Nutshells #71 Sept 07

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THE 71ST EDITION FOR ALL PLYMOUTH TEACHERS SEPTEMBER 2007

PAY If you believe your salary and that of your co-workers is too high and needs to be cut—do nothing

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Inflation now 3.8% • Mortgage interest rates top 6+% • Mortgage repossessions up 30% • House prices to rise another 40% in the next 5 years • Petrol near £1 a litre [£4=50 a gallon] • Water up at least 12% • SW house prices are rising 5 times faster than pay

The pay “rise” this month is -1.3%

Your pay is being eroded by £37 a Steve Sinnott said, “You can’t m o n t h — m o r e than a £ a day... value public servants if you cut their pay” New teachers can no longer afford to buy a house or repay a mortgage until they earn at least £30k £30k— —no wonder 50% continue to leave the profession... PERFORMANCE MANGEMENT will be the hot Talk to your ATL, topic for the next couple of months [apart from pay]. All NUT school reps have received a Plymouth NUT Brief NASUWT, UNISON & GMB Guide to PM. Ask them for a copy or contact colleagues to see if they [email protected] to receive an electronic feel their pay should be cut version. Stay informed and seize the initiative!

See page 4

LOOK! 

EDUCATION NEWS WHAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED OVER THE SUMMER—pages 2 & 3

YOUR PAY IS BEING SQUEEEEEEEEZED

Independent of Government and not affiliated to any political party

GCSE exams are to be partially Open University—course fee discount for trade unionists replaced with multiple choice As part of a new partnership between UnionLearn and the OU, questions—to make them less trade union members will receive a 10% discount when taking their first 30 or 60 point level 1 course. difficult to pass

To qualify, NUT members will need to provide a copy of their

A review of primary maths and a NUT card and attach it to the course registration document . They new education bill—one part of will also need to quote fee code UL (UnionLearn). which will ensure parents have a New behaviour policy begins this term that allows About 1 in 60 legal duty to keep their children in teachers to discipline pupils without the agreement of children have education or training until their 18th parents/guardians. More draconian fines and birthday some form of parenting orders are less likely to be issued by HTs autism although the duty to look after excluded children for The DfES has been renamed DCSF the first 5 days at home may have important A think-tank announced that 2 consequences. Unfortunately many schools hold out of 3 new teachers are “not internal exclusions to accommodate parents—this up to the job” practice may be counterproductive “Booster classes” trim down the The NUT really is the largest teacher union in curriculum in primary schools Europe with 368 066 members. The NASUWT Extra maths and English has 298 884, the ATL 207 057, PAT 35 945, Images of lessons may be crammed in to NAHT 39 292 and ASCL 12 760. In all, nearly a Tolpuddle secondary school timetables to million members—if this could be harnessed into 2007 NUT the detriment of D&T and just one union... attendees included Rob humanities Ed Balls announced that the “education” leaving age Barrett, David Smale would rise to 18 OfSTED may be too complex and and Andy Woolley. not fit for purpose. A House of Primary class size in Scotland is to be cut to 18 The Commons report says they are not ubiquitous Tony Benn Consultants running the intensive national plan “to convinced that light-touch also made his inspections are effective usual rousing drive up standards” in some primary schools are beand having outside the Every Child Matters strategy and inspirational Secondary teachers to get an leaving a trail of demoralised and over-worked staff speech extra INSET day for training in in their wake. The DCSF apologised [in August] for the new secondary curriculum— the pursuit of test results at the expense of schools this entirely due to the wider responsibilities for children’s welfare intervention of the NUT—so it’s From September 1st every student in England a maximum of 189 teaching and can demand to study 2 science GCSE subjects. 6 INSET days in 2007/8—check It is predicted by teacher recruiters that science your school calendar to make graduates will be lured to independent and sure it’s not 196... selective schools leaving comprehensives to Skin normally shed from children is offer the courses taught by non-specialists the cause of many whiteboard About 20% of trainee teachers studying shortage subjects fail to breakdowns. In Sussex, 65% of qualify; of those who do a further 3½% don’t apply to work in Toshiba’s T40, T80 and T90 schools. We know what happens to 50% of those who do actually ‘boards have been damaged start work...they leave within 3 years The NUT’s newly qualified teachers’ recruitment drive won the prize for best recruitment material at the TUC’s Press and PR Awards 2007. The NUT’s offer to NQTs of Sue Cowley’s How to Survive Your First Year in Teaching was described by the judges as “an imaginative way to attract new members during difficult times”. NQTs can get this book and other offers once they have signed up for direct debit (not to be taken until 2008) Pressure from the NUT has reprieved a number of overseas teachers who were due to be deported this summer. They now have an extra year in which to achieve QTS

