ATL Report November/December 2016

THE MAGAZINE FROM ATL, THE EDUCATION UNION

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2016 £2.50

The happiness issue

Report looks at mental health and ways of making education a happier place for students and staff

GUIDE

SUPPORT STAFF

How teaching assistants can become educational ninjas

PROFILE

BOARD MEETING

Report speaks to Emma Knights of the National Governors Association

FINAL WORD

THE JOY OF BOOKS

Michael Morpurgo wants to put the magic back into reading

Make

your backup plan.

You work hard every day to help prepare them for their future, but what about your future? If long term illness strikes, do you have a plan?

FREE CINEMA VOUCHERS ATL Protect is an innovative new plan designed specifically to provide a valuable income to ATL members who suffer loss of salary through long term illness.

Invite us to pop in to your school for a brief chat about ATL Protect and we’ll give - on the spot - two free ODEON cinema vouchers to each member we meet who is eligible for ATL Protect!

To invite us to visit you and your ATL colleagues in your workplace, please contact us at: phone

0800 138 1690

email

the-team@affinity.co.uk

web

affinity.co.uk/schedule-a-visit

Visit affinity.co.uk/cinema for full details of cinema voucher offer.

Please refer to the ATL Protect policy summary on affinity.co.uk for more information, terms, and conditions.

Affinity First Limited is an appointed representative of Irish Life Assurance plc which is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. Details about the extent of Irish Life’s regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority are available from us on request.

Contents 18

UPFRONT

4 UPDATE

ATL welcomes the Government dropping the education bill

PROFILE

NGA chief Emma Knights on the role of governors in today’s education world

Welcome

7 NEW UNION

SHELAGH HIRST, NATIONAL PRESIDENT

ATL members vote to move to a ballot over forming a potential new union with the NUT

10

AGENDA

Mary Bousted on why many girls are so unhappy in school

11

WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND

ATL Cymru calls for improved terms for supply teachers, while ATL Northern Ireland warns of the excessive pressure on teachers and students F E AT U R E S

12

HAPPINESS AND MENTAL HEALTH

Report looks at ways of making education a happier place to work and learn

17

GUIDE

What makes a top classroom assistant?

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 and 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 Sub editor Laura Dean-Osgood Art editor George Walker Designer Alix Thomazi Advertising sales Michael Coulsey or Anthony Bennett 020 3771 7200 Account manager Kieran Paul Managing director Polly Arnold

30 FINAL WORD

Michael Morpurgo wants to put the joy back into reading

Y O U R AT L

21-29

Use the USEFUL CONTACTS to get in touch; the reps succeeding in a turbulent FE sector in REP PROFILE; get expert LEGAL ADVICE on fixedterm contracts; complete the PRIZE CROSSWORD to win a £50 M&S voucher; read other MEMBERS’ VIEWS; get the latest union events and info in NOTICEBOARD; plus newsletters for trainees and NQs, post-16 and support staff in RESOURCES.

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.

Last issue I challenged secretary of state for education Justine Greening to work with us, the education profession, regarding any future developments within our education system.

At the TUC Congress in September, I spoke of the toxic effect of the current system on the well-being of our education workforce and students, caused by the unreasonable workload and testing regime imposed on students. The publication of the Government’s Green Paper Schools that Work for Everyone ensured this was the focus of education debate and speeches at all the autumn party political conferences.

It was disappointing that the issues of recruitment, retention, workload, testing and assessment were not highlighted or even mentioned.

However, on the issue of key stage 2 SATs, there is a glimmer of hope that the education secretary is beginning to listen. Let’s hope she hears and acts on what ATL members are telling her.

The feature article in this issue, ‘The pursuit of happiness’ (p12), highlights reasons why our students are unhappy compared to those in other countries, and offers advice on how school staff can improve students’, and their own, happiness and well-being. And Emma Knights of the NGA outlines the skills required within a governing body to ensure the well-being of both staff and students is considered (p18).

Cover illustration: Sean Sims

JOIN THE DEBATE…

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

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

U P D AT E

TAs vote to strike over pay cut

ATL teaching assistant members in Durham voted overwhelmingly to strike over Durham County Council’s plans to cut their pay by up to 23% 1 ATL’s teaching assistant members in Durham demonstrate against plans to cut their pay

In the ballot of ATL’s 122 teaching assistants (TAs) working in Durham, 84% voted to strike on a 61% turnout. ATL’s TA members subsequently joined colleagues in a demonstration against the plans outside Durham County Hall on 28 October.

The ballot came after 84% of ATL’s TA members rejected the local authority’s proposal to give them two years’ compensation for loss of salary from April 2017 if they agreed to go on to term-time-only contracts.

Durham County Council then sent dismissal notices to all its TAs as it plans to re-employ them on new terms and conditions from 1 January, which would mean either working longer hours for a 10% pay cut or working the same hours and getting a 23% pay cut – around £5,000 a year.

Trish Fay, a TA and ATL member in Durham, said: “We are overworked and very much undervalued. Sadly, striking is the

only option left now to persuade Durham Council to change its mind as I cannot afford to do the same stressful job, working the same 32.5 hours, with £320 a month less in my salary.”

