ATL Report July 2015

THE MAGAZINE FROM ATL, THE EDUCATION UNION

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

JULY 2015 ÂŁ2.50

Headteachers face a headache as the pool of new teachers to recruit from dries up

Falling short

001_ATL_Jul/Aug15_cover.indd 1

17/06/2015 13:55

Work hard, now relax Home insurance from just £135

ea Plus, receiv

£25

o.uk Amazon.ccate** fi Gift Certi

We know how hard you work. In your profession, you have to. So it’s only fair that you’re rewarded. We offer great value home insurance so you can relax outside of work. With prices from £135 – that’s all 10% of our customers paid* – plus a £25 Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate** when you take out a new combined buildings and contents policy online, we look after our customers.

We share our customer reviews on our website too. So now you can see for yourself before you buy.

Plus, you could save up to 20% online – 46% of customers are expected to receive maximum saving***.

Get a quote online in six minutes^ at fromyourassociation.co.uk/ATL and quote atl25home when you buy to claim your Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate**.

Full terms and conditions at www.fromyourassociation.co.uk/ATL *10% of all customers buying home buildings and contents insurance with us from February to April 2015 paid £135 or less. Source: Aviva. The price you pay will depend upon individual circumstances, cover chosen and payment method selected. **Amazon.co.uk is not a sponsor of this promotion. Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates (“GCs”) may be redeemed on the Amazon.co.uk website towards the purchase of eligible products listed in our online catalogue and sold by Amazon.co.uk or any other seller selling through Amazon.co.uk. GCs cannot be reloaded, resold, transferred for value, redeemed for cash or applied to any other account. Amazon.co.uk is not responsible if a GC is lost, stolen, destroyed or used without permission. See www.amazon.co.uk/gc-legal for complete terms and conditions. GCs are issued by Amazon EU S.à r.l. All Amazon ®™& © are IP of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. ***Excludes optional covers. Minimum price applies. ^Source: average online quote times April – October 2014.

Insurance underwritten by Aviva Insurance Limited. Registered in Scotland No. 2116.

Registered office: Pitheavlis, Perth, PH2 0NH. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

CFPCBA0036 06.2015

97044638.indd 1 IFC_ATL_JulyAug15.indd 1

26/05/2015 22/06/2015 22:43 14:14

Contents UPFRONT

Y O U R AT L

4 UPDATE

19 USEFUL CONTACTS

7

21 JOIN THE DEBATE

ATL secures compensation for members, and takes action against FE cuts

AGENDA

How to get in touch with ATL

Does the staffroom still have a role?

The pace of qualification change is causing havoc, says Mary Bousted

23

9 WALES AND

A round-up of your employment rights

Philip Dixon and Mark Langhammer discuss a lack of jobs and CPD

REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

LEGAL ADVICE

25

NORTHERN IRELAND

F E AT U R E S

10

FALLING SHORT

Are there enough teachers joining the profession to replace those leaving?

14

IN PROFILE

Professor Ann Hodgson explains why FE is amazing

17

GUIDE

Making the most of the iPad in the classroom

30 FINAL WORD

ATL’s audited financial statement for the year to December 2014

26

YOUR VIEWS

ATL members air their opinions on school uniforms, ‘coasting’ schools and party politics

27 CROSSWORD

Your chance to win a £50 M&S voucher

28

NOTICEBOARD

Information and ways to get involved

29

YOUR RESOURCES

Newsletters, CPD and ATL’s wall planner

TV presenter Carrie Grant gives a parent’s view of SEN Report is the magazine from ATL, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD Tel 020 7930 6441 Fax 020 7930 1359 Email report@atl.org.uk or membership@atl.org.uk Website www.atl.org.uk Editors Alex Tomlin, Charlotte Tamvakis Report is produced and designed for ATL by Think Publishing, Capital House, 25 Chapel Street, London NW1 5DH Tel 020 3771 7200 Email info@thinkpublishing.co.uk Senior sub editor Rachel Kurzfield Art director Darren Endicott Designer Alix Thomazi Advertising sales Michael Coulsey or Anthony Bennett 020 3771 7200 Account manager Kieran Paul Managing director Polly Arnold

003_ATL_Jul/Aug15_contents.indd 3

ATL accepts no liability for any insert, display or classified advertisement included in this publication.

While every reasonable care is taken to ensure that all advertisers are reliable and reputable, ATL can give no assurance that they will fulfil their obligation under all circumstances.

The views expressed in articles in Report are the contributors’ own and do not necessarily reflect

ATL policy. Official policy statements issued on behalf of ATL are indicated as such. All rights reserved.

Material contained in this publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior permission of ATL. Cover illustration: James Lancett

Welcome MARK BAKER, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, ATL We’re on the home straight and summer beckons ever closer, yet the pressures always continue.

But this is also a time of celebration, and not only that we have survived another year! We can reflect on our successes. Small steps, massive leaps and taking pride in the fact we continue to do our best. We can laugh at the things which, at the time, drove us to near distraction (well maybe!).

In this issue, Carrie Grant (p30) and Professor Ann Hodgson (p14) write about their experiences and the importance of SEN and FE. They ably demonstrate the passion we all have towards achieving good-quality education for all. We know the worth of our young people, and it’s too important to let go despite those who do us down: our policy-makers, or Ofsted, with yet another new framework.

This term will draw to a close and we’ll share the anxieties of those we have helped to learn as many ready themselves for life-changing moments; moving to secondary school or into the big wide world, awaiting those exam results perhaps. We’ll say our goodbyes. Colleagues may be leaving for promotion or hanging up their satchels for the last time.

However, we can be secure in the knowledge that September will come around all too fast. So as we anticipate the serious challenges ahead we should resolve, if nothing else, that we will meet them together. Recharge those batteries and enjoy the summer.

JOIN THE DEBATE…

report@atl.org.uk @ATLReport facebook.com/ATLUnion

Report, ATL, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD

17/06/2015 13:55

IN WORDS

NEWS

IN WORDS

“IT HAS BEEN PLEASING TO RECEIVE SOME EXTRA MONEY FOR STAFF, BUT MORE PLEASING TO REALISE WE HAVE BEEN HEARD”

“ACADEMY CHAINS VARY IN THEIR EFFECTIVENESS”

Union wins claim after school shuts

‘Failing or coasting’ schools warning

Education staff who were told on the last day of term that the independent school where they worked was closing have been awarded the maximum compensation with the support of ATL St Hilda’s, an independent school for students up to 16 in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, went into liquidation on 10 July last year. The school was unable to pay staff the redundancy money they were due and ATL supported eight ATL members in claims to an employment tribunal.

Gillian Bourne, a member of AMiE, ATL’s leadership section, and director of studies at the school at the time, said: “I’d worked there for six years. A notice went up in the staffroom saying ‘please attend this meeting’, and we went – we thought they’d be thanking us for our work over the year. Staff were distressed and shocked. We learned we were not going to receive our salaries for July or August, and given forms to claim from the National Insurance Fund.

We received no redundancy payments from the school as it was declared insolvent.

“Because it happened in July, there weren’t jobs available, and many of us are still looking for permanent positions and are doing supply like myself. Those who were not in a union were not protected and did not bring any claims to tribunal.”

In January this year, ATL was successful in bringing a claim at an employment tribunal for 90 days’ protective award.

Gillian added: “ATL was excellent at every stage, right from my initial call on the day through to our successful tribunal. It has been pleasing to receive some extra money for staff, but more pleasing to realise we have been heard. Employers cannot assume they can break the law, treating staff badly, without consequence.

“I would urge anyone who works in a classroom to belong to a union. ATL was fantastic; I hoped I would never need it, but when I did, I was extremely grateful. I could not have foreseen the situation I was in, and I could not have managed without ATL. With the increasing range of different types of schools, it is vital to be part of a union.”

ATL solicitor Elizabeth Doherty said: “It is unfortunate for both pupils and staff when schools close in such distressing circumstances. However, ATL will strive to do all it can to support members who find themselves in situations such as this.”

ATL’s contact details are on page 19.

Academy plan protest ATL members in Birmingham have taken strike action over plans to convert a secondary school into an academy.

Members of ATL, NUT and NASUWT took action on 13 May after seeing a letter from the local authority revealing plans to convert Small Heath School into an academy. The local authority has said it has no current plans to convert the school.

The school, previously rated ‘outstanding’, was put into special measures by Ofsted in

4 REPORT | JULY 2015

004-005_ATL_Jul/Aug15_news.indd 4

January, months after it was given a clean bill of health during the Trojan Horse scandal.

Ash Ghouse, ATL’s branch secretary for Birmingham, said the school, which has 29 staff vacancies, needs time to regain stability. “It beggars belief that, after five outstanding Ofsted reports, a school once described as a crown jewel is now seen as a worthless piece of coal,” he said.

“The school needs sufficient time to put in place

recommendations. There’s a team of dedicated teachers here who steered the school to outstanding and need time and support to do that again – and the kids share that dream.”

ATL members also took part in strike action at St Andrew and St Francis C of E Primary School in Willesden, London, in April over plans to convert the school into an academy. It was placed under special measures but has since made improvements.

Plans to force schools rated as “requiring improvement” and that miss new Government benchmarks to become academies is poor policy-making that ignores the evidence on academies, ATL has warned.

The education secretary unveiled the measures, due to be introduced in an education bill, in May, just days after the election.

Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, said: “Nicky Morgan’s announcement that the leaders of ‘failing or coasting’ schools will have their headteachers removed and be forced to join an academy chain is bad policy-making from an education secretary who is either naïve, or ignorant, or both.

“It is crucial pupils are educated in good schools that enable them to succeed. Schools that condemn pupils to poorer educational outcomes than their talents deserve must be held accountable and must improve, quickly. But there is no robust evidence, overall, that academies, nationally, outperform other types of school.

“There is another problem with mass conversion, and that is that academy chains vary greatly in their effectiveness. If Nicky Morgan is so confident that academy chains are the route to school improvement, why is she stopping them being inspected as a chain?”

She added: “There is a looming crisis of recruitment and retention of school leaders, whose jobs are coming to be as insecure as football managers’. Why would they risk career suicide taking over failing schools when they know there is insufficient time, and resource, to turn those schools around?”

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

17/06/2015 13:55

IN WORDS

NEWS

“WHILE SCHOOLS IN DIFFICULTY MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AND MUST BE SUPPORTED TO IMPROVE, NICKY MORGAN’S APPROACH IS DOUBLY FLAWED”

ATL explains priorities to new Government As the new Government finds its stride, ATL is using the opportunity to engage and influence the decision-makers setting education policies for the next five years ATL general secretary Mary Bousted wrote to education secretary Nicky Morgan and Sajid Javid, the business, innovation and skills secretary, following May’s general election, to set out the key challenges facing education.

Dr Bousted highlighted the issues members raised as the themes in ATL’s Shape Education campaign: workload; inspection; CPD; teacher training; and funding, including fair reward. She also told the education secretary that, without dialogue with ATL and AMiE on how best to tackle these issues, the accelerating recruitment and retention crisis of teachers and heads will impact disastrously on the children and young people politicians claim they wish to nurture.

