Minutes of the General Meeting held on 4th June 2009 at 4.30 in St Philip Howard School Barnham
Minutes of the General Meeting held on 4th June 2009 at 4.30 in St Philip Howard School Barnham
President Alison Baker was in the Chair.
1.Apologies were received from Jonathan Esden, Kath Mason (Chatsmore RC High) and most of St Philip Howard membership.
Main Focus – issues from Annual Conference.
A. Rarely Cover
i)Dave Thomas gave a resume of the issues arising from “Rarely Cover”.
ii)New Advice had been received from the National WAMG, NUT and from local employers about the interpretation and implementation issues from school to school.
iii)There was total agreement on Rarely Cover other than exceptional circumstances - epidemic, staff illness occurring during a school day or session etc.
iv)There were still some very grey areas
a)Discretionary leave The National WAMG guidance is not clear requiring schools to review and perhaps revise downwards compassionate leave policies.
b)Redistribution of workload to compensate for “rarely cover”
c)Increased contact time which will relieve financial pressure of less in-house cover and more paid supply cover and may lead to reduced numbers of teachers being employed and more, cheaper “cover supervisor” posts.
School Reps gave graphic examples of how the changes were affecting their staff.
Bognor
There was a probable substitution of a contractual extra own subject contact hour each fortnight instead of 1 possible cover hour per week. Morale was low as this was a definite commitment of extra teaching whereas the previous “cover” commitment might not have been needed. It would in some departments mean the loss of part-time posts as the rest of the staff were doing more teaching hours.
After discussion it was agreed that this was typical of the sort of loop holes which are at the discretion of the school to decide. The best that could be hoped was to write in a review period where the staff could revisit the decisions in the light of practical experience.
Dave would write to the employers about the NUT view of this kind of “trade off”.
Bishop Luffa- The Leadership Group had shrunk because 5 PPposts had become 4 TLRs as some PP work had not been teaching work.
The workload agreement had involved a re-timetabling involving “activity weeks” and seeing year group allocations to include re-timetabling of trips.
There was also an agreement that longstanding events would continue as custom and practice but that this might be traded off against discretionary leave allowances. Again a review during this first year was seen as essential.
It was agreed that
the transparency of the “rarely cover” arrangements was paramount and seen to entirely fair.
Reps should ask to see the Work/life Balance policy if their Governing Body as required by law
The local WAMG should be challenged to demonstrate how the LA was monitoring the Work/life Balance policies of every school
Reps would be reminded via the website that Dave Thomas held etc........
Dave Thomas held a model Work/life Balance Policy to which Reps could refer.
All Reps should remind governing bodies of the need to “consult” in a meaningful way.
The meeting was extended to 5.45
B. Anti SATs campaign.
i)There was to be an indicative ballot in July via the website.
ii)Veronica Peppiatt drew attention to her Executive report on this point.
2 Minutes 14.01.09 were accepted.
3 Matters Arising. There was no “cross union” meeting at Millais. It proved untenable.
4 Reports –
Secretary.
A Nursery Working Hours Dave Thomas would send information to all nursery school reps and infant schools with Nursery settings
C Pink Pig. The best recruitment option was the hotline 0845 300 1669
E Temporary Contracts. We need specific information on individual cases of misuse.
Treasurer.
i)Balances Current £12000+ Deposit £16000 Cash (in floats) £700
ii)Local Subs received in May were £9000
iii)A grant of £800 was received for the February 09 training day
iv)A grant of £550 was received for Annual Conference
v)We have lost 2 life Members
vi)A donation of £50 for the National Pensioners’ Convention was Proposed P Dufty, seconded Dave Thomas, agreed unanimously.
An appeal from the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign was referred to June 27th Executive Meeting for a decision
Equalities Officer- Derek McMillan gave a verbal report.
i)A stall had been arranged for August 1st for the Brighton Pride Event. Volunteers were sought for 12.00-300pm to help run it.
Membership Veronica gave a verbal report.
i) The 4089 membership cards had been circulated quickly due to Zoe’s efficiency and hard work. Thanks were given and are recorded.
Local Voice Editor Alison Baker was thanked and praised for her latest edition
Executive Member Veronica referred to her written report re the AR21 figures.
6 Regional Office Report None was received
7 Nomination for the Deputy General Secretary to be dealt with at 01.10.09 meeting
8 Nomination of National Officers. No nominations were agreed upon.
5 Correspondence.
i)Black Teachers’ Conference. John Beka was given the papers to consider.
ii)Survey of Annual Conference. Delegates were urged to complete these and return
9. AOB
i)Phil Dufty reported on the progress of his School Reps list.
ii)Veronica Peppiatt will arrange flowers for Jane Cross at the Exec dinner for Bob.
