Educate magazine

Education for all College members fight to save A-levels. See page 12.

Stealing childhoods NEU’s social media campaign. See pages 6 & 50.

Recognising our reps Members discuss this rewarding role. See page 24.

September/ October 2025

Free School

Meals for All

Pupils take the message to Downing St

Your magazine from the National Education Union

Educate

September/October 2025

(From left) Pupils Ahmed, Max, Josie and Arthur from Monksdown Primary School in Liverpool on their way to deliver a card to the prime minister. Full story on page 14

Photo by Maurizio Martorana mauriziomartorana.com

AS always, the new academic year is off to a busy start. In this issue, you can find out more about the union’s campaigns, and where members are making a difference locally and nationally.

NEU president

Sarah Kilpatrick

NEU general secretary

Daniel Kebede

Editor Max Watson

Editorial assistant Frankie Faccion

Journalists

Sally Gillen, Emily Jenkins & Sarah Thompson

Newsdesk

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e: educate@neu.org.uk

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Our reps are, of course, working hard, negotiating and organising to make their schools and colleges better places to be, not just for their colleagues but students too.

If you’re feeling ready for a new challenge this term, why not consider becoming a health and safety rep? It’s an interesting and varied role. You can find out more about it in our feature on page 24. According to Colin Jordan, one of three reps we spoke to, it touches almost every aspect of working life.

In too many workplaces, as a result of funding cuts, even basic amenities aren’t maintained. Who wants to work or learn in a place with dirty toilets, without soap and hand towels? Nobody ever rejoices at having basic, working facilities – and why would they –but, understandably, there’s plenty to say when they don’t.

There’s more to being a health and safety rep than improving the toilets or tackling workplace hazards, of course. Working to improve the physical environment of the place where you and colleagues spend most of your time means you will be contributing to a morale boost en masse.

One group of workers for whom health and safety measures were overlooked entirely were the girls and women who worked in Derry’s shirt-making factories.

Their stories, shared on page 20, are a celebration of sisterhood and solidarity. A reminder, too, of what union membership should mean. They got a raw deal but reflect on what might have been if they had only recognised their bargaining power.

Now in their eighties, these former factory girls are fighting for recognition of all they contributed to the city, and their message for workers – women especially – is simple: know your worth, power and rights.

Sound advice, whether you’ve worked in education for years or are just starting out.

In whatever way you can, whether in your workplace or more widely as part of one of one of your union’s national campaigns, make your membership count.

Enjoy the issue.

Max Watson Editor, Educate

PHOTOS by Kois Miah

PHOTO by

Rehan Jamil

More funding for SEND reforms

A SCHOOLS white paper due in the autumn likely to propose more children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) stay in mainstream settings must be backed by significant investment, says the union.

Reforms to the SEND system are much needed, with too many children placed in profiteering independent special schools because their needs can’t be met in mainstream schools. But members are concerned about the funding for training educators in mainstream schools.

The NEU is carrying out research to look at how a more inclusive system could be achieved.

Big Tech’s Little Victims

A HARD-hitting campaign calling for the age limit for using social media to be raised from 13 to 16 will be launched later this month.

The NEU-led campaign, Big Tech’s Little Victims, sounds the alarm about the exploitation of young people by social media giants. It calls for greater regulation to protect children from content that damages their emotional development and mental health, warning that at age 13 children are too young to engage safely with social media content.

Charity Parentkind, Healthcare Professionals for Safer Screens, Mumsnet and thinktank The New Britain Project are supporting the campaign.

n See Final word, page 50

Hundreds of schools £1m worse off since 2010

AHEAD of the autumn budget, the Stop School Cuts coalition will release figures later this month showing the huge drop in funding over the past 15 years.

Figures will show most schools in England have less money –hundreds have lost more than £1 million in real terms since 2010 – with secondaries worst hit.

than 40,000 leaflets distributed to the public. Posters have been displayed in 2,000 schools and businesses.

At 85 schools across England, members have also been campaigning with a message that investment is urgent. Classrooms are left without the basics and children are losing out.

The crisis has been made worse by the government’s refusal to fully fund the teacher pay award, which means schools are expected to find £630m to make up the shortfall.

Over the past six months the Stop School Cuts campaign has taken the message about the crisis far and wide – with more

The NEU is calling on members to lobby their MP to restore funding to 2010 levels, in the run-up to the autumn budget. Members who have already done so much to raise awareness of the devastating impact of cuts are being urged to leaflet outside the school gates. n Find out how cuts have affected your school and how to get involved in the Stop School Cuts campaign at schoolcuts.org.uk

Covid inquiry: NEU advises on planning ahead

FORMER joint general secretary of the NEU Kevin Courtney (left) will give evidence to the public Covid inquiry later this month, setting out the pandemic’s impact on education.

Kevin, alongside Mary Bousted, led the union through the worst public health crisis in a hundred years, before they retired in 2023.

The NEU’s written evidence to the

inquiry criticises the government for repeatedly letting down children and educators. It argues that in the event of a future pandemic:

n the government must listen to the profession and unions

n there must be better planning to avoid exam chaos and more investment in digital infrastructure so all children can continue to learn

n greater efforts should be made to tackle child poverty, so children do not go hungry

n the government must act on the recommendations of experts on education recovery – it ignored the advice of its catch-up czar Sir Kevan Collins, who later resigned n air filters, which clean the air of allergens and pollutants as well as viruses, benefiting children and staff, should be in every classroom, and class sizes reduced. This will make it easier if social distancing becomes necessary.

n Visit covid19.public-inquiry.uk

Arts & Minds takes 10,000 signatures to Parliament

LEADING figures from the creative industries, including artist Bob and Roberta Smith, actor Jamie Kenna and composer Jack Pepper joined the NEU and MPs for a parliamentary event to promote the Arts and Minds campaign.

The campaign – a coalition of national organisations led by the NEU – is calling for the restoration of the arts in schools.

MP for east Thanet Polly Billington, who hosted the event, spoke about the importance of giving young people an arts-rich education.

“There is talent waiting to be harnessed, imagination waiting to flourish, and things that have not yet been made that children and young people want to make,” she said. “But they don’t know what they’re capable of because we don’t let that creative discipline be part of our education system. That is fundamentally wrong.”

Earlier in the day, an open letter with 10,000 signatures was delivered to education

secretary Bridget Phillipson and secretary of state for culture, media and sport Lisa Nandy. It called on the government to restore the status of arts subjects in schools and put creativity at the heart of learning. In autumn, the government is expected to publish the final report of its independent review of curriculum and assessment.

Recent research by pollster WeThink/ Omnisis has found strong support for the campaign’s aims among parents. Two-thirds (67 per cent) want more opportunities for their children to study creative subjects, with 70 per cent believing that these subjects will help them find a job and 78 per cent agreeing it would support them to fulfil their potential.

DfE rule change on QTS for overseas-trained teachers

CAMPAIGNING by members has helped push the Department for Education (DfE) to revise regulations that prevented many Black overseas-trained teachers (OTTs) from applying for fast-track qualified teacher status (QTS).

Teachers from Jamaica, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Singapore and South Africa could previously only apply for fast-track QTS, which is free for the applicant and can be done online, if they taught modern foreign languages, science and maths.

A rule change announced on 7 August means all teachers from those countries can take the speedier route, an option already open to OTTs from the European Union, Canada and Australia. Those who have been working at a school for 12 months are eligible to apply.

It is a victory for NEU members and the union, and a step forward in the campaign to

improve the treatment of OTTs. Some highly experienced OTTs have been held back from gaining QTS and paid significantly less than British-trained colleagues.

At one trust, the Harris Federation, some OTTs were underpaid by up to £20,000. Members’ action earlier this year led to a new trust-wide policy to improve the pay and conditions of OTTs.

n Read our feature on OTTs on page 28

This success, ahead of Black History Month in October, which has the theme Standing firm in power and pride, is a reminder that Black educators continue to be leaders, activists and pioneers who shape history.

The NEU is calling on members to bring into classrooms stories that demonstrate Black British and global Black strength and unity.

n See boxout right

n Cultivate an anti-racist learning environment neu.org.uk/antiracism-charter

n Black history posters and other resources neu.org.uk/blackhistory-month

n Open Hearts, Open Classrooms resource neu.org.uk/open-heartsopen-classrooms

n Stories by diverse authors litincolour. penguin.co.uk

n Teach positive global Muslim narratives neu.org.uk/ magnificent-muslims

(From left) Artist Bob and Roberta Smith and composer Jack Pepper

PHOTO by PinPep

Independent review of teachers’ workload in NI

EVERY teacher in Northern Ireland (NI) will be surveyed about workload, as part of an independent review commissioned by the government.

The three-member review panel wrote to school principals over the summer asking them to allow teachers time during Inset week before autumn term to complete the survey.

In June, the NEU submitted evidence on workload as one of the five unions of the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council and later gave evidence to the panel.

Pamela Cosgrove (above), outgoing NEU NI president, said: “We welcomed the opportunity to provide data and case studies of the true picture in our schools. I look forward to reading the final recommendations in late 2025.”

The review was announced in February and is part of the 2024/25 pay agreement.

‘Peer support’ at anti-racism summer weekend

UNION reps in Northern Ireland (NI) took part in a weekend summer school on developing anti-racist approaches in schools and colleges.

The training, based on the NEU’s anti-racism framework, highlighted the role of reps in fostering tolerance and inclusion in schools and wider communities. It was organised in response to rioting that began in Ballymena, a town in Country Antrim with a large migrant population, after an alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl by two 14-year-old migrant boys. Violence then spread to nearby towns Larne and Newtownabbey.

“Amid the turbulence, the summer school offered much-needed reassurance and peer support,” said NEU regional support officer for NI Danielle Black.

The two-day event included workplace strategic planning sessions where, with support from their district officers, reps were able to health-check their workplaces, map recruitment and problem-solve workplace issues.

n Visit neu.org.uk/anti-racism-charter

Staff in distress as council clears out closed school

MEMBERS at a school closed due to falling pupil numbers have been left furious and distressed after their labelled personal belongings were removed by the council with no warning.

Carly Slingsby, who was the NEU rep at St Dominic’s Catholic Primary, said staff were told they had until 25 July to collect personal items, but on 21 July removal teams arrived to clear classrooms. When asked where items were being sent, they answered: “To landfill.”

Carly told Educate that Hackney council’s clearance “feels like looting” and she considers her things being taken as theft. “The entire process was awful for staff, rushed and a wasteful disgrace,” she added, describing it as “picking at the carcass of our school”.

Carly has written to Hackney’s mayor, who has promised reimbursement, but she said some belongings were emotionally significant and irreplaceable, including children’s pictures,

photographs and religious artefacts. Former staff are also angry that despite reassurances by the council that only old or unusable items would be disposed of, they had to rescue thousands of items, including learning resources, heading for the dump.

The resources have now been sent to nurseries, baby banks and other organisations, said Carly. “Children’s organisations are underfunded and in need, but the council,

which prides itself on sustainability, was taking usable items to landfill.”

Staff and parents fought hard to keep St Dominic’s open but held a final ‘funeral’ march from the school gates to Hackney town hall on 6 June as a final protest. The school closed permanently on 18 July.

n See Educate, July/August, pages 26-29

(Above) Staff rescued useful learning resources heading for the dump. (Right) The ‘funeral’ march

LGBT+ NEU members at TUC conference (3-4 July)

First-time delegate Emily Millward proposed motion to address discrimination and improve protections in the workplace.

CHILDREN with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are more likely to suffer SATs-related stress, according to a survey carried out for campaign group More Than A Score (MTAS).

The poll of 750 parents and carers by Omnisis, published on results day (8 July), found one in five of those whose child has SEND described their child as being “very worried” about this year’s SATs, 32 per cent said their child did not want to go to school and 35 per cent did not sleep well. More than a quarter –26 per cent – reported their child having low self-esteem.

James Searjeant, head teacher at Wyborne Primary School in London, said: “The system is working against us all, and especially children with SEND. When 10- and 11-year-olds are made to sit high-pressure exams, and schools are judged on the results, the negative consequences are inevitable. We want to give children the most rounded and inspiring education in primary.”

The government’s curriculum and assessment review will deliver its final report in autumn. MTAS is calling for a fairer, more accurate way to assess children and measure school performance. n Visit morethanascore.org.uk

Our clear message: national agreements are not optional

TWO teachers working in a secure children’s home have won thousands of pounds in unpaid allowances after the NEU’s legal team took up their case.

Rona Chellew and Joseph Stone, NEU members working at the Vinney Green Secure Unit near Bristol, had tried to claim a special allowance for their work from South Gloucestershire council for several years.

Under the nationally agreed Orange Book, which outlines terms and conditions for teachers working in residential special schools, they were entitled to be paid the community

homes addition (CHA), which is now around £7,000 a year.

But the council claimed it had agreed with trade unions for employees at Vinney Green to forego this payment, even though it could not produce a copy of such an agreement.

“We would never have agreed to withdraw from nationally agreed terms,” said NEU South Gloucestershire branch secretary Elly Owen.

Rona, who now works in an independent special school, said: “I did everything I could to resolve this directly and professionally with my employer. In the end, I had no choice but

Campaign for national supply agency

THE NEU will be launching a new campaign this autumn – Stop the Agency Rip Off –calling on the government to mandate that employers pay supply workers to nationally agreed pay rates, and to establish a national supply teacher register to replace profiteering teacher supply agencies.

Members attending this year’s NEU supply conference received a preview of the groundbreaking research underpinning the campaign. At a challenging time for school budgets, supply agencies are pocketing the lion’s share of public money and reporting soaring profits, while supply teachers are consistently paid below nationally agreed pay rates.

Supply members will be called on to support the campaign when it launches in autumn. With a government nominally concerned about agency work, now is the moment to stand together to say that marketisation has no place in education.

to seek support from the NEU, which stood by me every step of the way.”

After almost a year of legal proceedings, the council agreed in June to settle the case, paying Rona £19,230 and Joseph £16,790. Joseph, who still works at Vinney Green, will start receiving the payment from September.

The council also issued a formal apology to both members and agreed to pay the NEU’s legal costs.

Elly said: “We are proud to have stood by Rona and Joseph throughout this process. The outcome is a clear message to all employers: national agreements are not optional.”

Making connections at supply conference

IT CAN often feel like you’re a lone ranger as a supply teacher, so it was great to meet colleagues from across the UK at the NEU supply teacher conference on 21-22 June.

We heard about the Northern Ireland supply teacher register (NISTR), an online platform which is used to book supply teachers. It pays supply teachers to scale and ensures that subject specialist supply teachers are matched to the correct role. This is something to aspire to, but it can only be achieved through collective action. We need to put pressure on the government to change the legislation.

We received CPD training, including a session about how to recognise and support children who have had adverse childhood experiences, and voted on motions for the NEU’s annual conference.

I came away feeling united with other members and more connected with the union.

By Kate Murphy, supply teacher

Emiley Davies, head teacher at Mayespark Primary, Ilford, who joined other heads outside Parliament to make the case for a substantial reform of primary assessment

PHOTO by PinPep

The year stretches ahead of us, full of promise

NEU general secretary

Daniel Kebede says while the new academic year is always a time for optimism, there are still struggles ahead which we can tackle together.

WELCOME back to the start of a new academic year, with all the joys and challenges it brings.

When I was in the classroom, I always enjoyed this term. The chance to meet a new cohort of pupils, to learn about them, discover their personalities and what makes them tick. Definitely a plus in the ‘joy’ category.

However, this September there are more than a few entries in the ‘challenges’ column.

Schools left to find £630m of funding

At the recent spending review, we forced the government to promise an extra £4 billion for school budgets and £2 billion for buildings.

But even this extra money won’t be enough to solve the crisis in education. Schools are facing cuts of £630 million next year to pay for the increased teacher pay rise that this government is still refusing to fully fund.

Funding levels are considerably below what they were in 2010; below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of five per cent; and significantly below the 5.5 per cent put in by the last Labour government.

Bitter experience tells us that, once the honeymoon period of the new academic year wears off, the lack of funding begins to have an impact on our pupils and the education we can give them. No money for glue sticks, pens, paper, whiteboard markers, music making, art materials and school trips.

Staff leaving but not replaced, workload rising, vacancies getting harder and harder to fill. All down to lack of funding.

That’s why this September we’ll be relaunching our Stop School Cuts campaign, with updated figures showing just how lack of funding will affect our schools and your community. We’ll be asking you to lobby your MP to make sure schools get extra funding ahead of the chancellor’s autumn budget.

When we work together we can wring more funding from even the most reluctant of

governments. This term, our pupils need us to step up again.

Curriculum, poverty and social media

Also this term the government will deliver its long-awaited curriculum and assessment review. Our narrow and unimaginative curriculum is failing our pupils and is overdue for change. We’ll be stepping up our Arts and Minds campaign to ensure creativity is at the heart of education.

And the government’s child poverty strategy is also due. Poverty underpins so many of the problems facing our young people and shapes their chances throughout life. The Labour party spent much of its election campaign highlighting the inequality caused by austerity in our communities, but it’s had enough time in government to devise and implement policy that can really tackle it.

We will be stepping up our Free School Meals for All campaign and continuing to highlight the challenges poverty presents to our pupils and their learning.

In a move quite close to my own heart, we’ll be launching a new campaign to call for urgent action to crack down on social media companies and protect children from online harms. The fallout from the everyday misogyny, racism and extremism children are exposed to on social media is being keenly felt

in schools. Something needs to be done to protect our pupils and hold those profiteering from the misery to account.

Racism online, on the street, in parliament

And lastly, most disturbingly, I genuinely can’t remember levels of racism like there are just now, in the whole of my adult life.

There are confident racists striding our streets, trolling and abusing our young people on social media. They are unashamed, with a swagger that comes from having megaphones for their bigotry sitting in Parliament.