ATL organiser Richard Marshall said: “ATL TA members have rejected the council’s proposals until it comes up with a fairer offer. TAs are not asking for more pay, just to keep being paid the same amount for their work.

“To add insult to injury, it has offered different levels of ‘compensation’ for changes to contracts depending on which union TAs belong to and whether they have agreed to revised terms and conditions.

Durham TAs will become some of the lowest-paid TAs in the north east, earning up to £5,000 less than colleagues in neighbouring authorities.”

ATL is working with Unison to coordinate industrial action with as little disruption to children’s education as possible.

Dr Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, said: “We urge Durham County Council to get around the table and negotiate a fair deal for its TAs. It is not too late to do so.

No employer should expect its employees to accept working more for less pay.

“If Durham County Council pushes ahead with these pay cuts many TAs will no longer be able to afford to work in schools and children will lose out. When schools are struggling to find teachers, it seems crazy to lose TAs as well because of ill-thoughtthrough and deeply unfair changes.”

WELSH BILL CONCERNS ATL Cymru joined other education unions in Wales to hold a joint briefing for Assembly ministers to share their concerns about additional learning needs (ALN) legislation.

More than 10 Welsh Assembly members, including the minister for lifelong learning and Welsh, Alun Davies AM, took part in the event held by ATL Cymru, NAHT Cymru, UCAC and UCU in September, hosted by Hefin David AM. ATL Cymru policy officer Mary van den Heuvel said: “We are working together as unions because we share concerns about the proposals. The issues we have identified 4 REPORT | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

are about the ALN coordinator - or ALNCo - job description, the duties of governing bodies, workload, duties on health and the assessment process. We are also concerned about what a tribunal will look like and many other issues. We are pleased that one of our members is on a Welsh Government group looking at the role of the ALNCo.” The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill is expected to be put before the Assembly in December and considered by the Children, Young People and Education Committee in the new year.

FE area reviews under review ATL has welcomed an inquiry into the Government’s area reviews of post-16 education.

In its response to a consultation by the House of Commons Sub-committee on Education, Skills and the Economy in the autumn, ATL highlighted members’ concerns about the speed, focus and purpose of the reviews, which had been announced by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills last year with the aim of creating fewer, larger and more efficient providers in the sector.

Janet Clark, education policy adviser at ATL, said: “It is clear FE teachers and lecturers feel a strong need to have their voice heard on this issue as we received an overwhelming response from members wanting to tell us their experience of being involved in the area reviews.

“There were definite themes running through members’ comments, including a lack of information and engagement in the area review process and the damage done to staff morale.

In addition, the responses demonstrated that, above all, FE staff are deeply concerned about how the reviews will impact on opportunities for their students.”

Among conclusions put forward in ATL’s response to the consultation were that the sole purpose of the reviews appears to be to make cuts to post-16 education and training budgets, that the process has been too fast, and that representation of providers such as school sixth forms has been minimal, meaning it is largely targeting FE and sixth form colleges and cannot offer a complete picture of provision in any one area.

You can read this and all ATL’s responses at www.atl.org.uk/responses.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

UPDATE

0 Left to right: Teaching Awards winners Raphael Heath, Laura Townsend and Debra Higginson

Awards for inspiring teachers Three ATL members have been recognised for outstanding work, from using technology to aid learning to helping students exceed expectations ATL member Raphael Heath, 43, head of geography at the Royal High School Bath, was awarded a Silver Teaching Award for the Outstanding Use of Technology in Education.

Described by his head as inspirational, his approach led to national recognition in his field - including being accepted as a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a chartered geographer.

Raphael said: “It was a real surprise and honour to be given this award. The explosion in new technologies presents teachers with great

opportunities but also huge challenges in keeping up to date and in selecting new technologies that will have a genuinely positive impact on learning.

“I have been head of geography at the Royal High School Bath for over 11 years and have seen an incredible transformation in the way we can use technology over that time.

I am lucky to be part of a collaborative network of 26 schools across the Girls Day School Trust (GDST) where there is an emphasis on innovation in teaching.

“Students love interactive class quizzes, tools that enable collaborative learning and producing high-quality multimedia work. I have recently started a new role that involves sharing best practice in using digital technology across the GDST network of schools and beyond.”

Raphael is keen to use digital mapping technology to enhance student's spatial literacy and organises a free online mapping event for students around the world each November – to find out more see themapoff.wixsite. com/mapoff.

Laura Townsend, a PE teacher at Clacton County High School, Essex, which she joined three years ago as a trainee teacher, received a Silver Award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School to recognise the inspirational way she encourages her students to reach past their expectations. She also organises regular events, including the ‘This Girl Can’ assault courses, which are hugely popular.

ATL member Debra Higginson received a Silver Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School for her work at Nascot Wood Junior School in Watford, Hertfordshire. With 37 years’ experience in teaching, she has always been keen to learn about and implement new strategies and ideas, and provides opportunities for all children, regardless of their starting point.

