Conference 2023

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Steven Scott from East Riding successfully moved a motion on workload. “Teachers in Britain work an average of 12 unpaid hours per week. The Government misses its recruitment targets year on year. If we lose more educators than we gain, we are going to run out of educators. You don’t need to study maths until you’re 18 to work that out.”

The Government needs to remove the clause on reasonable additional hours from the teacher’s contract, he added. “In which other profession would you see that clause? There is nothing reasonable about working for free.”

The early career framework (ECF) is not working for schools and teachers, conference heard. Members passed a motion calling on the union’s executive to work nationally for changes, including fully funded allocation of ten per cent ECF time in both years; tailoring of the ECF to individual needs and with mentor support; and no mandatory requirement for regular attendance at CPD sessions after school hours.

Second-year history ECT Patrick Jenkins, who received warm applause and cheers from members after he paid tribute to his former “inspiring teacher” NEU senior vice-president Emma Rose (see right), went on to say he had struggled with his mental health because of workload.

“Most mornings I would have a panic attack as I was getting the train,” Patrick told conference. “I would call my partner because I couldn’t breathe with the overwhelm of the workload. It has affected my personal and professional relationships. Most of all, my students have noticed that sometimes I