Other areas

Reports from other areas taken from Classroom teacher

We have changed the colours from blackboard to whiteboard to make the blog more readable.

Email in about action in your area to WSTAlearn(at)yahoo.co.uk

Hull

Bristol

Coventry and Birmingham

Huddersfield

London

Brighton and Eastbourne

St Helens

Worthing

Ipswich

Bolton and Manchester

and the new Classroom Teacher 5

Worthing Herald

The Worthing Herald has photos and a video of the rally in Worthing.

Click here

Day of Action

283 members attended the rally in Worthing on 24th April and it was a great start to the Fair Pay for Teachers campaign.

Veronica Peppiatt gave a moving tribute to Steve Sinnott and emphasised that he could always see the good in people – even those who bitterly opposed him and how he had sought to use all the talents of union members and pull the union together. It is up to us to make use of that unity and take the union forward.

There was a minute’s silence in memory of Steve.

Regional Secretary Marian Darke struck a different note entirely when she sang about Ed Balls seeing the light and deciding to stop the Academy Program and abolish SATS and OFSTED and ended up with the idea that the strike would show the determination of teachers to bring about these changes and achieve fair pay for teachers.

Veronica then spoke about the thinking of the National Executive on how to take the campaign forward after the strike. No serious economist supports the government’s view that public sector pay causes inflation and she wondered aloud how an increase in teacher’s pay could retrospectively increase oil prices!

The government uses one measure of inflation to calculate the debts of young teachers and a different, much lower measure when it comes to calculating teacher’s pay. The National Executive meets next week to decide what action we can take on pay and workload.

The mood of the meeting was electric and speakers were cheered to the echo. The biggest applause was reserved for Marian Darke.

There was a mood of enthusiasm and a feeling that the campaign should be taken forward. Members were keen to take petition forms. The key task now is to strengthen the union organisation – it has been shown that reps were the key to the success of the strike in individual schools – and create email groups of reps to share ideas and to use the union’s facebook group and this blog to keep in touch with each other.

The people at the meeting are the key to the future of West Sussex Teachers’ Association.

If you have experiences of the strike to share with us you can join our facebook group or email WSTAlearn(at)yahoo.co.uk

Meanwhile anybody who did not get the petition can download it by clicking

here

Message from Christine Blower

April 24 was a really good day for the Union. We got lots of media coverage, some supportive some less so but all affording the opportunity to make our case for Fair Pay For Teachers.

Especially pleasing was the involvement of younger teachers both in speaking at rallies and giving interviews to the media. Even more pleasing is that net membership of the Union is up. As of 24th April some members had chosen to resign but far more had chosen to join. On one day we had so many calls that the phones could barely manage and we had to divert joiners to a specially prepared page on teachers.org.uk!

Many, if not all the rallies featured a minutes silence or applause in memory of and as a mark of respect for Steve. In his letter of support for our action Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON included a handwritten note which said:

"Steve would have been so proud of you all". I think there was a real sense of the pride Steve would have felt at all the events.

The Union received messages of support from other unions both in the UK and internationally. And the international dimension was also evident in the interviews given to TV crews covering the strike from Germany, Italy and China, as well as a radio interview with a station in Los Angeles.

Going forward there is the TUC Lobby of Parliament to take place on June 9th in which I hope many members will be able to participate. The question then is not whether we continue to campaign but how.

There is still much to be done to ensure that teachers' pay is protected and increased and that all of the issues arising from Conference are progressed.

I look forward to working with you on all these and building the Union through active campaigning.

May I also wish you a happy May Day for May 1st.

Schools affected by the strike

The following WSCC secondary schools have advised us that they are likely to be affected by the strike;