To nominate a colleague for a 2017 award, see www.pearsonteaching awards.com/enter. To thank a teacher, see www.pearsonteaching awards.com/thank-a-teacher.

Education bill U turn � ATL has welcomed the Government’s decision to scrap the Education for All Bill, describing it as a "victory for common sense" The bill was announced in May and included legislation to convert all schools in a local authority deemed “unviable or underperforming” to academies. Since then, ATL and AMiE members have lobbied their MPs and local councillors over the lack of evidence that academies raise educational standards and they urged politicians to respect local choices over the best routes to improvement.

Meanwhile, at a national level, ATL has worked closely with other unions and parent and governor groups to engage MPs and Lords over the plans, including running a briefing session for peers.

Adrian Prandle, ATL’s director of economic strategy and negotiations, said:

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

“ATL is relieved the Government has decided to abandon plans to force schools to become academies. This is a victory for common sense and we are pleased it has listened to ATL’s members.

“This U-turn reflects the lack of evidence that academies guarantee children a better education or improve education outcomes, and the difficulty the Department for Education (DfE) already has in ensuring there is no financial impropriety in academies.”

He added: “We hope this also means that the Government has abandoned its damaging plans to abolish qualified teacher status, the national benchmark for teacher training, and that ministers

will also pay heed to the overwhelming evidence that grammar schools do not improve social mobility.

“The Government must now focus on the real challenges in education – recruiting and retaining enough qualified teachers, providing enough school places and reducing teachers’ workloads. It also needs to ensure any changes to school funding protect disadvantaged children and take into account the real-terms funding cuts schools are having to cope with.”

For more information, see www.atl.org. uk/whitepaper.

ATL is also continuing to lobby the Government on its proposals for more grammar schools, see www.atl.org. uk/grammars.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 5

U P D AT E

Grammar school plans challenged

Government proposals for a new wave of grammar schools met with fierce opposition from across the political spectrum at fringe events held by ATL and the NUT at four party conferences

6 REPORT | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

session held at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, where NUT general secretary Kevin Courtney drew attention to the low percentage of children on free school meals in grammar schools, and added that evidence shows that previously high-performing children do not do as well at grammar schools.

He also talked about the children “made second-class citizens” because their favoured subjects fell outside the narrow Ebacc remit; the cuts that cause class sizes to rise and TAs to be made redundant; and academies whose official policy is to exclude children who will bring the school’s overall results down.

Speaking from the audience, Dr Bousted described how the DfE’s own figures show serious underperformance at more than half of academies at key stage 4 and half at key stage 2.

She called on the Labour Party to use this “open goal” to challenge the Government’s claims of academy success.

0 Jonathan Simons, head of education at think tank Policy Exchange, and ATL general secretary Mary Bousted at the Conservative Party conference

Ms Knights said governors wanted fewer changes to policy so they could have time to work with school staff. “We don’t think school structures are the be-all and end-all,” she said.

“It’s people that count.”

Gordon Marsden MP, shadow minister for FE, HE and skills, said that when he was a member of a select committee he had always been told to proceed on evidence-based policy, but there was no evidence that grammar schools improved social mobility.

Les Walton, chair of the Northern Education Trust, speaking in a personal capacity, said grammar schools hark back to the 1950s, a time when corporal punishment was legal. He said the focus should be on solving teacher shortages, which he described as a “national emergency”.

Tackling FE Speaking at the UKFEChat national conference in October, Mary Bousted outlined turbulence within the FE sector caused by funding cuts; the crisis in lecturer recruitment and retention; and ATL’s ULF project, which is upskilling vocational educators to support the transition to a new,

more employer-led sector.

ATL sponsored the conference.

UKFEChat is a network of lecturers, managers and leaders in the FE and skills sector who host a weekly Twitter chat at 9pm on Thursdays to discuss a topic and encourage learning from each other - use #UKFEChat in tweets.

IN BRIEF

TACKLING WORKLOAD Unions including ATL joined with Nottingham City Education Improvement Board to draw up a charter to tackle the growing number of teachers being driven out of the profession by workload and long hours.

Headteachers in the city are being urged to sign up to the Fair Workload Charter, which includes five-minute lesson plans and a marking policy setting out what will and will not be marked. It also includes pledges to give teachers “a fair and reasonable workload”, “attractive pay and rewards packages” and “high-quality training and professional development opportunities”.

To find out more about ATL’s workload campaign, ‘It’s about time’, see www.atl.org.uk/ abouttime.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

PHOTOGRAPHY: DANNY FITZPATRICK

The fringe event, entitled ‘Education for all – or just a free for all?’, was held at the Green, Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative Party conferences in the autumn.

At the Conservative conference in Birmingham, ATL general secretary Mary Bousted warned that introducing more grammar schools would lower rather than raise standards for students.

Speaking at a session organised

by ATL and the NUT, Dr Bousted said a wealth of evidence shows that grammar schools do not improve social mobility.