Dr Bousted said: “The greatest challenge will be the crisis in teacher recruitment. Children’s education will suffer if we do not have enough qualified, experienced teachers. Unfortunately, teachers are leaving the profession in droves at a time when more children are entering the school system.”

To solve this crisis, Ms Morgan needs to carry out “a thorough evaluation of the School Direct programme that has failed to recruit sufficient trainee teachers

and failed to provide high-quality teacher training [and] halt the decline in university-based teacher training”. Dr Bousted also urged her to talk to ATL “to establish ways in which we can tackle unnecessary workload and make teaching more attractive” and to read ATL’s proposals for a peer-led inspection system.

Responding to the education secretary’s threat to sack the heads of ‘coasting’ schools and force them to become academies, Dr Bousted said: “While schools in difficulty must be held accountable and must be supported to improve, Nicky Morgan’s approach is doubly flawed, first because academisation is no guarantee of success and second because threatening heads with the sack won’t improve recruitment and retention.”

Dr Bousted said she will press for a definition of ‘coasting’ and whether the issues affecting these schools are under the direct control of the heads and teachers.

Meanwhile, she warned the new business, innovation and skills secretary: “Cuts in funding for FE have left colleges reeling.

Amalgamations of colleges and closure of courses have led to fewer options for young people to stay in education, and the cuts to the

maintenance allowance have left many unable to travel the greater distances to access any remaining provision. Cuts have also led to the loss of professional staff.

“Unless addressed, the crisis in FE colleges will impact on those young people who are most disadvantaged, including black and minority ethnic young people, who are much more likely to access FE as a way of getting back on track.”

In May, ATL joined other unions in signing an open letter published in The Sunday Times calling on the Government to protect all areas of education funding. It set out how, unless it makes the right decisions on funding, pupils and students across the UK are likely to be hit by cuts in provision, with higher National Insurance and pension contributions alone likely to take away five per cent of budgets.

Meanwhile, student numbers are rising at the same time as staff face redundancies due to financial pressures.

To see the letters and to read Dr Bousted’s blog, see www.atl.org. uk/shapeeducation and www. atlspeakout.com/2015/05/18/andso-it-begins. Pledge to support ATL’s ‘A new vision for inspection in schools’, our Ofsted alternative, at www.atl.org.uk/visionforinspection.

IN BRIEF FE CUTS LOBBY ATL and its leadership section, AMiE, took part in a lobby of Westminster as part of the #loveFE campaign to save adult education from proposed 24% cuts.

Newly elected MPs were asked to stop the cuts to the England lifelong learning budget and commit to properly funded lifelong learning at a lobby of Parliament at Westminster on 16 June.

For more details about the campaign, see www.atl.org.uk/ fecuts. You can follow the campaign using the #loveFE hashtag on Twitter and sign the petition against the cuts, which already has more than 40,000 signatories, at www.fefunding. org.uk/signthe-petition.

Follow the campaign: #loveFE

ATL Cymru election campaign Members and key stakeholders were given a preview of ATL Cymru’s election campaign for the 2016 National Assembly elections at the annual lecture in June. After listening to members across Wales, ATL will be

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

004-005_ATL_Jul/Aug15_news.indd 5

campaigning on five key asks to ensure the future of education in Wales. These are: to build a strong curriculum with portable qualifications; to develop an excellently skilled workforce; to invest in education; to provide

fair terms and conditions for support staff; and to keep the state education system. In the autumn, ATL will send every member in Wales a copy of the manifesto and urge them to get involved in our campaign: #PutEducationFirst.

JULY 2015 | REPORT 5

17/06/2015 13:55

Work hard, now relax Car insurance from just £186

ea Plus, receiv

£30

o.uk Amazon.ccate** fi Gift Certi

We understand how hard you work. So we think it’s only fair that you’re rewarded. We offer great value car insurance so you can relax outside of work. With prices from £186 – that’s all 10% of our customers paid for our standard cover* – plus a £30 Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate when you take out a new policy online, we look after our customers.

We were the first car insurer to share our customer claim reviews on our website. So now you don’t need to make a claim to find out how good your insurance is.

Plus, you could save up to 20% online – 30% of our customers are expected to receive the maximum saving***.

Get a quote online in five minutes^ at fromyourassociation.co.uk/ATL and quote atl30car when you buy to claim your Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate**.

Full terms and conditions at www.fromyourassociation.co.uk/ATL *10% of customers buying comprehensive car insurance with us from February to April 2015 paid this price or less for our standard cover (excluding optional extras). The price you will pay depends on individual circumstances, cover chosen and payment method. **Amazon.co.uk is not a sponsor of this promotion. Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates (“GCs”) may be redeemed on the Amazon.co.uk website towards the purchase of eligible products listed in our online catalogue and sold by Amazon.co.uk or any other seller selling through Amazon.co.uk. GCs cannot be reloaded, resold, transferred for value, redeemed for cash or applied to any other account. Amazon.co.uk is not responsible if a GC is lost, stolen, destroyed or used without permission. See www.amazon.co.uk/gc-legal for complete terms and conditions. GCs are issued by Amazon EU S.à r.l. All Amazon ®™ & © are IP of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. ***Discount depends on individual circumstances and does not apply to optional extras. Minimum price applies. ^Source: average online quote times April – October 2014.

Insurance underwritten by Aviva Insurance Limited. Registered in Scotland No. 2116.

Registered office: Pitheavlis, Perth, PH2 0NH. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

CFPOCA0085 06.2015

97044624.indd 1 006_ATL_JulyAug15.indd 6

26/05/15 23/06/20154:11 15:03 pm

AGENDA

REGULAR READERS of Report will know I have been a consistent critic of the direction and pace of qualification reform. It gives me no pleasure to know my worst fears have been realised.

I recently stayed with a friend who is a history teacher. She told me the first Monday after half-term would be the first training session organised by the exam board for the new history A-level. She confessed she felt deeply uneasy about teaching the new A-level syllabus, the content of which is radically different from the existing course. Her department had bought two new textbooks, but could not be confident they would be right for the new A-level, as the information given thus far has been so sketchy. She also stated that her summer holiday would be taken up in preparing for the new qualification.

This sorry tale is being told throughout the country as teachers bemoan the lack of information and the lateness of essential communication from the exam boards about the new syllabuses.

For most schools, all CPD not about preparation for the new qualifications is cancelled.

It is not just teachers who suffer.

Pupils making decisions about subject choices in January this year had virtually no information on what they were signing up to study.

This is unacceptable.

The GCSE maths debacle illustrates just what can go wrong when major qualification reform is done too quickly and without the necessary professional involvement and consultation. In the third week of May, Ofqual announced it required all exam boards offering the new GCSEs in maths to draw up a new set of sample papers after three of the boards had set papers that were too hard and could not differentiate the achievements of candidates, while one had produced sample papers that were too easy.

Now, you might think this is a case of Ofqual doing its job, which should be to ensure consistency among different exam boards and papers that are able to differentiate levels of mathematical ability among students. But, and WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

007_Report_Jul/Aug15_agenda.indd 7

You had one job…

ATL general secretary Mary Bousted on how Ofqual seems unqualified to oversee qualifications this is a big but, Ofqual had previously accredited the GCSE maths specifications but had not required sample papers to be part of this process, effectively approving in advance the sample papers it has now deemed not fit for purpose. The consequence of all this is maths teachers will have just half a term to prepare for a course that is taken by over half a million pupils per year.

As Melanie Muldowney, a maths teacher who blogs as ‘JustMaths’, wrote recently: “… any maths teacher across the country who had looked at all three main boards, even when they were in their draft stage, would have told you that there were massive differences, and this is where the issue lies. How can we be in the situation where they have been accredited but they are once again being asked to make changes? The

JOIN THE DEBATE… report@atl.org.uk

@ATLReport

facebook.com/ ATLUnion

Report, ATL, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD

whole accreditation process has been a debacle.”

She added: “We are now in the middle of exam season and there is the serious matter of time running out.”

But the problem does not stop with maths. Ofqual has also revealed it will have to run extra checks on the level of difficulty in the new science qualifications because, as Glenys Stacey, chief executive of Ofqual, belatedly recognised, “there is quite a lot of maths [in science]”. At this point, I can only resort to disbelief – you couldn’t make it up.

Popular on Twitter at the moment is the hashtag #YouHadOneJob… with a photo attached of a task going radically, amusingly wrong; for example, an election candidate’s car with the election poster upside down on every window.

Ofqual has just one job – to ensure the qualifications it accredits can assess the essential skills and knowledge of a subject; that they are set at an appropriate and consistent level of challenge; and that marking is consistent.

It’s not an easy job, I agree, particularly at a time of rapid change – but it should not be impossible to do well.

For teachers, the situation could not be worse. Where there should be knowledge, information and training, there is uncertainty, lack of timely information and doubt that the new exams will be a fair reflection of students’ abilities and efforts. Ofqual has to take responsibility for the situation it has created. Experience tells me, however, it will not.

Just before the election, maddened by Ofqual’s refusal to reconsider its decision to stop practical work contributing towards GCSE and A-level science grades, senior sources at the Department for Education let it be known that ministers were deeply unimpressed with the agency. My view is ministers have to act now to institute an enquiry into just what went wrong with Ofqual regulation of the new maths GCSE and to reform the agency so confidence can be restored in our qualifications system.

JULY 2015 | REPORT 7

17/06/2015 13:55

Get Spelling, Get Sponsored this October!

Give your students the astic chance to learn the fant d skill of fingerspelling an S. raise vital funds for NDC sy It’s as ea ... as A, B, C

A

Register for the Fingerspellathon at www.ndcs.org.uk/ fingerspell

B

Get Spelling Learn the BSL fingerspelling alphabet together.

isolation stop the n endure fte hildren o c t a h t g n i . and bully e they can’t hear s u just beca

Get Sponsored Give a sponsorship form to everybody taking part and get sponsored for every word they learn to fingerspell*.

C

S Help NDC

Free s! resource

We can provide fingerspelling postcards and downloadable resources

How many words can your students fingerspell in one minute?

£50 means we can train an activity leader to support deaf children taking part in their activities

Get involved at www.ndcs.org.uk/fingerspell or call 020 7014 1199 National Deaf Children’s Society JR0758

* We recommend a minimum sponsorship of just £2 per participant NDCS is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 1016532 and in Scotland no. SC040779.

008_ATL_JulyAug15.indd 8 JR0758 Association of Teachers and Lecturers Magazine Fingerspellathon Full Page Ad AW.indd 1

12:55 22/06/2015 11:42

THE VIEW FROM… NORTHERN IRELAND / WALES

Northern Ireland Wales MARK LANGHAMMER

DR PHILIP DIXON

ATL proposes a contractual right to CPD

We are producing talented young teachers but no jobs for them

WITHIN THE NI Teachers’ Council, ATL is negotiating the 2015-16 pay remit: restraint is inevitable. An alternative to performancerelated pay proposed by ATL is as follows: R Progression from M1 to M3 would be through the current Early Professional Development programme.

R Progression from M4 to M6 would be as a result of successfully undertaking one Performance Review and Staff Development (PRSD) cycle.

R PRSD would remain the same, with all parties committed to a lighter administration process.