* Angmering School (The) (closed for years 7,8,9 and 10. Years 11,12 and 13 open)
* Bishop Luffa C.E. School, Chichester (closed for years 7, 8 and 10 only. Open for years 9,11,12 and 13)
* Bourne Community College (Partially open. Closed for years 7,8 and 11)
* Boundstone Community College (closed for years 8,9, and 10. Some year 11 being invited to attend)
* Chatsmore Catholic High School (open for years 9,10 and 11 only)
* Chichester High School for Boys (closed for years 7,8 and 9 only. Open for years 10,11,12 and 13)
* Chichester High School for Girls (Partially open. Closed for years 7,8,10,12 and 13)
* Davison C.E. High School for Girls, Worthing (closed for all years except year 11)
* Downlands Community School , Hassocks (closed)
* Durrington High School, Worthing (closed)
* Felpham Community College (closed for students in Key Stages 3 and 4. Students in years 12 and 13 may come into college but will be working independently.)
* Forest School (The), Horsham (Closed. No teaching but year 11 can attend)
* Hazelwick School (Open for years 7,9,11,12 and 13. Closed for years 8 and 10.)
* Holy Trinity CE Secondary School, Crawley (closed for years 7 and 10, special arrangements for year 11)
* Imberhorne School, East Grinstead (Closed for years 7,8 and 10)
* Kings Manor Community College (closed for years 8,9,10 and 11. Sixth form open)
* Littlehampton Community School (closed)
* Manhood Community College (closed for years 7,8 and 9. Open for years 10 and 11.)
* Millais School, Horsham (Closed for years 7,8 and 10)
* Oakmeeds Community College, Burgess Hill (closed)
* Oathall Community College, Haywards Heath (closed)
* Oriel High School, Crawley (open for year 11 rest of school closed)
* St. Andrews CE High School, Worthing (closed for years 8 and 9. Open for years 10 and 11)
* St. Paul's Catholic College, Burgess Hill (partial closure)
* St. Philip Howard, Barnham (closed for years 7,8,9,10 and 11. Open for sixth form)
* Steyning Grammar School (only year 12 to attend)
* Sackville School, East Grinstead (closed)
* Tanbridge House School, Horsham (closed for years 7,8,9 and 10)
* Thomas Bennett Community College, Crawley (closed for years 7,8,9 and 10)
* Warden Park School, Haywards Heath (closed but with special arrangements)
* Weald School (The),Billingshurst (closed for years 7,8 and 10)
* Westergate Community School (closed to all years except year 11)
* Worthing High School (closed)

Denied A Voice

Denied A Voice
As the independent consultation on an Academy for the Rother Valley draws to a close, NAME campaigners renew their grave concerns this week that locals have “been denied a voice”. Further anecdotal evidence has been brought to the NAME campaign, raising worries over the structure, process and potential outcome of the survey as part of the consultation. “I am pleased that other parents share my concerns,” said Sally Payn, a parent interviewed in her own home. “This survey was meant to be a consultation and at no point was I asked whether I was in favour of it or not.” Her experiences echo those of others who have contacted NAME, complaining that the survey presents the academy as decided, and parents could only comment accordingly. “When I was asked where it should be built I replied that it should not be built. I was told that was ‘not going to happen’.” She was therefore deeply dissatisfied that her answer was entered in the “don’t know” box.
Midhurst Mother Helen O’Connell was approached in the car park in Budgen’s by a market researcher. However, she was dismayed to discover that her views would not be taken after all because her child was too young to count. “The lady wanted to know if I’d be willing to give a few minutes of my time to answer questions, but then it turned out she only wanted to take these down if my child was Intermediate or Grammar School age,” said Mrs O’Connell. “I was very irritated that I was denied the right to express my opinions, when asked, on a matter as important as this.”
So far, NAME has heard from concerned parents in Midhurst and north of Midhurst. “Given the wide geographical spread of those who could send their children to the proposed Academy, how much of this area has been covered by the researchers?” asked NAME campaigner Simon Boxley. “We worry that pockets of parents have not even been given the opportunity to have their say over something which will affect them for many years to come.” The NAME campaign has sought clarification and assurances from the market researchers ORB and the independent consultants DJB who commissioned ORB. The Associate Director for ORB has written, “As with all of our work this survey has been completed in a thorough and professional manner - which includes the conduct of our interviewers and the research materials employed”.
NAME has some sympathy for researchers asked to conduct interviews under difficult circumstances, with little or no information and in great haste. “However, the people of the Rother Valley should not have been three times denied a voice, once because their children were the wrong age, twice because of where they live, three times because their answers don’t match the one-sided questions” said Mr Boxley. “We are working hard on behalf of those who feel they have been denied a true voice as part of this consultation,” stated NAME campaigner Lizz Tinder, “We know that people want to have their say. 88% of nearly 200 respondents on our blog poll felt that West Sussex were not conducting a true consultation. We welcome an independent survey gauging public opinion, but we need assurances on the integrity of it.”
“This issue has been brought to the NAME campaign, and we feel it is our duty to press for transparency, so that people have confidence in the findings of the survey. For those people who feel that they have been denied a voice, NAME is conducting its own survey. We recognise that our findings are unlikely to be deemed valid in this consultation, but the public might be interested to know what people think. If you would like to participate, you can log on to http://namecampaign.blogspot.com/ or email a request to namecampaign@yahoo.com . If you prefer pen and paper, please contact Lizz Tinder in the first instance on 01730 821464”

Message from Christine Blower

If you cannot strike

Members who are exempt from strike action because of the nature of their school or of their work patterns have been sending in messages of support to the West Sussex Teachers' Association. Some have also been donating up to a day's pay to the hardship fund which has been set up by WSTA.

Contact your rep or the helpline 01342 410805 or wstalearn(at)yahoo.co.uk for details.

