The NUT's Campaign for a Pay Review

The NUT is launching a major campaign for a review of teachers’ pay. Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, must decide whether or not the Government will honour its commitment to an inflation-related review of teachers’ pay.

Teachers are facing pay cuts in real terms. The 2.5 per cent pay increase in September 2006 was below inflation - Inflation has now risen further to 4.8 per cent. This has cost teachers hundreds of pounds - a teacher on M6 would have received over £300 more in September if the 2006 pay increase had matched inflation. The 2.5 per cent pay increase due in September 2007 will cause further pay cuts in real terms.

At the same time, your living costs are rising. Housing in particular is going up faster than inflation - house prices rose by over 10 per cent in 2006, rents are also rising and interest rates may soon follow.

The Union is calling for a review of pay and for higher pay increases to match the increased cost of living caused by inflation. You can read General Secretary Steve Sinnott’s letter to all NUT members here.

Tell us how your living costs and living standards are being affected by below inflation pay rises: click here to go straight to the form. Read other teachers' comments below.

Contribute to the debate and help the Union develop its case.

Click Here to add your voice. You can scroll down the page and read some of the existing comments before you add yours.

Free computer classes in Uckfield

You probably thought the Silver Surfer was a Marvel superhero and you would be right.

However Silver Surfers' Day is on 25th May 2007 and there will be Silver Surfer taster sessions using the public access computers in the library. Staff will be there to help. Please phone to book a session. They will run in the morning and afternoon. Please phone to check times. You need to be over 50 (or at least look over 50!)

There is no charge for this event.
Please note that booking is required for this event.

Venue

Uckfield Library, High Street,
Uckfield,
East Sussex,
TN22 1AR

Facilities and refreshments

Disabled access: Yes.
Toilet facilities: No.
Refreshments: None.



Further information

Contacts: Sally Parsons or Lyndis Franklin.
Contact telephone: 01825 763254

Lifelong Learning

May 2007 interim report on LLL questionaire

West Sussex Teachers’ Association has almost 2000 members.. So far 40 questionnaires on lifelong learning have been returned.

Of these 14 were the paper version and therefore 26 were the online version. I expect the ratio to improve as more paper versions are distributed. It always seemed cruel and unusual to ask people who seek basic ICT training to fill in an online form on the internet.

Our old friend “anon” returned 19 forms. Naturally we welcome information from members. It is more useful however to have the names and addresses of people who want, for example, ICT courses. They can then be put on the database at HQ. This will not only put them in the queue for future courses but it will also make it more likely that there will be courses in West Sussex when HQ realise the demand.



Click on the graph if you find it too small)


The type of courses requested are shown on the graph. In the “others” column, members requested
* Things to keep my brain active
* Creative ICT
* Dealing with Stress
* Yoga
* Healthy Schools

You can fill the questionnaire in online at
http://wsta.org.uk/test.htm

Education for the next generation

Education for the next generation

If you’ve never attended the NUT’s annual National Education Conference (NEC) you don’t know what you’re missing! This year’s conference place over the weekend of 30 June to 1 July in the relaxed atmosphere Stoke Rochford Hall, the union’s training centre in Lincolnshire. union.

The NEC is one of the best possible ways of keeping up with the latest educational developments. This year’s theme is ‘talking about my generation’ and keynote speakers will include:

* Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood
* Dame Mavis Grant, NUT member and headteacher of Canning Street primary school, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
* Beatriz Pont, specialist in equity issues at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
* Professors Robin Alexander and Richard Pring, who will lead a session on the curriculum reviews of primary and secondary education.

There will be many opportunities to interact with colleagues in small group sessions for primary, secondary and special education teachers, and for heads and deputies, as well as in workshop sessions on topics of interest to all.

For further information on the programme, fees and bookings, email j.theakston@nut.org.uk or j.pitt@nut.org.uk or call 020 7388 6191.

