Nutshells #62 Sept 06

6 20 0 ER N W IN R D A W A SH IP ER EM B M N A L A TI O N

THE 62nd EDITION FOR ALL PLYMOUTH TEACHERS SEPTEMBER 2006

A GOOD LOCAL SCHOOL FOR EVERY CHILD New Redundancy and Performance Management Policies— coming to your school soon… From 5th October, teachers identified for redundancy will have their benefits capped at £580 a week. There will be no enhancement (added years). The latter change is due to Plymouth City Council’s cash-strapped budget, the former because of the age discrimination law that begins on October 1st. The incentive to volunteer for redundancy has gone; we expect the potential number of redundancies to increase as schools close or are amalgamated. The added stress and disruption this decision will cause should not be underestimated. The council’s decision may lead to a collective dispute.

Hilary Bills—NUT Ex-President

A Trust School in Plymouth A pathfinder trust school [Widewell Primary] has emerged “as the inevitable consequence of the prime minister’s view of education.” Without consultation or considering the tremendous consequences for children, staff, the local community of schools, and the local authority, this decision has been allowed to go forward. Hilary Bills has offered to meet NUT members on Thursday 21st September...more on page 2

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The new individualised performance management system, gradually introduced during 2007, will link your pay to decisions taken by your line manager. As expected, the consultation was rushed and limited. The largest head teacher association [NAHT] and the largest teacher union in Europe [the NUT] were not invited by the government to help set up the new procedure. We have a number of concerns, but having your pay progression determined by someone who disagrees with you on some educational

Will your school sign up to the NUT’s kite mark? See page 3 A member asks, “Can I be directed to do a lunchtime duty when it’s raining?” No

A Message from the Membership Secretary… are you the new NUT Rep or mail distributor in your school? Tell John on 01752 707606 so he can update your address label today! [email protected]

Endorsed by classroom teachers everywhere—now even more essential Call the Joining Hotline 0845 300 1669

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point or practice will do nothing to cement collegiality; staff morale could plummet. “Hard working teachers condemn such divisive proposals that will destroy teamwork.” You may have to undergo up to 3 hours of monitoring and observation on top of anything required by OfSTED or the Local Authority. It’s one hour now, so why triple it? There is no numerical limit on the number of targets that your line manager will set for you. “As well as an increased workload, staff could lose financially if meetings are missed or even disagreement expressed; it’s a Kafkaesque world where to simply ask questions is often synonymous with dissent.” Make no mistake, this is a bully’s charter that will, at the very least, crank up the levels of workrelated stress and sickness absence in schools. The NUT and NAHT together represent most teaching staff in England and Wales. Working together they could yet influence how these policies are dealt with in your school. Talk to each other about this!!

PLYMOUTH NUT General Meeting 5th October 2006 China House Sutton Harbour Plymouth Topics for discussion include Performance Management Trust Schools PPA/TLRs UPS Free Buffet at 1700 Meeting begins 1730 for about an hour Call David on 01503 240527 so we can order enough food

“What’s that Sooty? Deputy Prime Minister?” A naked Sooty gives Education Secretary Alan Johnson MP some careers advice

TAX FREE CHILD CARE VOUCHERS NOW OPEN TO TEACHERS The Government has announced, in response to NUT representations, that all teachers will from June 1st 2006 be able to take part in salary sacrifice schemes offered by their employers. These schemes allow employees to obtain certain kinds of benefit – in particular child care vouchers – on a tax free basis in return for surrendering part of their pay. What happens in effect is that you agree to give up part of your gross pay and the employer in return provides you with non-cash benefits to the same value. You then receive these benefits free from income tax and National Insurance contributions which you would otherwise have paid on that amount of gross pay. The exemption from tax and NI currently applies to the first £55 in value per week of the benefits. The exemptions significantly reduce the cost of buying services such as child care. For example, you could get £55 in child care vouchers in return for giving up £55 in gross pay which might only have amounted to £35 or £40 after tax and NI. These benefits do not affect your pension entitlements if you are part of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

DAMAGED CAR BENEFIT UP If you are unlucky enough for your car to suffer malicious damage whilst on school premises, the news isn’t all bad. You can now claim up to £300 from the NUT (with a £50 excess) instead of £100 which was the previous maximum benefit. Just ring 020 7380 4785 for a claim form.