When I was an early years teacher, I’d line the children up for lunch – Black, white, Muslim and Jewish kids – and they’d all hold hands. Our children begin their education with innocence, making friends, laughing and playing without the prejudice on display from the so-called grown-ups.

I think the majority of people in Britain are anti-racist and most are appalled by what we are experiencing. Now is the time to stand up and be counted, to challenge the vicious narrative of the far right, and to organise against hatred and division.

So here’s to a new term, full of promise but also with much work to do if that promise is to be fulfilled. Wishing you all the best for what lies ahead and a pledge from me – your union will be standing beside you every step of the way.

Daniel Kebede, a former primary school teacher, with pupils from Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School in Barrow, Cumbria. The school is desperately in need of funding for facilities and repairs, having been without a permanent school building for more than two years (see Educate, May/June, page 8)

PHOTO by Matt Wilkinson

BSix members strike to save A-levels for all

TEACHERS at a college whose ethos was “everyone is educable” before it was taken over a year ago, went on strike after A-levels were withdrawn for this September.

Most members have taken voluntary redundancy from their jobs at BSix college in east London, but before leaving they helped secure a commitment that the decision to cut A-levels will be reviewed.

Rep and Hackney NEU post-16 officer Jamie Duff, who had taught history and politics for 22 years, said: “Our action was to try and save A-levels, so they might come back at some future point.”

He told Educate the dispute, involving 23 strike days since January, was “hard-fought and had significant community support”.

It began in September 2024 when New City College (NCC) took over BSix, renamed it Hackney Sixth Form, and refused to give staff the pay rise agreed by the Sixth Form College Association (SFCA). Instead, they were offered just three per cent.

After seven strike days, members won the SFCA pay rise of 3.5 per cent from September 2024 and 5.5 per cent from April 2025. They also won a 14-point workload agreement,

LEADERSHIP member Dean Gordon and his staff (pictured right) have made history after their school became the first primary in the UK to be awarded the Race and Conscious Equality (RACE) Beacon of Excellence status.

Dean, who is executive head of Grinling Gibbons in Deptford, south London, said: “This moment is testament to the love and integrity that run through the veins of our school community, and the unrelenting belief that every child deserves to feel seen, heard and valued.”

The national award was developed by the Schools, Students and Teachers Network (SSAT), which has recognised Grinling Gibbons for its exceptional and sustained commitment to fostering race

including no cover, no invigilation and protection for existing enrichment provision.

But their roles were later deleted in a restructure after the NCC said it was axing A-levels because of low achievement, the result of many students not completing the courses.

Jamie told Educate that BSix had been the only place in the borough, outside of schools, offering A-levels. It gave a “second or third chance” to many, including refugees, people who were homeless and those with

special educational needs and disabilities. The BSix model had allowed students to sign up for A-levels, which had low entry requirements, and if they weren’t succeeding after the first year they could switch to another course.

“The idea was everyone is educable. You turn up and we have the type of course for you, rather than you have to fit in with us,” added Jamie. “We had some great successes, including people who joined with no GCSEs and went on to study at Oxford.”

equality and inclusive practice.

SSAT chief executive officer Sue Williamson said the school’s work was a “blueprint for schools across the country”. One parent

said: “Our children grow up knowing their identity isn’t just tolerated, it’s celebrated.”

n Visit neu.org.uk/anti-racismcharter

‘Educational jukeboxes in a streaming world’

FORMER director of curriculum at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Professor Mick Waters has branded the education system “old and out of date”, describing schools as “educational jukeboxes in a streaming world”.

Delivering this year’s Fred Jarvis lecture, organised by the National Education Museum in honour of the former NUT general secretary (1975-1989), Professor Waters reflected on changes over the past decade, saying underfunding, a narrowed curriculum and the accountability regime had damaged education. n nationaleducationmuseum.uk

NEU members at BSix protesting the scrapping of A-level provision

PHOTO by Guy Smallman

Private school teachers more than twice as likely to have had formal

training than those in state schools: tinyurl.com/artificial-advantage

Sharing inspirational stories of resistance

By Louise Regan, NEU executive member

A DELEGATION of NEU members and organisers from campaign group

Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) joined a week-long educational trip to Poland.

We learned about the rise of fascism, Jewish life before and leading up to the Holocaust and, importantly, the resistance movement.

The visit was timely, with the far right on the rise again globally and fascist ideologies creeping back into mainstream discourse.

SUTR organiser Jo Cardwell described the visit, the first joint NEU/SUTR trip to Poland, as a “profound experience” for the 23 delegates.

Carry their courage with us

Visiting Auschwitz ignited a fire within me, a renewed commitment to ensure that the stories of resistance are told and that we carry their courage into our present-day struggles.

It is not enough to remember the past, we must be active participants in changing the future. We must challenge fascism wherever it appears: in our institutions, governments, the media and our communities.

Many of us also learned a huge amount from the museums and exhibitions we visited during the trip, especially about the richly diverse Polish society, particularly in Warsaw, and the resistance to the Nazis.

In many school curriculums, lessons about the stories of Jewish resistance tend to be missing, as we focus on the Holocaust, remembering the unimaginable suffering inflicted by the Nazi regime.

Small acts, monumental bravery

Resistance took many forms, including smuggling food in the ghettos, forming underground schools and taking part in uprisings. Acts were often small and quiet but took monumental courage.

Co-organiser of the visit, NEU member and author David Rosenberg, explained: “We explored what motivated people to keep resisting when all seemed hopeless. Our emphasis was on life before death and we tried to humanise and personalise the largely faceless victims.”

Former history teacher from SUTR and member of the delegation Donny Gluckstein

said: “I’m convinced learning about the Holocaust is one of the most important lessons there can be, for the teacher and the pupil. It tells us where racism and far-right politics can lead.

“The Holocaust also teaches us that in the midst of the worst, the spirit to resist and maintain one’s humanity and to stand for justice and equality – a core trade union principle – can exist and ultimately triumph. When we see the genocide in Gaza and the rise of the far right across the world, lessons need to be remembered.”

Co-organiser, writer Julia Bard, said

delegates had approached the tour with open hearts and minds, responding with empathy and imagination, not only to the information being shared, but with each other in dealing with this painful history.

Jo added: “The NEU has been at the forefront of the trade union movement in calling out the racism of the far right. The members who attended this trip were inspirational in their learning, resolve and commitment to fight racism and fascism, wherever it raises its head.

“We all want to ensure that when we say ‘never again’, we mean it.”

Auschwitz concentration camp; David Rosenberg highlighted some of the many acts of resistance, including by pharmacist Tadeusz Pankiewicz

PRIMARY school pupils travelled from Monksdown Primary in Liverpool to deliver a card to Downing Street to thank the prime minister for expanding the provision of free school meals (FSM) to another 500,000+ children.

But the card also warned Keir Starmer, “there is more to do” and called on him to provide a school lunch for every child at a state-funded primary school in England: “This is a legacy defining opportunity – and with you at the helm

we know it can be achieved.”

In June, Starmer announced that all children in England whose parents receive universal credit will get FSM from September 2026.

The card was handed in on behalf of the No Child Left Behind campaign, organised by the NEU, which has been campaigning for FSM for all primary pupils for the past three years.

NEU vicepresident Ed Harlow accompanied year 6 pupils Arthur, Ahmed, Max and Josie, their teacher Ann-Marie Ferrigan and head teacher Jacqui Price.

‘Let us commit to making universal FSM a reality’

“UNIVERSAL free school meals (FSM) are not a handout; they are a foundation – a vital investment in our children’s future.”

That was the message from teacher, activist and Portsmouth NEU joint secretary Charlotte Lawrence in a keynote speech at this year’s No Child Left Behind conference.

“When we guarantee food for every child at school we remove stigma, we reduce inequality and we improve educational outcomes for all,” Charlotte told delegates at the conference, held at the NEU’s London head office, Hamilton House.

“This is a clear call to action: policy makers, educators and communities, let us commit to making universal FSM a reality.”

In a panel discussion about the London rollout of FSM to all children in primary schools by mayor Sadiq Khan in 2023, head teacher Jamie Maloy at Grange Primary School in Ealing, west London, told delegates the policy had a positive impact at his school.

“None of the children worry about who lives in a multimillion-pound house or who

has FSM. Schools are about belonging and not making children feel different,” he said.

Later, a panel of speakers from Finland, India and the United States discussed the positives of delivering FSM for all pupils.

Professor Donald Bundy, senior adviser to the UN world food programme, who also spoke, said: “Universalism doesn’t mean huge

unattainable costs – because other countries have done it.”

Other panels throughout the day included one on how FSM can address inequality and how we can break the cycle of poverty in schools. In the afternoon delegates broke out into groups to discuss ideas and inspiration for co-ordinated action in the next steps of the campaign.

NEU vice-president Ed Harlow presented pupils from Monksdown Primary in Liverpool (see above) with certificates for becoming Free School Meals for All young campaigners.

Pupil Josie said she had felt “proud and powerful” to have helped deliver a card to the prime minister that included a plea to give all primary children a free school lunch.

Classmate Ahmed agreed: “This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” while Max said: “We hope we are pushing the prime minister a bit more because it’s very important children get food, otherwise they can’t concentrate.”

n Visit nochildleftbehind.org.uk

Hackney councillor Claudia Turbet-Delof (left) and Radhika Iyer of children’s charity Akshaya Patra UK

(From left) Monksdown Primary pupils Max, Josie, Ahmed and Arthur outside 10 Downing Street

PHOTO by Maurizio Martorana

Bigger picture

NEU member and director of music at Shropshire independent school Wrekin College, Simon Platford (right), at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York with staff and pupils from the school’s choir.

Pupils from years 7 to 13 are members of the choir, one of only five in the world selected to sing at the iconic cathedral on Fifth Avenue as part of its annual guest concert series in July. It competed against professional and school choirs from around the world and sang a selection of liturgical music by composers including John Rutter and Philip Stopford.

“It was an amazing experience and a privilege to see these youngsters deliver a stunning performance at a globally prestigious venue for ensemble choral singing,” said Simon. “The fact that we received a standing ovation is a testament to how hard the young people have worked and to the time they have dedicated to it.”

Pinehurst pickets over privatisation

NEU members at Pinehurst Primary School in Liverpool took two days of strike action in July against forced academisation plans.

The union’s campaign, which has seen parents and staff join forces, is fighting a proposal to hand the school over to Cheshire Academies Trust. Staff argue that there is no educational justification for the takeover and say there has been a lack of transparency and consultation.

“The question we keep hearing from parents is: why is a private limited company from Cheshire so interested in a successful community school in Anfield?” said NEU regional officer Bora Oktas. “This isn’t a failing school. It’s a thriving one with a strong ethos and dedicated staff.”

Support for the strike has been strong, with many parents joining picket lines and nearly 400 signing an online petition opposing

Outwood drops plans for longer day after NEU strike

AN academy trust has dropped plans to increase teaching hours at 28 of its secondary schools – a major win for staff who took four days of strike action (see Educate, July/August, page 8).

Members at Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT), which runs 41 schools in the north of England, took action over proposals to extend the school day from 2.30pm to 3pm.

The trust has also agreed to safeguards on tutor time, trialling planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time at home, and workload meetings and impact assessments.

St Brendan’s win over workload and working from home

SIXTH form college staff in Bristol are celebrating after winning their dispute over workload and working conditions.

Members at St Brendan’s took six days of strike action in June and July after workload increased. They were

academisation. The NEU has criticised the head teacher’s decision to keep the school open during the strike, despite safety concerns and low pupil attendance.

Karen Copsey, Liverpool NEU joint assistant secretary, said: “The employer is acting like a law unto itself. Staff concerns

also unhappy about policies, such as not being able to work from home on designated marking days, which made them feel they were not trusted.

“That made us feel angry and frustrated, especially when we saw our leadership team working from home,” said NEU rep Bev Forsythe-Cheasley.

Wins also include the right to request to work from home when not student-facing, a 25 per cent reduction in the number of new student interviews that staff must carry out, up to one day of paid leave for ‘special events’, and a less punitive sickness absence policy.

Dispute rolls on as Nugent claims no money for pay

NEU members at Nugent House School, a special needs independent school in Merseyside, took 21 days of strike action between May and July in a dispute over pay.

During the 2023/24 academic year, Nugent Care Ltd – which runs the

have been ignored, and the so-called consultation with parents was a sham.”

The NEU is calling for the immediate suspension of the academisation process and a full, transparent consultation with staff, parents and the wider community. Further strikes are planned for September. n See Letters, page 42

school – revised its pay scales. But while this meant an increase in pay for some staff members, teachers received no pay award.

Nugent stated there was no money in the budget for a cost-of-living increase across the organisation. It added that it was facing a challenge from the increase in VAT from 1 January 2025.

Negotiations with arbitration service ACAS have so far been unsuccessful.

Redundancy plans dropped after union ballots for action

LEADERS at a primary school in Berkshire dropped plans to make five teaching assistants redundant after members balloted for nine days of strike action.

The leadership team and governors at West Twyford Primary School in Wokingham said they had found the money to keep the staff shortly before action was due to begin.

In addition, they have agreed to give the NEU rep facilities time and meet them every half term.

NEU members on the picket line at Pinehurst on 18 July

Julie Walters-Nisbett is a science specialist and the NEU rep at City of Leicester College, where she has taught for 25 years.

Fighting for a diverse, inclusive curriculum

What do you love about your job?

The practical work with students, much of which has been taken out of the curriculum. I enjoy their inquisitiveness – I don’t believe in didactic teaching.

The knowledge students pick up from social media sites, such as TikTok, is interesting. We were studying diet recently, discussing vitamins and supplements, and one of my year 8 boys was talking about how dopamine is created. They bring this knowledge to the classroom, but you do have to help them navigate what’s true and what isn’t.

What do you love about being in the union?

The camaraderie. I became a union member as soon as I started teaching. I was lucky that my school had a great rep.

Being in the union gives you a collective voice around staff issues, as well as allowing you to influence the experience of students. I’m a great advocate for a more inclusive curriculum, for example.

What have you been up to lately?

In July, we celebrated ten years of Leicester NEU Black educators. As we continue to grow, we are changing perceptions of what is possible, campaigning to achieve racial equity and social justice in society. Unfortunately, we still have members experiencing racism in schools in Leicester – from students and sometimes from staff.

We have a campaign to save local libraries in Leicester (see Educate, July/August, page 12). The council is calling for more community-managed libraries, which threatens this vital resource.

Libraries offer a place to study that’s quiet (during exam season, there are kids sitting on the floor in our libraries) and resources for those children who don’t have them, including computers and books. I have a student who used the GCSE revision guide from the local library for two years.

What’s important to you right now?

The fight to have an inclusive, diverse and representative curriculum. We do a lot of work in Leicester with the Stephen Lawrence Centre around racial literacy and creating a more diverse curriculum. That’s a priority for Leicester NEU Black educators.

What do you do on your day off?

On Sundays, I sing in my church choir. I’m very family oriented and look forward every summer to going to Jamaica and spending time with my family, eating good food and going to the river. I love international travel – my degree was in hotel, restaurant and tourism management.

Tell us something we don’t know. I love meeting my old students and hearing about their successes; they have become lawyers, doctors, teachers and scientists.

I’m a high-needs learning support teaching assistant, and work one-to-one with a year 5 pupil.

We were recently covering angles in maths, and I explained that a 90-degree angle is a special kind of angle with its own name – a right angle.

When we moved on to 180 degrees, I said: “This one is special too. It’s not obtuse or acute. Do you know what it is called?” thinking that he would see the visual and know it was a straight line.

But he had his own kind of logic in his response: “Is it a left angle, Miss?”

n Email your funny stories to educate@neu.org.uk

Julie Walters-Nisbett

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Where are the schools?

They say that we should only look after our own, sort out what’s ours and tidy our home.

Cultivate your garden, said the writer Voltaire, saying that’s all we need do, to care.

But in another place many miles away, schools are being destroyed, they say.

Education, we’re told, is a human right. But there aren’t any schools left in sight.

We’re in education. It’s our affair, no? So what do we do? Pretend we don’t know that this destruction is going on? That hundreds of schools have just gone?

Or do we ensure our voices are heard to forcibly condemn the disaster incurred?

Words by Michael Rosen Illustration by Dan Berry

The shirt-making factories of Northern Ireland’s second largest city, Derry, were its economic heart. Two former factory girls share their stories of sisterhood and solidarity on the shop floor and beyond with Frankie Faccion.

‘We were young, we

“EVERYONE in Derry has a connection with the shirt-making factories in one way or another,” says English teacher and NEU women’s officer Tanya Wakeley. “My family is steeped in the history of the factory girls.”

Tanya’s mum, nana and aunties, including her aunt Peggy who worked at the “iconic Tillie & Henderson” (see boxout, page 23), all worked in the factories.

So it was for partly personal reasons that Tanya, who has set up Northern Ireland’s first women’s organising forum, arranged in June for NEU members to meet some former factory girls.

“They are still so iconic for Derry women,” she says, proudly. “They bridged all sectarian divides, which blighted Derry during The Troubles and over the years. The tenacity, humanitarianism and friendship of these women resonates today.

“As NEU women I felt it was important for us to embrace their struggles, history and stories of female solidarity as we, too, advocate as union members for better conditions at work. Their struggles have a synergy with our own fight today.”

‘The women’s wages kept Derry going’ Family friend and former factory girl Clare, who often marches alongside Tanya and other trade unionists, was one of those invited to share her story. She tells Educate that, despite how hard it was, she looks back at her time on the factory floor with fondness, thanks to the camaraderie.

Starting as a factory girl in 1960 aged 15 – “I left school on the Friday, started on Monday” – Clare’s wages helped keep her family afloat, as male unemployment was at 30 per cent in the city.