“It is not the case that you can tell if someone aged 11 is academically able or not,” she said, before urging the Government to drop plans to reintroduce selection at 11. In a wide-ranging speech, she also warned of a growing crisis in school places, with 547,000 more secondary places needed by 2024.

Many parents find it “incomprehensible”, she said, that local authorities are responsible for providing school places yet have no powers to build schools.

“This is a bit like asking a police officer to enforce the law without giving them any power to arrest.”

Speaking at the same event, the chief executive of the National Governors Association, Emma Knights, said: “Recruiting excellent staff and leaders to teach in our classrooms is getting more and more pressing. We do not talk about this enough.”

Ms Knights was also on the panel at a similar fringe

U P D AT E NEW UNION

Vote for new union ballot A special conference of ATL members has voted to ballot the wider membership on forming a new union with the NUT ON SATURDAY 5 NOVEMBER, a special conference of more than 300 ATL delegates voted overwhelmingly to hold a ballot of eligible ATL members on forming a new union, the National Education Union, with the NUT. The NUT held its own conference simultaneously, with the same result. This ballot will take place in spring 2017.

Rules had been set before the conference to ensure that members in the independent and post-16 sectors, support staff and leaders would retain their strong voice in a new union.

Introducing the special conference, Mary Bousted said in her 12 years as general secretary, she had seen ATL move from a union lagging behind others to one that punches above its weight in responding to Government policy proposals, has a significant media presence and has grown and developed membership in support staff, FE, the independent sector and the leadership section AMiE, as well as the transformation of ATL Future, the group representing new education professionals.

“But if I ask myself honestly, in those 12 years have we achieved what we need to achieve for our members, I would have to say no, we WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

have not,” she said. “And nor has any other education union.

“The truth is, working separately, our resources are divided and our voice is weakened,” she continued.

“We direct resources into competing with each other for new members, into sending multiple representatives to local negotiations – resources that we could better spend on delivering a broader range of support, advice and development for our members.”

All education unions, she explained, are operating in a time of crisis in teaching with worsening recruitment and retention issues caused by excessive workloads and real-terms pay cuts, while support and FE staff often face even worse pay cuts and job security. The individual unions’ abilities to protect members have also been hampered by the

“MEMBERS IN THE INDEPENDENT AND POST16 SECTORS, SUPPORT STAFF AND LEADERS WOULD RETAIN THEIR STRONG VOICE”

rise of academies and the demise of local authorities.

Officers of ATL and the NUT have been in formal and informal discussions over a new union and the rules governing it for almost two years, leading up to the two special conferences where members of each union voted overwhelmingly to move to a ballot of eligible members to decide whether to form the new union.

Around 40 delegates at the special conference spoke about the motion to move to ballot, the vast majority supporting the move. They spoke of strength in working together, how much the two unions have in common, and how shaping the rules from the outset enables members to bring ATL’s strengths to the new venture. Many commented that a new education union is essential to the future of the profession.

Members have expressed concerns about the NUT’s industrial strategy being perceived as more militant than ATL’s debate-not-demand approach.

However, the new union rules state that indicative ballots must be held before action can be sanctioned in order to make sure we have the support of members; and that no member would be forced to go on strike or be penalised for not striking. Furthermore, the new Trade Union Act will increase the thresholds for ballots on strike action.

Eligible ATL and NUT members will be balloted separately in spring 2017 and a yes vote in both ballots would lead to the launch of the National Education Union in September 2017.

This new union would have almost half a million members, encompassing teachers, lecturers, leaders and support staff from the state and independent sectors across the UK. “A union with the resources to do much more for its members,” said Dr Bousted. “More CPD, more legal support, more advice, better organising, more resources for branches and more members, with louder voices, who can take part in the union’s democracy, and shape it through their views and their experiences.”

Look out for much more information on the ballot and the proposed new union in the January issue of Report.

The latest updates and frequently asked questions can be found at www.atl. org.uk/newunion or you can email newunion@atl.org.uk. n NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 7

Frosties

Corn Flakes

New Product Launches: Highlights in 2016 • Ancient Legends Porridge Sachets: oats, barley, spelt and chia seeds porridge, including no added sugar and naturally sweetened with dates options.

• Original Wheats: No added sugar, high fibre and a source of B vitamins & iron.

Also, heart healthy - low in saturated fat and salt.

• Frosties: a 30% reduced sugar option added to the range.

• Coco Pops Choco Bakes: 40% less sugar than other chocolate cake bars, a source of calcium & a good source of fibre, and with no artificial colours or preservatives.

008_009_ATL_Dec16.indd 8

08/11/2016 08:56

NEWS FLASH

21/4 2

Teaspoons of sugar per serving

13/4 11/2 11/4 1 3/4 1/2 1/4

0 Plain Wheats

Rice Krispies

Corn Flakes

Raisin Wheats

Rice Krispies Multigrain

Coco Pops Frosted Wheats Porridge Sachet

Frosties

Legend Guide: ¼ tsp = <2g; ½ tsp = 2-3g; 1tsp = 4-6g; 1½ tsp = 7-8g; 2 tsp = 9-11g.