WSTA has a facebook group

WSTA has a facebook group

Click here to join

It doubled in the first week,
then doubled again,
then doubled again!
Now we are eight!

Join up to keep in touch with your union after the strike.

Rallies

Brighton and Hove have a facebook group!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6239878349Click here

On it they have advertised their rally

NUT March and rally on 24th April.
Meet 11am in Pavilion Gardens
11.30 at Old Ship Hotel on seafront.

We also welcome Brighton and Hove members who would find it convenient to come to our Worthing rally
Day of Action
24 April 2008
The Pavillion Theatre Worthing
10 am to 12 noon
Veronica Peppiatt NEC member
Marian Dark Regional Secretary
A young teacher
Angela Ahern WSTA president will be in the chair.

Message from the TSN:

Message from the TSN:

I’m looking to develop new ways for teachers to get more involved using online community building tools. I just wanted to send you a personal invite to get involved in some of our upcoming things



Outside of our tools on our site http://teachersupport.info, We also have some entry points set up on the social network sites.



On Facebook:

Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teacher-Support-Network/8348473439

Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2385602766

Would enjoy your participation and feedback. We’re also looking to get more teacher bloggers involved with TSN’s online work to create more teacher bloggers, or at least more participants talking about issues facing UK educators. We’re in the midst of creating some new online tools and would be neat to have you on board to maybe look at some of them as we’re developing them.



Anyway, any input is welcome. Thanks in advance



Andrew Lyons
Digital Media Manager
Teacher Support Network

Love Music Hate Racism

"Love Music Hate Racism" more or less sums up the NUT attitude.

There is a canival supported by the trade unions in Victoria Park in London on 27th April.

Details here

Download the leaflet here

Some of us were at the original gig 30 years ago!

NAME: No Academy in Midhurst or Easebourne

NAME: No Academy in Midhurst or Easebourne
PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release – 08:00 Tuesday April 8, 2008
Consultation ends. Time to think again
This week marks the end of West Sussex County Council’s Second Phase Age of Transfer Consultation on Restructuring Rother Valley Schools. NAME campaigners against the proposed Academy are claiming to represent the public opinion which has formed during the consultation period.” We defy anyone to deny that the overwhelming majority at the two public consultation meetings on the Academy (at MIS and Lodsworth Village Hall) were against this privatisation plan” said spokesperson Simon Boxley, “WSCC cannot claim to have won the educational argument. This should not be about politics – it should be about children.” However, he continued,
“We must not be complacent. In other parts of the country Academy consultation results have been swept aside and ignored. In an online poll conducted by NAME during the consultation period, 88% of the nearly 200 respondents voted ‘no’ to the question ‘is West Sussex County Council conducting a true consultation?’ We must hold them to be true to the spirit of dialogue with our community. It’s time for the decision-makers to turn back from this process and consult us with real options.”

The NAME campaign has revealed findings that shed light on the Local Authority’s drive towards the Academy proposal. Through Freedom of Information Act requests, and subsequent follow-ups, the picture that emerges of the motives and process behind the decision is at odds with that portrayed by Council representatives, such as Robert Back’s claim of February 5th that the plan had only recently taken shape. When local headteachers met with the Director of Education in November 2006 in order to plan for the future of schooling in the Rother Valley, Robert Back stated “there is no immediate push from us, but we may well respond if there is pressure to push for system change.. Unless there is a clear steer that change is really desired, we would not come to you.”1 At that stage County claimed that any proposed changes would take three years to implementation2. Six months later, an Academy for Midhurst was being discussed by the West Sussex Cabinet3, and here we are 17 months later with wholesale restructuring planned for September! Pressure has clearly been applied and politically motivated decisions taken. The Department for Children Schools and Families acknowledge meetings between a few key personnel in the West Sussex system and the Minister in charge of Academies, Lord Adonis: “we know that Academy plans were discussed at these meetings, contradicting County’s claim that this was a ‘lucky last minute coincidence’” said NAME campaigner, Lizz Tinder. The DCSF have denied NAME access to minutes of these meetings, saying “The disclosure of early stage discussions [between Adonis and WSCC] is likely to have an impact on the potential Academy projects and so the success of the Academies programme as a whole.”4 We say, what is there to hide?
With the proposed Academy’s national significance, the stakes are high; but we resist the role of subjects in a political experiment.
A new NAME poll gauging public opinion is available online at http://namecampaign.blogspot.com/
All enquiries to Simon Boxley, 01730 821464. http://namecampaign.blogspot.com/

Be a blogger

Local Voice preview

Here is a preview of the forthcoming Local Voice based on Classroom Teacher 3

Click here

A qualified teacher in every classroom

There has been a petition to call on the government to insist pupils are taught by qualified teachers. This is the Downing Street response.