“It was the women who kept Derry

Working on the machines was “no picnic”, and there were “many mishaps with needles”

Clare (above centre), with fellow factory girls Mary and Vera. The social life was “fantastic”, especially trips to the dance halls

we didn’t know our power’

going,” she explains. “My three brothers all went to England and never came back. My father never had full-time work, just onand-off jobs. That’s the way it was for a lot of families in Derry.”

She stayed at City Factory for seven years but later did shorter stints at a number of others after she had children, often doing evening shifts so she could juggle work with family responsibilities.

Rosemary Doherty, also a former factory girl, remembers the huge financial pressures on Derry families. Her in-laws looked after her first-born so she could work, and her £5 a week earnings were vital, she says, because her husband was a student nurse and brought home only £32 a month. Their rent was £8 a week.

Rosemary and Clare, now in their eighties, say the pace of work was intense, the noise deafening – many former workers have

suffered hearing loss – and zero attention was paid to health and safety.

‘Timed by a man with a stopwatch’ “There were many mishaps with needles,” says Clare, who also recalls the pressure of a practice called ‘time and study’. “They sent in a man – it was always a man – who stood over you with a stopwatch to see how many pieces you did in a period of time.”

Women and girls each worked on a specific part of the shirt, attaching cuffs or collars or making buttonholes. “I had cuffs, which was a much easier job than collars,” she says.

They were paid per bundle, and a supervisor, usually a woman, would collect the tickets that had been attached to each bundle at the end of the shift. Clare says they would often give over tickets for incomplete bundles, known as ‘dead horses’, to boost their earnings

for that week, returning early the next morning to finish the work. In a quiet act of female solidarity, supervisors would overlook the ‘dead horses’.

It wasn’t only shirts they made. Rosemary remembers sewing baby dresses for Marks & Spencer at the Wilkinson factory, using a tiny pair of scissors gifted from her aunt, who had also been a factory girl, to complete the intricate and skilled work.

Reflecting on their time in the factories, Rosemary and Clare say that despite being in a union they never took a stand. “I only learned later that we weren’t just cogs. We had value and deserved respect,” says Rosemary.

“I’d tell any woman now: ‘join a union, go out and fight for your rights’. Go to meetings, speak to your representative, get any information they have to share and protect yourself from the beginning.”

continued on page 23

(Left) one of the nine plaques around Derry

continued from page 21

Clare remembers a friend, Mary, who along with others was sent by factory owners to Manchester to train girls to do their job. Not long after she returned to Derry, they were put on a three-day week when the factory began sending a lot of work over to England to be done by those they had trained. The Derry factory girls were pushed into poverty by such a significant cut in hours and had to find employment elsewhere.

“We were so young. We didn’t know our power,” she reflects. “If even one line of women and girls had walked out, it would have stopped the whole factory floor. Women in unions should know their worth.”

Life in the factories was “no picnic”, Clare adds. “You were just always thinking about getting out that door to the dance halls. We worked hard and didn’t get paid well enough, but we had a wonderful time, because the social life was amazing. The older girls were like big sisters to me. Everyone helped one another.”

Rosemary agrees: “You seldom saw a factory girl walk alone.”

A more fitting tribute

Today the strength of that bond of friendship is propelling their campaign, which others have also joined, including the NEU, for a fitting tribute to the generations of factory girls whose labour was so vital to Derry’s economy.

Clare is part of community group Friends of the Factories, which worked with Derry Trades Union Council to create a series of nine plaques commemorating factory life. The plaques are fixed to buildings across the city, most of them former factories now turned into office blocks or flats.

On the day of the statue unveiling, the factory girls were given a beautiful, commemorative silver pendant, designed by Una Carlin at Faller jewellers, featuring rows of machinists and hopeful words of solidarity.“It means so much,” says Clare.“What a contrast to the three bobbins.”

“For decades, Derry women were a force. How can three bobbins represent that?”

However, Clare describes a bronze statue commissioned by Derry City and Strabane district council, which stands in the city’s Harbour Square, as “three lifeless bobbins”.

“For decades, Derry women were a force. How can three bobbins represent that?”

She and others declined the council’s invitation to attend the unveiling of the statue in March, and instead staged a protest (above).

contribution of the Derry shirt-makers.

are calling for a more “appropriate and worthy” statue.

“We were not going to stand there and look happy about it,” says Clare. Similarly unimpressed, Rosemary says: “They think because we’re factory girls, we wouldn’t understand art, culture or representation.”

“But the sculpture doesn’t represent factory life. It could depict any industry –tailoring, weaving. It doesn’t represent Derry shirt-making.”

Tanya says that as the daughter and granddaughter of factory girls, she will support their journey in any way she can: “Their grit and resilience resonates with me. Their fight for recognition and the impact they had on Derry, economically and historically, means that in addition to the plaques across the city, they must have an appropriate and worthy statue. That’s non-negotiable.”

A brief history of shirt-making

in Derry

In 1856, Tillie & Henderson opened Derry’s first shirt-making factory, marking a monumental shift from home-based sewing to industrialscale production. It was referenced in Karl Marx’s Das Kapital and his daughter Eleanor later visited the factory and commented on its remarkable female workforce.

More factories followed and in 1891 the majority women workforce had formed Northern Ireland’s first women’s union under the fifth branch of the Gasworkers’ Union.

By the 1920s, Derry was home to 40 shirt factories, employing 18,000 people, 90 per cent of them women and girls. The shirts they made were world-renowned for their quality, sold by London tailor Savile Row, but also worn by soldiers on battlefields during World War II. Derry’s last shirt-making factory Smyth & Gibson closed in 2019.

(From left) Campaigners Sadie O’Kane, Isabel Doherty, Clare Moore, Mary Doherty, Theresa McLaughlin and Sadie Harkin protesting in front of the “three lifeless bobbins” which commemorate the

They

From making sure toilets are clean and usable, to ensuring stress-inducing take responsibility for making sure their schools and colleges are safe and comfortable.

IAIN MORTON teaches A-level accounting and business in a sixth form college in Leicester and took up the role of health and safety rep two years ago.

“WE work better and we’re happier in our job if we are healthy and safe. If we get those things right, other things fall into place.”

As the only health and safety rep in a college of 4,000 students, spread across two sites, Iain focuses on a specific area or theme each term, rather than attempting a full site inspection. He takes his cue from members, who can raise their concerns with him directly or via a staff WhatsApp group.

“I don’t view what I do as a battle,” he says. “My role is to be a second pair of eyes, to flag up to the employer what staff want to see improved and what is making them feel unsafe.”

Iain’s first priority was to gather evidence on levels of stress in the workplace. He used the NEU’s stress survey, which supports reps to identify its causes and impact. It includes statements such as “my total working hours are acceptable” and “deadlines and time pressures are achievable” and turns the data into a series of graphs showing the percentage of staff who agree with each statement.

“It’s a great resource and very easy to use,” says Iain. The results of the survey found quite a few worrying signs that stress was present, enabling Iain to negotiate the implementation of a stress risk assessment and measures to combat stress.

While staff highlighted good relationships with colleagues and line managers, most members said they had experienced signs of stress over the last 12 months, including anxiety, headaches, disturbed sleep and digestion problems.

Almost 80 per cent attributed stress to workload, and over half reported they had considered leaving the college or the profession.

From site security to toilet provision

After concerns were raised by staff about students not wearing lanyards, making it difficult to verify who was on site, Iain reviewed site security. He was invited by managers to discuss the findings and heard where they were planning to make improvements. They also showed Iain CCTV

Iain Morton

they had installed which, using AI, is able to track a student entering the grounds.

Of course, the lack of funding means repairs and other issues that need attention are not always remedied immediately. Toilet provision is one example. Staff have reported having trouble finding a vacant toilet in the short space of time between lessons. Some toilets are unclean or broken, which exacerbates the problem.

“I consider the law to be a floor rather than a ceiling,” says Iain. “It’s the minimum requirement, whereas what we’re striving for is what is going to make our members happiest and safest. But the reality is that schools and colleges are facing a big funding crisis.

If funding was better, I’m sure management would be happier to make these changes, but all they can do is add it to a list of priorities and make the easy wins when possible.”

Rising classroom temperature is also on Iain’s list of health and safety concerns.

This year, England experienced its hottest June on record, with temperatures soaring to over 30 degrees. Iain says colleagues and students were “visibly struggling”.

He took temperature readings in several classrooms and found that, even in the morning, some were pushing 26 degrees and by the middle of the day had reached 30. While there is no legal maximum working temperature, the NEU advises that over 26

‘We work better

Portraits by Kois Miah

lesson observations are kept to a minimum, NEU health and safety reps comfortable. Sarah Thompson speaks to them about the vital job they do.

degrees is unacceptable. Very high temperatures are detrimental to working and learning and can cause physical discomfort and illness.

Iain presented his findings to management, along with the joint union heatwave protocol. This supports employers to work with reps to prepare for heatwaves and protect the health and safety of staff and students. The school agreed to implement the protocol and made changes immediately: installing blinds, improving ventilation and trialling heat-reflective screening on windows.

Teachers also have the right to end a lesson if they feel the heat has become dangerous. “None of us want to do that,” says Iain. “We care deeply about the education that our students receive, but within the law, teachers need to know they can do that.

“Many buildings are decades old and beginning to show wear. Changes are needed, but we’re constrained by funding. What we need is a commitment from this government to increase funding to improve the settings.”

LUCY PHILLPOT works at a large school and sixth form in the West Midlands. She has been the workplace rep for around 16 years, and eight years ago took on the role of health and safety rep.

“As a health and safety rep you have the right to be consulted on anything that will potentially impact on members’ welfare in the workplace, the right to know about accidents within the workplace and the right to meet with the employer. It empowered me.”

Lucy describes her role as “health and safety and welfare” rep. The welfare, Lucy’s own addition, is crucial, she says. “It encompasses so many issues we deal with as a rep, like workload and excessive marking.”

Last year, staff raised concerns that the system of assessment meant they were often

completing marking of exams and assessment papers in their own time. Lucy was consulted on a new proposal of two assessment weeks a year, where staff are off their normal timetable and required to invigilate for around 25 per cent of their teaching timetable over the week. Staff voted in favour of the change. “It means they have a considerable amount of gained time to be able to mark papers and input the assessment data, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly in support,” says Lucy.

Victory over lunch break reduction

When management proposed to reduce the lunch break from 40 to 30 minutes, arguing that it would impact positively on afternoon

better if we’re safe’

Lucy Phillpot

teaching and improve student behaviour, Lucy persuaded the head teacher there were potential implications for staff welfare. A poll of staff found most felt reducing the break would be detrimental to both staff and students, so the 40-minute lunch will remain.

Lucy has set up a workplace health and safety committee, which is attended by a representative of the governing body, the head of human resources, the site manager and the person responsible for site health and safety. It has resulted in improved cleaning standards –more frequent emptying of bins and improved cleaning of the toilets, for example; the sharing of accident and incident statistics; and ensuring that mechanical ventilation systems are being changed regularly.

There has also been discussion about the establishment of a wellbeing committee and the creation of a wellbeing room, a quiet space for staff to take time out when needed. This would be in addition to the staffroom – a more social space, with a kitchen and computers – which was removed in 2013

continued on page 27

continued from page 25

during building renovations, but 18 months later was reinstated after Lucy fought for its return.

“It goes back to health provisions,” she says. “Having a place where staff can go that is just for them. A safe place, a haven, a place to go and have your lunch.”

Toilets open 10 minutes for 1,500 pupils

While the health and safety of staff is Lucy’s priority, more recently she has been campaigning on behalf of students. At the end of term, management announced that student toilets would be locked at all times, except for the ten-minute break period, to stop students arriving late to lessons.

“We’ve got 1,500 students. I’m devastated this has happened,” says Lucy. “They’re also not thinking about girls who might be menstruating, and who now have to say, ‘I need to change my pad’. It’s wrong on so many levels.”

She has written to management calling for them to reconsider, quoting the ERIC bowel and bladder charity, which warns that restricting access to the toilets can aggravate or cause bowel and bladder issues.

“Above all, health and safety is about creating safe, respectful and fair workplaces for staff and students. If you can provide a happy, harmonious and safe workplace for all employees, they will feel valued and, in turn, they will be better employees.”

COLIN JORDAN is a teacher and the health and safety rep at Bordesley Green Girls’ School in Birmingham.

When asbestos was discovered in a classroom eight years ago, a lack of consultation and concerns from staff about whether it had been removed safely led Colin to take on the role of workplace rep.

“At the time, there was no NEU rep and I thought, ‘I need to step up here. We need a voice and we need to be consulted.’”

It wasn’t long before he realised that almost everything is health and safety related in schools and colleges, he says. “Health and safety reps can have a bit more power than workplace reps with the legislation behind us. There are powers whereby if we feel the workplace is unsafe, there should be no teaching.”

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places a duty on an employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of employees and the health and safety of others on the premises. This includes a duty

to assess risks and take necessary precautions. Colin set up a health and safety consultation meeting with members of the management team, and enlisted the support of the wider NEU, to ensure that the asbestos removal had been done correctly and that there was no risk to staff.

Happy + healthy = more productive

Colin tries to ensure health and safety meetings now happen more regularly and says that the head teacher is better at consulting him on staff issues. “I point out that a happy and healthy workforce is going to be more productive,” he says.

However, there are still challenges. Most recently, Colin has been working to stop a new observation process that he says was “steamrolled through”.

Find out more

Colin Jordan

Three observations a year (lasting 40, 30 and ten minutes) will be replaced by six, ten-minute ones a year. “How you can judge a teacher as a professional in just ten minutes? It’s causing so much stress and anxiety with members that it’s a health and safety issue.”

A health and safety rep makes a real difference in a workplace, Colin says. He would encourage members to consider putting themselves forward for the role.

“The NEU’s information is so brilliant. If you’ve no knowledge of trade unionism or being a rep, visit the NEU website for a good grounding of what to do. We can do things together – that’s the beauty of trade unionism.

“As a staff, we are here for the children, of course. But it’s important that educators are cared for as well, and that primarily means thinking about their health and safety.”

n The NEU provides training and support to become a health and safety rep. Visit neu.org.uk/health-and-safety-reps n Heatwave protocol guidance on protecting the health, safety and welfare of staff and students. Visit neu.org.uk/heatwave-protocol n NEU online stress survey. Visit neu.org.uk/mental-health-wellbeing

n Advice on asbestos. Visit neu.org.uk/asbestos-schools

Overseas trained teachers, some of them recruited from Jamaica, are being paid up to £20,000 less than their British-trained colleagues.

Emily Jenkins reports.

“ I want to make sure that OTTs are treated equally and they don’t have to suffer.”

Carol JumppGraham (right)

‘It’s time for action’

Portrait by Rehan Jamil

“IT

almost feels like a repeat of the Windrush scandal. They bring us here on a false narrative, then leave us stranded.”

Rashida is a secondary school science teacher from Jamaica who has been teaching in the UK for two years. Like many overseas trained teachers (OTTs), she came here hopeful of an exciting opportunity to teach in a new country but now feels “misled and exploited” by those who recruited her.

This echoes the experiences of the Windrush generation (1948-1971), who took up an invitation to help fill Britain’s post-war skills shortage, only to be mistreated in many instances and paid less than their British co-workers.

Today it is the national teaching shortage that has led some academy trusts, such as the Harris Federation (see below), to recruit directly from the Caribbean, mainly from Jamaica.

More than six teaching posts in every 1,000 were left unfilled in 2024/25, according to a report on the labour market published in March by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). That is double the vacancy rate recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and six times higher than the NFER’s first report on vacancies in 2010.

In July, the parliamentary public accounts committee published a report warning that 46 per cent of secondary schools in England had at least one vacant teaching position in 2023/24. Colleges have even higher vacancy rates.

What is an OTT?

OTTs are those who qualified outside the UK. To work in the UK, these teachers must have their skilled worker visa sponsored by a school or education setting (unless they have an ancestry visa, because they have a parent

“They’re basically saying ‘you’re from Jamaica, so this is the amount you’re worth’. It’s a shock.”

Rashida

or grandparent who is British). Costs vary depending on role, visa term and school size. If they choose to leave the school, the OTT has 60 days to find a new workplace sponsor or they will be deported.

Rashida was recruited by a British agency which was hiring teachers from Jamaica and arrived in Northamptonshire in April 2023. She was told what her salary would be before signing up, but not that she would be paid £3,000 less than UK-trained colleagues with the same level of experience. She was paid on the unqualified teacher pay scale, despite having qualifications equivalent to those of UK-trained colleagues.

“The agency told us we had four years to obtain qualified teacher status (QTS), without telling us that we would be paid less than a UK-trained teacher for doing the same job,” she explains.

Some OTTs, such as those employed at the Harris Federation, found themselves earning almost £20,000 less than their British counterparts. When Rashida asked her school about supporting her to obtain her QTS via the assessment-only route, she was given “a flat-out no”. She offered to pay

for it herself (it can cost up to £4,000) but the school refused to give her the time in her timetable required for the assessment. OTTs can work in state-maintained schools and non-maintained special schools in England as unqualified teachers for four calendar years.

Rashida says she overheard the head saying they could get two Jamaican teachers for what it would cost to employ one UK teacher. “They’re basically saying, ‘you’re from Jamaica, so this is the amount you are worth’. That was such a shock to me,” says Rashida.

Rashida worked at a state-maintained school but, for those employed by multiacademy trusts (MATs), there is no time limit for how long they can work as unqualified teachers – although the government has said it intends to impose on academies the same four-year rule that operates in maintained schools. It can therefore be in the financial interests of the school or MAT to keep OTTs on the unqualified pay scale for as long as possible.

