Association of Teachers and Lecturers
ATL OLDHAM BRANCH
Newsletter November 2007
Branch Secretary: Eileen Orriss Email
Welcome to our new look branch newsletter. As this is the first edition I may have gone into information overload. I would be grateful for any comments good or bad so that the format fits your requirements.
The quality and scope of the continuing professional development training offered by ATL is not currently matched by any of the other teaching unions. This has proved to be very attractive to students in persuading them to convert to ATL as newly qualified members. Ask your rep or visit the web site to access the free training courses available to you as a member. www.atl.org.uk/atl_en/resources/training_programme.asp
The ATL Advice series of fact sheets has grown and grown, so we now have over 10 fact sheets on subjects that members frequently ask about. You can download them as PDFs from our website at www.atl.org.uk/factsheets , to either use as a reference for yourself or to raise ATL's profile in your school put them on your notice board or forward a copy of cyber bullying to your SLT member that is responsible for this area. The subjects covered are:
ADV1: Private tuition
ADV2: Sick leave and sick pay: your entitlements
ADV3: Step into my office: What to do when asked to attend a meeting with senior management
ADV4: Threshold and the upper pay scale
ADV5: The do's and don'ts of job hunting
ADV6: Understanding teachers' pay
ADV8: Risk assessment
ADV9: Statutory rights: maintained sector
ADV10: Statutory rights: independent sector
ADV11: Statutory rights: support staff in maintained sector
ADV12: ATL Trust Fund
ADV13: Cyber bullying
ADV14: Discipline
ADV15: Searching for weapons.
ATL has been granted £91,345 from this fund.
Using information technology, and recruiting and training more ATL representatives will use the money to improve the way in which ATL communicates with members. The bulk of the money will be spent on regionally delivered training for Branch officers, which will cover the following:-
• Using the new membership system and new branch intranet.
• Helping branches to better engage and support their members/reps.
• Improving branch communications.
• Drawing up and reviewing Branch development plans .
We are pleased to announce our new web-based service, which will allow you to review and update your details online. We believe that this facility will not only improve the accuracy of the data we hold, but will allow us to provide a first-class support service to you.
To use this new service, please Register online . The procedure for registering is simple and clearly set out on our website.
• Nominations were requested for GTC - four primary, four secondary and three other positions. Anyone interested in volunteering please ring Paul Day Assistant General Secretary on 02077821507.
• Pay Deal for FE not accepted by UCU [Universities and Colleges Union] they have until December to decide.
• STRB evidence – DCSF received pressure re multi-year pay deal 2008/2011 following failure to honour existing multi-year agreement.
• Conference season feedback. ATL won award for best stand and fringe meeting at LibDem Conference. Over-subscribed - 40 people turned away.
• Mixed age/year classes - Working party to be set up to develop model protocol for heads to follow
• Congestion Charge – Teachers at schools inside M60 will be charged approx £80 per month
unions felt LA should lobby Oldham council on behalf of teachers.
• Workforce & reform update – still 3 targets, 3 observations with max 3 hours per cycle; there is concern that some schools have not adopted Oldham 's policy which was agreed with the LA and unions representing head-teachers and all teaching staff.
• All branches should have at least one ULR; we do not have any at present. ULRs are entitled
to facilities time under statutory guidelines via a learning agreement with the LA. This is a pastoral role
involving arranging courses and training for both leisure pursuits and professional development
• In an attempt to raise attendance at branch meetings and to offer members a further service the next meeting will be incorporated into a free training course
The general concerns we raise in this document, which emerge from ATL's principled stance on curriculum, assessment and teacher professionalism, are as follows;
• A questionable emphasis on breadth over depth of content coverage, which is particularly exacerbated by the replacement of coursework by controlled assessment due to a debatable assumption that this will be more reliable.
• The balance between knowledge and skills in the curriculum and its assessment - ATL strongly believes that the curriculum should be principally defined through skills, with less prescription on the knowledge content.
• Recognising teacher professional autonomy, both in terms of deciding curriculum content and in making assessment judgements
• The needs of cultural understanding and diversity, which the current strongly nationally defined curriculum and assessment system does not meet. This is particularly important at a time when government is stressing the needs of community cohesion and of groups who are currently being failed by the national curriculum and testing regime.
The QCA's stated objective of encouraging "innovative teaching learning and assessment" is unlikely to be realised within the context of league tables and targets.
Modular GCSEs . In subjects such as maths and statistics, ATL is concerned that increased modularisation may lead to pupils bypassing crucial areas of learning.
End of course assessment . The proposed minimum of 50% is considered too high and too inflexible. Subjects such as religious study, which require high levels of evaluation and exploration by pupils, are better assessed through controlled assessment than through external assessment, which emphasises facts over skills.
RE. The revised criteria are thought to complement and reflect the revisions to the overall objectives of the Key Stage 4 curriculum and to support the development of personal learning and thinking skills. ATL feels there should not be an option to study one religion only, i.e. Christianity.
Economics. ATL feels that the aims and learning outcomes are appropriate for the subject and approves of the subject content.
History. ATL is concerned that an emphasis on breadth will lead to a more shallow coverage with a resulting lack of understanding and analysis. It is the skill level reached rather than knowledge of syllabus content which is important when progressing in the subject.
Statistics. The proposals are broadly welcomed the criteria should be more explicitly include the misuse of statistics. The concept of probability needs to feature more clearly in the assessment objectives. ATL is not convinced that the revised criteria will reverse the trend of the increasing numbers of students who get little or no satisfaction out of their learning.