You may have your own views on whether politicians always tell the truth or not but this might be a useful response next time your SLT leave classes to be taken by unqualified staff:

"It is certainly the intention that all classes should be led by a qualified teacher.

"The work that teachers and others are allowed to do in schools is set out in regulations. The regulations state that, what is known as 'specified work', which includes the planning and preparing of lessons for pupils, the delivering of such lessons and the assessment and reporting of progress and attainment of pupils may only be carried out in a school by qualified teachers or others included in specified categories of exception. Exceptions would include Overseas Trained Teachers who, although will not be qualified in this country, will have an overseas teaching qualification, and Instructors who, although without a teaching qualification, will have special qualifications or experience that the local authority or governing body will consider relevant. Support staff may be permitted to undertake specified work only if the following conditions are satisfied: it is to support the work of a qualified or nominated teacher; the work is carried out under the direction and supervision of a qualified or nominated teacher; and the head teacher is satisfied that the support staff member has the skills, expertise and experience to carry out such work."

Steve Sinnott 1951-2008

NUT General Secretary, Steve Sinnott, died suddenly on 5 April, 2008. He was 56. His loss will be keenest felt by his beloved wife Mary, his son, daughter, grandchildren and extended family.

Steve was General Secretary from 2004, having served the Union previously as member of the National Executive, President and Deputy General Secretary.

The loss of Steve Sinnott is grievous for the teaching profession; catastrophic for all NUT members; and desperately sad for his colleagues and friends. For the international community the loss of a campaigner against injustice and tyranny is deeply tragic.

In his address to Annual Conference this year, Steve Sinnott opened by saying, “Steve Sinnott, General Secretary, National Union of Teachers”. He took enormous pride from those words. He thought it was ‘smashing!’ No-one loved the Union more.

Steve Sinnott was at the head of the Union during a most challenging period. The Union is in the midst of a major pay campaign. A one-day strike has been called on 24 April. His skillful leadership would have been invaluable in ensuring its success.
The Officers of the Union, acting as a Committee of Urgency, have decided that the strike should continue as planned.

Details of the funeral arrangements and other matters will be published on the Union's web-site.

Acting General Secretary, Christine Blower said: “Our hearts go out to Steve’s family at this sad time.

I know that he would have wanted the Union to go ahead with all its campaigns because he believed in all of them with his heart as well as his head.

At a later stage we will have the opportunity properly to remember Steve Sinnott, to honour his achievements and to celebrate his life.
For now, the best way to mark our respect would be to maximise the effect of the campaigns to which he was so committed.”

TES online survey

The TES online survey shows massive support from non NUT teachers for strike action. Their union leaders should wake up and pay attention!

Source: TES online survey of 7,336 teachers, of whom 3,521
were NUT members

Is the one-day strike on April 24 a good idea?

All teachers Yes 62% No 38%
Non-NUT members Yes 52% No 48%
NUT members Yes 73% No 27%
(The same proportion of NUT members said they intended to
walk out on April 24)

Will it cause your school to close?

All teachers Yes 47% No 53%
Non-NUT members Yes 39% No 61%
NUT members Yes 55% No 45%

Lots of teachers are joining the NUT so that they can join their colleagues in the strike action on April 24th.

To be covered for the strike they can join anytime up to Wed April 23rd.

The easiest way to join is by ringing 0845 300 1669.

Joining rates - full time permanent

If joining by Direct Debit the fee for the rest of the year for a full time permanent teacher is pro-rata'd down to £99.40

Signing up to DD instalments before the 17th April will thus result in 7 payments from 1st May to 1st November of £14.20 each.

Supply and part-timers
Rates are less for teachers who work 0.6 or less, and lower again for 0.3 or less ( broadly half and quarter the above rates)

Teachers on day-to-day contracts also pay less.

Unqualified teachers on routes to qualified status.
Student teachers and teachers who are on employment based routes towards qualified teachers status can all be members for FREE until they get their qualification.

Teachers who have already paid some subscription to another teachers union.

Teachers who have paid subscriptions to another union can join the NUT for £7.10 for the remainder of this year - providing they are making a commitment to remain in membership of the NUT.

General and Executive Meetings

General Meetings

Wednesday 7 May 2008
Wednesday 1 October 2008 (This meeting will consider conference resolutions)
Wednesday 14 January 2009
Saturday 28 February 2009 Norfolk Arms Hotel Arundel Annual General Meeting
(venues to be confirmed)

Executive Meetings

Saturday 28 June 2008 Horsham Professional Centre
Saturday 13 September 2008 Crawley Professional Centre
Saturday 6 December 2008 Worthing Professional Centre
Saturday 31 January 2009 Horsham Professional Centre
Saturday 28 March Crawley Professional Centre