Rashida decided to hand in her notice in January 2024, a risky decision as she would lose her sponsor. It’s not uncommon for OTTs to feel trapped at their school by the sponsorship arrangement. Thankfully, however, Rashida’s risk paid off. Her new employer agreed to pay her on the main pay scale, also supporting her financially to obtain her QTS – which she got five months later.

‘I was crying every night’ Jocelyn (not her real name) arrived with her four-year-old son in the UK in February 2024 to begin working at a MAT.

Recruited through an agency representing the trust, like Rashida, Jocelyn was told what her salary would be in advance, but not that she would be earning less than

continued on page 31

Harris Federation victory Fighting against OTT discrimination

IN February, NEU members secured a landmark victory against the Harris Federation in the fight for fair terms and conditions of employment for teachers, support staff and OTTs (see Educate, May/June, page 8).

The trust agreed that OTTs – some of whom were being paid £20,000 less than their Britishtrained counterparts – will be paid a top-up to the main pay scale point, relevant to their years of experience. Many OTTs had also been expected to pay for the QTS themselves, but the trust has now agreed to cover these costs, once probation has been completed.

PHOTO by Rehan Jamil

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continued from page 27

her colleagues. The recruitment agency had promised accommodation would be provided for the first six months, but when they arrived in London, Jocelyn discovered that she and her son had nowhere to live.

Due to start work in a couple of days, Jocelyn was left with no choice but to find an Airbnb. With no support from the school or agency and lacking a UK credit score, which made it difficult to find somewhere to rent, she ate through her £6,000 savings in less than three months.

“I was crying every night,” she says. “I got to the point where I said to the school: ‘I’m going back home. I didn’t come here to be homeless,’ and that’s when they found a small flat on another school site I could rent for a short time.”

Jocelyn’s financial troubles were compounded by the additional costs that many OTTs discover on coming to the UK, such as the NHS immigration health surcharge, which she had to pay for both her and her son – costing just over £1,800 for the year. She also had to pay for flights, visas and all other relocation costs.

The agency had told Jocelyn that due to the double taxation treaty with Jamaica, she would not be taxed for the first two years of working in the UK and she had estimated her costs accordingly. However, when she received her first payslip, she had been taxed at source. The school refused to help. It has taken her 18 months to get a tax rebate, which only covers a year and three months.

Many OTTs report having little or no induction or training when adapting to working in UK schools. Rashida says: “I started on the Monday, and by Tuesday I had a full timetable. They left me alone in the classroom to teach without even my disclosure and barring service check being done.”

Jocelyn’s experience was similar. She was given some training on the MAT’s expectations in advance, but no induction on British schooling, marking systems or culture.

n At NEU annual conference, members voted to take action against the unfair treatment of OTTs. Take part in our survey at tinyurl.com/surveyOTTs

n To find out more about the Black organising forum it is important members self-define as Black on the NEU’s membership system. To update your details, visit my.neu.org.uk/login

“No induction on British schooling, marking systems or culture.”

Jocelyn

She didn’t set foot in the school until her first day of work when, despite being a chemistry teacher, she was expected to teach physics – a subject she is not trained in.

“They left me at sea with no lifeguard,” says Jocelyn.

Rashida expresses similar sentiments: “I had to learn to swim by myself.”

Discrimination and victimisation

Carol Jumpp-Graham, who is vice-chair of the NEU’s Black educators’ network and has spent the last 20 years supporting OTTs, explains: “There is no mentoring or support, and when teachers don’t teach the way the school wants, they may face disciplinary action or be told they can’t teach. It’s disgusting.”

Jocelyn says she has repeatedly experienced discrimination and victimisation from her school’s leadership. Her head of department changed Jocelyn’s timetable in the middle of spring term 2025 without consulting her and management immediately began observing her lessons, while she was teaching classes that were entirely new to her. “I didn’t even know pupils’ names yet,” she says.

She was put on a performance improvement plan (PIP) in April 2025, with up to six lesson observations a day. “Every single day I’d have at least three people come into the lesson, sometimes more. Then I’d get negative feedback, but you’re not allowed to comment or respond because you will just make it worse for yourself.”

More support for Australian teachers

She is not the only Black OTT at her trust to have been put on PIP, says Jocelyn, but teachers from countries such as Australia and New Zealand are less likely to be micromanaged or put on capability procedures, and are given more support.

Jocelyn’s NEU rep has provided support throughout. But after management decided to put her straight on a formal capability plan without an informal plan first – breaching its own policy – Jocelyn resigned in July.

She has 60 days to find a new job at

a school which will agree to sponsor her, otherwise she and her son will be deported. If she had known what life would be like in the UK, she would not have come.

“If you come here, you’re going to face high living expenses, unexpected costs, get paid a lower salary for doing the same job, you will be discriminated against. It will be difficult to survive and you will suffer,” she says. “It is not worth it.”

Rashida agrees, saying she would not have come to the UK if she had known what she would face.

UK-trained colleagues paid more Sadly, this situation is not new. Almost 25 years ago, Carol, who is also vice-chair of faculty for Barnhill Community High School in Hillingdon, west London, was recruited from Jamaica. Like Rashida and Jocelyn, she only found out her UK-trained colleagues were earning more than her once she had already been teaching in the UK for several months.

When she asked about getting QTS, management initially refused to help and then spent several years “dragging their feet”, claiming ignorance of the process.

“That was a lie,” says Carol. “They had already helped teachers from New Zealand and Australia at the school get their QTS. They just didn’t want to help Black OTTs.”

Carol eventually turned to her NEU regional officer and, with their help, “took matters into my own hands”. She organised for herself and ten Jamaican colleagues to be registered and assessed. It took her four years of fighting before she finally got her QTS.

Carol says she hears stories daily similar to Rashida and Jocelyn’s. “It pains my heart,” she says, describing it as a “form of modernday slavery” where teachers are recruited from countries such as Jamaica as a form of “cheap labour”.

She is building a WhatsApp community of OTTs so they can support each other. Carol has also spent years lobbying the Department for Education to change the regulations so OTTs have a reduced timescale while they are working towards their QTS and are supported by their school through training, induction and assessment.

“The time for talking is done. It’s time for action,” she says. “I have a couple more years before I retire and I just want to make sure that the last thing I do before then is to make sure OTTs are treated equally when they come here and that they don’t have to suffer.”

n Visit tinyurl.com/QTS-routes

Cartoon by Tim Sanders

Will DfE review miss the opportunity to reform?

Warwick Mansell is a freelance education journalist and founder/writer of educationuncovered.

HOW much of a break from the past is this Labour government when it comes to education in England?

I found myself asking this again, after coming across a policy development which carried such strong echoes of goings-on under the Conservatives that it made me wonder if Michael Gove or his ideological heir, the long-serving schools minister Nick Gibb, were still in power.

The initiative was the Department for Education’s (DfE) new writing framework for primary schools. It was launched in July, sparking controversy.

First, there was the involvement of Ruth Miskin, the former head teacher turned phonics businesswoman, whose closeness to Gibb had made her one of the Tories’ key external advisers. Others working in the

field were outraged that her company started promoting a new emphasis on handwriting within days of the framework, on which Miskin had served on the advisory panel, announcing a fresh focus on… handwriting.

Miskin was also one of a few members of that panel who had served as advisers to the former government. The product of that advice has proven contentious.

The framework’s strong emphasis on the technical side of language, seemingly at the expense of creativity, will “bore the pants off children”, Professor Debra Myhill, one of the most respected literacy teaching voices, told me.

Others were of a similar view, with a reading resource provider highlighting the fact that the words “imagination” and “exploration” did not appear in the 150-page document. Meanwhile, “handwriting” received 147 mentions, “spelling” 139 and “assessment” 78.

Having spent recent years pondering whether Gibb’s mission had been to rehabilitate the reputation of Dickens’ Mr Gradgrind, I wondered why this new administration seemed so keen on an encore.

This may be harsh: sceptical sources detected greater nuance in this latest document, such as a greater even-handedness with

research sources. But I think the broad picture, of a continuity of approach, seems clear.

The framework, which refers to the national curriculum, may well be quickly superseded, after the DfE’s new curriculum and assessment review reports this autumn. Will this overarching review mark much of a break from the Conservatives’ approach?

Professor Becky Francis, leader of the review, has emphasised an “evolution, not revolution” stance. And its interim report may imply a view that aspects of the Conservatives’ record, such as some improvements in international test score rankings for England, mean that the years 2010-2024 should be seen as broadly successful.

But were they? This column has highlighted recent concerning data over pupils’ engagement at school, which has seen England sliding internationally. For me, this suggests the need for a deeper critique of recent policy than the review appears to be offering.

As the writing framework debate illustrates, while Mr Gradgrind may, to some extent, have his place, policy needs to not get in the way of children’s enthusiasm for learning. Labour ought to be open to listening, or it will miss a great opportunity for reform.

Ask the union

Forced early maternity leave

I’M having a very difficult pregnancy, and now my employer is trying to trigger maternity leave early. What can I do?

This answer depends on the stage of your pregnancy. Your employer can only trigger your maternity leave early if you are absent from work wholly or partly because of pregnancy or childbirth in the 36th week of your pregnancy. Maternity leave will automatically be triggered to begin on the day after your first full day of (pregnancy-related) sickness absence in the four-week period. If you are not within this four-week period, normal sick pay rules apply.

If your employer is putting you under pressure due to the problems you are experiencing with your pregnancy, and you are concerned about the impact on your or your baby’s health, speak to your workplace NEU rep or contact the AdviceLine.

HLTA in teaching job share

I’M a teacher in an academy and am going part time. My job share will be a higher level teaching assistant (HLTA). I’m concerned they aren’t qualified for the job.

Your concerns are valid. The role of an HLTA is to complement the work of qualified teachers by taking responsibility for agreed learning activities under a defined system of

supervision, as outlined in the 2003 Workload Agreement. While HLTAs can teach, plan and mark work, this should be on a shortterm basis only.

NEU guidance is that HLTAs should not be expected to cover whole classes for more than five consecutive days in secondary schools or more than three consecutive days in primary settings. Ultimately, the responsibility for teaching, learning and pupil outcomes must remain with a qualified teacher. For this reason, it would be inappropriate for your job share to be an HLTA.

Raise the concern with your head teacher in the first instance. Speak to your NEU workplace rep too, as this is likely to be an

Free CPD webinars for all NEU members

NEU members have exclusive access to our continuing professional development (CPD) webinars. Here are some of the courses coming up.

Using curiosity and wonder to engage learners

With an introduction to the neuroscience behind it.

17 September from 3.45-5pm

School sustainability leads –what’s involved?

What the role entails and how to take a whole-school approach.

23 September from 3.45-5pm

Adaptive teaching – overcoming barriers to learning

Focusing on reading, writing, decoding, comprehension and time management.

24 September from 3.45-5pm

Transactional analysis in education – an introduction

The core principles and how to use them to enhance relationships.

1 October from 11am-12.15pm

Social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) in the classroom

How to respond effectively.

1 October from 3.45-5.15pm

Positive psychology theory and principles

For enhancing resilience and wellbeing.

2 October from 3.45-5pm

7 October follow-up from 3.45-5pm

Leadership masterclass –courageous conversations

issue that also affects colleagues. If the issue cannot be resolved informally, your NEU rep or local branch can offer further support.

n Visit neu.org.uk/cover-model-policy and neu.org.uk/hltas-and-cover-supervisors

Contact

n Please email your questions to educate@neu.org.uk

n If your question is urgent, please call the AdviceLine on 0345 811 811

Aimed at middle and senior leaders.

8 October from 4-5pm

Poverty – the cost of having fun at school

Improve access to enrichment and extra-curricular activities.

22 October from 3.45-5pm

Behaviour week

Including sessions on managing low-level disruption, SEMH and more.

29 September-2 October

ECT and trainee week

Classroom management, assertiveness, tricky classes and teaching strategies. 14-16 October

n Webinars are available for 14 days.

n Visit neu.org.uk/national-cpd

PHOTO by

Tired of feeling tired?

Magnesium is an essential mineral for all aspects of health, from muscles to bones, heart health, mood and even just getting a good night’s sleep – and it’s vital for fighting tiredness and fatigue.

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‘I went for a long country walk with a friend, three hours each way. There’s no way I would have been able to do that before. Though I still do get tired, I do feel it has given me more energy.’

Easy-to-swallow capsules

‘Magnesium+ Advanced has really helped me – I’ve been taking it now for years.’

Magnesium+ Advanced mimics the way magnesium is stored in plants. This formulation contains magnesium with natural glycine amino acids in a soluble organic complex called ‘magnesium bisglycinate buffered’.

‘It’s much more bioavailable because it can be absorbed in the gut via a channel that’s exclusive to amino acids,’ explains Dr Miriam Ferrer PhD, Head of Product Development at FutureYou Cambridge. ‘This ‘VIP entry’ means that it can enter the body more quickly and easily. It also makes it very gentle on the stomach.’

Introductory offer valid for new UK customers only. RRP: £15. Offer expires 30th November 2025 and cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotions. Cancel any time, without obligation. See futureyouhealth.com/pages/ offers?coupon=MAM101 for full terms and conditions. Take control of your wellness today and for the future. Join over 300,000 customers on a better health journey. Visit futureyouhealth.com and use code MAM101 at checkout Feel the difference for yourself in just 90 days or your money back, guaranteed

A class act

‘My class and my job became my motivation’

Benjamin Forrester (pictured) is a year 2 teacher at Castle Park School in Kendal. After a near-fatal car crash forced him to take a break from his first year as an early career teacher (ECT), he is now back in the classroom. Sarah Thompson discovers what makes him in a class act.

IN November 2023, just two months into his first year as a teacher, Benjamin was involved in a serious road traffic accident on his journey into work.

“It was torrential rain, and somewhere along the road into Kendal my car spun into oncoming traffic,” he says. “I collided with two vehicles and my car fell upside down into a ditch.”

Benjamin was taken in an air-ambulance to Royal Preston Hospital and put into a medically induced coma. His injuries included various broken bones, including part of his spine, his hand and foot, internal bleeding and two serious brain injuries – a subarachnoid brain haemorrhage (a rare type of stroke caused by bleeding on the surface of the brain) and a traumatic head injury caused when the brain moves rapidly inside the skull.

He was in a coma for three weeks and in intensive care for a further two. His recovery was long and difficult.

“Your body is absolutely destroyed, and you continue to sleep for days afterwards.”

And while he can’t remember the accident itself, Benjamin was left with mental trauma. “It should have been fatal. That was the hardest part mentally – knowing that I basically should have died.”

‘I didn’t know what to do with my life’

By the beginning of 2024, Benjamin began to doubt he would return to the classroom.

“I felt so out of it, so disconnected from what I’d had. I thrive on routine and consistency and all that had gone. There was a period from December until about March when I didn’t know what to do with my life.”

Yet Benjamin had been so sure that teaching was for him. When he left school, he found a volunteer role at a local primary school and immediately thought, “Yes, this is it. I love it.”

He applied to the University of Cumbria in Carlisle and did a degree in primary

“I’m training my brain for a marathon, and teaching is the marathon.”

teaching, starting work at Castle Park School following a glowing report by the head teacher at the school where he did his final placement.

Benjamin loved teaching his year 1 and 2 class – the Puffins – building a strong bond with them during the two months before his accident. He loves that primary school children are ‘blank slates’ and he can play a key role in nurturing their development.

He is also keen to provide them with a positive male role model, something he –brought up by his “phenomenal” single mum –didn’t have as a child. “My experience was that men were quite scary, because the only male figure I’d known – my father – was not very nice. There were no male teachers at my school, which was tiny. I want to be able to instil a belief in my pupils that good men exist.”

Benjamin began occupational therapy and it proved a turning point. Over the next few months, he began to feel more positive and the team asked whether he felt he wanted to return to work.

“I suddenly thought, yes, I loved what I had, and I want to get back to it.”

Around the same time, his mum handed over “an absolute boatload” of packages and cards that his colleagues and class had sent during his time in hospital. He was gobsmacked.

“I broke down. All the support I had at work from colleagues and all of the love that I felt from my class came flooding back. They were like a family. I thought: ‘My goodness, I’ve been neglecting that family, that’s what I need to get back on track.’ My class and my job became my motivation.”

‘Monumental

effort’ to return to work

He initially did a phased return to work, and now works part time. It took “a monumental effort”, he says, to get back into the classroom. He has suffered with severe fatigue since the accident and finds work days exhausting. “Initially, I’d come home and then sleep from 7pm until the morning. I needed it.”

However, with support from the Acquired Brain Injury Service in Cumbria over the past year, he has been able to put strategies in place.

“It’s about training your brain,” he explains, “finding the balance between doing enough and doing a bit more each time. It’s like training for a marathon. I’m training my brain for a marathon, and teaching is the marathon.”

More difficult, he says, is the memory loss since his accident.

“I write everything down and have post-it notes everywhere. My phone has been my saviour – everything’s on there, reminders, meetings. I need to be reminded constantly.”

Back in the classroom, Benjamin knows the value of routine and order in the classroom and creating an environment where children have consistency, stability and know what is expected of them.

“I have a phrase for everything – caddy places, pile places, table colours,” says Benjamin. “By the second half of the year, the kids know these things like the back of their hand. They understand the expectations. What more do you want? It’s so rewarding.”

And despite all the challenges, Benjamin is determined to continue in teaching.

“There’s no other job like it. There are tricky times – for all teachers – but these are outweighed by the rewarding times. It’s tiring, it’s constant, but I love it.”

Aid cuts = empty classrooms

PRIME minister Keir Starmer’s announcement that the government would cut the UK aid budget by 40 per cent to fund an increase in defence spending sent shockwaves around the world.

International development minister Anneliese Dodds resigned in protest. Aid organisations described the cuts as “cruel and shameful” and governments in the global south decried the cuts as a retreat by the richest nations from their international obligations.

