES

Dates

Events and reminders NEWLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS’ SEMINAR

Saturday 16 November 2013 St John’s Hotel, Solihull, West Midlands

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Fri 18 to Mon 21 April 2014 ICC, Birmingham

Consultation Conferences

The NASUWT holds an annual programme of Consultation Conferences to engage with members who are under-represented within the Union’s decision-making structures. Each event provides an opportunity for delegates to share experiences, network with colleagues, hear from a range of guest speakers and engage in workshops.

YOUNG TEACHERS

Saturday 25 January 2014 Hilton Metropole, Birmingham

DISABLED TEACHERS

Saturday 14 June 2014 Hilton Metropole, Birmingham

BOOK NOW

Following the NASUWT’s highly successful events for new teachers in August, this follow-up event provides another opportunity for newly qualified members to come together and share their experiences during their induction year. NASUWT officials will be on hand to offer advice and support.

All the NASUWT’s full members are eligible to represent their NASUWT Local Association at the Union’s Annual Conference, which in 2014 is being held at the ICC in Birmingham. Contact your Local Association Secretary to express your interest in being an elected representative to Annual Conference.

BLACK AND MINORITY ETHNIC TEACHERS

Saturday 7 December 2013 Hilton Metropole, Birmingham

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANS (LGBT) TEACHERS

Saturday 8 February 2014 Holiday Inn, Birmingham

WOMEN TEACHERS

Saturday 11 October 2014 Hilton Metropole, Birmingham

THESE EVENTS ARE FREE TO NASUWT MEMBERS

Contact the NASUWT Conferences and Events Team on 0121 453 6150, email conferencesandevents@mail.nasuwt.org.uk or book online at www.nasuwt.org.uk

14 Teachingtoday October 2013

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October 2013 Teachingtoday

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NEWS

Delegates at supply teachers’ seminar

Supply teacher exploitation challenged

Unscrupulous practices by supply agencies were under the spotlight at the NASUWT’s supply teachers’ seminar.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT Deputy General Secretary, highlighted the Union’s work to support supply teachers in the face of poor agency practice, which could also leave members vulnerable to financial liability.

required to sign contracts with umbrella companies that are controlling the market, in some cases ripping off schools and teachers.

The NASUWT continues to challenge unscrupulous companies after you give us the information to act.”

He told delegates: “Supply agencies hold a powerful position within the sector and many say they are

A focus group gave supply teachers the opportunity to discuss how supply agencies can work better for teachers.

Attendees were given a preview of work the Union is doing on supply agencies.

Workshops and presentations were held on: • managing pupil behaviour; • taking control of your professional development; • pay and conditions for supply teachers; and • curriculum reforms. read more www.nasuwt.org.uk/Supply

School leaders advised on Ofsted

School leaders have been encouraged to make a ‘professional challenge’ if they are unhappy with their Ofsted inspections.

Inspector Ceri Morgan urged school leader members not to fear the call from Ofsted and instead to see inspection as a two-way process in which the views of school leaders and teachers should be heard.

School leaders attending an NASUWT leadership briefing were given tips from Mr Morgan about how school leaders can best demonstrate their schools’ achievements to inspectors.

Mr Morgan was keen to challenge the perception that there is a favoured Ofsted approach to teaching and planning lessons and told school leaders that a ‘constructive challenge’ to inspectors, if they have concerns about the way in which an inspection is progressing, is a “healthy part of the inspection process”.

The leadership briefing also covered the important changes to the school funding system these were outlined

by Tim Cox, NASUWT National Negotiating Official. He explained the reforms are designed to pave the way for the introduction of a national funding formula and the NASUWT is concerned that this will lead to the creation of a quasi-voucher system, which could threaten the viability of a high-quality school network. read more www.nasuwt.org.uk/SchoolLeaders

16 Teachingtoday October 2013

NEWS

New teachers get support

Over the Summer, the NASUWT held a UK-wide programme of free ‘Preparing for Your First Teaching Post’ seminars for new teachers about to start their careers.

Positive behaviour management – Nicola Morgan shared a kitbag of behaviour management strategies designed to help new teachers remain in control in the classroom.

GCSE reforms The Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual have set out plans for significant changes to A-levels and GCSEs. Revised GCSEs in English and maths will be introduced from September 2015, with science, geography and history in 2016.

Induction rights – Ten key rights new teachers should expect during their induction year were spelt out.

The proposals include: E-communications – Members were given sensible tips to ensure that their ‘digital footprint’ does not compromise their professionalism and advice about how to tackle the threat of cyberbullying.