Supportive guidance notes would benefit

both the appraisers and the appraisees.

R For those not in a PRSD cycle, so not qualifying for incremental progression, an appeals process would be available.

These arrangements would be subject to a renewed focus on teachers’ CPD, which would include a contractual right to CPD for a limited number of system-wide programmes. These may include teacher exchanges, teacher/leader placement within schools in need, and a ‘teachers into industry’ programme, as set out in the CBI’s ‘step change’ agenda.

The contractual right to CPD is aimed at balancing untrammelled school autonomy, balancing school needs with those of the system and of the individual. Each school would nominate a CPD leader, who would develop staff CPD opportunities and coach staff in PRSD roles.

New pay grades at UPS4 and 5 could be set up to encourage research through CPD, perhaps for those working towards, or having achieved, PhD study.

Let me know your views at mlanghammer@atl.org.uk.

THE PROBLEMS with recruitment and retention of teachers in Wales are quite different to those in England.

There is the seemingly perennial shortage of maths teachers, and also of Welsh medium specialists in certain areas, but overall there is no dearth; rather, there is a glut of trained professionals who cannot find full-time work.

Surveys of members, verified by similar work from other unions and stakeholders, have shown it is very difficult for NQTs to find substantive posts.

Conversations with younger members reveal a sorry story of supply work and parttime appointments that, in some cases, leave them unable to complete their induction year. Members who successfully get on the ladder of permanent employment report that career progression is slow and new opportunities few and far between.

We have urged the Welsh Government to get to grips with this situation on many occasions. The response has been slow. We have urged it to look at the guaranteed induction year, as seen in

Scotland. We have even urged it to be bold in its labour market planning and move the time of selection away from the end of PGCE. John Furlong’s review of teacher training, published in March, attempted to look at some of these problems and recommends the reconfiguration of teacher training. The Donaldson report is clear that a new sort of professionalism will be needed to deliver his proposed curriculum. But, on the ground, I fear we will still produce talented young people with no place to go.

The waste of human capital is even more shocking than the waste of money in a system already strapped for cash.

Check out ATL’s curriculum website

Find out more about the changes to the curriculum, view our video case studies of schools taking new approaches to the curriculum, access resources and take part in the conversation about the curriculum.

acurriculumthatcounts.org.uk

009_ATL_Jul/Aug15_Wales_NI.indd 9

#acurriculumthatcounts

17/06/2015 13:55

FALLING SHORT WILL A LACK OF NEW TEACHERS AND QUALITY HEADTEACHERS CREATE A CRISIS FOR THE NEW GOVERNMENT AND FOR THE COUNTRY? WORDS BY ALEX TOMLIN

10 REPORT | JULY 2015

010-013_ATL_Jul/Aug15_feat.indd 10

NICKY MORGAN’S first statement as the re-appointed secretary of state was to announce that the Department for Education (DfE) would be tackling “coasting and failing schools” in England by turning them into academies and removing the offending headteachers, with teams of top heads ‘parachuted’ in to oversee improvements. This comes on top of the Conservative pledge to open at least 500 new free schools in the next five years.

The education secretary’s aim to “make sure every child has an excellent local school to attend” is laudable but will founder if there are not enough teachers to teach those children – a very real possibility, according to John Howson,

ILLUSTRATION: JAMES LANCETT

SPOTLIGHT ON… XXXXX

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

17/06/2015 13:55

SPOTLIGHT ON… TEACHER SHORTAGES

a leading authority on the labour market for teachers. He believes the recruitment of new teachers should be the numberone issue in Morgan’s in-tray, particularly as the Government’s own figures show the school population will rise significantly over the next few years.

“If you want a quality outcome you’ve got to have enough teachers in the right places and teaching the right things,” says Howson. His ongoing monitoring of teacher recruitment via the TeachVac recruitment website shows schools will struggle to recruit teachers in certain subjects such as English, where he predicts we will run out of trainees by the end of the summer term, and design and technology, which he forecasts

73%

of trainees and NQTs have already considered leaving teaching, according to a recent ATL survey

pursue a career where they can start to pay off their debt straight away.

A further, less talked about, consideration Howson raises is that the public sector has become an export industry, sending teachers all around the world, diminishing the pool of talent available to England’s schools. “The nightmare scenario,” he says, “would be

of teachers can be retrained to teach subjects with a shortage; separating the teacher training element from the National College for Teaching and Leadership; and looking at the NQT year support available now local authorities do not have the funding to offer help.

Exit strategies While there are clearly recruitment issues, the figures for those leaving are also cause for concern. The TES, among other papers, reported in January that the number of teachers quitting is at its highest for a decade.

It cited DfE figures showing that almost 50,000 teachers left the profession in the year to November 2013, the latest year

“IF YOU WANT A QUALITY OUTCOME YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE ENOUGH TEACHERS IN THE RIGHT PLACES AND TEACHING THE RIGHT THINGS” would have run out by mid-May. “We’ve now had two years of failing to recruit in design and technology,” he says.

“We usually find it more difficult to recruit people into training when there are more opportunities for new graduates in the labour market generally.” However, that is not the case with today’s economy recovering at a slow rate.

In 2012, Howson predicted that by 2016 there would be a recruitment crisis in teaching and he has been proved right a year ahead of schedule. “The decline of applications across the country is in all the age groups and the training routes, so it’s pretty universal,” he says, adding that even Teach First has struggled compared to its own levels from previous years, while School Direct has a particular problem with having fewer places on its salaried route, obviously a more attractive prospect than the non-salaried alternative that requires trainees to accumulate debt to pay the fees.

“I think it’s irrational that we send an army officer cadet to Sandhurst and we pay them a salary not much short of £30,000 but we send a graduate to teacher training and we ask them for £9,000 to learn how to educate the next generation. Taking on £9,000 of debt is a powerful disincentive, particularly if you have a mortgage and you’re prevented from moving around the country so you’re not guaranteed a job.”

He also believes another factor is the ongoing suppression of public-sector pay, while private-sector pay is rising, so graduates with debt are more likely to WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

010-013_ATL_Jul/Aug15_feat.indd 11

that some billionaire in China decides the British education system is wonderful and sets up a chain of English-style schools and could mop up the whole of our training output in one year.”

Howson also raises concerns about the quality of trainees. “The more challenging it is to attract graduates into training, the more likely it is marginal candidates will be accepted,” he says.

“Those marginal candidates may not ultimately make the grade.”

Howson believes the current crisis has taken people by surprise because just a few years ago, when the economy crashed in 2008, around 30,000 former teachers re-registered, the equivalent to a full training cohort, and trainee teachers struggled to find jobs.

However, now that trend has reversed, Howson is even more concerned about the immediate future, pointing out that applications through UCAS to train for 2015 are on course to be 1,000 fewer than last year, when many subjects are already short of trainees. “We can arrest it by getting more people into training but it would take a couple of years,” he says.

“If I was going to do one thing, I would pick up the tab for the fees.”

He also repeats some of the suggestions he made to the Carter review of initial teacher training published in January 2015. These include increasing advertising of teacher training for autumn 2015; ensuring teacher preparation places are more closely linked to where jobs will be; seeing if trainees in subjects with a surplus

for which figures were available. This is an increase of 25% over four years and represents around one in 12 full-time teachers leaving in one year.

The signs are that this trend is continuing, with a recent ATL survey revealing 73% of trainees and NQTs have already considered leaving teaching, with workload one of the main reasons.

The Government’s own workload survey shows teachers work an average of almost 60 hours a week.

The fledgling teachers in ATL’s survey said they joined the profession because they want to make a difference (75%), enjoy pupils’ ‘lightbulb’ moments (79%) and like helping pupils enjoy what they are learning (76%), but excessive workload was the reason for three-quarters (76%) considering leaving in the near future, or, in many cases, having already left.

This was despite most going into training knowing the workload was high.

“Although I was aware of the pressures/ hours/responsibility before teaching, nothing compares to the reality,” was one typical comment. Another said: “I love teaching, but with a young family I cannot sustain the amount of work expected of me. I am putting the needs of other people’s children before my own and that isn’t right.”

ATL senior policy adviser Alison Ryan acknowledges workload is the major issue but not the only one. “There is the fear of being blamed for things going wrong and the constant pressure of Ofsted,” she says. “More experienced 3 JULY 2015 | REPORT 11

17/06/2015 13:55

ATL HAS BROUGHT YOU THIS FAR NOW LET AMIE TAKE YOU FURTHER...

ATL members at the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival

ARE YOU AN ATL MEMBER IN A LEADERSHIP ROLE IN A SCHOOL OR COLLEGE? If you haven’t moved into AMiE membership, you could be missing out. AMiE is ATL’s section for leaders in education. On top of the benefits of ATL, AMiE provides specialist advice, bespoke guidance and support for you in your role as both an employee and leader.

TO MOVE INTO AMiE MEMBERSHIP CALL 020 7782 1602 OR EMAIL MEMBERSHIP@ATL.ORG.UK

000_ATL_Jul15_ad.indd 19

22/06/2015 14:08

SPOTLIGHT ON… TEACHER SHORTAGES

members say they don’t have the freedom to make the difference they went into teaching to make because they’re denied the autonomy to teach and assess how they want to. Instead they are forced to spend too much time preparing pupils for tests, which is not how good learning happens.”

The profession itself could reduce workload, she says, “if it had the opportunity to look at what work is actually needed and to ask if we’re doing things in the most effective way possible, for pupils and staff.

“We can use evidence to inform what we do,” she continues. “Enabling teachers to take reasonable risks within a safe environment where, for example,

removed will do nothing to make the job more attractive.

Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, responded to this by asking: “Why would [headteachers] risk career suicide taking over failing schools when they know there is insufficient time, and resource, to turn those schools around?”

Wright describes the recruitment situation for headteachers as “dire” and adds: “The people who could well make good headteachers do not want to go for it because they see it as a poisoned chalice, while others are unduly attracted by the salary and career progression.

Governors have to re-advertise or settle for second best and the quality of school leadership suffers.”

At ATL’s Annual Conference in April, AMiE member and headteacher Robin Bevan proposed a motion that noted “with serious alarm the crisis in senior leader recruitment in our schools and colleges and the increasing tendency to hire and fire school and college leaders in a way comparable to football managers”.

Bevan pointed out he is one of the longest-serving heads in his area, having been in the role just six years, with many only lasting three years. He believes it takes five years of doing the job to gain the necessary experience to do it well.

Wright agrees. “Having the time to learn on the job is vital in headteaching,” he says. “You can fly by the seat of your pants for a while but experience will

“IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT REDUCING THE HOURS, IT’S ALSO ABOUT GIVING TEACHERS SOME CHOICES ABOUT WHAT THEY DO IN THOSE HOURS” you could look at the curriculum and explore how to adapt to the needs and interests of your pupils.

“If we do that, we could move from a test-driven culture to one that uses Assessment for Learning. This would have workload implications but it would be meaningful work, and made possible by spending less time on less-important things. It’s not just about reducing the hours, although that is key, it’s also about giving teachers some choices about what they do in those hours.”