30%

008_009_ATL_Dec16.indd 9

14%

14%

10%

08/11/2016 08:56

AG E N DA

WE ARE ALL so used to girls outperforming boys academically that this summer’s newspaper articles reporting that girls are more unhappy than boys at school could come as a bit of a surprise. Surely academic success should lead to personal fulfilment and contentment?

Apparently not. Researchers from Cardiff university have, for the past three years, been analysing the difference in boys’ and girls’ perceptions of their school experiences. Working with a large research sample of more than 1,500 pupils at 29 different primary and secondary schools across Wales, the key finding is that girls are less happy at school than boys.

This is not because girls do not like school. They felt that teachers had high expectations of them, rewarded good marks and progress, and cared about their academic achievement. So, girls’ relationships with their teachers and with their school work are positive – and a good basis on which to build their academic achievements.

The problems for girls are located in how they feel when they are at school, and here the picture is far less positive. Almost 25% of girls felt worried at school – compared with just 16.5% of boys – and 24% of girls felt they did not ‘belong’ at school compared with just under nine per cent of boys. Girls felt, also, that their teachers were less likely to know them well and were likely to know the boys in their classes better.

The Department for Education (DfE) has recently published research that found one in three teenage girls suffers from psychological distress by the time they start studying for their GCSEs, and revealed the shocking statistic that 37% of Year 10 girls are experiencing some symptom of mental ill-health.

The DfE’s study of 30,000 teenagers showed that girls were more than twice as likely 10 REPORT | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

Girl troubles Are girls’ higher academic achievements coming at a higher personal cost, asks ATL general secretary Mary Bousted to suffer from psychological distress than boys, of whom just 15% said they were affected by symptoms, such as feeling worthless or unhappy. Even more worryingly, the research also revealed that psychological distress among teenage girls was worsening, with the proportion suffering from poor mental well-being increasing from 34% in 2005 to 37% in 2014.

The researchers suggested that part of the problem was linked to the increased impact of social media on young people’s lives, as well as growing concerns about their future employment and financial security in later life.

The researchers found that there appeared to be an association between ‘advantage’ and increased levels of psychological distress, and that in households where at least one parent has a degree, teenagers are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.

These findings should give everyone much pause for thought. Girls’ higher academic achievements appear to come at

JOIN THE DEBATE… report@atl.org.uk

@ATLReport

facebook.com/ ATLUnion

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

some considerable personal cost.

Girls appear to respond better to pressure to perform to the best of their ability, but to the detriment of their personal health and mental well-being.

Of course, it is not only the pressure to do well academically that impacts upon girls. Social pressures are just as powerful and can cause huge damage to girls’ sense of self-worth and esteem. Last year, in a press briefing held immediately before ATL’s national conference, I made what I thought were some well-evidenced and straightforward comments about sexism and its effects on girls’ experience of school. I said sexist bullying in schools inhibited girls from putting up their hands to answer questions in class, and that many highly academic girls had to walk a tightrope between being seen as clever and being feminine. I added that the range of verbal insults directed at girls was huge, and I concluded, given these dangers, that there was a big pressure for girls to keep quiet and listen to the boys talking.

Imagine my surprise, then, when a DfE spokesperson responded: “It’s stories like these – with no evidence to back them up – that are exactly the reason why sexism still exists.

We should be celebrating the achievements and talents of women and girls rather than focusing on outdated notions.”

The DfE’s own research belies its bullish and ignorant statement and the evidence given to Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee, which was told online pornography led to increased acceptance of sexual violence and harassment towards women, meaning girls were changing their behaviours rather than boys being challenged.

I end with two key points: schools must be places where all forms of discrimination, including sexism, are challenged, and teachers have a key role to play in this vital work.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

THE VIEW A GFROM… E N DA WALES / NORTHERN IRELAND

Wales

Northern Ireland

RACHEL CURLEY

MARK LANGHAMMER

Demanding a better deal for supply teachers

The education system needs de-stressing

any future model of supply teaching provision should be tested: • fair pay and conditions in accordance with the contractual terms and conditions that apply across the devolved administration • access to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme • access and entitlement to appropriate high-quality CPD opportunities.

SUPPLY TEACHERS make up 13% of registered teachers in Wales. It is only right that they are paid properly, have the same access to CPD and the same terms and conditions as other teacher colleagues. However, in a recent survey that was part of our ‘Put Education First’ campaign, we found nearly half (46%) of supply teachers had no CPD opportunities in the past year.

ATL Cymru, along with the other teaching unions, has given evidence to the Welsh Government task force that has been considering alternative delivery options for supply teaching in Wales.

We argued there are three core principles against which

We believe a model similar to that in Northern Ireland could work for Wales. The Northern Ireland Substitute Teacher Register is an online facility providing a real-time booking system and a regional centralised database for all substitute teachers. We believe the model could work for everyone registered with the Education Workforce Council, including support staff and those working in FE. The current situation is not working for our supply teacher members across Wales and we will be looking to the taskforce to put in place better alternative arrangements.