ATL also supports the NUT and NASUWT view on Trust Schools. For an edited version of ATL’s statement, email [email protected]

Trust Schools – Young Minds Put at Risk Commenting on the Government’s announcement of the schools which are to pilot Trust status, Steve Sinnott, NUT General Secretary, said: “The Government’s Trust Schools take power away from parents and teachers and give control of our schools to the sponsors. Parents will have no choice about the future of their schools – the Government rejected a parental ballot. Instead the sponsors – who may come from any extremist group or none – will

be in charge.” He added, “If the Government wants to tackle the problem of social exclusion and deprivation, setting up a network of Trust schools will not achieve that. The scheme will be wasteful in terms of duplication of provision and dysfunctional in terms of co-ordination.” The NASUWT holds the same position as the NUT and most other professional practitioners. Chris Keates, their General Secretary, said:

Suspensions and Exclusions More than 100 students were suspended or expelled for attacking school staff in Plymouth last year. Official figures show that seven pupils were excluded permanently, and 96 for a fixed period, as punishment for assaulting an adult. That’s 7% of all the 1,390 school suspensions over the same period. The city council stressed it took a 'zero-tolerance' approach to violence in its schools. Describing the 100-plus incidents of violence against staff as 'isolated', a spokesman pointed out that the vast majority of youngsters respected each other and their teachers. The figures provide the latest evidence of the problem facing city schools, recently highlighted by the council's own statistics which showed nearly 100 staff had reported being abused or assaulted by pupils, parents or other members of the public in the same year, 2004-05. Teacher unions, however, claim the official figures were merely the tip of the iceberg and that some teachers faced a daily torrent of abuse or threats. A union survey carried out last November found that 18 of its members reported being abused in the space of just two weeks, including one city student threatening to firebomb a teacher's car. Of the 62 physical attacks and 31 incidents of serious verbal abuse which were reported to the council, all but four were targeted at teachers or teaching assistants.

The latest Government figures, published by the DfES, show Plymouth has the fourth highest number of student expulsions for physical assault of the 16 education authorities in the region, coming behind Gloucestershire and Somerset, which both had 12, and Wiltshire with 11. The city accounted for 10% of all permanent exclusions for assault in the region. Staff are encouraged to complete VR1 Forms for all actual and threatened verbal and physical assaults. Copies should be readily available in staff rooms. If not, contact [email protected] A member asks, “Do I have to apply for UPS2 on schoolmade forms?” Answer: No—it’s the HT’s role to inform you once the decision has been made. Pay will be backdated to 1st Sept.

Parents expect their children to be taught while they are at school by qualified teachers. We know that the government has advised HTs and governors that schools can allow TAs or any person employed by the HT to take whole classes. Parents are not fully informed of the implications for their children when non-teachers take charge of the class. The NUT believes that TAs and other support staff should be paid properly for the professional work they do. That should be the priority rather than using them to replace teachers. So, If your school only uses qualified teachers to teach whole classes let us know so we can bestow the kite mark on your school. Contact: [email protected]

"It is highly regrettable that a Government which has done so much to raise standards still persists with the view that changing the structure of governance and accountability of schools is the key to securing a world-class education system. The disillusionment and opposition to the increasing reliance on sponsors, charities and the private sector to be directly involved in the governance and management of schools is undermining the Government's laudable ambition to ensure that all children whatever their background have access to the highest standards of education. Schools can respond to the needs of their community, work in collaboration with other schools and tackle challenges without Trust status.” Opportunities presented by the consultation process to make representations will be utilised fully to ensure that the reality spelt out in the detail of the Education & Inspections Bill is brought fully to the attention the school community.

Contact [email protected] with your questions

What You May Have Missed Over The Summer • 27% of female HTs live alone [7% for male HTs] • The average west country house costs 16 times average salary • Chris Woodhead said using nonteachers to ‘teach’ was “absurd” • A Tory mini-manifesto advocates independent state schools run by business entrepreneurs—so not much for the LA to do! • 30% of students believe creationism completely explains the origin of the universe • University student debt is approaching £18k • 16 year olds may soon be able to choose not to attend assemblies having a religious element • There are proposals to strip away some H&S assessments for school trips • The DfES is considering calling nonteachers appointed to lead schools “principals” leaving “head teachers” for school leaders who are also qualified teachers • A larger number of independent schools are using the international GCSE as it’s similar to the old GCE ‘O’ level...but it is not recognised by the QCA for league table purposes; expect a fall in league table position...does this really matter? • Only 4% of teachers have any thoughts of becoming HTs in the next 5 years • Open University courses—10% discount for NUT members on Level 1, 30 and 60 point courses • 37% of eligible teachers fail to apply for the threshold • The best schools will only get one-day light touch OfSTED inspections from September 2006 • The government is going to think again about scrapping compulsory languages at KS4 • More Testing—new functional skills tests will be introduced for 12 year olds in 2007 • HTs receive a new government initiative every 2½ days

A Message from the Membership Secretary… are you the new NUT Rep or mail distributor in your school? Tell John on 01752 707606 so he can update your address label today! [email protected]

The NUT... The Largest Teachers’ Organisation in Europe… Our Aim: Professional Unity