Young Teachers

Beth Goddard writes:

NUT Young Teachers’ Conference 6th- 8th June 2008

As an NQT at the very start of my career, I became interested in union activity and particularly the union’s active young teacher’s section as a means of support for quite a difficult year! I was very pleased to know that the NUT fund such useful weekends as the conference I attended for young teachers, and I believe that such weekends can have a real impact on retaining teachers both within the union and within the profession.

So, the conference was useful and interesting. It provided me with a chance to meet other young teachers in a similar position to myself from across the country. Social events such as the pub quiz on Friday evening really helped provide time to wind down; very apt considering the theme of the whole weekend was “Work to live, not live to work- getting the balance right”! It also gave me chance to meet teachers who had been in the profession longer, and as both an NQT and a member of staff in my first year at a school this was an invaluable weekend in that respect- so many times I have felt totally in isolation this year and the conference showed me so many others in a similar position.

The conference proper started on the Saturday with an illuminating speech on work/life balance from Steve Thorp. This theme of work/life balance was something I have considered (perhaps unsurprisingly) rather often during my NQT year and both this speech and that that followed, from John Dixon, reaffirmed my own belief that no teacher should be working a 60 or 70 hour week which is so common amongst my contemporaries.

The weekend also featured two task groups, the first of which focussed on creating a ‘positive school’. It was perhaps inevitable that this started with a list of what made the imperfect school rather than the perfect one! Rather than being a depressing exercise however, it was encouraging to see so many teachers who had a positive vision for what a school should be, and refreshing to talk about education outside of the confines of school.

Following the task group was one of the two workshops of the weekend. The workshops were based on a wide range of themes; general topics concerned with education to workshops focussing on the role and purpose of the NUT. - I attended a very interesting hour on creativity in the classroom, and I found it a positive experience to talk about education in a way that was not dominated by target grades and GCSE results!

One major topic of conversation over the weekend was the NUT pay campaign, which as a young teacher with rising student loan debts is quite a concern of mine. In the afternoon there was opportunity to discuss this during a question and answer session with Bill Greenshields, the current NUT president. The debate was quite heated, with members both calling for more action and questioning why further action should not have taken place during the summer term. Other delegates voiced a note of caution- perhaps wisely remembering the thousands of union members who were not at the conference and whom perhaps felt differently.

The second task group of the weekend focussed on the issue of pay and how it affected young professionals; both in terms of the general cost of living and also more specific concerns such as the housing situation regionally. There was also feedback from members in different regions as to how strike action took place back in April. It was both encouraging and interesting to hear accounts from all over the country.

Other highlights of the weekend included Sue Palmer’s interesting portrait of life for children in the 21st century. The issues she highlighted which face children on a day to day basis were a cursory reminder for young teachers who find it difficult to remember that students face their own pressures! John Illingworth’s presentation of his findings on teacher’s mental health was both moving and worrying in terms of the statistics of quite how many teachers were affected by mental health problems during their career.

So, the overall theme of the weekend then was on a work life balance, and this being my first visit to Stoke Rochford I was impressed by what you could explore in the ‘life’ part! I really enjoyed the weekend, both in terms of the conference itself and the opportunity for me to go away and think about teaching outside of the confines of my school. Christine Blower’s closing address was illuminating in terms of the union’s wider work across the world and a fitting end to a weekend that left myself, and I imagine others, inspired to become more involved in the union.

Classroom Teacher 6

Classroom Teacher 6 out now
Click here for the latest copy of Classroom Teacher.
Contributors include Angela Ahern (WSTA president - personal capacity) and Derek McMillan (WSTA helpline - personal capacity) contributing to the debate on action over pay.

It includes articles on:

· The ‘National Challenge’ threat to 638 schools

· The upbeat mood at the Young Teachers’ Conference

· No more missed opportunities – let’s call the national ballot

· Workload Campaign - National Action needed

· Name the Day for a Joint Union Strike over Pay

As ever, we have no real funding for printing so we hope that you can download, copy and distribute Classroom Teacher in your area.

Do remember to send feedback, views, agreements and disagreements to classroom.teacher(at)yahoo.co.uk

Our National Challenge to the Government

"Ed Balls should be ashamed. His “National Challenge to Schools” is an unwarranted attack on teachers and children in a desperate attempt to save the Government’s increasingly damaged skin."

NUT President Bill Greenshields

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638 "failing" schools - discussion on Hearth

Submitted by AWatkins-Groves on Tue, 10/06/2008 - 16:26.

I have just checked the BBC's website and it seems that 26 of the so-called failing schools are already academies.
What is Ed Balls' remedy for that?
4% of failing schools are academies and, surprisingly, academies account for around 4% of all secondary schools. Could there be something else to account for this perceived failure?

Submitted by martin powell-davies on Tue, 10/06/2008 - 21:28.

The “improve or close” ultimatum is a thinly-disguised plan to accelerate the privatisation of secondary education.

It could mean that the control of hundreds of schools, including staffing and admissions, will be taken out of the hands of an elected Local Authority and handed over to private sponsors and trust appointees. The fragmentation of education into the control of many different employers is also an obvious threat to collective trade union organisation.

The policy is driven by political dogma, not educational concerns. As Alan points out, despite all the financial advantages offered to them, there is no evidence that Academies offer pupils a better education than community schools.