Primary paradise, worried world.
Our primaries are heaven. Page 1. T E S SUMMARY 12/10/2007
Primary schools are increasingly valued as havens in a world where children's lives are dominated by the breakdown of family life in a materialist, celebrity obsessed society, an in-depth survey has found. The Primary Review is the most comprehensive inquiry into primary education for 40 years. In its interim report - Community Soundings – published today, it says that “Today's children are growing up too soon and the prospects for the society and the world they will inherit look increasingly perilous.” The report focussed on the views of parents, teachers, children and community representatives on primary education, childhood and the wider world. On the big issues to do with curriculum, testing the state of society and the wider world, there was deep anxiety. There was also a sense that primary schools are doing a good job but what is beyond them, the future for children, is disturbing.
Nansi Ellis, acting head of education policy at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said:
“There is too much Government control of primary education – of the how and what is taught.
“Primary schools have suffered from too much bouncing from one Government initiative to the next. Instead, proper thought needs to be given to what we want our children to learn and the purpose of primary schools, so we strongly support the two-year primary review.
“We have real fears this Government is putting too much emphasis on educating children for existing jobs, rather than ensuring they get an education which will give them the skills to live and work in a rapidly changing world. Our children need to be able to cope in world in which what is new today will be out-dated by next year, if not next week.
“We hope the review carries out a full evaluation of the national curriculum, testing, teaching methods and training for teachers so that primary education can be improved to benefit all children.
“We fully support the Government's aim to help children from poor and deprived families achieve their potential, but primary teachers cannot do this alone – they need help and support from Government, social services, parents, and local communities.”
PAY & CONDITIONS
• Continue to pay teachers properly and don't let advances in making teaching an attractive profession be stalled by a poor pay settlement for 2008 – 2011.
• Pay FE lecturers properly. They do the same job, as those teaching pupils in school sixth forms, so should be paid the same.
ATL general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, said: “This is a crucial time for pay. The Government wants to keep young people in education or training until 18, so will need more staff. There is already a shortage of people wanting to be heads, and the teaching profession is an ageing one with many due to retire over the next couple of years. It would be a particularly bad time to risk a shortage of teaching staff, put off by stagnating wages.”
Workforce reforms have created a revolution in schools that has benefited many staff, Ofsted inspectors reported this week. But there was no evidence that they improved standards or reduced teachers' hours. More than three-quarters of teachers interviewed felt they now had more control over their work and enough time to plan collaboratively, develop resources, do their marking and talk with colleagues. However, Ofsted found that no schools or teachers had monitored their hours or quantified their workload sufficiently to prove it had been reduced.
Union leaders have reacted angrily to the set of goals set by Chancellor Alistair Darling as a result of his raising education spending in England by an annual 2.8 per cent above inflation. Schools will still be expected to ensure that as many pupils as possible reach certain thresholds, such as achieving five A* -C GCSEs including English and Maths. But as The TES revealed last month, new targets will also attempt to hold them accountable for the progress made by pupils at all levels. Martin Johnson, ATL deputy general secretary, said: “We are unhappy about adding more targets for schools to meet – they will not solve our education problems.”
Mary Bousted said: “All schools need to be fit for purpose, so the rebuilding and refurbishment of UK schools needs to continue. But there needs to be more involvement of teachers and pupils to ensure the buildings are suitable for those who use them.”
Last in, first out is potentially discriminatory under the Age Discrimination Regulations because, if implemented, it would result in younger employees & parents that have taken a career breaks to bring up their children being at greater risk of being dismissed due to length of service . If such a claim were to be litigated, it would be for the employer to justify the application of this criterion. The law does not oblige employers to use any particular selection criteria. If challenged, it will be for the employer to persuade an employment tribunal that the criteria used was reasonable, non-discriminatory and applied fairly. To our knowledge, the use of LIFO as the sole selection criteria has yet to be tested legally. We are aware that the NASUWT has averred that this should be the selection criteria, but do not know whether it has revised its position in the light of the Age Discrimination Regulations. ATL has consistently taken the view that curriculum need should normally be the main selection criteria.”
How will this affect staff? It has been suggested that Foundation school can be similar to faith schools in the powers they have and that governors could follow this route to protect the school from the LA and possible inclusion in the academies bid. Unfortunately foundation status can also be seen as the first step towards becoming a trust school, which is very similar to an academy so teachers could lose their existing pay and conditions.
Who has a vote on this change? ATL Executive suggested that there was no clear democratic process in the change to Foundation status. If you would like more details on Foundation status please contact eorriss@oldham.atl.org.uk
The standards should be used as a backdrop to performance management discussions. You need to know what criteria you will be judged against.
Teachers' performance should be viewed in relation to their current career stage and the career stage they are approaching. The relevant standards are available to view at www.tda.gov.uk/teachers/professionalstandards a nd should be looked at as a whole in order to help teachers identify areas of strength and areas for further professional development.
ATL has produced a new eight-page magazine for our student and NQT members, which replaces the old Student Focus publication. The new-look publication has been redesigned to fit with all our other student/NQT publications and includes a column from ATL Future, and articles on topics like building effective relationships with students, induction and an interview with Mary Bousted.
A copy will be sent out to all NQT/STUDENT MEMBERS in the next Report mailing . It will be sent out three times a year to our students and NQTs, as well as going in their welcome packs. A limited number are available from Token help (tel: 0845 4500 009; email : despatch@atl.org.uk )
If you are a student teacher or new to the teaching profession, click here to visit ATL's dedicated New to Teaching website:- new2teaching .org.uk