• ending the tiering of examination papers in English language, literature and geography; • the replacement of controlled assessments by written examinations in most subjects; • structuring GCSEs on a linear rather than modular basis; and • replacing the current letter-based grading system with a 1-8 numerical scale.

Voice care – Voice care expert Jonathan Hall led new teachers through a series of exercises on how to protect their voices.

What’s happening in teaching – The continuing work of the NASUWT to protect the profession through its Standing up for Standards campaign was outlined.

Nicola Morgan read more www.nasuwt.org.uk/Qualifications

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October 2013 Teachingtoday

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NEWS

Standing up for education at party political conferences The NASUWT attended each of the recent party conferences of the three main Westminster political parties to engage in fringe events with politicians and set out the Union’s policies on some of the key challenges facing education.

Are children being selected on their parents’ ability to pay?

A new localism – the future for world-class schools

The NASUWT highlighted the results of its cost of education survey.

NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates: “It is clear that the financial circumstances of too many families, as a result of this Coalition’s social, economic and education policies, are impacting upon the access their children have to educational opportunities.”

Kevin Brennan, Shadow Schools Minister: “We should make sure there is an ethical framework in which all schools, heads and parents should be expected to operate on asking for extra items to pay for.”

David Butler from PTA-UK: “I would like to focus on how PTAs, parents, teachers and heads can work together to mitigate these costs.”

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT Deputy General Secretary: “Big business providers are coming into the market in education when it is lucrative to do so, but are all too willing to walk away when their balance sheets dictate.”

Stephen Twigg, then Shadow Education Minister: Teachers are not the enemies of promise, they are the enablers of promise. I see the most amazing professionalism from teachers and from support staff in schools.”

Karin Christiansen, General Secretary, Co-operative Party: “Early evidence from Co-operative Schools shows children do well in these schools and that matters a lot to teachers. They support high standards.”

18 Teachingtoday October 2013

The future of the teaching profession The NASUWT urged politicians to commit to reversing the attacks on teachers.

NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates: “We need to address the evidence that teachers do not feel respected. Over half of teachers want to quit teaching for good.

Applications for teachers are down and resignations are up.”

Schools Minister David Laws:“I want the image of teaching to be as good as possible to attract more teachers.”

Kevin Brennan, Shadow Schools Minister: “There is nothing more important in relation to educational attainment and the international comparisons than the quality of the teaching profession. I believe schools these days are far better and I am inspired by the quality of teaching.”

Michael Gove declined to attend the fringe at the Conservative Party Conference.

NEWS

The political brief Oct 2013 Liberal Democrat Conference

The overarching theme for the Liberal Democrat Conference was ‘Stronger Economy and Fairer Society’.

Liberal Democrat Schools Minister David Laws announced new guidance on school uniforms to help schools cut costs for parents. It asks governing bodies to: • avoid exclusive single-supplier contracts except when regular tendering competitions are run, in

which more than one supplier can compete for the contract, and where best value can be secured; • not enter into ‘cash back’ arrangements; • not insist that pupils wear expensive items of uniform; • not make frequent changes to uniform specifications; • seek to select items that can be purchased cheaply, for example in a supermarket or other good value shop;

• keep compulsory branded items to a minimum.

On the development of education policies for the manifesto, Mr Laws stressed the importance of deciding what Liberal Democrat priorities for education should be, and of considering “what compromises have been made” serving in Government, in order to develop a distinct policy programme for education.

Labour Party Conference

The overarching theme for the Labour Party Conference was ‘Britain can do better than this’, with a focus on the unequal way in which the economy is now growing and on the cost of living crisis.

Criticising Education Secretary Michael Gove’s policy of “allowing unqualified teachers into our classrooms”, he called for a “highstatus, high-morale teaching profession”.

Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg criticised the Government’s record on childcare and announced that a Labour government would deliver a “Primary Childcare Guarantee”.

Additionally, he announced that Labour would add to the Technical Baccalaureate a requirement for accredited work experience placements and reverse any changes

to AS Levels. Yvette Cooper, Shadow Equalities Minister, announced that Labour would reverse Michael Gove’s refusal to introduce proper sex-and­ relationship education.

Chuka Umunna and Ed Balls’ speeches both emphasised developing a skilled workforce to allow the UK to compete in the contemporary world, with specific emphasis on the need to revamp and reform vocational education.

Conservative Party Conference

The overarching theme for the Conservative Party Conference was ‘Hardworking Families’ with a focus on reforming the welfare system and the idea of a ‘Land of Opportunity for all’.