1 in 3 of today’s female graduates will never have children

According to an ex-education adviser to Tony Blair and Charles Clarke, “Gordon Brown’s ambition to make our schools world class within a decade will require us to recruit and retain the best graduates to teaching. To achieve that, teachers’ pay will need to improve in comparison with that of other professionals” 96% of school staff drive to work Ethnic minority teachers avoid jobs in “white” areas

We now have a GTC(E) representative in the SW. Pete McAleer from Clevedon High School in Somerset stood for election in 2004 Plymouth will change its holiday dates to and due to a resignation, he has been asked to step in. It is coincide with Devon and Cornwall from particular pleasing that Pete has obtained this place because, as 2008—about time! far as we know, there are no other representatives of any capacity in the whole of the SW Region on the GTC(E)

LOCAL NEWS

The Scout Association celebrated its centenary in August. Reports suggest that Gordon Brown is keen to look at the structure and processes of how the movement is organised and how the youngsters themselves influence their activities through democratic and consultative leadership SURE START has not been the success it set out to be according to recent research from the government—wasted mi££ions? South West TUC is producing a book about Tolpuddle entitled "My Tolpuddle" and wants impressions and reminiscences from anyone who has attended, many times or just once, up to 200 words, plus an Plymouth Division Secretary David Smale has appropriate photo if available. Send your story to [email protected] been elected to represent SW Secretaries on an EDEXEL are providing HTs with a question-by-question feedNUT working party

back on both students and teachers so weaknesses may be found Steve Sinnott was interviewed on in T&L. A levels and GCSEs will be included so poor performance BBC Radio Cornwall about the new can be targeted straightaway in the autumn term right to discipline challenging and low“Almost a quarter of a million 11-year-olds in England are unable to level classroom disruption read, write and do sums.” This broadsheet headline describes the number City College Plymouth has asked the of pupils at KS2 that failed to reach level 4 in their tests. Fail? Surely the SW TUC to nominate a representative to success of pupils who reach level 3 should be celebrated and at level 3 sit on the Board of Governors. they will be able to read, write and do sums If you’re interested and want to know more contact Andy Woolley at the An army website has produced 40 lesson plans that are defence-related. Regional Office: [email protected] The website replaces the schools presentation team that was familiar to many; a confusing mix of recruitment and pro-Iraq war propaganda

The next General RECRUIT A COLLEAGUE OR Meeting will be on Thursday 27th A FRIEND TO September at the THE NUT China House and have the Sutton Quay chance to win from 5pm A CASE OF Guest Speaker QUALITY WINE Free Buffet or £50 IN CASH Please do your best to attend FULL DETAILS FROM [email protected]

“We need a union not in partnership with government but in partnership with teachers”

Crazy about work? “Tiredness Can Kill Take a Break” John Illingworth will speak to Plymouth teachers on Wed October 17th about the mental health of the profession China House @ 1700 This meeting will be open to all Booster Seats in School Mini-buses

It is now the law that all children under 12 or under 135cm (4’5”) must use a booster seat when travelling in vehicles that are fitted with seat belts. Driver’s Responsibility It is the driver’s responsibility to ensure that these laws are obeyed. Failure to use the correct seat will result in a £30 fixed penalty fine. If the case goes to court the fine can be as high as £500. If you drive the school mini-bus, make sure that your senior leaders are aware of the law and that you are at risk of a fine.

WORKLOAD...WORKLOAD...WORKLOAD… We now know that the so-called workload agreement has failed to reduce our workload. Even with at least 10% PPA time teachers are in many cases working for longer and teaching more. A few have seen a reduction measured only in minutes. What has been the cost of all this? The 3 year “pay deal” is a consequence...time for some professional unity...

A member asks: “Now that the crude % pass rate is no longer in the new PM regs, what can I say to my HT who will try to force me to agree that 60% of my class will achieve a level 5?” Answer: It is important to mention that Professional Development for teachers which introduces change in the classroom can have an impact on standards. A type of action research such as assessment for learning; teacher to teacher activities relating to teaching and learning and so on, are just a few examples – all from the NUT A member writes, “Do I have to set work for CPD course list – see the NUT website for full details. Even opportunities to improve ones own professional knowledge or my TA to deliver when I have PPA time?” Answer: NO—it’s about workload reduction... classroom management will improve standards, so an OU or Marjon course will do here. Contact us for more examples.

Plymouth Division: [email protected] 01503 240527 Regional Office: [email protected],uk 01392 258028