The reduction in the UK aid budget to 0.3 per cent of gross national income by 2027 followed President Trump’s decision to shut the United States Agency for International Development – the world’s largest aid donor –and freeze almost all federal aid spending.

Aid cut to its lowest level in decades

UK aid spending is now set to reach its lowest level in nearly 30 years. Yet conflict, famine, climate change and displacement are fuelling unprecedented humanitarian suffering around the world.

The United Nations (UN) estimates that more than 300 million people require humanitarian assistance. In Sudan, which non-governmental organisations have said is the “world’s largest humanitarian crisis”, almost 13 million people have been displaced. In Gaza, the entire population is at “critical

Take action

n Write to your MP using the NEU’s template letter and action tool at aid-cuts-empty-classrooms. neuaction.io

n Download Send My Friend to School’s 2025 campaign pack at sendmyfriend.org/ download-pack

n Visit the NEU’s international webpage at neu.org.uk/about/ international/developmentco-operation

risk” of famine and faces “extreme levels of food insecurity”.

Risk of aid being scrapped altogether

Now is the time for richer countries to step up, not away from international commitments. Yet the new international development minister Jenny Chapman has told MPs that education and gender projects will be hardest hit by the cuts.

Charity Save the Children has said that 2.2 million children will lose out on their education as a result – in addition to more than 270 million children who are already out of school globally.

Fighting

the

aid cuts

We are urging the government to rethink its cuts to the overseas aid budget and not balance its books on the backs of the world’s poorest people.

This is because international solidarity sits at the heart of the NEU’s values. Every year, we raise and donate hundreds of thousands of pounds to support education for marginalised children across the world.

Yet, right now, aid cuts are having a devastating impact on many of our partner organisations. For example, the NEU is supporting the education of Rohingya children in the sprawling camps of Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar. However, aid organisations have warned that the education

of almost a quarter of a million Rohingya refugee children is at risk because of cuts.

Write to your MP today

The NEU has launched an urgent action appeal, asking members to write to their MP to urge the government to reverse its aid cuts and continue to fund education for the world’s most vulnerable children.

Alongside NEU members, thousands of UK school children are raising their voices against the aid cuts through the Send My Friend to School (SMF) coalition, which brings together young people, politicians, teachers and civil society in joint campaigning to demand quality education for all children across the globe.

The coalition is campaigning to urge the government to protect and prioritise aid spending on education.

In June, students aged 14 and 15 from eight schools across the UK urged the government to protect and prioritise aid spending on education at a mass lobby of Parliament. The campaigners met the minister for international development and MPs and handed in a letter to 10 Downing Street. This month and next, they will lobby MPs at party conferences.

Pupils supporting Send My Friend to School

Reviews

The Kindness Quest

THIS guide aims to improve the mental wellbeing of readers and those they choose to help. Beginning with self-kindness, there are six key steps to follow, ranging from being kind at home and school to helping the planet. Suggestions include appreciation notes, making cards and planting seeds.

Interspersed throughout the book are famous kindness quotes, as well as bonus tips and opportunities for readers to write down their future goals. Ideal for key stage 2 children.

Cindy Shanks

The Kindness Quest by John Magee, illustrated by Sarah Lawrence. Bloomsbury. £6.99.

Thunderstruck

A GRIPPING novel sprinkled with Norse mythology and historical drama, Thunderstruck is suitable for key stage 3+ readers. Fifteenyear-old Freya’s life is chaotic. Her mother has died. Her griefstricken father refuses to discuss it and her best friend, Hitesh, is being bullied. When an ancient artefact catapults Freya back to a tumultuous 1071, the Saxons in Ely are resisting the Norman invasion. Will the dangerous past provide answers regarding her mother’s death?

R J Madon’s evocative descriptions, authentic bloodthirsty scenes and snippets of Old English give a real sense of history. Themes include love, loss and the quest for truth.

Cindy Shanks

Thunderstruck by R J Madon. The Book Guild. Paperback. £9.99.

Read a book that other educators might find useful?

Send your 100-word review to educate@neu.org.uk with a link to the book, plus your membership number, and your review could be published.

The Life and Legacy of Sir Tim Brighouse

Silvia Cardoso

THE life of Sir Tim Brighouse, a former schools commissioner for London and chief education officer in Oxfordshire and Birmingham, is celebrated in this collection of essays and reflections. Sir Tim led the London Challenge, which has been credited with transforming the capital’s state schools by raising the quality of school leadership and teaching.

Divided into two parts, the first pays tribute to Sir Tim’s life and impact, featuring personal reflections from his family, friends and colleagues. The second is a call to action from teachers, politicians and practitioners, exploring what needs to be done to carry on Sir Tim’s work.

Essential reading for anyone interested in continuing Sir Tim’s legacy in education.

Unfinished Business: The Life and Legacy of Sir Tim Brighouse.

Edited by David Cameron, Steve Munby and Mick Waters. Crown House Publishing. Hardback. £20.

Unfinished Business: Pride & Progress:

Making Schools LGBT+ Inclusive Spaces

FOLLOWING the success of their podcast of the same name, now in its fifth season, Dr Adam Brett and former primary school teacher Jo Brassington have combined the lived experiences of their podcast guests with theory and research.

Each chapter explores the ways in which educational spaces can become LGBT+ inclusive, starting with theory, written by Adam. Jo provides the practice, drawing on the stories of educators featured in the podcast. Themes explored range from language, identity and intersectionality to leadership and allyship.

The use of theory, practice, action and stories make this a thoughtful and practical toolkit. Graham Ward-Tipping

Pride and Progress: Making Schools LGBT+ Inclusive Spaces by Adam Brett and Jo Brassington. Sage Publishing. £20.99.

Teaching Primary RE

NAILA Missous has produced a helpful resource for teachers familiar with religious education (RE) and those who are not.

The book provides guidance and practical strategies to support educators in delivering meaningful RE lessons. Lesson ideas are included, along with material about the

great religions as well as other secular points of view.

Easy to follow, it helps readers learn how to put theory into practice in key stages 1 and 2. A valuable resource for any educator.

Cavan Wood Bloomsbury Curriculum Basics: Teaching Primary RE by Naila Missous. Bloomsbury. £14.

Reading for pleasure

R

EADERS, assemble

Jon Biddle, English lead and NEU rep at Moorlands Primary in Norfolk, shares ideas for schools to try to foster a love of reading for pleasure.

PUPILS are rarely all in the same place at the same time. It happens most frequently during assemblies, which are a perfect opportunity for the whole school to think about reading together.

Most schools have a version of the World Book Day assembly, where teachers and pupils share favourite stories and prizes are awarded for costumes and book characters made out of potatoes. But we should be celebrating reading regularly, not just once a year.

Reading for Pleasure book bridges

At Moorlands, we often share a picturebook with the whole school, usually one linked to an event such as Anti-Bullying Week or Empathy Day. This provides a firm foundation on which we can build opportunities for discussion and follow-up work. Over the years, we’ve gradually put together a bank of high-quality books to use (visit tinyurl.com/Jon-RfP-Padlet).

Most of the time, an adult reads the story, but sometimes our older pupils volunteer, which often means the rest of the children listen far more attentively. We promote the stories on our social media pages to help create ‘book bridges’ between school and home, which are essential for nurturing reciprocal reading relationships and reading communities.

We also hold interactive assemblies, where the children have an opportunity to contribute. Earlier this year, we asked each class to nominate their favourite empathy character

from a book they’d read together. They then had two minutes to introduce them to the rest of the school. The pupils were given a piece of paper to write down the name of the character they thought should win the Moorlands Empathy Award. This led to some passionate conversations about books and stories, as well as some impressive examples of tactical voting.

Poetry slam

In addition to their regular recommendation slot in our weekly celebration assembly, our Reading Champions are given an opportunity to lead a few assemblies throughout the year. On one occasion, they organised and performed in a poetry slam in front of the school. There were no prizes to be won, just a chance to help spread the joy of poetry.

They have also organised book award assemblies (with categories including favourite graphic novel, best front cover and most evil villain) and author spotlight assemblies, which involve reading a couple of extracts by the same author and sharing interesting facts about their life and career. Crucially, the Reading Champions choose the featured authors themselves, which gives the assembly an authentic voice and fosters real engagement. So far, they’ve spotlighted writers including Tom Palmer, Malorie Blackman and Joseph Coelho. Some of the most emotionally engaging assemblies happen when a member of staff shares their own reading journey and presents a selection of books that were important to them

as a child. I’ve talked about why the very first Ladybird book I owned (Piggly Plays Truant) was special to me, as well as sharing other reading memories from my childhood. When we demonstrate to pupils that books are important to us, it puts us in a stronger position to help nurture a passion for reading. If we open ourselves up as readers, we invite children to view us as reading teachers.

Dressed to impress

Read more ideas from Jon next issue

Not all reading assemblies have to be serious. Sometimes, it’s enough to share a fun story or poem and simply talk about the joy it’s given us.

A couple of years ago, I read the first part of a story by Allan Ahlberg called The Man Who Wore All His Clothes. One of my colleagues kindly agreed to act out the story, and ended up wearing about seven pairs of trousers, nine shirts, four jumpers and numerous pairs of socks. I added a couple of extra lines to the story where, for no apparent narrative reason, the man decided to go for a jog round the hall and do a few press-ups, but it was a hot day so I didn’t push him to the point of collapse. It was something pupils and staff enjoyed, with many children wanting to read the book immediately afterwards. Most schools meet together almost every day, either as a key stage or as a whole school. Prioritise a few minutes of that time each week to celebrate the power of books and the joy of reading – together.

Sharing good books during a Moorlands assembly

Dyslexia training

I AM a primary school teacher and the mother of a ten-yearold son who has dyslexia. I want to share with you the real and significant challenges we have faced, and the hope that targeted support can bring.

For many years, my son struggled immensely at school. His difficulty with reading affected every part of his learning and had a severe impact on his self-esteem and mental health. It is heartbreaking to see your child lose confidence and feel left behind simply because their needs are not being fully understood or met.

Fortunately, my son was eventually able to access specialist dyslexia teaching in school. This support has been life changing. With the right interventions and understanding, he has made incredible progress – not only

academically, but in terms of his happiness, confidence and engagement with learning.

As both a parent and a teacher, I have seen first-hand the growing number of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in our classrooms. However, many schools are under-resourced and under-trained in how to support them. This is particularly true when it comes to dyslexia, which often goes undiagnosed or misunderstood for far too long.

Motivated by my personal and professional experience, I recently completed training with the British Dyslexia Association to become a specialist dyslexia teacher. I am now passionate about using this training to support other children and help teachers feel confident in identifying and meeting the needs of dyslexic learners.

I would love to offer training to schools and teachers in our area to help make classrooms more dyslexia-friendly. I believe inclusive, supportive classrooms are vital for the future of our children and our education system. Joanna Taylor, Cheshire

Liverpool: ‘Era of forced academisation is over’ A REVOLUTION is underway in Liverpool. In July, following a series of high-profile trade union disputes in academies across the city, the council passed a motion calling for greater transparency, accountability and trade union recognition in academies. This is a decisive step towards reclaiming democratic oversight of its schools.

The motion, moved by council leader Liam Robinson, noted that “the era of forced academisation is over”, referring to new legislation set out in the government’s children’s wellbeing and schools bill.

It called for more access to local authority-maintained schools, a full consultation of the school community before any school converted to academy status, and for decision making around schools to be devolved

to a local level where possible. It also stated that school staff were entitled to union recognition and schools must engage in meaningful negotiations with trade unions.

Councillors across the political spectrum spoke passionately about the need to convert academies back into maintained schools, and the motion was strengthened by amendments from opposition councillors who pushed for even firmer commitments to union engagement and local control.

The move away from the era of forced academisation toward a model that prioritises local accountability is a direct result of our members’ courage, determination and solidarity. From picket lines to community mobilisation and political lobbying, NEU members have led the charge. Their actions have brought the issue of academisation to the forefront of public debate and forced decision-makers to listen.

Liverpool’s stance offers a blueprint for other cities grappling with the consequences of academisation. As the national conversation evolves, Liverpool

Teacher’s pet Sun

Sun is the beloved pet of Phoebe Ledster, a teacher from Oxfordshire.

Phoebe says: “Sun brightens up every day when I return from the classroom. I love taking her for long walks, and she always makes me laugh.

“My lovely class adore Sun and often ask about her and her adventures. She is part of my teaching identity and makes life so much better.”

If you have a treasured pet you’d like to show off, email a high-resolution photo with 50 words about what makes them so special to educate@neu.org.uk

Please write The editor welcomes your letters but reserves the right to edit them. Write to Letters, Educate, NEU, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD or email educate@neu.org.uk

Please note we cannot print letters sent in without a name and postal address (or NEU membership number), although we can withhold details from publication if you wish.

is leading the way – proving that change is not only possible but already happening.

Bora Oktas, regional officer, NEU North West

n Turn to page 12

Support in retirement

AT a recent local union meeting an issue came up highlighting the need for retired members to maintain their NEU membership.

We heard of an elderly woman who faced months of hell after she was included in a wide sweep of former teachers named in a historic abuse case from a school in the 1980s. Fortunately, the former teacher was a keen trade unionist and had retained membership, so she had support from the union facing this ordeal. All clear for her.

Star letter

No to AI, nurture all that makes us human

SHOULD I use artificial intelligence (AI) tools in my teaching (Educate, July/August, page 31)? It’s a question worth exploring, as is: what is the educational problem that AI solves? Let’s consider it.

“It’s unprofessional and unethical to use AI for censoring content and restricting books.”

Had she not transferred to retired membership when she finished work, the NEU would not have supported her.

Chris Brooksbank, Cumbria

The editor writes: The NEU can’t support you, even if you are seeking help for something relating to a time when you were a member, once your membership stops. Retired membership is just £20 annually.

n Email membership@neu.org.uk

NEXT year marks the 60th anniversary of Teachers Building Society (TBS).

In preparation for its celebrations, TBS is looking to reconnect with its founding members, whether you had a savings account or used TBS to take out a mortgage to buy your first home.

If you have any memories of being a TBS member during the late 1960s that you can share, please email zoe.paines@ teachersbs.co.uk

n It gives students ‘the answer(s)’. = No, not an existing problem.

n It does the ‘thinking’ for students. = No, not an existing problem.

n It means students don’t have to engage with lengthy texts; they can have the salient points summarised for them. = No, not an existing problem.

Interview Feature

continued from page 31

Kristabelle Williams, school librarian

Artificial intelligence tools are set to revolutionise how we teach and how pupils learn. Sally Gillen asks if they are a time-saving change for the better, or could they stifle creativity and deskill the profession?

The future is here. We need to catch up

IF you could save 15 minutes at the end of an exhausting day by using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate a letter to a parent about their child’s lost coat, why wouldn’t you? Ways to cut workload are always welcome, so automating menial tasks seems sensible. But how about AI for lesson planning? Marking? End-of-year reports?

remains dominated by profit-driven big tech and smaller AI companies.

Research commissioned by the NEU and carried out by thinktank Demos Consulting has produced some interesting, though unsurprising, findings. It concludes that there needs to be a greater teacher voice in research and evidence surrounding ed-tech and AI, and that there is a weak evidence base for its impact on education practice.

In education, there are no glaring problems that AI solves. In the classroom it actually creates new problems which then need to be circumvented by teachers. AI’s introduction carries with it an air of ‘because we can, we should’ when it comes to its application in education. Why can’t we say: AI is marvellous in radiology, but problematic in teaching? We seem less interested in developing human intelligence in our students than in replacing their thinking with AI.

Most of that evidence comes from those seeking to sell ed-tech products, say the researchers, which means they also have a concerning influence over the nature of ed- tech. There is a danger that those working in technology may significantly shape the nature of education itself, with the voice of teachers, parents and pupils being pushed out.

AI is no substitute for our subject knowledge. Our job is to know our subject. We are the specialist and main resource in the room. AI could help summarise your subject’s content for you initially, but there is no shortcut for the deep dive necessary to really know your subject.

Many teachers are independently choosing to use open AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini, chatbots which respond to prompts and can generate text and answer questions, to help with aspects of the job. Others are being encouraged by their schools to do so, some of which are buying in AI products that promise time-saving, workloadreducing benefits for staff.

In the past 18 months, the percentage of NEU members using AI for lesson planning has almost trebled, up from ten per cent in 2023 to 27 per cent this year, according to the union’s state of education survey published in April. The poll also revealed the number using AI for admin had more than doubled, from ten per cent to 21 per cent this year, and for resource creation it rose from 28 per cent to 41 per cent. Interestingly, the rise for marking was small: up from only three to four per cent.

AI’s impact on core teacher tasks AI tools, it often feels, are taking over all areas of life. In education, their use raises important questions about how they are deployed in teaching and learning, and, crucially, what that means for core teacher tasks. AI’s main selling point is efficiency, but there hasn’t been enough investigation into how it impacts quality.

Another study by thinktank the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) looked at teacher autonomy and its links to satisfaction and retention. It found a strong link between autonomy and job satisfaction, perceptions of workload and manageability.

Nicola Hawkins, also a primary teacher, says that for teachers using AI for lesson planning there will always be the caveat that they will need to check the information it generates for what are known as hallucinations, factually inaccurate information produced by AI from time to time. This is one way in which AI may not be a great time-saver.

Neither is AI a substitute for lesson planning and delivery. Those things will be informed, first and foremost, by the unique group of students in front of you.

The NEU’s position is that AI technologies should only be used if they benefit education by giving staff more time and professional control, as well as enhance teaching and learning. Furthermore, the union believes educators must be involved to ensure AI is used safely and effectively, and staff and unions should be consulted before it is introduced in schools and monitored thereafter (see boxout, page 35).