ATL IN NORTHERN IRELAND has been arguing for some time that an overwrought accountability system and the performance targets in the Executive’s Programme for Government (focused too narrowly on five good GCSEs, A* grade to C, including English and maths) have eroded the professional discretion of teachers.

We hear evidence every day from teachers, breaking and broken by obsessive micro-tracking, testing, assessing and other targetdriven behaviours. For many, the workload and stress associated with incessant weighing and measuring are taking the joy out of both learning and teaching.

Pupils themselves are patently feeling the strain.

A shocking new survey revealed more than three quarters of post-primary pupils are ‘stressed out’ by daily life and 71% reported feeling ‘down’, compared to only 15% who ‘never feel down’. Although some of this may be explained by normal teenage angst, if the causes of anxiety and stress are not tackled, pupils can

suffer more debilitating, longer-lasting symptoms resulting in depression or nervous breakdown.

A good first step to counter this would be for the Government to commit to de-stressing the education system and encouraging reflective, highskill professionalism, with practitioners recognised for their expertise and judgement. The status quo is micro-accountability, excessive testing, bureaucratic assessment and data-driven evaluation, with teaching debased to a low-discretion craft. It is no wonder that teachers and pupils are stressed out.

Is your rep a winner?

Does your workplace rep deserve recognition for what they have achieved for you or your colleagues over the last year? If so, nominate them now at www.atl.org.uk/repawards

2017

No rep or contact in your workplace?

Why don’t you consider getting involved? Email organise@atl.org.uk for more information.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 11

A flood of statistics suggests a mental health crisis in schools.

Report looks at how to make education a happier place WORDS BY ALEX TOMLIN ILLUSTRATION BY SEAN SIMS

The pursuit of happiness 12 REPORT | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

SPOTLIGHT ON… HAPPINESS AND MENTAL HEALTH

IF ENGLAND HAD been placed 13th out of 16 countries in an international league table of academic performance, behind the likes of Turkey and Estonia, it’s likely there would be serious questions asked of the education system. However, the table, from February, in which England fares so poorly, is based on the happiness of eight-year-olds across the world, with the research conducted by the University of York’s Social Policy Research Unit.

In the past year, the news has been full of similarly worrying statistics concerning our children and young people: almost a quarter of a million of them are being treated for problems such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders; the number of children contacting Childline with suicidal thoughts has doubled in the past five years; and incidents of self-harm among women aged 16-24 quadrupled between 2000 and 2014.

The reasons cited for these alarming trends are many and varied, including: poverty; body image; bullying; stress caused by social media; sexual pressures, including sexting; and academic and exam stress.

Although schools and colleges undoubtedly find themselves dealing with the fallout from all of these causes, it is the last that has the most obvious connotations for those working in education. ATL’s own survey results, released in April this year, show that 89% of education staff consider testing and exams to be the greatest cause of pupil stress.

All this is compounded by recent cuts to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), which have led to half of mental health nurses calling CAMHS inadequate and a further 20% branding them highly inadequate.

Andy Cope, who runs training sessions in schools on ‘the art of being brilliant’, acknowledges that schools are aware of and are attempting to counter the problems, but that the odds are stacked against them. “Heads talk a good talk about working with the whole child and their well-being,” he says, “then we put them through a system that squeezes the living happiness and well-being out of the teachers and the kids.”

Cope believes the system creates a “happiness rainbow”, a deferred gratification. “Happiness is sold as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,”

he says. “Kids are told: ‘If you work hard in Year 11, you’ll get really good results and when you get those good results, you’ll be happy.’ The thing is, if you’re happy in the first place, if you feel great about coming to school, you will learn more and the results will take care of themselves. Stop putting happiness off till July and August and start making it a central part of your school culture.”

Dedicated counsellors Regardless of the causes of stress, teachers increasingly find themselves dealing with the effects. ATL’s survey revealed 79% of school staff personally support pupils with emotional or mental health issues at least once a week, with 36% supporting pupils more than once a day. These results have prompted a call from ATL members for qualified, dedicated counsellors in all schools.

ATL member Helen Porter, a science teacher at an independent school, proposed that motion at the union’s 2016 Annual Conference. “Young people with serious health issues can be waiting six months for an initial CAMHS appointment and longer for treatment,” she says. “CAMHS are turning away people with what they call ‘lower-level’ problems. A lot of this could be helped if there is a counsellor in the school to whom pupils can refer themselves, and members of staff, particularly pastoral staff, can also refer students.

“It could really help the students to discover what’s underlying their stress or worry, and means they are more likely to be able to find coping mechanisms or something they need to change.”

Charlotte Levene, a trainer at mental health charity YoungMinds, agrees counsellors in schools could help. “If every school had a counsellor, what a fantastic thing that would be for children – to know they can go and talk to somebody,” she says.

But she warns: “There needs to be a bit of thought around how we make sure children access that person.

It’s important to think about how you integrate them. Also, children don’t always

want to talk to a counsellor, they may want to talk to the adult they trust. They do that because they trust and feel safe with you. You need to feel supported and confident if a child decides to talk to you.”