Bullying and Harassment

To apply for a particular course click on the date you wish to book.
How Representatives can Challenge Harassment and Bullying

Available dates:

* Monday June 11 2007 - Wednesday June 13 2007 (Code: RHB/07)

Length: 3 days

NUT representatives have an important role in challenging harassment and bullying.
This new course aims to:

* consider the forms which harassment and bullying can take;
* provide strategies for you to promote NUT policy;
* provide an overview of the legal and policy framework; and
* give guidance on how you can support members facing harassment and bullying.

Who should attend:
Representatives in schools, colleges, services or units.

Please email wsta_addresses(at)yahoo.co.uk or ring me on 01342 410805

Event for Just Qualified Teachers

Participants will:

* learn and review tried and tested behaviour management and classroom organisation strategies;

* get up-to-date legal advice;

* prepare for a more confident career start; and

* meet other’local’ just-qualified teachers .

Start right seminars will take place in:

London, 17 July;
Haywards Heath, 18 July

If you are interested ring 01342 410805 for an application form or email wsta_addresses(at)yahoo.co.uk

Peanuts anybody?

From Bradford NUT newsletter:
APRIL 2007

First, A Few Facts....

1. As teachers, our pay increases have been held down to, or below, inflation in recent years.
2. We received a 2.5% rise from April 2004; 2.5% from April 2005; 0. 75% from September 2005; 2.5% from September 2006 and will receive 2.5% from September 2007.
3. On top of this, anyone who is still in receipt of management allowances has not had a rise in the allowance since April 2003.
4. Also, from January 2007, we are all paying an extra 0.4% towards our pensions, cutting our rise from last September down to effectively 2.1%.
5. Annual inflation is currently running at 4.2%. Pay rates in the private sector are rising by more than 4% per annum.
6. Teachers begin their career earning 10% less than other graduates. After 5 years in the job, the gap has widened to more than 20%. This is in an era when far more jobs have graduate status.

Then, a Proposal from Mr Johnson, the Secretary Of State For Education, to the School Teachers’ Pay Review Body....
“I request the STRB, in line with our school funding reforms, to make recommendations on an award which runs from September 2008 - August 2011;....
….whether teachers' pay should increase and if so, the appropriate increase....
….in particular you should continue to base pay settlements on the achievement of the inflation target of 2 per cent, and the need for education funding to meet a range of priorities linked to school improvement.”
Then, An Opinion From Mr Brown, The Chancellor...
"You will have seen our determination to address public sector pay with this year's public sector settlements down to just 2.25 per cent. We will maintain vigilance in the fight against inflation. We recognise that around the world what's driving public sector inflation is rising public sector labour costs.
"Public sector payments must now be founded on meeting that 2 per cent inflation target."
Finally, A Comment From Us....

Peanuts till 2011?

No thank you Mr Johnson!
No thank you Mr Brown!

It’s an old trick to try to get teachers and other public sector workers to pay for public services by cutting their standard of living. It was tried to disastrous effect by Labour in the late 1970s. It does you no credit to think about repeating it.

We won’t let it happen now!

Nor will we allow Regional Pay to be used as a mechanism for reducing pay in areas such as ours, as is now being proposed for some of the Civil Service.

Our Conference was quite clear that we would seek united action with other teachers’ organisations and other public sector workers to defeat these proposals.

NASUWT, UNISON and PCS have already expressed similar intentions to fight a public sector pay freeze.

Your school rep should now have a copy of the guidelines on the new Performance Management regime.

If you want to read it for yourself click here

Assertiveness Training

Angela Ahern, Derek McMillan and Dave Thomas ran the first taster session on assertiveness training on 28 April. I think it is a measure of the success of the course that everyone who attended the course expressed an interest in John Illingworth's report Crazy about Work and in any further assertiveness training courses provided by the NUT

A number of those who attended were supply teachers and mentioned the difficulty of getting Continuing Professional Development. NUT CPD is free but much of the CPD provided requires funding from schools and supply teachers who are not attached to a particular school are unlikely to receive any.

When we approached West Sussex about this, we were informed "there is no funding stream which can support this" which is unsatisfactory.