Our checklist (see boxout, page 35) has been developed in response to the growing number of schools introducing various types

Demos Consulting, which looked at this study, has argued: “Its findings have significant implications in the context of AI and education practice. There is a live debate as to how using AI tools, in various forms and contexts, might affect teachers’ sense of autonomy. This could then have implications for recruitment and retention.”

Nicola and Patrick were among those who debated the impact of AI in education at this year’s NEU annual conference in Harrogate, a motion Patrick believes was long overdue. “The future is here,” he says. “We need to catch up.”

Danger of using AI to censor content It isn’t simply a case of being pro or anti AI. Many educators, south London secondary school librarian Kristabelle Williams among them, are intrigued by its potential, but wary that it may be used to take shortcuts that will ultimately deprofessonalise their role.

“It removes creativity, and our ability to respond to the needs of individual pupils.”

Patrick Martin, teacher

AI’s lesson planning doesn’t know our students like we do. AI could support differentiation, but this must be adapted by us using our unique knowledge of our students.

of AI, often without consultation with staff, and the government push to expand use in schools.

Will AI ‘unlock the recruitment and retention crisis’?

Speaking in January at the Bett Show, an annual ed-tech event, education secretary Bridget Phillipson described a “vision for the future” in which AI would “reduce work or help unlock the recruitment and retention crisis that we face, so that once again teaching can be a profession that sparks joy, not burnout”.

essays is not actually feedback. It often merely provides a summary, is vague, or incomprehensible without context. For humanities, using AI to mark does genuine harm to a teacher’s ability to refine and hone the craft of marking.

She announced £1 million for 16 developers to create marking and feedback AI tools, one of several AI initiatives. In addition, the Chiltern Learning Trust has also been funded to develop an AI training programme for schools, although the NEU questions the relatively small amount of money invested into such an important task – just £241,000 – and how time-pressed teachers will find between four and six hours to complete the continuing professional

“Educators need an informed say before choices about AI are made without us.”

Nicola Hawkins, teacher

The passing of the motion means the union will now campaign for a bigger role in influencing how AI is developed and used in education. “There needs to be a furious intensity of campaigning,” says Nicola. “Educators need an informed say in the fundamental choices being made about AI, before those choices are made without us.”

swearing and scenes of intimacy. “I don’t want it to be the case that we don’t need a librarian because we can just use AI to look at the content of books,” she says. “To begin with, AI might be hallucinating and bringing back the wrong stuff.

Reduce workload? Employ enough staff

AI is no substitute for your marking and feedback.

Sophie Stone, a sixth form librarian in Oldham, has similar concerns: “I feel there will be much less demand for our role in teaching research skills. A lot of students go straight to AI now instead of properly researching information. It’s the same with resources – there will be much less demand for them and therefore much less demand for people to manage them.”

Like many, she and Patrick are sceptical about claims that AI will reduce teacher workload.

I trialled reading and marking students’ essays with them out loud. It was inefficient but brilliant. AI ‘feedback’ on

“I’m not convinced. It’s unproven and we also know that if you really want to reduce workload, you’ll fund schools properly to employ enough staff and pay them properly,” argues Patrick.

You can say no to AI. Teaching using AI has not become the way to teach. You have not been programmed. You have agency. You can choose not to use AI. In conclusion: connect! Human rapport cannot be replicated by a machine. Teaching and learning are best delivered via humans. In the age of AI, the challenge is safeguarding, championing, promoting and nurturing all that makes us human in the classroom.

“Works should be judged as a whole. We are trained professionals and part of our role is curating and selection. Human curation and selection shouldn’t be left to AI. It’s deprofessionalising, as well as unethical and unprofessional to use AI for restricting and censoring books in this way.”

Make mistakes openly. Rolemodel curiosity. Invest in, and champion, human connections –these do, and should, take time.

Carrie Marsden, Wiltshire

technical administrator to deliver remotely.”

At his school, teachers are encouraged to use AI to create lesson resources, and Patrick sees the potential, having used it himself to generate ideas. In other areas, however, he questions its impact on learning.

Kristabelle also worries about the impact AI could have on the vital role of librarians in reader development, which involves recommending books, and any moves towards using AI software as a quick way to search books to identify what could be perceived as offensive content, such as

That said, while she is strongly opposed to moves in this direction, Kristabelle sees the temptation for librarians to take such a shortcut when they are so overworked and victims of job creep.

What about the huge environmental cost of AI?

Nicola points to the rise in the use of standardised curricula packages (see page 19) as an example of how workload isn’t reduced but merely shifted. She says teachers have to think about how the package will need to be adapted to fit their cohort of pupils, and that’s intrinsically less satisfying and more stressful.

I READ your article about AI, The future is here (Educate, July/August, page 31), and was surprised to find no mention of the environmental impact of AI technologies.

“If you are teaching a primary school writing class and you give children a model text that has been generated by AI, and they are being taught to try to emulate that model text then what you’re doing is training children to write like a computer,” he reflects.

“There is already a struggle in a lot of schools to get the information literacy role of the librarian recognised and used,” adds Kristabelle. “School librarians are particularly positioned and qualified to teach critical

“It’s equally stressful if you don’t do that and just use the package. It’s like a ready-meal approach to education because – and many colleagues are frightened to say this – they feel they are delivering something second rate for children, and teachers care about that.”

As educators, we should be modelling the values of sustainability and environmental awareness, and increasing reliance on AI technology within schools does not match that ethos. The water and energy consumption of AI is vast, and we should be encouraging students and staff to use AI technology with that consideration in mind. AI is a useful tool, but few people are aware of the environmental cost.

I would be interested to hear the NEU’s stance on the duty of schools to enable and discuss the responsible use of AI from an environmental and social, as well as a teacher workload, perspective. Ruth Taylor, Oldham

“As educators, we obviously need to know how to use the tools, and we need to teach children how to use them, but the tools should be helping us and children be more creative, not the other way round.”

It’s an interesting point. As the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) points out, however good AI is at mimicking human processes, it cannot generate new ideas. Originality and

Teachers lose their autonomy, and children are short-changed.

And a deskilled profession is, of course, one with weaker bargaining power. “As a union, we need to look at what’s coming out with a massive microscope to work out what it will take away from teachers’ skill sets,” adds Nicola.

Interestingly, some teachers themselves are recognising the potential of AI and are partnering with developers to create products to help with the teaching role, but the field

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‘Sense of belonging enhances academic and life outcomes’

IN June 2024, the Anti-Bullying Alliance, run by charity the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), launched Belonging Matters, an innovative 18-month programme funded by the Kusuma Trust.

This free pilot supports ten diverse London schools – providing mainstream, special and alternative provision – across primary and secondary phases. It is designed to address rising concerns around school attendance, escalating mental health challenges and limited access to specialist support.

The programme offers an inclusive, universal approach aimed at helping all pupils, especially those with special educational needs and disabilities, to develop essential feelings of connection and belonging.

Schools received a comprehensive audit tool, data-driven action plans, and

access to an online pupil-belonging questionnaire. Additionally, participants benefit from expert support, training on the Belonging framework, bespoke implementation guidance, and access to school-wide wellbeing data.

The interim report, released in June 2025, highlights early positive indicators showing that fostering belonging may play a critical role in reducing absenteeism, disengagement and school anxiety. The NCB emphasises that a strong sense of belonging not only enhances pupil academic outcomes and life aspirations, but also positively affects mental health, selfesteem, engagement and attendance.

The final report on the programme is due at the end of the year. The Anti-Bullying Alliance and NCB hope to extend the programme to more schools in the future.

n Visit anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk and tinyurl.com/ncbbelonging

The NCB programme follows the NEU’s pioneering work on belonging in schools.

The union commissioned research by experts and produced a suite of resources and case studies.

n Visit neu.org.uk/placebelonging

Clean Air for Kids UK-wide BRISTOL

mum-of-two

Ruth Brooker (right) has launched a campaign to bring clean air to Bristol’s school children.

Ruth is calling on the city’s residents to write to the leader of the Green council, their councillors and MPs asking them to provide a portable air filter in every classroom. She is encouraging others across the UK to campaign in their areas and has produced a template letter.

Epidemiological studies have shown that long-term exposure to air pollution reduces life expectancy.

According to research from Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, 99 per cent of schools in the UK are in areas that exceed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended limit for harmful particulate matter (PM2.5) particles.

n Template letters can be downloaded at cleanairforkids.co.uk

Reforesting around the world

JUST ONE Tree Day is an annual, nonuniform or wear-somethinggreen day that takes place on 17 October. It combines climate education with raising funds for global reforestation.

Organised by non-profit organisation JUST ONE Tree, each student is encouraged to bring in a suggested donation of £1 to fund the planting of a tree in deforested areas around the world. JUST ONE Tree provides free resources on how to run the day, which can be tailored to your education setting.

The initiative contributes to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, making change by regenerating land and ocean ecosystems, restoring biodiversity, and helping local communities thrive. Since its launch in 2019, more than 700 schools have taken part across five continents, reaching more than 245,000 children and planting a forest of over 380,000 trees. n Visit justonetree.life/schools-sustainability

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Send us your photo to win a £20 book token

Anita says: “It was taken during a trip to Prague. I’ve always been fascinated by the history of Jewish migration and settlements, so my friend and I took a walking tour.

“We had to climb steps to reach this small cemetery. It had historically been locked between housing, so as

IT’S vital that the NEU has up-to-date details for all its members. You may be eligible for reduced subscriptions – for example, if you work part-time, are about to take maternity leave or retire.

It’s important that we have the correct address for you for balloting purposes so, if you have moved, make sure you tell us your new home or workplace address.

The easiest way to update your details is by logging on to myNEU

the cemetery filled, the only option was to bury the dead on top of the previous layer.

“Prague is a beautiful city, well worth the visit.”

Why not send a picture to us at educate@neu.org.uk It should be large and high resolution, accompanied by 50 words about its subject.

We send a £20 book token to each featured so don’t forget to include your address in the email too.

Go to my.neu.org.uk to manage your membership, including updating your address, workplace and equality information. Alternatively: n call us on 0345 811 8111 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm) n email membership@neu.org.uk

n or write to Membership & Subscriptions, NEU, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD.

Access myRewards today

myNEU is also a portal to accessing hundreds of exclusive discounts available to members through myRewards. From savings on your weekly shop to holidays and special treats, you could save up to £1,000 a year. Visit neu.org.uk/neu-rewards

THIS photo was captured by Anita Dennis, a primary school teacher in Leicester.

Quick crossword

Across

1 Albert ___ : famous physicist (8)

5 Captain ___ : character in Moby-Dick (4)

9 Succulent plant with spiny leaves (5)

10 Kofi ___ : former UN Secretary-General (5)

11 Plant with five-petalled flowers (10)

14 Ointment used to treat bruises (6)

15 The Spanish ___ : naval invasion in 1588 (6)

17 Baku is the capital of this country (10)

20 ___ Blunt: actress in Oppenheimer (5)

21 ___ Lowe: English fashion model (5)

22 Formula One racing team (4)

23 Musical instrument of the brass family (8)

Sudoku

Down

1 Kian ___ : former Westlife member (4)

2 Biblical ark builder (4)

3 Band co-founded by Brian Wilson (3,5,4)

4 Peninsula comprising Spain and Portugal (6)

6 Jewish festival lasting eight days (8)

7 Antonio ___ : Spanish actor (8)

8 Actor who played the villain Silva in Skyfall (6,6)

12 Childhood home of Jesus (8)

13 Tall plant of the parsley family (8)

16___ Hugo: author of Les Miserables (6)

18 Brand of ballpoint pen (4)

19 Sandy ___ : Scottish golfer (4)

issue’s (July/August 2025) sudoku solution (from left: Easy, Medium

Across

1 - Albert ___ : famous physicist (8)

5 - Captain ___ : character in Moby-Dick (4)

9 - Succulent plant with spiny leaves (5)

10 - Kofi ___ : former UN Secretary-General (5)

11 - Plant with five-petalled flowers (10)

14 - Ointment used to treat bruises (6)

15 - The Spanish ___ : naval invasion in 1588 (6)

17 - Baku is the capital of this country (10)

20 - ___ Blunt: actress in Oppenheimer (5)

21 - ___ Lowe: English fashion model (5)

22 - Formula One racing team (4)

23 - Musical instrument of the brass family (8)

Down

1 - Kian ___ : former Westlife member (4)

2 - Biblical ark builder (4)

Sudoku solutions will feature on this page next issue.

3 - Band co-founded by Brian Wilson (3,5,4)

4 - Peninsula comprising Spain and Portugal (6)

6 - Jewish festival lasting eight days (8)

7 - Antonio ___ : Spanish actor (8)

8 - Actor who played the villain Silva in Skyfall (6,6)

12 - Childhood home of Jesus (8)

13 - Tall plant of the parsley family (8)

16 - ___ Hugo: author of Les Miserables (6)

18 - Brand of ballpoint pen (4)

19 - Sandy ___ : Scottish golfer (4)

Prize crossword

A £50 Marks & Spencer voucher

Across 1 Graduate translating a legend at Cambridge college (9)

6 Emirate organises a university bid (5)

9 Initially take a block, like elm, to make a piece of furniture (5)

10 Leader of youth art group upset: ‘It’s a place of suffering!’ (9)

11 Title that some extol or denigrate (4)

12 In the summer, Italian provides an above-average pass grade (5)

13 The girl’s Head of English is in this position (4)

16 They’re powerless to fly (7)

17 Sculling after golf is getting bigger (7)

19 Made changes to morning, then finished (7)

21 Illness at seaside, unfortunately (7)

22 Starts practising all school subjects to get successful exam result (4)

24 Liver and kidneys not on sale centrally? (5)

25 Wealthy but heartless new Chair (4)

29 One providing pen and paper to Paddington and the late Queen? (9)

30 Back in hall, I am efficient at this type of communication (5)

31 Has he a folder containing a bundle of papers? (5)

32 She might lure MP into unfamiliar streets! (9)

Down

1 Encountered aluminium in iron, for example (5)

2 Breeding a new sort of raincoat (9)

3 Partly replace strawberries, as often served at Wimbledon (4)

4 Fast train possibly pre-exists without it? (7)

5 Making a mistake about a piece of jewellery (7)

6 Play unfinished? A wee Scotch! (4)

7 Audibly voices disapproval of alcoholic drink? (5)

8 Top US universities – i.e. vaguely different! (3,6)

14 & 15 down New shed you convert to become a toy building (5,5)

16 Relocated pathologists hit out – it’s unfair to move them! (9)

18 Somehow maintain existing head, though lifeless! (9)

20 Redistributed fund, etc, is no longer in existence (7)

21 Such a drawing might unravel paradigm – no pressure! (7)

23 External form has changed physical education (5)

26 Where students have their rooms – everyone in hotel (small) (5)

27 Slight quarrel turns up as a bit of graffiti (4) 28 Annoying person regularly found in upper set (4)

Send your completed crossword, with your contact details, to: September/October crossword, Educate, NEU, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD, or email a photographed copy to crossword@neu.org.uk. Closing date: 30 September.

Last issue’s (July/August 2025) prize crossword solution Across 9 ORCHESTRA 10

The winner and solution of this prize crossword will feature on this page next issue. Congratulations to last issue’s winner – Rebecca Emsden from Taverham

This issue’s quick crossword solution (p48)

Final word

‘Boys are sold a lie that makes them miserable’

Fact file

Natasha Devon MBE has visited an average of three schools a week since 2008, conducting research and delivering talks on mental health, body image and gender equality. She gives evidence to various all-party parliamentary groups, including those on teaching and learning. Visit natashadevon.com

MY work as an educator and researcher on mental health takes me into schools and colleges all over the UK.

I regularly conduct focus groups with 14to 18-year-olds and ask them about their experiences online. When I speak to teenage boys about what I consider to be misogynistic content creators, such as online influencer Andrew Tate, they often respond by saying: “I don’t agree with what he says about women, but he makes some good points about working hard or keeping fit.”

After Netflix’s Adolescence was screened last spring, I joined forces with Sam Delaney, a men’s mental health campaigner, to develop a webinar for parents and teachers on this topic. Sam’s take on some aspects of the so-called life advice being dished out in the manosphere? “We need to show boys that it’s all bollocks.”

Toxic for male mental health

Believing your value is tied up exclusively in your productivity and body image is toxic for male mental health. As is the idea that men must isolate themselves, never express emotion or ask for help. These are the patriarchal notions partially responsible for

the tragically high male suicide rates. While exercise is beneficial for both mental and physical health, an obsession with muscle building, which involves being immersed in gym culture to the exclusion of all other hobbies, is the opposite. Ultimately, boys are sold a lie that makes them miserable, but the cause of that misery is redirected at women and girls.

Sam and I take a two-fold approach. First, we believe teenage boys need to understand how manipulative social media is and how algorithms actively reward extreme and shocking content.

‘Feminism has gone too far’

A study from Dublin City University found teenage boys will encounter misogynistic content online within 23 minutes. If they engage with it, the algorithm responds by flooding their feed with similar content, placing them in online silos where everyone they encounter agrees that ‘feminism has gone too far’ and is espousing reductive and inaccurate interpretations of evolutionary biology to justify this.

The second part of our approach is to give boys a healthier blueprint of masculinity. As Sam emphasises, Andrew Tate is intense, creepy and doesn’t seem like he’d be a laugh

to hang out with. People who are genuinely happy tend to be the opposite.

Self-aware, funny, vulnerable, supportive

The culture that we live in has classified ‘success’ for men as having lots of expensive cars, but that doesn’t mean we have to accept that definition. What about men who are selfaware, funny or – in the words of musician and television presenter Jordan Stephens, who talks about how patriarchal ideas harm men –have the peace of mind that arises from a total lack of want? What if we defined strength not in physical terms, but instead acknowledged that a strong person can show vulnerability, talk about things that are difficult and support their friends to do the same?