ATL members, although obviously wanting to help, report that they find themselves unsure of the best way to do so. “Teachers might have the skills but not the confidence to deal with issues,” says Levene. She relates the kinds of responses young people say they want from an adult they confide in, which include listening to them, trying not to judge, appreciating it was difficult to confide and not dismissing it as ‘attention-seeking’ behaviour.

She adds: “Don’t promise to keep it a secret if you can’t – explain where it’s going to go. There needs to be a robust system in the school about who really needs to know. Most of all, young people say: ‘Believe us.’ Try not to react with horror or disgust, because then they feel shame.”

Looking at and beyond behaviour Communicating serious issues is not always so simple either. “Recognise anger as communication,” says Levene.

“All behaviour is about communicating.

Kids who have suffered from trauma behave in all sorts of ways; if you just deal with the behaviour you’ll never get anywhere.” She also warns, in the case of a young person who’s suffered trauma, not to assume they are OK just because their behaviour appears unremarkable.

“We’re really aware of the pressures teachers are under and I see how keen teachers are to get it right,” she adds.

“People should know how hard teachers are working to deal with children’s emotional as well as academic needs.”

Although helping young people in crisis is vital, it is also necessary to look at ways of preventing them from getting to that stage. Early intervention is key to this. “In the same way we talk about physical health in schools we need to talk about mental health,” says Levene. “Even in really young children you can have conversations in circle time about 3 what makes them

“HAPPINESS IS SOLD AS THE POT OF GOLD AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW”

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 13

SPOTLIGHT ON… HAPPINESS AND MENTAL HEALTH

STARTING THE CONVERSATION Poppy Jaman, chief executive of Mental Health First Aid England, offers tips on talking about mental health with students Youth mental health first aid teaches people the skills and confidence to recognise the signs and symptoms of common mental health issues and effectively guide a young person towards the right support. Having a 10-minute chat is the first step.

It might seem a little daunting to start a conversation about it but it’s important to remember you don’t have to be an expert. Giving a young person the opportunity to open up and have a conversation about their mental health can play a vital role in reassuring them that help is available.

Creating a safe space Give yourself plenty of time so you don’t appear to be in a hurry - 10 minutes may be enough but if you need longer then go ahead. Choosing a neutral space to meet outside the classroom might feel less intimidating and it’s important to use a quiet and comfortable room.

How to ask the questions • Keep your body language open and non-confrontational.

• Be empathetic and take them seriously.

• Keep the chat positive and supportive, exploring the issues and how you may be able to help.

Useful questions to ask • How are you feeling at the moment?

• How long have you felt like this – is it an ongoing issue?

• Who do you feel you can go to for support?

• Are there any factors outside of the classroom that are contributing to how you are feeling?

How to listen • Give the student your full focus and listen without interrupting.

• Listen to their words, tone of voice and body language - all will give clues to how they are feeling.

What happens next?

Once you’ve started the conversation, make sure you keep it going - follow up and ask them how they are doing.

Reassure them that your door is always open, and really mean it.

Give reassurance that there are lots of sources of support and some of these might be available through a school counselling service, by visiting their GP or talking to the school nurse. Also, ask if they have spoken to their parent/carer as this could be a vital source of support for a young person.

For guidance on how to approach and respond to a student experiencing a mental health issue, you can train to be a youth mental health first-aider: www.mhfaengland.org/first-aidcourses/first-aid-youth.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

happy, angry or sad. We can develop a culture in the school where it is acceptable to talk about feelings.”

Helping children from an early age to be aware of their thinking and its effect on their behaviour would help prevent many problems further down the line, says Jackie Beere, a former teacher who now trains teachers in resilience and growth mindsets.

“This idea of mindset and thinking is absolutely crucial to well-being and self-esteem,” she says. “What really makes the difference is the way you think. Whatever is going on - social media, peer pressure, school, family pressure - it’s what’s going on in your head that creates your own perception of how happy you are.”

The process of metacognition – stepping back and looking at thoughts and feelings – is not easy for adults or children, because we can all become stuck in habitual thinking and responses. Beere offers these tips for learning to think on purpose rather than going with the flow of your thoughts: 1. Stand back from your thinking. You might have a thought that is habitual but you have never examined before. Ask yourself if you want to think like that.

2. Challenge and change your thinking.

That inner critical voice can be a bully and you don’t have to listen to it. You can change the tone or the words it’s using. You can reframe it. It might feel uncomfortable at first because you’re in the habit of thinking in that negative way.

3. Turn mistakes into learning opportunities. Say to yourself: I got it wrong but how can I learn from that?

Redefine ‘struggling = I’m stupid’ to ‘struggling = I’m growing my brain’.

You’re on a journey, you’re going to make mistakes and that’s all part of the learning journey.

4. Reframe situations. Don’t see a nasty comment as you being rubbish, see it as reflecting badly on the person who says it. Change yourself from a victim to someone who can take action.

5. Share your feelings with family and friends you can trust. Tell children they should be around people who make them feel good.

Boys are often unhappy but never talk about it and they grow up like that, and now suicide is the most common cause of death for men under 50.