Meeting closed at 6.20
President Alison Baker was in the Chair.
1.Apologies were received from Jonathan Esden, Kath Mason (Chatsmore RC High) and most of St Philip Howard membership.
Main Focus – issues from Annual Conference.
A. Rarely Cover
i)Dave Thomas gave a resume of the issues arising from “Rarely Cover”.
ii)New Advice had been received from the National WAMG, NUT and from local employers about the interpretation and implementation issues from school to school.
iii)There was total agreement on Rarely Cover other than exceptional circumstances - epidemic, staff illness occurring during a school day or session etc.
iv)There were still some very grey areas
a)Discretionary leave The National WAMG guidance is not clear requiring schools to review and perhaps revise downwards compassionate leave policies.
b)Redistribution of workload to compensate for “rarely cover”
c)Increased contact time which will relieve financial pressure of less in-house cover and more paid supply cover and may lead to reduced numbers of teachers being employed and more, cheaper “cover supervisor” posts.
School Reps gave graphic examples of how the changes were affecting their staff.
Bognor
There was a probable substitution of a contractual extra own subject contact hour each fortnight instead of 1 possible cover hour per week. Morale was low as this was a definite commitment of extra teaching whereas the previous “cover” commitment might not have been needed. It would in some departments mean the loss of part-time posts as the rest of the staff were doing more teaching hours.
After discussion it was agreed that this was typical of the sort of loop holes which are at the discretion of the school to decide. The best that could be hoped was to write in a review period where the staff could revisit the decisions in the light of practical experience.
Dave would write to the employers about the NUT view of this kind of “trade off”.
Bishop Luffa- The Leadership Group had shrunk because 5 PPposts had become 4 TLRs as some PP work had not been teaching work.
The workload agreement had involved a re-timetabling involving “activity weeks” and seeing year group allocations to include re-timetabling of trips.
There was also an agreement that longstanding events would continue as custom and practice but that this might be traded off against discretionary leave allowances. Again a review during this first year was seen as essential.
It was agreed that
the transparency of the “rarely cover” arrangements was paramount and seen to entirely fair.
Reps should ask to see the Work/life Balance policy if their Governing Body as required by law
The local WAMG should be challenged to demonstrate how the LA was monitoring the Work/life Balance policies of every school
Reps would be reminded via the website that Dave Thomas held etc........
Dave Thomas held a model Work/life Balance Policy to which Reps could refer.
All Reps should remind governing bodies of the need to “consult” in a meaningful way.
The meeting was extended to 5.45
B. Anti SATs campaign.
i)There was to be an indicative ballot in July via the website.
ii)Veronica Peppiatt drew attention to her Executive report on this point.
2 Minutes 14.01.09 were accepted.
3 Matters Arising. There was no “cross union” meeting at Millais. It proved untenable.
4 Reports –
Secretary.
A Nursery Working Hours Dave Thomas would send information to all nursery school reps and infant schools with Nursery settings
C Pink Pig. The best recruitment option was the hotline 0845 300 1669
E Temporary Contracts. We need specific information on individual cases of misuse.
Treasurer.
i)Balances Current £12000+ Deposit £16000 Cash (in floats) £700
ii)Local Subs received in May were £9000
iii)A grant of £800 was received for the February 09 training day
iv)A grant of £550 was received for Annual Conference
v)We have lost 2 life Members
vi)A donation of £50 for the National Pensioners’ Convention was Proposed P Dufty, seconded Dave Thomas, agreed unanimously.
An appeal from the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign was referred to June 27th Executive Meeting for a decision
Equalities Officer- Derek McMillan gave a verbal report.
i)A stall had been arranged for August 1st for the Brighton Pride Event. Volunteers were sought for 12.00-300pm to help run it.
Membership Veronica gave a verbal report.
i) The 4089 membership cards had been circulated quickly due to Zoe’s efficiency and hard work. Thanks were given and are recorded.
Local Voice Editor Alison Baker was thanked and praised for her latest edition
Executive Member Veronica referred to her written report re the AR21 figures.
6 Regional Office Report None was received
7 Nomination for the Deputy General Secretary to be dealt with at 01.10.09 meeting
8 Nomination of National Officers. No nominations were agreed upon.
5 Correspondence.
i)Black Teachers’ Conference. John Beka was given the papers to consider.
ii)Survey of Annual Conference. Delegates were urged to complete these and return
9. AOB
i)Phil Dufty reported on the progress of his School Reps list.
ii)Veronica Peppiatt will arrange flowers for Jane Cross at the Exec dinner for Bob.
Meeting closed at 6.20
Labels: meetings
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