Ryan believes an overhaul of accountability, as suggested by ATL’s vision for inspection (www.atl.org.uk/ visionforinspection), would make a difference. Having a challenging but supportive local inspection system would remove the need for so many headteachers to demand paperwork related to perceived Ofsted requirements.

“Headteachers are in an invidious position,” says Mark Wright, assistant director for leadership and management for AMiE, ATL’s leadership section. “Their jobs are made difficult by the weight of policy expectations and they’re not usually just being ogres when they have little choice but to cascade some of the pressure into teachers’ workload.”

Given the pressure, it is no surprise recruitment is a major issue at headteacher level too, with posts having to be re-advertised, advertised longer or filled with ‘acting’ headteachers from within the school. Nicky Morgan’s announcement that heads of underperforming schools will be WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

010-013_ATL_Jul/Aug15_feat.indd 13

Headteacher headaches Ofsted has played a major role here too, Wright says. “Governors have got twitchier since Ofsted started including them as part of the judgment on leadership and management. Many governors have, in turn, become more focused on challenge rather than support, prompting an increasing number of headteachers to always be looking over their shoulders as governors seek to micromanage in response to Ofsted fears. ATL’s more collaborative and supportive inspection model would make things a lot easier.”

The other major headaches for headteachers at the moment are funding and the recruitment and retention of teachers and other senior leaders, but Wright is keen to remain realistic when talking to anyone considering a headteacher job.

“If people ask me, I will try and give a balanced view to help them decide whether or not a headteacher role is right for them,” he says. “After all, some heads see it as the best job in the world and they love the challenge. But it can also derail your career if you take on a struggling school but don’t manage to turn it round and you get sacked. It can become an ignominious end to an otherwise rewarding career.”

JOIN THE DEBATE…

report@atl.org.uk @ATLReport facebook.com/ATLUnion

Report, ATL, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD

nearly always tell in the end.” A general lack of experience among headteachers affects the quality of leadership and, therefore, of schools.

The Government’s response to the leadership crisis, Wright believes, could be further development of what is already starting to happen, with moves to a system of executive heads overseeing a number of schools, and a new role below that of headship in charge of the day-to-day running of individual schools.

Wright is concerned about how this model currently works in multi-academy trusts with schools scattered across the country and the impact it may have on the effective running of schools.

AMiE believes with good leadership there is an emphasis on trust and collaboration, involving staff in decisionmaking to help shape a culture in which teaching and learning flourishes.

However, Wright is concerned a ‘topdown’, command-and-control approach is on the rise, with so-called ‘hero heads’ concentrating power at the top rather than distributing it through the school and enabling staff to make decisions.

This then sets an example for younger teachers – potential future heads.

All in all, there is a massive challenge for the Government to find solutions to the complex issues around recruitment and retention of teachers and headteachers. If it cannot rise to that challenge, it will, as Mary Bousted has said, face the wrath of parents angry that there is no teacher for their child and no headteacher at their school. n JULY 2015 | REPORT 13

17/06/2015 13:55

A sidelined sector Professor Ann Hodgson explains the challenges facing further education to Charlotte Tamvakis “THERE’S SOME fabulous stuff colleges do, things nobody else can.

It’s amazing, but a lot of it goes under the radar,” explains Ann Hodgson, professor of postcompulsory education at University College London’s Institute of Education (IoE), where she is co-director of its Centre for Post-14 Research and Innovation.

“You’ve got millions of learners and millions of pounds going into this sector, and people just don’t know what it is. There are twice as many 16- to 18-year-olds in FE than there are in school sixth forms and sixth form colleges, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the press or policies.”

Ann believes the sector is at a crossroads, facing a series of challenges. Substantial funding cuts, combined with a change of focus to younger, full-time students as a result of the participation age rising to 18, have led to an increasingly pressurised workforce and eroded salaries, with more part-time and zero-hours contracts.

“People are very worried about what’s going to happen. I don’t know a lot about college finances, but those who do say a lot of colleges will have to merge or go under; they won’t be able to continue as they are. It’s really worrying. It’s a very hard task being a chief executive of a college, it’s equally hard being a lecturer in the classroom, and it’s going to be increasingly difficult for the sector to recruit high-quality candidates because there’s going to be less money and less security. How can you recruit to a sector in turmoil like that?” she asks.

14 REPORT | JULY 2015

014-015_ATL_Jul/Aug15_profile.indd 16

Ann started her career as a language teacher in a secondary school, then became an editor in the civil service before taking on a regional role there looking at education policy. When she had children, she signed up as an adult literacy and numeracy volunteer, then retrained to do this professionally. She coordinated adult literacy and numeracy in Tower Hamlets in London and became a 14-19 inspector in the borough, before taking on projects at the IoE. Her work there now focuses on the interface between policy-makers, researchers and practitioners. “It is not ‘blue-sky’ research, it’s always been my aim to improve the system for learners and for teachers,” Ann says.

Her most recent project is a book exploring the reasons behind, and solutions to, the turmoil in FE, which Ann edited and to which ATL’s national official for post-16 education, Norman Crowther, contributed. The Coming of Age for FE? Reflections on the past and future role of further education colleges in the UK examines what has happened in the sector since incorporation in 1993 – the time when FE colleges were taken from local authority control and became independent corporations, managing their own funding from central Government.

Ann says: “There were lots of positives about incorporation.

Colleges became much freer to be enterprising and to reach out to their communities, to specialise, to bring in learners who might never have come to them before.

But there were also real downsides.

The number of hours of study has really reduced, and the workforce has become much more flexible, sometimes because they want to, but very often because it’s in the institution’s interest.

“But it’s always been pretty centrally driven. So, while there’s rhetoric of freedom and autonomy, central steering has taken place by Governments in an unprecedented way. While colleges might want to relate to their communities, employers and learners, as well as being national experts in certain things, it is the money in the FE sector that drives what they do, as does inspection. So, regardless of Government, it’s been top-down management and the most positive aspects of incorporation have never been fully realised.”

Policy problems Why have successive Governments been so over-involved? “Partly because they don’t know what FE does, so they feel they’ve got to steer it. Partly because there are louder voices coming from schools, sixth forms, HE and parents,” Ann says.

“They’ve also prioritised the national and institutional, and the middle tier has been marginalised, and that’s what needs to come back – that local/regional aspect. Of course you need broad national guidelines, but basically you need local services for local people.”

The latest political focus for FE is the apprenticeship, which dominated the few education pledges made by the main parties in the run-up to May’s election.

The Conservatives promised three million apprenticeships, and just

Professor Ann Hodgson believes the positive aspects of FE incorporation have never been fully realised

The Coming of Age for FE? Reflections on the past and future role of further education colleges in the UK, edited by Ann Hodgson, is published by the Institute of Education Press.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

17/06/2015 13:55

IN PROFILE… PROFESSOR ANN HODGSON

“IT’S GOING TO BE DIFFICULT TO RECRUIT HIGH-QUALITY CANDIDATES. HOW CAN YOU RECRUIT TO A SECTOR IN TURMOIL?”

before the election added 50,000 to this figure for 22- to 24-year-olds unemployed for more than six months. “Apprenticeships are a great thing; if you can get something where you’re paid and you’re learning and it leads to a job – what’s not to like?” Ann says.

“But the Government can’t simply say it will create three million apprenticeships; it has got to find three million employers to do them.

It can’t guarantee that in a flexible labour market; you can’t guarantee the employers will be there, even if you offer them money, and you can’t have apprenticeships without employers.

“There won’t be enough apprenticeships to go round for all the young people who cannot do A-levels – which are changing, becoming harder. At the moment, apprenticeships cater for around six to eight per cent of the cohort – it’s tiny. And, while apprenticeships generally have been expanding, they haven’t in the 16-to-18 age group; in fact they’ve been shrinking. The Government trumpets all these apprenticeships, but they’re for older people. What do you do with those 16- to 18-yearolds who can’t do apprenticeships and can’t do A-levels?”

She adds: “Even if apprenticeships for 16- to 18-year-olds doubled, you still wouldn’t have enough to take up that broad vocational, full-time provision in an FE college that may prepare you to go on to an apprenticeship at 19. That’s what colleges are really good at, in conjunction with employers.”

Meanwhile, adult and part-time education have lost out, Ann says.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

014-015_ATL_Jul/Aug15_profile.indd 17

IN BRIEF

NAME Ann Hodgson AGE 62 DAY JOB Professor of post-compulsory education LIVES London CAREER BACKGROUND Language teacher, adult literacy and numeracy coordinator, 14-19 inspector MESSAGE TO GOVERNMENT Devolve power to FE colleges and do not destabilise the sector

“There’s just not enough money.

There’s a real problem because you don’t immediately see the effects of adult learning being cut, but in the longer term you do and recent research by the OECD on adult skills is clear the UK is behind in this. We can ill afford this if we want to be a high-value-added and high-skills economy. We absolutely need a lifelong learning system because initial education is not enough. But now it’s all to do with getting people ready for either HE or the workplace.”

Yet, she points out, money is actually being wasted on unneeded places because of FE’s competitive model. “The stupidity of it is there are too many post-16 places being paid for out of public funding because, if you have a market, you have to have empty spaces in certain institutions. The inefficiencies built into a competitive system are ridiculous. You could have much better economies of scale if you had more planned provision and oversight at the local level.”

London is a prime example, Ann explains, because academy sixth forms are opening up in areas where there is already good provision, and this also leads to curriculum narrowing because providers all want to put on the same thing: A-levels and level 3.

“There is no sense in a competitive 14-to-19 system. It’s very hard to argue for; there is some logic in the idea competition can drive up standards but, in this area, it also builds in huge inefficiencies and narrows the curriculum.”

A local difference The “chink of light”, as Ann and her IoE colleague Professor Ken Spours suggest in the new book, is developing local ecologies and regional formations.

“It’s in the locality and in the regions that colleges can and do make a real difference, and it’s there they’ll get their status – through employers talking about them,

through apprentices who come via that route, and from young people who get qualifications and go out into the community.

“You can’t expect it to come nationally, as schools and HE will always take precedence. FE has always been working against the grain because vocational education and training, which is its primary function, has always been given second-class status, and that has not changed, whatever the rhetoric of Government.

“I have always been a strong advocate of a middle tier. There needs to be some organisation at the local level that has an overview, because, if you have competing institutions, progression routes often don’t work for learners; certain learners get sidelined, and employers, parents and learners don’t know what’s going on.

We have done research in three localities into how these partners work together to simulate both apprenticeships and employment.”

Key to this are qualified teachers.

“There can be different routes to qualification but you do absolutely need CPD – the system can’t work without that. We talk about the need for triple professionalism in the FE sector: not just being experts in a vocational area and being a good teacher, but also working with partners in different ways and working across boundaries, understanding what is happening with policy and being able to mediate that so you can keep things going at both the local and regional level.”

Does Ann have a message for the new Government? “It needs to allow colleges and other providers to play their proper role in local and regional economies, and that requires the Government to devolve power. It also needs to be careful not to destabilise the sector, because once you have taken that away you can’t get it back in a hurry, and FE does an amazing job that others don’t do.”