Consistent research demonstrates that the main factor influencing a school’s position in the league tables remains the social class of its pupil intake. That’s why it is so unfair to impose a common GCSE target on schools, without taking into account the particular circumstances each one faces. Without a major injection of funding, above all to reduce class sizes to a maximum of twenty, there is no chance that schools can overcome factors such as poor housing and diet which inevitably discriminate against children from working-class communities.

But, while waving the big stick, I don't think that the Government is offering much in the way of real resources. As far as I can see, much of the £400 million ‘National Challenge’ funding is earmarked for Academies and Trusts – not at supporting schools staying as community comprehensives. (and I think the Union needs to be careful in being seen to be too grateful for the £400M!)

Unfortunately, the unjust labelling of schools as ‘failures’ will inevitably dissuade local parents from applying, compounding the difficulties they face. Demoralised staff, knowing the bullying inquisitions that these initiatives inevitably bring down on the heads of already overworked teachers, will also look to move to other schools as well.

We need to expose the real aims behind this divisive initiative and use our collective strength to defend staff in the targeted schools and to oppose the break-up of local authority schooling. The strike action taken by NUT members in Bolton to oppose their possible removal from council employment shows the way forward.

Martin Powell-Davies, Lewisham NUT (and a teacher in one of the 638 schools)

Like Martin I was - until Friday 6th June - a teacher in one of the schools on the hit list. Our school was suffering because we had a de facto grammar school in the town which took all the brightest kids at Year 7. What has been allowed is that the grammar school will be the lead in a three academy federation which will achieve National averages across the federation. Because it will be one huge all-ability comprehensive! Does nobody else see the irony?

The following article from the Independent sums it up "The cost of grammars: selective councils have most failing schools" paste the link to read the story.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/the-cost-of-grammars-selective-councils-have-most-failing-schools-844223.h

Submitted by robertwilkinson on Wed, 11/06/2008 - 09:35.

Martin quite correctly identifies many of the reasons behind the hypocritical and underhand motivation for the recent government pronouncement on failing schools.

There are some issues however that need to be raised in addition to the ones above.

What are the criteria for judging a school to be 'failing'? The obsession with a 5+ A* to C GCSE benchmark (including English and Maths these days) is tremendously demotivating to those pupils (and teachers) who are not going to reach this hurdle - despite their best efforts and praiseworthy success in raising their achievement to almost the required level, they are condemned as 'failures'. This on top of being identified since their Foundation stage test at entry and all the way through their SATs as being the bottom of the class. These youngsters have had to put up with 10 years or more of humiliation at school - is there any wonder that many are demotivated and disruptive or absent themelves from learning? Labelling and a self-fulfilling prophecy as Becker long ago identified.

There are other measures of success and we should continue to do what we can to celebrate those that can reward pupils for their contribution to the school and society through sport and work in the community in all sorts of ways.

The best opportunity that we had in a long time to change the 14-19 curriculum and assessment was lost through political cowardice on the part of the New Labour government in the face of opposition from Neanderthals such as Digby Jones and the Daily Mail.

The focus now on 'failing' schools is a political decision in the face of a damaging loss of support for the New Labour project.

'A Good Local School For Every Child' will not necessarily result in improvements to the League Tables as housing has become more and more segregated into income brackets. Only the abolition of League Tables and the replacement of the current benchmarks of success in assessments would help to overcome the socially divisive impact of every policy since the 1988 Education Reform Act.

Robert
Division Secretary
Wokingham & District

Using the helpline

The helpline number is 01342 410805 and the message is self-explanatory:

“This is the West Sussex NUT helpline. Please leave your name and an evening telephone number and we will get back to you”

Ringing several times will not alter the time it takes for the helpline co-ordinator to get back to you. In fact it will probably increase it as all messages are listened to and prioritised.

Have an agenda.

You may wish to talk to the union about 13 things but it is unlikely WSTA can deal with all of them. To be clear in your own mind it is useful to write down the one or two main points that you want to make beforehand.

In addition to mentioning your concerns, it helps to have a clear idea of what you think WSTA can do to help you.

Make sure that you mention these main points as soon as possible in the conversation.

The helpline co-ordinator handles most queries on the spot. In some cases, they will be referred to NUT reps, WSTA caseworkers or Regional Office.

NUT reps

In many cases the helpline co-ordinator will refer you back to your school rep. This is because the school reps are most familiar with the local situation in the school and have access to the help and advice of WSTA as well. Reps training courses are regularly organised by WSTA and by the NUT nationally at our training centre.

Some issues also require a collective response from the NUT members in a school rather than a casework approach. In such cases the rep is the best person to talk to.

Caseworkers

You should be aware that NUT caseworkers are teachers who volunteer for this work in their spare time. This has the advantage that they are in touch with the concerns of teachers on a daily basis but you know yourself how pushed for time teachers often are. Be patient if a caseworker cannot get back to you straight away.

On the other hand if you do not get a call from a caseworker in reasonable time then ring the helpline again as there may have been a breakdown in communication.

Regional Office

Certain matters are referred upwards to Regional Office for an expert opinion. In general the more serious the case the more likely it is that Regional Office will handle it.



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