Education Secretary Michael Gove claimed in his speech to Conservative Party conference that the Conservatives were the “party of social justice in Britain”.

In advance of the Conference, Grant Shapps announced a range of reforms to trade union law in the event of a Conservative Majority in 2015.

Reforms being considered include: • requiring unions to be charged a full commercial rent for using public buildings and facilities; • ending the right to free time off for trade union duties, including for fulltime union officials;

• banning ‘check off’ of fees from salaries, which some public sector unions use to maintain membership; • increasing the threshold before a union can apply for statutory recognition from 10 per cent of a workforce to 30 per cent; • insisting that strike ballots do not count unless at least 40 per cent of members vote for them; • axing the Union Learning Fund, currently £15.5 million, which pays for union officials to be trained.

October 2013 Teachingtoday

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PUZZLES

CROSSWORD

WIN £100 ACROSS 1 Video clips website (7) 5

Antonín ___, Czech composer 1841-1904 (6)

1

DOWN 2 3

11 ___ of Aquitaine, mother of Richard the Lionheart (7) 12 Novel by Joseph Conrad (4,3) 13 Stacey’s best friend in Gavin & Stacey (5) 14 Peter ___, Ever Decreasing Circles actor (4) 15 Continent separated from Europe by the Ural mountains (4) 16 Island group containing the Bahamas (4,6)

4 6 7 8 9 10 17 18

19 Large flightless bird of South America (4) 21 Flowering plant with a tiger variety (4) 22 Hampshire home of the Mountbatten family (10) 24 ___ Madrid, Spanish football team (4) 25 Fabric associated with Honiton (4) 27 Island in the Firth of Clyde (5) 30 Georges Simenon’s fictional chief inspector (7) 31 Anne Kirkbride’s Corrie role (7)

Jesse ___, winner of four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics (5) Country of East Africa, capital Dodoma (8)

2

3

4 10

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Person serving drinks, in the USA (9)

___ light, flare fired into the air for

temporary illumination (4) State of north west India, bordering on

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Pakistan (9) Capital city of Uganda (7) Cornish word for Cornwall (6) ___ mater, old school (4) ___ Army, charitable organisation (9) Cuban American actress, star of Hitch (3,6)

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20 Horse Bob Champion rode to win the Grand National (8) 21 Cattle town of southern Wyoming, USA (7) 23 American inventor of the sewing machine (6) 26 ___ clef, stave used by the viola (4) 28 ___ Days, Woody Allen film set in the 1940s (5) 29 Tolkien’s goblins (4)

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32 ___ Shackleton, Antarctica explorer (6) 33 Peter ___, actor who played Hercule Poirot on screen (7)

SOLUTION TO TT88’S PUZZLE Congratulations and £100 go to Nicola Welsh of Cornwall who correctly solved TT88’s crossword.

TT89’s puzzle will be drawn on 25 November 2013 and the winner will receive a cheque for £100. Entries should be sent to Teaching Today Crossword, NASUWT, Hillscourt Education Centre, Rose Hill, Rednal, Birmingham B45 8RS.

ACROSS

1 Almanac 5 Swatch 11 Sambuca 12 Pyramus 13 Runic 14 Ebro 15 Argo 16 Amy Johnson 19 Kirk 21 Puma 22 Anne Boleyn 24 Rain 25 Inca 27 Smaug 30 Empress 31 Ivanhoe 32 Syrian 33 En garde DOWN

2 Lemon 3 Asuncion 4 Agamemnon 6 Worf 7 Tom Cruise 8 Hassock 9 Istria 10 Spar 17 Yom Kippur 18 Operation 20 Moussaka 21 Perseus 23 Nugget 26 Nash 28 Aphid 29 Vera

SUDOKU

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9 2

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22 Teachingtoday October 2013

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THE NASUWT

ANNUAL

CONFERENCE

2014

WHY NOT TAKE PART?

WHEN:

18 to 21 April

WHERE:

Birmingham

WHO:

All full members are eligible to represent their Local Association at the NASUWT Annual Conference. Local Associations elect the representatives for Annual Conference at a general meeting.

COST:

FREE – Costs are covered by the NASUWT.

CHILDCARE:

A crèche is provided for the children of elected representatives to the Conference (up to the age of 16) free of charge.

HOW:

Contact your Local Association Secretary by phone, email or letter to indicate your interest in being an elected representative to Annual Conference. Contact details for your Local Association can be found on the Member Section on the NASUWT website www.nasuwt.org.uk or by calling 0121 453 6150.

NASUWT The Teachers’ Union

The largest teachers’ union in the UK