JULY 2015 | REPORT 15

17/06/2015 13:55

Generic-school-adventure-ad_Layout 1 6/22/15 10:44 AM Page 1

MAKE TIME FOR A LITTLE ADVENTURE

ntre Ce rts

Ca n

ol f

an Fy

ny dd Ge n e d l ae t h

ol

al Mountain tion Sp Na o

If you want your pupils to enjoy a higher standard of outdoor experience, The National Mountain Centre has everything you need and more.

An amazing location, top flight instructors, state-of-the-art equipment, unrivalled facilities, great food and comfortable en-suite bedrooms.

Give us a call on 01690 720214 and we’ll put a package together to bring out the best in your school. Or visit www.pyb.co.uk for a free colour brochure.

PLAS Y BRENIN

www.pyb.co.uk Plas y Brenin The National Mountain Sports Centre Capel Curig Conwy LL24 OET Tel: 01690 720214 Email: info@pyb.co.uk www.plus.google.com/+plasybrenin

016_ATL_JulyAug15.indd 16

www.facebook.com/plasybrenin

www.twitter.com/plasybrenin

22/06/2015 11:11

GUIDE

iPads in the classroom Trainer Nina Jackson offers an introductory guide to effective and practical use of the iPad

THE IPAD HAS BECOME one of the most popular digital devices used in our classrooms and is currently transforming pedagogical practice, allowing all students, regardless of their learning and living differences, to be engaged, inspired and motivated to learn.

The iPad is an accessible tool for everyone, often with the basic functions being overlooked, and teachers believing it’s all about the apps – but it’s also about the device being used to its full capacity.

There are thousands of apps we can now use as teachers and you can sometimes be overwhelmed by what is out there, with new apps being introduced daily. My top tip is for you to keep it simple; be the master of a few at first, then build your portfolio once you can truly show and share the power of a handful of great apps that have impact, show learner progress and support you with Assessment for Learning. Remember, it’s all about impact, engagement and progress in, and out of, the classroom.

For me, it’s about the 3Cs – how can I use the iPad for collaboration, communication and creativity in teaching and learning?

My philosophy of marrying the thinking brain with the digital brain can become a reality with this truly exceptional mobile device – the iPad. R Take it to meetings and record the interactions. No need to take copious notes anymore, your iPad can become your extended thinking brain. Or, if you prefer, instead of making an audio recording, use Popplet, SimpleMind+ or iThoughts to create mind maps that are both informative and visually stunning.

R Check out the Accessibility function in Settings > General > Accessibility, and see the tools you can turn on.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

017_ATL_Jul/Aug15_guide.indd 17

R

R

R

R

Just one to consider is ‘Speech selection’, which allows you to highlight any text and the iPad will speak it back to you. Super for any students with SEN. What about the camera? Imagine capturing magical learning moments where students can take photos of their learning journey and then pop them into apps such as Shadow Puppet Edu and create a video with voice overlay to describe their learning, or the use of Book Creator – the number-one book app for iPad in more than 80 countries – where students can drop videos, audio and text into an amazing world of storytelling, creativity and wonder.

Develop interactive books with iBooks Author and share learning resources with your students, or maybe even get them to publish their own.

Use Keynote for presentations, or Haiku Deck for amazing visualisation and simplicity. iMovie, Explain Everything and, one of my favourties, Tellagami Edu are fantastic apps that can use photos from your camera roll, or any other source, enabling you and your students to create videos about learning, discovery and consolidation of research work. Give the Trailer option in iMovie a test drive – you’ll

be blown away by how professional your short video can be. It’s as simple as point, shoot, drop and record, edit and play – that’s it.

R Don’t forget the Notes app already built into your iPad. A quick way of jotting ideas, record your learning by activating the microphone on the keyboard to record your voice and it will type your text for you.

R Use Pages for text, similar to Word, or Numbers for charts, graphs and data, similar to Excel.

R How about editing and mixing music with GarageBand or Launchpad, or maybe even using more sophisticated music notation apps such as Notion or NotateMe? R You may want to use ClassDojo for classroom management or Decide Now! to randomly choose a student who can collaborate or share their work with you.

R Great teacher productivity apps include Notability, Dropbox, Google Drive, iAnnotate, iFiles, Skitch, Evernote or the amazing collection of Adobe apps.

The iPad has transformed my own teaching practice and the learning experiences of my students. It’s an amazing tool for my professional career and has given me the privilege of showing one teacher how to use it as a gesture-based technology tool so that a student with severe disabilities has been able to communicate with her family and friends for the first time ever, using the power of Talkingtiles.

For me, the iPad supports my education mantra: let’s decide to be the best that we can be – for the children we teach are our future.

Nina Jackson is a trainer and author. She can be found on Twitter @musicmind, and her website is www.teachlearncreate.com.

JULY/AUGUST 2015 | REPORT 17

17/06/2015 13:55

FREE Guide to selling your

Timeshare “We own a timeshare with lower trading power”

“Our maintenance bills are too high” “Our family are all grown up now” “We want to travel to different parts of the world”

Report readers can receive a £50 voucher redeemable at over 120 high street stores including Waterstones, Ryman & John Lewis*

TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF OUR RECENT LISTINGS Studio, Royal Savoy, Madeira 1 Bed, Hollywood Mirage Club, Tenerife 2 Bed, East Clare Golf Village, Ireland

Floating weeks, fixed weeks, points & club memberships No sales commission or upfront sales fees

2 Bed, Hilton Sharm Dreams, Egypt 2 Bed, Marriott Vacation Club, France 3 Bed, Cameron House, Scotland

Timeshare specialists for resorts worldwide Fully compliant with EU legislation

FOR YOUR FREE 16 PAGE COLOUR BROCHURE CALL

0800 012 4872

Services offered include timeshare resales, client purchases, trade-ins, legal disposals, alternative holiday products as well as offering advice on getting the most from your existing timeshare ownership. *Terms & Conditions apply.

018_ATL_JulyAug15.indd 18

23/06/2015 11:11

YOUR ATL… CONTENTS AND CONTACTS

Your ATL EXPERT ADVICE, MEMBER BENEFITS, A CHANCE TO WIN – AND YOUR RIGHT TO REPLY

IN THIS SECTION

21 JOIN THE DEBATE

What is the role of the staffroom today?

23 LEGAL ADVICE

Your basic employment rights

25 REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ATL’s financial information for 2014

26 YOUR VIEWS

ATL members on school uniforms, a history lesson on industrial law, the Lib Dems, and Nicky Morgan’s ‘coasting’ comments ATL members at the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival

27 CROSSWORD

Win a £50 M&S voucher

28

NOTICEBOARD

THE CHANCE TO GET INVOLVED WITH OTHER ATL MEMBERS AT THE ANNUAL TOLPUDDLE MARTYRS’ FESTIVAL IN DORSET AND NORTHERN PRIDE IN NEWCASTLE, AS WELL AS THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY THE US EDUCATION SYSTEM

29 RESOURCES

A new issue of ATL Support plus the ATL wall planner for the next academic year.

Don’t lose it ...

USEFUL CONTACTS If you need help with matters related to your employment, your first point of contact should be your school or college ATL rep, or your AMiE regional officer if you are a leadership member. You can also contact your local ATL branch for advice and support. If they are unable to help, contact ATL using these details: General enquiries: 020 7930 6441 info@atl.org.uk BELFAST: 028 9078 2020 ni@atl.org.uk CARDIFF: 029 2046 5000 cymru@atl.org.uk

Membership enquiries: 020 7782 1602 membership@atl.org.uk

AMiE MEMBERS: contact your regional officer (details at www.amie.atl.org.uk) or call the employment helpline on 01858 464171 helpline@amie.atl.org.uk

ATL’s regional officials are available to speak to you about work problems Monday to Friday from 5pm to 7.30pm during term time.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

019_ATL_Jul15_opener.indd 19

Pension enquiries: 020 7782 1600 Out-of-hours helpline: 020 7782 1612

If you are not a member of ATL and would like to join, please contact us on

0845 057 7000 (lo-call)

Personal injury claims:

033 3344 9616 Call Morrish Solicitors LLP, ATL’s appointed solicitors, or go to www.atlinjuryclaims.org.uk. This service is open to members and their families, subject to the rules of the scheme.

TERMS OF ATL’S SUPPORT ARE OUTLINED IN OUR MEMBERS’ CHARTER, AVAILABLE VIA WWW.ATL.ORG.UK. WHEN EMAILING ATL FROM HOME, PLEASE INCLUDE EITHER YOUR MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OR HOME POSTCODE TO HELP US DEAL WITH YOUR ENQUIRY MORE EFFICIENTLY.

JULY 2015 | REPORT 19

17/06/2015 14:12

44762 advert.qxp_Layout 1 23/06/2015 10:34 Page 1

SPORT WALES NATIONAL OUTDOOR CENTRE

Plas Menai School Activity Trips

Nestled between the sea and Snowdonia National Park, Plas Menai is the National Outdoor Centre for Wales and a unique environment in which to encourage the physical, social and personal development of your pupils.

“

20 book 16 bein ings g tak now en

With over 30 years of experience of running residential school trips we pride ourselves on providing valuable learning experiences that remain with pupils long after they return to school.

To book your visit please contact:

I a big would lik e t at Pla hank you to say to all s Me time n the a i amaz we had…T for the fa staff ntast ing tim he ch ic from il all th e and the dren had e act y staff, a ll ben an ivitie were efit st patie nce, truly incre hey tried ted was m experienc dible and …The e no he uch appr , and ded their ecia ica sitatio n in r ted…I ha tion ecom ve Plas m endin Mena g i Lesle Kenn y Bulme ingto r n Prim , ary.

”

MC

Hannah Langdon Tel: 01248 673943 E-mail: hannah.langdon@sportwales.org.uk

EXPERIENCE LEARN DEVELOP ENJOY

w ww. pl asm e n ai . co.u k

Schools

Fundraise for CLIC Sargent at your school There are lots of fun ways that your school can support CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, and their families.

You can dress up, get musical, get sporty or hold any kind of event you can think of as a school. Your local CLIC Sargent Fundraising Manager will support you and make sure that you and your pupils have a great time. We’ll also provide you with lots of free fundraising materials!

To order a free fundraising pack or for more information visit:

www.clicsargent.org.uk/schoolsresources

14JB131b

Registered charity number 1107328 and registered in Scotland (SC039857)

CLIC Sargent_ATL_July Aug_15.indd 1 Draft1_14JB131b_Half_page_schools_ad.indd 1

020_ATL_JulyAug15.indd 20

23/06/2015 09:55 14/07/2014 09:30

23/06/2015 14:21

YOUR ATL… JOIN THE DEBATE

STAFFROOM POLITICS Charlotte Tamvakis looks at the role of the staffroom in schools today WHERE ARE YOU reading this? At home? On a train? In the staffroom?

Perhaps not the latter, because it seems, increasingly, school staff are either being expected to use their staffroom to work rather than relax, or their school simply does not have one.

ATL member Trevor Cope, branch secretary for Devon and Plymouth, raised this issue at ATL’s Annual Conference in 2014, when, during a motion on lunch breaks and restrooms at work, he called for every member of staff in a school or college to have access to somewhere private to rest away from their responsibilities.