I’ve had conversations with teachers who have said that tackling the so-called ‘Tate effect’ seems insurmountable, but it’s something every part of the community can and should be engaged with. Schools shouldn’t feel it’s their sole responsibility. However, they can help to give young people the critical thinking and scientific literacy skills they need to survive social media, as well as pointing them in the direction of positive role models.

There are lots of male celebrities contributing a net-positive to the world from whom you and your pupils can draw inspiration.

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Issue 80

Autumn term 2025

Behaviour issues Schools need more funding and support.

inwales

NEU Cymru members ready to take action on pay and funding

MEMBERS in Wales are prepared to take action to secure the full 4.8 per cent pay rise recommended by the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB).

In an online consultation, they rejected the Welsh government’s (WG’s) four per cent pay offer and agreed with a plan to launch a political campaign to secure additional funding for schools in Wales.

The decision on the next steps in response to the pay offer in Wales will be taken by the NEU’s national executive on 27 September.

The WG has assured the four per cent offer will be fully funded but members say they want the full 4.8 per cent as well as additional funding for all schools.

Of those who responded to the online consultation, 79 per cent rejected the four per cent pay offer and 84 per cent said they would be prepared to take strike action. Almost all respondents (96 per cent) agreed with plans to launch a political campaign for additional funding for schools.

A Pay Up campaign meeting hosted by NEU Denbighshire in July heard that, due to reduced budgets since 2010/11, some secondary schools in north Wales had lost more than £800,000 in funding and some primary schools had lost over £400,000.

NEU Wales secretary Nicola Fitzpatrick said: “We cannot state enough how important it is that the real cost of the pay rise makes it to every school in Wales. NEU Cymru will never accept cuts to education. Children deserve a fully resourced education and government should see education as an investment in Wales’ future, not a cost.”

£12m for three years of musical magic

‘Huge pay wins’ for NEU Cymru

CAMPAIGNING by NEU Cymru for members’ pay and rights has paid off with two significant successes over the summer.

The Welsh government (WG) has agreed to remove the requirement to apply to progress between main and upper pay scales from this September.

And it has also been confirmed that additional learning needs co-ordinators (ALNCos) will be paid on the leadership pay scale.

The union has been campaigning since 2022 for a single, mandatory, six-point classroom teacher pay scale. Until now

teachers have had to apply to their heads to cross over from the main to the upper scale, an arrangement the union described as “an unjustified block to progression”.

NEU Wales secretary Nicola Fitzpatrick said: “While this does not fully meet NEU Cymru’s recommendations, it is a huge win for the union and we will continue to call on the Welsh government to implement a single, six-point pay scale.”

She also welcomed the new pay arrangement for ALNCos, saying: “They will be pleased to see they are to get a pay rise as they move to the leadership pay group.”

(Above) Why Music?, held at Pontio Arts Centre in Bangor in January, focused on the career pathways and health benefits of studying music. See page 3

Powys council prepares report on sixth form provision CONSULTATION over the future of sixth forms in Powys will continue into the autumn after head teachers and other educators were consulted during the summer term.

The county council has been reviewing post-16 provision since an Estyn inspection report in February 2025 recommended changes. There are currently sixth forms on 12 school sites, a position inspectors said was not financially sustainable and which did not support equal access to post-16 learning.

Following a strategic review, the council cabinet agreed in May to consult on the three shortlisted options.

The cabinet’s current preferred option would involve:

n closing all English-medium sixth forms and establishing a post-16 centre operating from two sites, in Newtown and Brecon n operating three Welsh-medium sixth forms aligned with the existing Welshmedium secondary schools.

A further report will be prepared for the cabinet after the consultation period ends in October.

WOMEN teachers and educators from across north Wales (pictured above) shared their stories of the sexism, misogyny and sexual harassment they have experienced while working in schools, and the negative impact it has had on them.

They were taking part in a training session, led by Liz McLean from the union’s national executive, based on the NEU’s It’s Not OK campaign against sexism and sexual harassment. The meeting heard how the abuse endured by the educators stemmed from other staff, including management, as well as from pupils. It included inappropriate comments and online behaviour. One member described receiving emails from a male pupil suggesting sexualised activities; he received a week’s exclusion.

During the training, members were able to develop strategies to deal with these types of behaviours, including developing a whole-school approach.

Liz said almost all girls and women have experienced or witnessed at least one form of sexual harassment in school: “It is just everywhere and school leaders have to assume they have a problem even if no incidents are reported. Without consistent reporting we will never really know the true extent of this problem and by not addressing it, we are failing our pupils and staff.” n Download the It’s Not OK toolkit at neu.org.uk/end-sexism-sexual-harassment

Learning dates for your diary

TRAINING FOR REPS

Foundation and advanced reps courses are now available for reps to attend for three days in one block. The courses have been arranged, subject to numbers, on the following dates:

Foundation courses

6-8 October – Newport tinyurl.com/Oct-2025-Newport 12-14 November – Llandudno tinyurl.com/Nov-2025-Llandudno

Advanced course 19-21 November – Swansea tinyurl.com/Nov-2025-Swansea

Work and wellbeing

13 November – Swansea

tinyurl.com/Nov-2025-Swansea-2

Employment law

26 November – Cardiff tinyurl.com/Nov-2025-Cardiff

Representing members in the workplace

22-23 October – Swansea tinyurl.com/Oct-2025-Swansea

Redundancy and restructuring

21 January 2026 – Swansea tinyurl.com/Jan-2026-Swansea

23 January 2026 – Llandudno tinyurl.com/Jan-2026-Llandudno

If you’re interested in becoming a school rep and attending one of the

courses, email cymru.wales@neu.org. uk – and remember, reps are legally entitled to attend this training. The NEU will support any rep who has difficulties getting time off work to attend.

You can also find out more about national NEU continuing professional development (CPD) courses at neu. org.uk/courses/national-cpd

MORE COURSES THROUGH WULF

Courses are also available through the Wales Union Learning Fund project. Visit tinyurl.com/wulf-courses

If you would like the union to consider organising a particular course, email Lisa Williams at lisa. williams@neu.org.uk or Beth Roberts at beth.roberts@neu.org.uk

Check your email inbox for information on the latest training opportunities. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/ neucymrutraining, follow us on X at @neucymrutrain and visit neu.org.uk/learning-and-events

PHOTO by John Owen

Read back issues of Educate in Wales, in English and in Welsh, at

Government funds for music service

FUNDING for the National Music Service (NMS), which has given thousands of pupils the opportunity to learn to play musical instruments, is to continue for another three years.

The Welsh government (WG) announced £12 million in June to continue to support the service providing access to music activities in schools and communities across Wales. As well as programmes such as Music in Schools and the development of a national instrument library, the NMS will continue to provide support for teachers, whatever their musical experience, through its digital platform Charanga Cymru.

The NMS for Wales was launched in 2022 as part of the WG’s National Plan for Music Education and was seen as an important part of supporting children’s wellbeing after the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the last academic year in Powys alone, almost 1,500 primary pupils took part in eight-week music sessions with professional musicians, introducing them to a range of instruments, and many lunchtime and after-school music clubs have started.

‘Schools

can’t tackle behaviour by themselves’

LACK of funding is a key issue in tackling poor behaviour in schools, says NEU Cymru.

Better access to support services, more support for children with additional learning needs (ALN) and increased support from local authorities are all necessary to deal with the problem.

In a survey of members earlier this year, 87 per cent said there was a problem with pupil behaviour and the way that behaviour is dealt with in schools.

NEU Wales secretary Nicola Fitzpatrick

said: “Our members are really clear that when it comes to pupil behaviour, schools can’t tackle this by themselves.”

The survey reflects similar findings by the Welsh schools inspectorate, Estyn, in a report on promoting positive behaviours in secondary school published in May.

It said that while only a few pupils displayed challenging behaviour in most schools, the challenges to schools were complex. Contributing factors included “budget constraints, recruitment and retention of specialist staff and a lack of readily available support from external agencies and local authorities”.

Among its recommendations was for the Welsh government (WG) to update national behaviour management guidelines and launch a national campaign on positive behaviour. It also said teacher training should include a behaviour management programme.

Earlier this year NEU Cymru attended a WG “behaviour summit” with other unions, local authorities and head teachers to discuss concerns and how to tackle the issues.

Nicola said she looked forward to working with the WG on “this critical issue”. n Read the Estyn report at tinyurl.com/ Estyn-behaviour

Meet Elise and Scott, your officer and rep of the year

TWO stalwarts of NEU Cymru have been recognised for their hard work and service to members.

Gwynedd district and branch secretary Elise Poulter was awarded officer of the year for her tireless work across the county, while Scott Roberts was awarded school representative of the year for his hard work and commitment to the union.

Elise has moved committee meetings to different locations to increase attendance, which has resulted in the district’s highest ever membership. It has also enabled more women and LGBT+ members to become

involved and hold officer roles, and the number of workplace reps has also increased.

Scott is assistant branch secretary in Denbighshire and works at Ysgol Bryn Hedydd primary school in Rhyl where he has doubled membership.

He is keen to roll out NEU training and toolkits – especially the anti-sexism It’s Not OK toolkit – and also raises the profile of LGBT+ members. He actively supported the first Colwyn Bay Pride event and earlier this year volunteered in France with the Care4Calais charity with other NEU Cymru members.

BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Theatr Clwyd Music Service perform a Side-by-Side concert at Wrexham University, April 2024

NEU Wales secretary Nicola Fitzpatrick presents their awards to Elise Poulter (left) and Scott Roberts

Here to help

AS part of the largest education union in Europe, NEU Cymru can offer members an unrivalled service.

Our professional team is here to provide expertise to our network of workplace representatives and district and branch secretaries.

If you have a problem at work or want to know more about member services, contact:

n your workplace representative n your branch secretary

n AdviceLine 0345 811 8111 n NEU Cymru office.

NEU Cymru

Ty Sinnott, 18 Neptune Court, Vanguard Way, Cardiff CF24 5PJ

Tel: 029 2049 1818

Email: cymru.wales@neu.org.uk

Wales secretary: Nicola Fitzpatrick

Senior Wales officers: Debbie Scott, Daniel Maney

Senior Wales policy officer: Mary van den Heuvel

North Wales organiser: Cai Jones

South Wales organiser: Robert Goddard

Wales solicitor: Angharad Booker

Executive members: Elizabeth McLean, Hannah O’Neill, Claire Rickard

Head office

National Education Union, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD

Tel: 020 7388 6191

Website: neu.org.uk

President: Sarah Kilpatrick

General secretary: Daniel Kebede

Translation by Rhys Iorwerth Cyf rhysiorwerth@ hotmail.com

A RAP music video by year 6 pupils telling everyone to speak out against racism was the overall winner of the 2025 Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) creative competition for schools in Wales. Entitled Speak Out, Shout Out and described as “powerful” by the judges, it was written and performed by the whole class at St Patrick’s RC Primary School in Newport. It also won the primary Expressive Arts category.

Pupils Derek Ugochukwu, Aoife Jenkins and Amelia Roguszka (pictured above) were presented with an iPad by Stuart Williams of the NEU, which donated the prize as part of its continuing support for SRtRC.

More than 85,000 young people registered to take part in the competition from 452 schools across Wales. It included awards for primary and secondary age groups in the six areas of learning and experiences within the Curriculum for Wales.

All the fun of the Urdd Eisteddfod

NEU Cymru officers were delighted to meet new and old friends at the annual Urdd Eisteddfod at Margam Park, Port Talbot this summer.

The union had a stall at the week–long event – the largest youth festival in Europe – and was joined by charity Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC).

Displays highlighted the results of the union’s pupil behaviour survey and SRtRC’s research, A Work in Progress – Understanding Racism and AntiRacism in Welsh Educational Settings. They and the Wales Union Learning Fund (WULF) project all attracted a lot of interest.

The union’s popular bee colouring/

Carmarthenshire council announces new ALN school

YSGOL Heol Goffa in Llanelli is to be replaced with a new 150-pupil school for children with additional learning needs (ALN).

Carmarthenshire council’s cabinet agreed on 31 July to go ahead with the new school which will increase provision for pupils with severe and profound learning difficulties in the Llanelli area.

drawing competition drew in more than 50 entries a day, with each entrant receiving a pack of beefriendly wildflower seeds. Two daily prizes of an eco-friendly insect hotel were given to the winners.

The council said work was already underway to meet the demand for children with autism spectrum disorder in Llanelli by “alternative means”.

Cabinet member for education Cllr Glynog Davies said he was delighted a decision had been taken: “Further work will now be undertaken to refine and finalise the design, confirm cost estimates and engage with the school community.”

Prize winners Anni Griffiths (left) and Gethin Land

Dyna Ddigon

Hyfforddiant i fynd i’r afael â rhywiaeth ac aflonyddu.

Problemau ymddygiad

Mae angen mwy o gymorth ar ysgolion.

Eisteddfod yr Urdd

NEU Cymru yng ngŵyl ieuenctid fwyaf Ewrop.

nghymru yng addysgu

Rhifyn 80

Tymor yr Hydref 2025

Cyflogau a chyllid: aelodau NEU Cymru yn barod i weithredu

MAE aelodau yng Nghymru yn barod i weithredu i sicrhau’r codiad cyflog llawn o 4.8 y cant sydd wedi’i argymell gan Gorff Adolygu Cyflogau Annibynnol Cymru.

Mewn ymgynghoriad ar-lein, gwrthododd yr aelodau gynnig llywodraeth Cymru o godiad cyflog o bedwar y cant, gan gytuno i lansio ymgyrch wleidyddol i sicrhau rhagor o gyllid i ysgolion yng Nghymru.

Bydd gweithrediaeth genedlaethol yr NEU yn penderfynu ar 27 Medi ar y camau nesaf er mwyn ymateb i’r cynnig.

Mae llywodraeth Cymru wedi cadarnhau y bydd y cynnig o bedwar y cant yn cael ei ariannu’n llawn, ond mae’r aelodau’n dweud eu bod eisiau’r 4.8 y cant llawn yn ogystal â rhagor o gyllid i bob ysgol.

O blith y rheini a ymatebodd i’r ymgynghoriad ar-lein, gwrthododd 79 y cant y cynnig o bedwar y cant, a dywedodd 84 y cant y bydden nhw’n barod i streicio. Roedd yr holl ymatebwyr, fwy neu lai (96 y cant), o blaid y cynlluniau i lansio ymgyrch wleidyddol yn galw am ragor o gyllid i ysgolion.

Trefnwyd cyfarfod gan NEU Sir Ddinbych ym mis Gorffennaf i drafod yr ymgyrch i alw am ragor o gyllid. Oherwydd bod cyllidebau wedi lleihau ers 2010/11, clywyd bod rhai ysgolion uwchradd yn y gogledd wedi colli dros £800,000 mewn cyllid, a bod rhai ysgolion cynradd wedi colli dros £400,000.

Dywedodd Nicola Fitzpatrick, ysgrifennydd NEU Cymru: “Allwn ni ddim datgan pa mor bwysig yw sicrhau bod gwir gost y codiad cyflog yn cyrraedd pob ysgol yng Nghymru. Wnaiff NEU Cymru fyth dderbyn toriadau i addysg. Mae plant yn haeddu addysg sydd wedi’i hariannu’n llawn, a dylai’r llywodraeth ystyried addysg yn fuddsoddiad yn nyfodol Cymru, yn hytrach nag yn gost.”

£12m am dair blynedd o gerddoriaeth

(Uchod) Roedd digwyddiad Pam Cerddoriaeth?, a gynhaliwyd yn Pontio ym Mangor fis Ionawr, yn trafod llwybrau gyrfa a’r manteision iechyd sy’n dod yn sgil astudio cerddoriaeth. Ewch i dudalen 3

‘Buddugoliaeth fawr dros gyflogau’

MAE ymgyrchu gan NEU Cymru dros gyflogau a hawliau’r aelodau wedi dwyn ffrwyth gyda dwy fuddugoliaeth o bwys dros yr haf.

Mae llywodraeth Cymru wedi cytuno i gael gwared ar y gofyniad i wneud cais er mwyn dringo o’r brif raddfa gyflog i’r raddfa gyflog uwch o fis Medi eleni.

Cadarnhawyd hefyd y bydd cydlynwyr anghenion dysgu ychwanegol yn cael eu talu ar y raddfa gyflog i arweinwyr.

Mae’r undeb wedi bod yn ymgyrchu ers 2022 am un raddfa gyflog orfodol, chwe phwynt, i athrawon ystafell ddosbarth. Hyd yma, mae athrawon wedi gorfod gwneud

cais i’w penaethiaid i groesi o’r brif raddfa gyflog i’r raddfa uwch, trefniant y mae’r undeb wedi’i ddisgrifio fel “rhwystr annheg i ddatblygiad cyflog”.

Dywedodd Nicola Fitzpatrick, ysgrifennydd NEU Cymru: “Er nad yw hyn yn cyflawni holl argymhellion NEU Cymru, mae’n fuddugoliaeth fawr i’r undeb a byddwn ni’n dal i alw ar lywodraeth Cymru i gyflwyno un raddfa gyflog, chwe phwynt.” Croesawodd hefyd y trefniant cyflogau newydd i gydlynwyr anghenion dysgu ychwanegol, gan ddweud: “Byddan nhw’n falch o weld eu bod nhw’n cael codiad cyflog drwy symud i grwp cyflogau arweinwyr.”

^

Powys yn trafod darpariaeth chweched

dosbarth

BYDD yr ymgynghori am ddyfodol darpariaeth chweched dosbarth ym

Mhowys yn parhau yn yr hydref ar ôl ymgynghori â phenaethiaid ac addysgwyr eraill yn ystod tymor yr haf.

