Nutshells #78April 08

Why would parents want to give up their children's right to The gymnastics display from Pete be taught by a qualified teacher? The TES in it’s 11th April edition states that the poor practice of using McAleer (North unqualified people in place of teachers is increasingly Somerset) was a common and there is evidence that secondary schools Conference first! He are employing similarly unqualified staff to take classes. spoke about the Legislation says that cover supervisors (and other staff) performance can only supervise a class when no teaching takes place. management hoops We think that accurately describes the situation—these teachers have to members of staff cannot “teach”, so what exactly are they suffer and the popdoing? ins, learning walks The NUT will never agree to unqualified people taking and drop-ins from keen clip-board wielding senior mangers whole classes in a way that undermines the all-graduate many are experiencing in the name of performance profession so long fought for. management targets. Data-obsessed line managers are relishing the chance to reduce teaching and learning to cold dispassionate numerical scores even though crude “Unity in action at workplace percentages should no longer be used for PM objectives. level really works” Pete has also been re-elected to the GTC: congratulations!

Conference condemned all discrimination and violence “EVERY TEACHER against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and trans people in all countries. Evidence was produced about the MATTERS” persecution of LGBT teachers in some countries.

An important debate on classroom behaviour took place Do your school policies explicitly protect LGB children and at a time when panic about violence among children is the disabled from bullying and victimisation? leading to some schools introducing airport-style metal detectors, on-site police officers and increased surveillance The Training and Development Agency (TDA) of students. has recently written to teachers who retired The motion placed the emphasis firmly on the need to through ill-health to return to the classroom. tackle the root causes of disruptive and violent behaviour— One recipient was John Illingworth. He said such as institutional racism, large class sizes, an inflexible that much of the letter and accompanying national curriculum and excessive testing and stress. Two booklet were lies. simple things that the government could do to improve beWORKLOAD: Teachers are being treated like haviour would be to reduce class sizes and end the testing disposable items and no longer as mere machines that regime. need loving maintenance and servicing. We need to be Jackie Ranger from Birmingham gave a brilliant and moving speech about her son who was stabbed and died able to challenge the new managerialism of some HTs last year. “Leon was 15 when he was excluded from that view their staff as always opposing state of the art school,” she said. “There was no support for him and initiatives and micro-management tools rather than he turned to crime. His life is indicative of the viewing matters from a W/L balance perspective. destructive path that children find themselves in when Workload and pay are interlinked and teachers are they are excluded from school.” increasingly making that linkage. Many schools want Full provision should be available to all excluded and “more work for less pay” and teachers are voting vulnerable children. Why should they be offered less and with their feet. When a new DCSF initiative is “rolled be looked after by unqualified staff? They deserve the out” it’s just added to the workload—there’s never a proactive support of our education provision. ASBOs cover reduction. up the problem rather than deal with the underlying chaotic lives of these families. Criminalising children is not a real Teachers should undergo no more than 3 lesson solution. 30% of children are growing up in poverty. observations a year. OfSTED-style gradings and tick box Disruptive children in classes of 30 reduce their sheets for internal lesson observations will be challenged challenging behaviour by 50% when the class is reduced as the stress such matters cause has to be taken into to 15. Increasing class size by 5 increases disruptive account. behaviour by 40%. We need properly trained support staff Jim Knight MP said that classes of 38 to 70 were acceptable. not as substitute teachers. Behaviour problems occur The ATL (who jeered him at their conference) and the NUT when children are placed in inappropriate places with say we shouldn’t allow this to become “acceptable” by putting inadequate staffing. An academy excluded more students in a TA to help the teacher. Gordon Brown’s commitment to than all the other community schools in Calderdale put reduce class size to that of independent schools has a real together. Academy exclusion rates across the country are chance—surplus places could mean a reduction in class size 3X that of community schools. Government policies have now! Are you willing to take action on oversized classes? made our children the unhappiest in Europe.