The former secondary English teacher explains: “As a supply teacher, I noticed a lot of colleagues staying with pupils during break-times. They did have a staffroom, but they didn’t have the

Are the staffroom’s days numbered?

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

021_ATL_Jul/Aug15_talking point.indd 21

time to use it. Then I saw some of the local schools and academies didn’t have a staffroom at all.

“The ATL rep at another school told me that, during their new-build, staff said a staffroom needed to be part of it, but were told there wouldn’t be one. It’s almost like some kind of conspiracy – if staff can’t get together, they can’t talk about what’s going on.”

He adds: “TAs, HTLAs and teachers need to be able to talk to each other on a daily basis. The staffroom is the place to share ideas. In my early days, we talked to each other about what was going on in the classroom.

“Nowadays, staff are expected to spend more time with their students.

They fear that if they get caught in the staffroom by the headteacher it will look like they’re not doing anything.”

The demise of staffrooms is partly down to a change in the School Premises Regulations in 2012, which scrapped the requirement that schools “must have accommodation (separate from teaching accommodation) for teachers to use for work and social purposes”.

Kate Rafferty, an assistant ATL district secretary in Cumbria, described the academy where she worked for seven years. “There was no staffroom and that caused us problems because there was nowhere for eating, for talking, where you could find a space to rest.

“A lot of people ended up eating in the canteen with students or in the special needs department. There was an embargo on kettles, you either had to have cold drinks or bring a flask. We even used the same toilets as students or we could use the disabled toilets.

“They wanted staff to effectively be on duty all the time,” she adds. “We used to call it ‘passive supervision’. There was no private time apart from when you went to the loo, and even that wasn’t private.”

Kate believes staffrooms are vital for morale. “When something upsetting happened, it felt like we had nowhere to go to discuss it. We got used to it because we had to, but we’d still say from time to time, ‘wasn’t it lovely when we had a staffroom’.”

Schools do still have obligations under the School Premises Regulations and Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations. Staff toilets must be separate from those for pupils, and employers must provide facilities to rest and eat, which should include the facility to obtain or prepare hot drinks.

The room used for eating can double up as a rest area, but the space should be large enough for the number of workers likely to use it at any one time.

Andrew Bradley, an ATL member from Derbyshire, has seen these new regulations implemented in his school.

“I worked in a secondary school that was rebuilt and did not have a staffroom, although we did have ‘workrooms’ for each of the faculties,” he said. “The one I ended up in didn’t have any proper windows. Natural light came through sun tubes in the ceiling.

“Three heads of department worked in there and it wasn’t particularly big. It had a fridge and a sink, lots of space was used for storage, and it had computers along one wall and a couple of tables.

We didn’t share ideas anymore as we would in a staffroom, when we’d get input from each other.”

For more advice on the work environment, see the ‘Health and safety’ section of www.atl.org.uk. If you have concerns about your premises, contact ATL using the details on page 19.

JOIN THE DEBATE…

report@atl.org.uk @ATLReport facebook.com/ATLUnion

Report, ATL, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD

JULY 2015 | REPORT 21

17/06/2015 14:11

INJURED AT WORK?

If you’ve had an accident at work that wasn’t your fault, as a member of ATL it pays to use your union’s preferred solicitors, Morrish Solicitors, for your Personal Injury claim.

Not only will you enjoy efficient and friendly service, but unlike other solicitors who may keep up to 40% of your compensation, with us you won’t get charged a penny.

We give you 100%.

For your FREE Personal Injury Service call 033 3344 9616 Complete a claim form at atlinjuryclaims.org.uk Or for more member benefits visit morrishsolicitors.com/atl

www.morrishsolicitors.com

022_ATL_JulyAug15.indd 22

morrishsolicitors

@Morrishlaw

17/06/2015 10:31

YOUR ATL… LEGAL GUIDE

Know your rights ATL solicitor David Rommer explains your statutory employment rights ALMOST EVERYONE working in education will know they have rights in their contract of employment. However, in addition to those, workers also have certain statutory employment rights.

Statutory employment rights are either contained in a ‘statute’ – an Act of Parliament – or in Government ‘regulations’.

In most cases, if there is a conflict between contractual rights and statutory rights, you will be entitled to whichever is more favourable to you; statutory rights can sometimes override a contract.

Below is a brief summary of some of the main statutory employment rights.

R Employees have the right to: J a written statement of the particulars of their employment J be notified in writing if any of the key terms of employment have changed J written payslips.

R Workers have the right not to have unauthorised deductions made from their wages.

R Except in gross misconduct cases, employees have the right to one week’s notice for every full year of continuous service. Employees who have at least one month but less than two years’ service are entitled to at least one week’s notice.

R Employees with at least two years’ continuous service are entitled, upon request, to written reasons for dismissal.

R Employees with at least two years’ continuous service have the right not to be dismissed unfairly. They also have the right not to be constructively dismissed – treated so badly that they have no choice but to resign.

R Even without two years’ service, there are certain limited circumstances in which a dismissal will be ‘automatically’ unfair – for example, if the reason for dismissal is pregnancy or maternity leave, or if the employee was dismissed for trying to pursue one of their statutory rights.

R Employees with at least two years’ continuous service have the right to statutory redundancy pay.

R If an employee is owed money but their employer is insolvent, the employee may have the right to be compensated from the Government’s National Insurance Fund.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

023_ATL_Jul/Aug15_legal.indd 23

Get to know your statutory employment rights

R

R

R

R

R

R

Workers have the right: J to be paid at least the national minimum wage – currently £6.50 per hour gross for adults J not to be forced to work more than 48 hours per week on average J to a 20-minute rest break in any shift longer than six hours J to 11 consecutive hours’ rest in any 24-hour period during which they work J to 24 consecutive hours’ rest in a sevenday period during which they work J to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday per year.

At the end of their employment, workers have the right to be paid for any part of the 5.6 weeks of holiday that they have accrued but not yet taken.

Workers have the right not to suffer discrimination, harassment or victimisation due to their race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy, married or civil partner status, or gender reassignment. Disabled workers have the additional right to have reasonable allowances for their disability.

Employees are entitled to reasonable time off, unpaid, in order to deal with the illness or death of a dependant or with certain other types of emergencies.

Part-time workers have the right not to be treated less favourably than their full-time colleagues.

Fixed-term employees have the right not to be treated less favourably than their permanent colleagues, and may gain the

right to permanent status after four years’ continuous employment.

R Agency workers, after a qualifying period, have the right not to be treated less favourably than their directly employed colleagues. However, these rights are both complex and quite limited.

R Workers have the right not to be treated badly or dismissed for making a ‘protected disclosure’ – for blowing the whistle about a criminal activity, danger to health and safety and certain other matters.

R Workers have the right to protect themselves from ‘serious and imminent’ danger at work.

R Employees have the right to statutory sick pay if on sick leave for more than three consecutive days.

R Subject to eligibility requirements, employees have rights to statutory maternity, paternity and adoption leave and pay. There is a new right to shared parental leave and pay. Employees also have the right to take unpaid parental leave. Workers have the right to paid time off for antenatal care.

This is not an exhaustive list of rights. Strict time limits apply, and there are important exceptions to all of the rights mentioned in this article.

If you have a problem at work and believe your rights have been breached, contact ATL using the details on page 19.

JULY 2015 | REPORT 23

17/06/2015 13:55

& w ved Ne pro Im

Do something different and become an Edexcel GCSE or GCE Examiner with Pearson

INDIVIDUAL ANNUAL GOLD COVER

(Europe)

Benefits of ATL Travel Insurance NEW! Now with three levels of cover - Bronze, Silver or Gold NEW! Quick and easy online medical screening

We Wehave haveexciting excitingopportunities opportunities for forteachers teachersof: of:

24 hour Medical Emergency Helpline case-managed by Doctors £10 million Medical Emergency cover (Gold Cover) £7,500 Cancellation cover (Gold Cover)

WWW.ATLTRAVELINSURANCE.COM 7601 UIB (06/15)

0333 006 9757

*Price for an individual, aged 36 – 55, excluding existing medical conditions, travelling to Europe Calls are charged at a national rate (included in mobile tariffs). Our UK based call centre is open Mon to Fri 8am to 8pm, 9am to 5pm on Saturdays and 10am to 4pm on Sundays. Cover correct as at 18th June 2015. Terms and conditions apply. Annual Multi-trip cover available to age 79, Single trip cover to age 115. ATL is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Union Insurance.

Union Insurance is a trading name of Union Benefit Holdings Ltd (UIB) who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, register number 307575. UIB is an introducer for Travel Insurance Facilities plc (TIF). This policy is Underwritten by Travel Insurance Facilities and Insured by Union Reiseversicherung AG, UK. Travel Insurance Facilities are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Union Reiseversicherung AG are authorised by BaFin and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority.

• Economics History • History ● Economics • Maths ● Geography • Geography ● Government and Politics ●

Visit our website for opportunities to develop and further your career in education: http://www.edexcel.com/i-am-a/teacher/ www.edexcel.com\aa-recruitment aa-recruit/vacancies/Pages/home.aspx

Pearson Education_ATL_vert.indd 1

024_ATL_JulyAug15.indd 24

04/12/2014 10:54

23/06/2015 15:24

YOUR ATL… REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO MEMBERS Association of Teachers and Lecturers Summary financial information extracted from the full accounts Summary of salaries and benefits provided

Summary income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 December 2014 2014 Subscription income Other income Total income Total expenditure Operating surplus for the year Non-operating items

2013

£'000

£'000

Name and position

Details

Amount (£)

16,797

16,374

M Bousted

Salary

120,441

750

3,801

General Secretary

Pension contributions

20,053

17,547

20,175

A Sherratt

Clothing allowance

(16,505)

(18,365)

President to August

Salary reimbursement

1,042

1,810

M Baker

Clothing allowance

0

9

President from September

Salary reimbursement

1,263

(Loss)/gain on financial assets at fair value

(50)

Items relating to FRS17

(143)

(294)

Tax charge

(983)

(608)

(Deficit)/surplus for the year after tax

(134)

2,180

Summary balance sheet at 31 December 2014

Fixed assets

2014

2013

£'000

£'000

9,147

3,935

Investments

4,551

4,585

Current assets

6,875

6,403

(3,747)

(3,057)

Current liabilities Provision for liabilities and charges

(1,746)

(775)

Net assets excluding pension scheme

15,080

11,091

Net pension scheme assets/(liabilities)

4,866

(1,429)

19,946

9,662

14,039

7,937

Revaluation reserves

5,757

1,575

Dilapidation reserves

150

150

19,946

9,662

General fund

WE HAVE AUDITED the financial statements of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) for the year ended 31 December 2014, which comprise the Statement of Comprehensive Income, the Statement of Financial Position, the Statement of Changes in Equity, the Cash Flow Statement and the related notes. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

This report is made solely to ATL’s members, as a body, in accordance with Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to ATL’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no

other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than ATL and ATL’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

We are required by the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 to include the following declaration in this statement to all members. The wording is as prescribed by the Act.

“A member who is concerned that some irregularity may be occurring, or have occurred, in the conduct of the financial affairs of the union may take steps with a view to investigating further, obtaining clarification and, if necessary, securing regularisation of that conduct.