Mae’r cyngor sir wedi bod yn adolygu darpariaeth ôl-16 yr ardal ers i adroddiad gan Estyn ym mis Chwefror 2025 argymell newidiadau. Ar hyn o bryd, mae chweched dosbarth ar 12 o safleoedd. Yn ôl yr arolygwyr, nid oedd y sefyllfa hon yn gynaliadwy, ac nid oedd yn rhoi cyfleoedd teg a chyfartal i ddysgwyr ym maes addysg ôl-16. Ar ôl cynnal adolygiad strategol, cytunodd cabinet y cyngor ym mis Mai i ymgynghori ynghylch tri o opsiynau ar restr fer.

Byddai’r opsiwn y mae’r cabinet yn ei ffafrio ar hyn o bryd yn golygu: n cau pob chweched dosbarth cyfrwng Saesneg a sefydlu canolfan ôl-16 ar ddau safle, yn y Drenewydd ac Aberhonddu n cynnal tri chweched dosbarth cyfrwng Cymraeg i gyd-fynd â’r ysgolion uwchradd cyfrwng Cymraeg presennol. Bydd adroddiad pellach yn cael ei baratoi i’r cabinet ar ôl i’r cyfnod ymgynghori ddod i ben ym mis Hydref.

RHANNODD athrawon ac addysgwyr benywaidd o’r gogledd (yn y llun uchod) eu straeon am y rhywiaeth, y casineb at fenywod, a’r aflonyddu rhywiol y maen nhw wedi’i brofi wrth weithio mewn ysgolion, ac am yr effaith negyddol mae hynny wedi’i chael arnyn nhw.

Roedden nhw’n cymryd rhan mewn sesiwn hyfforddiant, dan arweiniad Liz McLean o weithrediaeth genedlaethol yr undeb, oedd wedi’i seilio ar ymgyrch Dyna Ddigon yr NEU yn erbyn rhywiaeth ac aflonyddu rhywiol. Clywodd y cyfarfod sut roedd aelodau eraill o staff, gan gynnwys rheolwyr, yn gyfrifol am gam-drin addysgwyr – yn ogystal â disgyblion. Roedd hyn yn cynnwys sylwadau amhriodol ac ymddygiad ar-lein. Disgrifiodd un aelod sut cafodd negeseuon e-bost gan ddisgybl gwrywaidd yn sôn am weithgareddau rhywiol; cafodd y disgybl ei wahardd am wythnos.

Dywedodd Liz fod pob merch a menyw, fwy neu lai, wedi profi neu wedi bod yn dyst i un math o aflonyddu rhywiol yn yr ysgol, fan lleiaf: “Mae i’w ganfod ym mhobman, ac mae’n rhaid i arweinwyr ysgolion dybio bod ganddyn nhw broblem os nad oes neb yn rhoi gwybod am achosion. Heb adroddiadau cyson, fyddwn ni byth yn gwybod gwir hyd a lled y broblem hon, a heb fynd i’r afael â hi, rydyn ni’n gwneud cam â’n disgyblion a’n staff.” n Lawrlwythwch becyn cymorth Dyna Ddigon yn neu.org.uk/end-sexism-sexual-harassment

Dyddiadau dysgu i’ch dyddiadur

HYFFORDDIANT I GYNRYCHIOLWYR

Mae cyrsiau sylfaen ac uwch bellach ar gael i gynrychiolwyr eu mynychu am dri diwrnod mewn un bloc. Mae’r cyrsiau wedi’u trefnu, yn ddibynnol ar niferoedd, ar y dyddiadau canlynol:

Cyrsiau sylfaen

6-8 Hydref – Casnewydd tinyurl.com/Oct-2025-Newport 12-14 Tachwedd – Llandudno tinyurl.com/Nov-2025-Llandudno

Cwrs uwch

19-21 Tachwedd – Abertawe tinyurl.com/Nov-2025-Swansea

Gwaith a lles 13 Tachwedd – Abertawe

tinyurl.com/Nov-2025-Swansea-2

Cyfraith cyflogaeth 26 Tachwedd – Caerdydd tinyurl.com/Nov-2025-Cardiff

Cynrychioli aelodau yn y gweithle 22-23 Hydref – Abertawe tinyurl.com/Oct-2025-Swansea

Dileu swyddi ac ailstrwythuro 21 Ionawr 2026 – Abertawe tinyurl.com/Jan-2026-Swansea 23 Ionawr 2026 – Llandudno tinyurl.com/Jan-2026-Llandudno

Os oes gennych chi ddiddordeb mewn dod yn gynrychiolydd ysgol a mynd ar un o’r cyrsiau, anfonwch e-bost i cymru.wales@neu.org.uk

Cofiwch fod gan gynrychiolwyr hawl gyfreithiol i gael yr hyfforddiant hwn. Bydd yr NEU yn cefnogi unrhyw gynrychiolydd sy’n wynebu anawsterau wrth geisio cael amser i ffwrdd o’r gwaith i fod yn bresennol. Gallwch chi hefyd gael mwy o wybodaeth am gyrsiau datblygu proffesiynol parhaus yr NEU yn neu.org. uk/courses/national-cpd

RHAGOR O GYRSIAU DRWY WULF

Mae cyrsiau ar gael hefyd drwy brosiect Cronfa Ddysgu Undebau Cymru (WULF). Ewch i tinyurl.com/ wulf-courses. Os hoffech chi i’r undeb ystyried trefnu cwrs penodol, anfonwch e-bost naill ai at Lisa Williams, lisa.williams@neu.org.uk neu at Beth Roberts, beth.roberts@neu.org.uk

Cadwch olwg ar eich e-bost i weld gwybodaeth am y cyfleoedd hyfforddiant diweddaraf. Hoffwch ni ar Facebook yn facebook.com/neucymrutraining, dilynwch ni ar X drwy @neucymrutrain ac ewch i neu.org.uk/learning-and-events

LLUN gan

John Owen

Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC a gwasanaeth Cerddoriaeth Theatr Clwyd yn perfformio cyngerdd ochr-ynochr ym Mhrifysgol Wrecsam, Ebrill 2024

‘All

Wedi colli rhywbeth?

Darllenwch hen rifynnau Addysgu yng Nghymru, yn Gymraeg ac yn Saesneg, yn neu.org.uk/educate-wales

Cyllid ar gyfer gwasanaeth cerddoriaeth

MAE cyllid ar gyfer y Gwasanaeth Cerddoriaeth Cenedlaethol, sydd wedi rhoi cyfle i filoedd o ddisgyblion chwarae offerynnau cerddorol, i barhau am dair blynedd arall. Cyhoeddodd llywodraeth Cymru ym mis Mehefin ei bod yn rhoi £12 miliwn i barhau i gefnogi’r gwasanaeth, sy’n cynnal gweithgareddau cerddorol mewn ysgolion a chymunedau ledled Cymru. Yn ogystal â rhaglenni fel Cerddoriaeth mewn Ysgolion a datblygu’r llyfrgell offerynnau genedlaethol, bydd y Gwasanaeth Cerddoriaeth Cenedlaethol yn parhau i gynorthwyo athrawon, beth bynnag fo’u profiad cerddorol, drwy ei blatfform digidol, Charanga Cymru.

Lansiwyd y gwasanaeth yn 2022 fel rhan o’r Cynllun Cenedlaethol ar gyfer Addysg Cerddoriaeth – cynllun a gyflwynwyd gan lywodraeth Cymru ac a oedd yn rhan bwysig o’r gwaith i hybu lles plant ar ôl pandemig Covid-19.

Yn y flwyddyn academaidd ddiwethaf, ym Mhowys yn unig cymerodd bron i 1,500 o ddisgyblion ysgolion cynradd ran mewn sesiynau cerddoriaeth wyth wythnos gyda cherddorion proffesiynol, gan gael eu cyflwyno i amrywiaeth o offerynnau. Mae nifer o glybiau cerddoriaeth wedi’u sefydlu hefyd dros amser cinio ac ar ôl ysgol.

ysgolion ddim datrys problemau ymddygiad eu hunain’

MAE diffyg cyllid yn broblem o bwys wrth fynd i’r afael ag ymddygiad gwael mewn ysgolion, meddai NEU Cymru.

Er mwyn delio â’r broblem, mae angen gallu defnyddio gwasanaethau cymorth yn haws, mae angen rhoi mwy o gymorth i blant sydd ag anghenion dysgu ychwanegol, ac mae angen mwy o gymorth gan awdurdodau lleol. Mewn arolwg ymhlith yr aelodau yn gynharach eleni, dywedodd 87 y cant fod ymddygiad disgyblion, a’r modd y bydd ysgolion yn delio â’r ymddygiad hwnnw, yn broblem.

Dywedodd Nicola Fitzpatrick, ysgrifennydd NEU Cymru: “Mae ein haelodau wedi bod yn glir iawn na all

ysgolion fynd i’r afael â phroblem ymddygiad disgyblion eu hunain.”

Mae’r arolwg yn adlewyrchu canfyddiadau tebyg gan Estyn mewn adroddiad a gyhoeddwyd ym mis Mai am hybu ymddygiad cadarnhaol mewn ysgolion uwchradd.

Er mai dim ond ychydig o ddisgyblion oedd yn ymddwyn yn heriol yn y rhan fwyaf o ysgolion, dywedodd yr adroddiad fod yr heriau oedd yn wynebu ysgolion yn gymhleth. Ymhlith y ffactorau a gyfrannai roedd “cyfyngiadau o ran cyllidebau, recriwtio a chadw staff arbenigol, a diffyg cymorth a oedd ar gael yn rhwydd gan asiantaethau allanol ac awdurdodau lleol”.

Ymhlith argymhellion yr adroddiad,

dywedwyd y dylai llywodraeth Cymru ddiweddaru’r canllawiau cenedlaethol ar gyfer rheoli ymddygiad a lansio ymgyrch genedlaethol i hybu ymddygiad da. Dywedodd hefyd y dylai hyfforddiant i athrawon gynnwys rhaglen sy’n edrych ar reoli ymddygiad. Yn gynharach eleni, bu NEU Cymru yn rhan o “uwchgynhadledd ymddygiad” gydag undebau eraill, awdurdodau lleol a phenaethiaid i drafod y pryderon a sut i fynd i’r afael â’r problemau.

Dywedodd Nicola ei bod yn edrych ymlaen at weithio gyda Llywodraeth Cymru ar y “mater hollbwysig hwn”. n Darllenwch adroddiad Estyn yn tinyurl.com/ Estyn-ymddygiad

Dewch i gwrdd ag Elise a Scott, swyddog a chynrychiolydd y flwyddyn

MAE gwaith caled dau o hoelion wyth

NEU Cymru dros yr aelodau wedi cael ei gydnabod yn ddiweddar.

Enillodd Elise Poulter, ysgrifennydd ardal a changen Gwynedd, wobr swyddog y flwyddyn am ei gwaith diflino drwy’r sir, tra enillodd Scott Roberts wobr cynrychiolydd y flwyddyn am ei waith caled a’i ymroddiad i’r undeb.

Mae Elise wedi symud cyfarfodydd y pwyllgor i wahanol lefydd i ddenu mwy o bobl, a hynny wedi arwain at aelodaeth fwyaf erioed yr ardal. Mae hyn hefyd wedi galluogi mwy o fenywod ac aelodau LHDT+ i gyfrannu a dod yn swyddogion, ac mae nifer y

cynrychiolwyr yn y gweithle hefyd wedi cynyddu.

Mae Scott yn ysgrifennydd cangen cynorthwyol yn Sir Ddinbych ac yn gweithio yn Ysgol Bryn Hedydd yn y Rhyl, lle mae wedi dyblu’r aelodaeth.

Mae’n awyddus i gyflwyno hyfforddiant a phecynnau cymorth yr NEU, yn enwedig pecyn cymorth gwrthrywiaeth Dyna Ddigon. Mae hefyd yn bwriadu codi proffil yr aelodau LHDT+. Aeth ati i gefnogi digwyddiad cyntaf

Pride Bae Colwyn ac yn gynharach eleni gwirfoddolodd yn Ffrainc gydag elusen Care4Calais yng nghwmni aelodau eraill o NEU Cymru.

Ysgrifennydd NEU Cymru, Nicola Fitzpatrick, yn cyflwyno’r gwobrwyon i Elise Poulter (chwith) a Scott Roberts

Yma i helpu

FEL yr undeb addysg mwyaf, gall NEU Cymru roi gwasanaeth heb ei ail i’w aelodau. Mae ein tîm proffesiynol yma i ddefnyddio’u harbenigedd er mwyn helpu ein rhwydwaith o gynrychiolwyr gweithle ac ysgrifenyddion rhanbarthau a changhennau.

Os oes gennych chi broblem yn y gwaith neu i gael rhagor o wybodaeth am ein gwasanaethau i aelodau, cysylltwch â’r canlynol: n cynrychiolydd eich gweithle n ysgrifennydd eich cangen

n AdviceLine

n Swyddfa NEU Cymru.

NEU Cymru

Ty Sinnott, 18 Neptune Court, Vanguard Way, Caerdydd CF24 5PJ

Ffôn: 029 2049 1818

E-bost: cymru.wales@neu.org.uk

Ysgrifennydd Cymru:

Nicola Fitzpatrick

Uwch swyddogion Cymru: Debbie Scott, Daniel Maney

Uwch swyddog polisi Cymru: Mary van den Heuvel

Trefnydd y gogledd: Cai Jones

Trefnydd y de: Robert Goddard

Cyfreithiwr Cymru: Angharad Booker

Aelodau gweithredol: Elizabeth McLean, Hannah O’Neill, Claire Rickard

Prif swyddfa

Yr Undeb Addysg Cenedlaethol, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, Llundain WC1H 9BD

Ffôn: 020 7388 6191

Gwefan: neu.org.uk

Llywydd: Sarah Kilpatrick

Ysgrifennydd cyffredinol: Daniel Kebede

Cyfieithiad gan

Rhys Iorwerth Cyf rhysiorwerth@ hotmail.com

FIDEO cerddoriaeth rap gan ddisgyblion blwyddyn 6 yn dweud wrth bawb am godi llais yn erbyn hiliaeth oedd prif enillydd cystadleuaeth greadigol Dangos y Cerdyn Coch i Hiliaeth i ysgolion Cymru eleni. O’r enw Speak Out, Shout Out, ysgrifennwyd a pherfformiwyd y gân gan yr holl ddosbarth yn Ysgol Gynradd Gatholig Padrig Sant yng Nghasnewydd, a chafodd ei disgrifio fel un “rymus” gan y beirniaid. Enillodd y fideo hefyd y wobr gynradd yn y categori Celfyddydau Mynegiannol.

Cyflwynwyd iPad i’r disgyblion, Derek Ugochukwu, Aoife Jenkins ac Amelia Roguszka (yn y llun uchod), gan Stuart Williams o’r NEU. Roedd yr undeb wedi cyflwyno’r wobr yn rhodd fel rhan o’i gefnogaeth gyson i Dangos y Cerdyn Coch i Hiliaeth.

Cofrestrodd dros 85,000 o bobl ifanc i gymryd rhan yn y gystadleuaeth greadigol, a hynny o 452 o ysgolion ledled Cymru. Roedd y gystadleuaeth yn cynnwys gwobrau i grwpiau oedran cynradd ac uwchradd yn chwe maes dysgu a phrofiad y Cwricwlwm i Gymru.

Hwyl a sbri yn Eisteddfod yr Urdd

ROEDD swyddogion NEU Cymru wrth eu boddau’n cwrdd â ffrindiau hen a newydd yn Eisteddfod yr Urdd ym

Mharc Margam, Port Talbot, yr haf hwn.

Roedd gan yr undeb stondin yn y digwyddiad wythnos o hyd – gŵyl ieuenctid fwyaf Ewrop – a chafwyd cwmni’r elusen Dangos y Cerdyn Coch i Hiliaeth yno.

Roedd yr arddangosfeydd yn rhoi sylw i ganlyniadau arolwg yr undeb am ymddygiad disgyblion, ynghyd ag i waith ymchwil Dangos y Cerdyn Coch i Hiliaeth am hiliaeth mewn sefydliadau addysg. Dangoswyd cryn ddiddordeb yn y rhain ac ym mhrosiect Cronfa Ddysgu Undebau Cymru (WULF).

Cyngor Sir Gâr am godi

ysgol ADY newydd

BYDD ysgol newydd i 150 o ddisgyblion sydd ag anghenion dysgu ychwanegol (ADY) yn cael ei chodi yn lle Ysgol Heol Goffa yn Llanelli.

Cytunodd cabinet cyngor Sir Gâr ar 31 Gorffennaf i fwrw ymlaen â’r ysgol newydd a fydd yn cynyddu’r ddarpariaeth i ddisgyblion sydd ag anawsterau dysgu difrifol a dwys yn ardal Llanelli. Dywedodd y cyngor

Denodd cystadleuaeth lliwio/ tynnu llun gwenyn yr undeb dros 50 o gynigion bob dydd, gyda phawb a roddai gynnig arni’n cael pecyn o hadau blodau gwyllt sy’n llesol i wenyn. Rhoddwyd gwobr ddyddiol i ddau enillydd, sef gwesty pryfaid eco-gyfeillgar.

Dau o enillwyr y gwobrau, Anni Griffiths (ar y chwith) a Gethin Land

fod gwaith eisoes yn mynd rhagddo i ateb y galw ymhlith plant sydd ag anhwylderau ar y sbectrwm awtistig yn Llanelli drwy “ddulliau eraill”.

Dywedodd y Cynghorydd Glynog Davies, aelod y cabinet dros addysg, ei fod wrth ei fodd fod penderfyniad wedi’i wneud: “Bydd rhagor o waith yn cael ei wneud i fireinio a phenderfynu ar y dyluniad terfynol, i gadarnhau’r amcangyfrifon o ran y gost, ac i holi barn cymuned yr ysgol.”