Respective responsibilities of ATL’s Executive Committee and auditor As explained more fully in the Statement of ATL’s Executive Committee’s Responsibilities, ATL’s Executive Committee is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards require us

500 18,501 500 14,780

In addition, six officers of the Association, who are members of the Executive Committee, receive clothing allowances totalling £2,000. The President’s allowance is separately shown above. All the other members of the Executive Committee do not receive any salary from the Association or any benefits. All members of the Executive Committee are reimbursed for any expenditure incurred by them in the performance of their duties on behalf of the Association as are the General Secretary and the President.

to comply with the Auditing Practices Board’s Ethical Standards for Auditors.

Scope of the audit of the financial statements An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether the accounting policies are appropriate to ATL’s circumstances and have been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by the ATL Executive Committee; and the overall presentation of the financial statements. In addition, we read all the financial and non-financial information in the honorary treasurers’ report to identify material inconsistencies with the audited financial statements and to identify any information that is apparently materially incorrect based on, or materially inconsistent with, the knowledge acquired by us in the course of performing the audit. If we become aware of any apparent material misstatements or inconsistencies we consider the implications for our report.

2014 and of its results for the year then ended; R have been properly prepared in accordance with the accounting policies as set out on pages eight to 10 if the full accounts; and R have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion: R proper accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; R ATL has not maintained a satisfactory system of control over its transactions; R the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; R certain disclosures within the form AR21 of officers’ remuneration specified by law are not made; R we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Opinion on financial statements In our opinion, the financial statements: R give a true and fair view of the state of ATL’s affairs as at 31 December

CHANTREY VELLACOTT DFK LLP Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor London

“The member may raise any such concerns with such one or more of the following as it seems appropriate to raise it with: the officials of the union, the trustees of the property of the union, the auditors of the union, the Certification Officer (who is an independent officer appointed by the Secretary of State) and the police. Where

a member believes that the financial affairs of the union have been or are being conducted in breach of the law or in breach of the rules of the union and contemplates bringing civil proceedings against the union or responsible officials or trustees, he should consider obtaining independent legal advice.”

TO VIEW THE FULL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS, GO TO WWW.ATL.ORG.UK/ACCOUNTS2014

025_ATL_Jul/Aug15_report&accounts.indd 25

17/06/2015 13:55

YOUR ATL… YOUR VIEWS

Letters Do compulsory school uniforms help or hinder child development?

WIN!

STA R L E T T E R

CLOTHES MAKETH…?

Steve Devrell (Report, March 2015, p19) resented his school’s dress code but has become enthusiastic about school uniforms on principle. I’ve gone the opposite way: teased at primary age for my untrendy clothes, I have since developed reservations about the uniform principle. Contrary to Mr Devrell’s article, compulsory school uniforms are necessitated neither by child development nor by adults’ working dress codes.

Perhaps a school uniform tells us: • “You are here to conform.”

• “You are here to learn: to learn the ways of our school. Our attitudes and expectations are more important than your individual study.”

• “Are you supposed to be finding out who you really are? Then let me tell you the answer…”

Devrell also emphasises that many modern jobs require a uniform. But surely that makes 26 REPORT | JULY 2015

026_ATL_Jul15_letters.indd 26

The author of this letter wins £100 in book tokens. If you want to voice your opinion on issues raised in Report or any other aspect of education, please send a letter or email to the addresses below, including your phone number. One letter will be chosen every issue to win the tokens.

it all the more important to learn how to examine and accept our individual selves, before we start regularly donning uniform?

We want education to foster independence and personal strength. So when I change into my own clothes after work, I need to know, deep down, I am me, not the figure that my job makes me.

R Williams-Wandoch, Cambridgeshire RAISING RESENTMENT A story from World War Two: it seems Churchill wanted to outlaw strikes by civilian workers as a wartime emergency measure. His Labour coalition partners warned him that these were the workers that Baldwin and MacDonald had browbeaten for the whole of the 1930s, and, if he wanted to create a sullen resentful workforce, then a great way to do it would be to

implement another piece of oppression from yet another Conservative prime minister.

So strikes were not banned in Britain in World War Two. I believe that the public got a more flattering version of the reasons behind this decision: “That even though the country was fighting a war, democracy still ruled and the right to strike would not be curtailed.”

Name supplied LIB DEMS LEFT OUT While I enjoyed the article ‘A duty of care’ (Report, June 2015) and agree with all the points, I am disappointed that Mary Bousted ignored Liberal Democrat policies on education.

These would have been implemented or fought for if the Lib Dems had won more seats and were permitted coalition with either Labour or the Conservatives.

The policies included: a large increase in spending on education; cutting the national curriculum in order to give greater freedom and independence to teachers; and raising the status of teachers in society to equal that of doctors and lawyers. Education was genuinely central to the Lib Dem manifesto and while in coalition they implemented free school meals and the pupil premium, policies that are already proving their worth.

N Simborowski, Oxfordshire

JOIN THE DEBATE…

Overheard Members respond on Facebook to Mary Bousted’s blog in May at www. atlspeakout.com, where she said: “Nicky Morgan’s bonkers announcement that the leaders of ‘failing or coasting’ schools will have their headteachers removed and be forced to join an academy chain is bad policymaking from an education secretary who is either naïve, or ignorant, or both.”

Robbie Tabrett: Or Michael Gove’s puppet.

Sarah Garred: I don’t understand how they can say that everyone has to be above average. That’s not statistically possible.

Robert Waring: What if an ‘outstanding’ school doesn’t improve; is it coasting? What if an academy or free school is ‘failing or coasting’?

Helly Harrap: What happened to schools being there for the well-being of young people, the whys and hows and social demographics?

Some measures, like ‘failing schools’, can be so inappropriate and do areas a social injustice, only to support a hidden agenda.

report@atl.org.uk @ATLReport facebook.com/ATLUnion Report, ATL, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

17/06/2015 13:55

YOUR ATL… PRIZE CROSSWORD

WIN! A £50 Marks & Spencer voucher

Prize crossword ACROSS 8 Very poor surroundings for one – he is not at all an intelligent type! (8) 9 Upsetting trial involves University and a religious ceremony (6) 10 Lodge with Scottish head by the river (4) 11 Mafia involved in demo blockade? (3) 12 Sir – bed gets overturned in rubble (6) 13 Pay attention, being unusually silent (6) 15 Children’s game involving flag and rope (8) 17 Happening at once, I’m off to intervene in dispute (7) 19 Income regarding location of event (7) 22 Class endlessly to be reorganised, something that hinders progress (8) 24 Chancellor’s statement: ‘Initially British universities don’t get enough today’ (6) 25 Severely criticises obsolete items of school writing equipment (6) 27 Old sailor in solitary confinement (3) 28 Hit 5 down’s hard (4) 29 Quick tempo movement, or ‘step out’! (6) 30 Our absence from new laundry-room is done without conscious decision (8)

DOWN 1 Church beliefs take new direction – I leave (8) 2 Refuse to obey heartless Dame Fanny (4) 3 Sneer oddly at my French lecture! (6) 4 An eccentric but unusually bold lad (7) 5 Blended tea – a drug for one with a degree? (8) 6 Objections raised, so extinguish cigarette (4) 7 Turning up in London is Academy with area for gambling (6) 14 To disgrace at beginning of term is not common (5) 16 Area of study could be life-changing, Penny (5) 18 School snack bar causes dreadful shock when put up outside (4,4) 20 Lets Unis redesign household tools (8) 21 New term, son, with educational counsellors (7) 23 Where to ring the changes?

Changing briefly, I go! (6) 24 Drilling is tedious (6) 26 Teachers’ leader to request a job (4) 28 Literary work to reserve in advance? (4)

1

2

3

4

5

8

6

7

9

10

11

13

14

17

12

15

18

16

19

20

21 22

25

23

24

26

29

27

28

30

HOW TO ENTER

Send your completed crossword with your contact details to: ATL July crossword competition, Think Publishing, Capital House, 25 Chapel Street, London, NW1 5DH. The closing date is 7 September 2015. If you have an ATL membership number, please include this here: The winner of the July competition will be announced in the October issue of Report.

LAST ISSUE’S SOLUTION ACROSS: 1 Staffroom 6 Basic 9 Alter 10 Testament 11 Pied 12 Piper 13 Etch 16 Witness 17 Service 19 Tacitus 21 Mindset 22 Rare 24 Stage 25 Reel 29 Advertise 30 Extol 31 Kenya 32 Geometric DOWN: 1 Scamp 2 Authentic 3 Form 4 Obtains 5 Masters 6 Beak 7 Sweet 8 Catchment 14 Keats 15 Prank 16 Watermark 18 Inspector 20 Sitting 21 Magneto 23 Raven 26 Lilac 27 Area 28 Cede CONGRATULATIONS TO APRIL/MAY’S WINNER – C FERGUSON, HALESOWEN

Working on your school improvement plan for 2015-16?

Become a self-improving school with Pathways on Oxford Owl l

l

Advice for setting out action plans and devising solid success criteria Exemplars and editable templates to save you time

l

Guidance on which actions to prioritise, with milestones to keep you on track

l

Strong links to monitoring and evaluation, ensuring that progress is being made

Plus you’ll get access to videos, reports and case studies from outstanding practitioners, and inspiring teaching and assessment resources!

To find out more, register for free at www.oxfordowl.co.uk

web www.oxfordprimary.co.uk email primary.enquiries@oup.com

027_ATL_Jul/Aug15_crossword.indd 27

tel 01536 452610 fax 01865 313472

22/06/2015 15:34

YOUR ATL… NOTICEBOARD

NOTICE BOARD STUDY IN THE STATES Each year, teacher and lecturer members of ATL have the chance to study an aspect of the education system in the US on a two-week study scholarship.

ATL sponsors two Walter Hines Page scholarships worth £1,100 each, which include provision for accommodation, travel and hospitality.

This spring, ATL member Andy Nowak, who has responsibility for the autism development programme at a secondary school, visited New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania to research the holistic and cultural approaches to autism there and how they could be applied in the UK. Andy said: “It was an amazing trip on both a professional and personal level, and I cannot give enough thanks to both ATL and the English-Speaking Union (ESU) for sponsoring me, or any of the ESU members who hosted me during my stay in the US. “Several of the meetings and visits created meaningful links to pursue for the development of autism education in both the US and the UK. There is so much fantastic research and practice occurring in both countries, but it does appear the US is taking the lead in autism cultural awareness and acceptance, and in the preparation of young people with autism for life after school.”

Andy’s trip began with visits to Ongoing Autistic Success in Society (OASIS), a non-profit organisation promoting inclusion and acceptance of autistic individuals into the local community; the Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, a school for students with autism who cannot be placed in mainstream schools; and ECLC (Education, Careers and Lifelong Community) of Ho-Ho-Kus, a school for children and young people with a range of disabilities that has a focus on autism.

In New York, he visited NYC Lab School to see its success of implementing the ASD-Nest system, the city’s approach to educating children with autistic spectrum disorders, before meeting one of its creators, Dorothy Siegel, at New York University.

28 REPORT | JULY 2015

028_ATL_Jul/Aug15_Noticeboard.indd 28

Andy also spent time at the GeisingerBucknell Autism and Developmental Medicine Center to see cutting-edge developments in research, as well as visiting elementary, middle and high schools to observe inclusion in mainstream education and a behaviour specialist with Cen-Clear Child Services.

“There is much I have learnt that will benefit my professional knowledge and practice and that I can apply to school settings and communities in the UK,” Andy said. “My hope is the connections I made will continue to blossom and transatlantic projects can occur to benefit the lives of many people with autism.”

More information about Andy’s visit and the scholarships is available at www.atl.org. uk/scholarships. Applications for the 201617 Walter Hines Page scholarships will open in September; for further details and an application form, contact Monique Lowe in ATL’s policy department on 020 7782 1551 or at mlowe@atl.org.uk.

SEND MY FRIEND TO SCHOOL There are 58 million children missing out on school around the world, with girls, children with a disability and those living in conflict zones most at risk. Your pupils can help to change things by joining with young campaigners around the world and speaking up for education for all.

Before world leaders meet at the UN in September to decide the future of the world’s children, we are asking children across the UK: if you were a world leader, how would you get every child into school?

ATL is actively involved in the Global Campaign for Education, calling on pupils and teachers in the UK to join in with Send My Friend to School activities in the summer term. Every participating school gets a free pack with posters, a film, stickers and a teacher’s guide. Thousands of schools are already taking part.

Order your pack at www.sendmyfriend. org/take-action/order-teaching-pack.

GET INVOLVED Tolpuddle Festival Help ATL celebrate trade unionism at the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival this summer.

Every July, thousands of people travel to Tolpuddle in Dorset to remember the sacrifice made by six farm workers from the village – and ATL is looking for volunteers to join the delegation.

The festival remembers the workers, who were arrested on 24 February 1834 on a charge of administering an illegal oath, although the real offence was daring to form a trade union to defend their livelihoods. They were sentenced to seven years’ transportation to the penal colonies of Australia but the sentences provoked an immense outcry leading to the first great mass trade union protest, which won free pardons and they returned home.

This year’s festival takes place in the village from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 July, and ATL will take part in the procession starting at 2pm on Sunday. Entry to the site is free that day and there will be events and music all day; children are welcome. TUC president Leslie Manasseh and general secretary Frances O’Grady are among those speaking.

Anyone interested in taking part or who has queries can email Kathryn Booth, Dorset district and branch president, at kbooth@dorset.atl.org.uk. For details, see www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk.

Northern Pride ATL will be showing solidarity for Northern Pride on Saturday 18 July in Newcastle. Members can join in the celebrations – meet at 11.30am at the parade start point at Newcastle Civic Centre, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8QH. The parade will start at 12pm.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

17/06/2015 14:11

YOUR ATL… RESOURCES AND LEARNING ZONE

ATL RESOURCES Newsletter The summer edition of ATL Support has been sent out to all support staff members in the state and independent sectors. It leads with the launch of ATL’s groundbreaking support staff charter, which calls for better pay and conditions for support staff and an end to exploitative practices.

There is also a report from Annual Conference, where record numbers of support staff members gathered to make their views heard both in the support staff breakout session and in the main hall, where three motions were heard and passed.

Elsewhere, a support staff event in Chester was a roaring success, there is new guidance on making the best use of TAs, an ATL member gives a book review and there is a competition to win a book about amazing PAs.

Wall planner ATL’s ever-popular wall planner is back again, enabling you to display the 2015-16 academic year on your wall. It’s been sent out to all members (excluding trainee and newly qualified teachers) inside this issue of Report.

ATL’S NEWSLETTERS ARE AVAILABLE HERE WWW.ATL.ORG.UK/PUBLICATIONS

LEARNING ZONE CPD PROGRAMME FOR 2015-16 ATL has released details of its CPD programme for 2015-16 and courses will be available to book on the website soon.

Look out for a special learning insert inside September’s Report.

The new programme reflects the increasing popularity of online courses, which you can work through at your own pace and in your own time. Because it is internet-based, you can access it from home or school and your progress will be saved each time you visit the course.

The content is multimedia, with video, articles, wikis and forums. There are quizzes, action research tasks, resource tasks and timed activities, but at no point are you required to submit an essay – instead you develop a portfolio of resources as you work through the course.

The online courses include ‘Taking care of behaviour’, ‘Managing extreme behaviour’, and ‘Level 2 safeguarding for colleges’.

Of course, there are still the traditional face-to-face courses in high-quality venues around the country. Highlights

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

029_ATL_Jul15_Resources.indd 29

include practical solutions for dyslexia and dyscalculia, an NQT behaviour event, and the popular preparing for retirement courses.

About ATL CPD courses At ATL, we believe all members should have a contractual right to CPD, control over its content, and dedicated time to research, to learn with expert colleagues and to feel free to innovate. The most effective CPD is relevant both to you and your work context.

Our courses use a range of learning methods that are delivered by wellinformed, high-quality tutors.

Courses are: R open to all ATL standard, AMiE standard and NQ members; R low cost - £50 for standard teachers, lecturers and leaders; £30 for NQs and support staff members; R online and face-to-face (online courses £30 for all eligible members); R held nationally in high-quality venues.

ALL COURSES WILL BE AVAILABLE TO BOOK ON THE WEBSITE AT WWW.ATL.ORG.UK/ LEARNINGZONE. WE RECOMMEND BOOKING YOUR COURSE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO AVOID MISSING OUT

JULY 2015 | REPORT 29

22/06/2015 14:09

FINAL WORD… CARRIE GRANT

Different thinkers Vocal coach, television presenter and mother to four children with SEN conditions, Carrie Grant offers a parent’s view of the school experience

30 REPORT | JULY 2015

030_ATL_Jul/Aug15_finalword.indd 30

LICE: Learn R Innovate R Communicate R Encourage R

And you – as school leaders – are the headLICE! Learn Learn from one another. Every child is different and parents are the experts on their particular child. Some teachers have an awful lot of knowledge but until SEN is taught in greater depth in teacher training, parents will often find themselves the more knowledgeable on the subject.

Outside agencies are very helpful for both parents and school.

the teacher faces them at the beginning or the end of the school day?

They may have not slept for weeks; they may have other children struggling because the SEN child gets all the attention; the relationship with their partner may be suffering due to disagreements over parenting styles; they may feel every strategy fails; they may have spent that morning in a situation akin to domestic terrorism or are about to face a child coming home in meltdown; they may also be grieving the child they thought they had before the diagnosis.

This could well be the parent the teacher faces. The parent is also on the school’s turf and may already feel defensive.

When you enter the world of SEN you realise everyone talks in acronyms, so here’s one for you:

Innovate Let’s talk strategy! There are many wonderful ideas out there so let’s brainstorm together to work out what’s best for everyone, especially the child. Often what works for the SEN child works for many others in the class too.

Communicate Dialogue is not a one-off thing, it is a continual shaping and assessing of the situation. Sometimes conversations need to be robust and both parents and teachers need the resilience and time to work issues out.

Carrie Grant is a voice coach and television presenter

Encourage When something is good, say so!

Give praise where it is deserved.

All parties are under pressure and a little encouragement goes a long way. The same goes for the children too. We believe our children are amazing – they bring fresh perspective, they are worldchangers. They should not just be tolerated or accepted but positively celebrated just as they are.

ILLUSTRATION : PHIL WRIGGLESWORTH

WE HAVE FOUR CHILDREN, three birth children and one adopted child. They are aged 20, 13, nine and five. They are magical, different thinkers with incredible potential. They have a variety of conditions, including dyspraxia, dyscalculia, AD(H)D, autism, Asperger syndrome and attachment issues. Two have the old statements and the children’s ages mean their educational settings range from primary, through secondary and on to university. We have had great experiences and dire experiences within each of these settings.

When the new SEN reforms were published last year they were met with mixed reactions from the parent community. Some felt it was the best news they’d had in years: an opportunity to improve.

Others felt it was, at best, the same old directive dressed in new clothing and, at worst, an undercover way for the Government to remove SEN provision or reduce its quality.

Whatever one thinks about the reforms, one thing is certain – the key and legislative word is ‘collaboration’. We, as parents, believe the only way forward is collaboration between pupil, parent, teacher and, sometimes, outside experts.

What does collaboration look like? Teachers often wonder how they can motivate parents to get involved. Parents often wonder why they rarely get to talk to their children’s teachers. So where are we going wrong?

The pressure teachers are under to meet the various demands has never been greater. To retain the motivation and passion a teacher came into the profession with is a challenge, there is no doubt.

So what does the parent of a child with SEN look like when

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

17/06/2015 14:03

Teach heart disease a lesson Take part in one of our fun activity-based events this autumn and raise money for your school and our life saving research.

Jump Rope For Heart For 5-13-year-olds

A popular event that encourages children to learn skipping skills as individuals, in pairs and in groups. Skipping is great fun and a superb way to get children active.

33 skipping ropes, teaching resources, skipping skills DVD, posters, sponsorship forms and a great organiser’s guide are provided in its pack worth over £100.

Ultimate Dodgeball For 7-18-year-olds

A great way for boys and girls of different ages and abilities to have fun and get active. Just choose your teams, create a team identity and organise your own fun event.

Three UK Dodgeball Association dodgeballs, teaching resources, posters, sponsorship forms and a great organiser’s guide are provided in its pack worth over £30.

Everyone wins Your children win – As these events help young people to enjoy being more active in a fun and inclusive way.

You and your school win – These events are simple to organise and you get a comprehensive teacher’s pack with resources worth up to £125. Your school also gets to keep 20% of the sponsorship money raised, to support its work.

Your community wins – One in every 180 babies born in the UK has a heart defect and sadly, every seven minutes someone in the UK dies from a heart attack. With your school’s support, we can drive the fight forward by doing more research, making more discoveries and offering information, support and care to heart patients and their families.

For more information, visit bhf.org.uk/everyonewins or call 0300 330 3322. To register online visit bhf.org.uk/register © British Heart Foundation, a registered charity in England and Wales (225971) and in Scotland (SC039426)

IBC_ATL_JulyAug15.indd 1

ATL070815

23/06/2015 09:50

Supporting teachers with effective assessment; ensuring all pupils make progress Whether you are looking for a ‘ready-made’ assessment solution, or the advice and tools to help you develop your own, Oxford is here to support you by: Working with the best experts to offer you advice and support you can trust Supporting you in creating a whole-school approach to assessment Helping you to connect assessment with next steps for teaching

“

n goes o t n e m ty Assess me in quali ti gh all the ching throu g, a in first te n, question ng. sio rki discus ion and ma at l, observ Anwyl Steve consultant ment Assess

Providing you with a choice of programmes that are proven to work

”

Offering a range of Professional Development and school improvement services to suit your needs

Find out more at www.oxfordprimary.co.uk/assessment web www.oxfordprimary.co.uk email primary.enquiries@oup.com

OBC_ATL_JulyAug15.indd 1 OUP306_assessment_advert_v2.indd 1

tel fax

01536 452610 01865 313472

22/06/2015 28/05/2015 17:07 12:51