“It takes practice and hard work,” Beere says, “but if you start when they’re young enough it will help children develop resilience.”

Resilience is important for everyone, but particularly young children who face challenges and setbacks and need to be able to deal with them. Beere believes the way teachers deliver feedback can play an important part, citing Sutton Trust research that shows excessive praise, intended to encourage, can have the opposite effect. She advocates praising effort rather than results or talent. “Say, ‘I’m very impressed with how hard you’re working’ rather than ‘10 out of 10, well done’,” she says. “Focus on effort and strategy rather than saying how clever they are. Praising talent can feed self-doubt.”

Teachers’ well-being Comparisons with others can also cause anxiety and negative thoughts.

Cope believes that humans are wired to compare themselves to others as a means of self-improvement. “Hundreds of years ago we only had a village to compare ourselves to,” he says, “but now, through the internet, it’s the world. You get teenage girls comparing themselves to airbrushed perfection that isn’t even attainable.”

Of course, education staff are not immune from the same stresses and anxieties. In projects with schools, Cope says children talking about changes to make their schools happier places often say they want their teachers to be happier. “It feels like the pressure on teachers is worse than it has ever been. They are slogging themselves to death.”

It may seem obvious, but we need to look at the happiness and mental health of education staff alongside that of the children and young people in their care. Sue Roffey’s 2012 research, Teacher Wellbeing – Pupil Wellbeing: Two sides of the same coin?, clearly demonstrated the link between the welfare of both teachers and students and the consequent effects on academic performance. Much of the advice on building resilience and changing thinking can equally apply to the adults in our schools and colleges.

“Teachers need to build their own resilience too,” says Levene. “If teachers are overworked and exhausted how can they look after a child’s mental health?” n NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 15

Aviva car insurance from just £185 Plus save up to 20% online

We offer great value car insurance, with prices from £185 – that’s all 10% of our customers paid for our standard cover*.

Plus, you could save up to 20% online – 10% of our customers are expected to receive the maximum saving**.

Get a quote at aviva.co.uk/atl *10% of customers buying comprehensive car insurance with us from May to July 2016 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. **Discount depends on individual circumstances and does not apply to optional extras. Minimum price applies.

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.

CFPPCA0005 11.2016

GUIDE

Educational ninjas The authors of a guide to being a classroom assistant extol the virtues of the role and spotlight what makes the best stand out TO MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE to a child’s life is one of the great privileges an adult can enjoy. Teachers often steal the limelight in schools when it comes to those lightbulb moments when children make a sudden leap in their progress and their learning, but we are aiming this article unashamedly at another set of players in the great game of education – classroom assistants, the unsung heroes of education.

Brilliant classroom assistants perform daily acts of magic for kids, often under the radar. Their role is frequently undervalued, sometimes their work unseen. They are the often unappreciated stalwarts of the daily theatre of the classroom and deserve to receive far more recognition than is often the case.

Brilliant classroom assistants have an impact on kids’ learning. That is the bottom line. They are often asked to do a host of other things, all of which are invaluable in supporting teachers, but in the end it comes down to whether kids make progress with their learning. Classroom assistants are often charged with working alongside kids for whom learning is difficult and challenging.

They seldom work with kids who take to school easily, but more often than not work with those who may be reluctant learners or who have to overcome significant hurdles if they are to learn successfully.

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

This is not a job for the faint-hearted Brilliant classroom assistants are immensely resourceful and creative professionals who have their own unique place in the business of a school. The challenge is often to get kids to want to do what you want them to do.

Once you have cracked the enigma code on this one, you open the windows of the mind to progress. All kids, but particularly boys, need to ‘get’ you before they will condescend to allow you to help them with their learning.

Brilliant classroom assistants recognise the crucial importance of relationships, especially with the most challenging kids.

Building relationships is a painstaking business and will not happen overnight, WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

017_ATL_Nov16_GUIDE_Classroom Asst.indd 17

although it starts immediately. The best classroom assistants start to engage with kids from the word go, often using miniconversations to find out what makes each and every kid tick. They know who has a rabbit, who has a baby sister, who watches Britain’s Got Talent or who is into skateboarding or the latest computer game.

Most particularly they know how to make kids laugh. Humour is such a great arrow to have in your quiver for engaging kids. Even better, they know how to engage kids in their learning by using kid culture to provide a context that will enable kids to see the learning in a manner with which they can identify and connect it to their world.

As kids start to navigate their way through the ‘monopoly board’ of positive achievement, the best classroom assistants know how to use praise to motivate them to further success. The unwritten script from many kids who find learning a struggle is a plea for someone to recognise and reward their effort. The knowledge that someone cares is in itself an engine for engagement and progress. Classroom assistants have the

privilege of working, often on a one-to-one basis, and they find many ways of praising kids. The very best know how to triangulate praise, ie they will tell a kid’s best friend how well they have done and how hard they have worked. Word always travels back on the grapevine of friendship and the result is that real feel-good factor.

Classroom assistants are key players in the world of education and by investing in them headteachers assist them in weaving their ninja magic.

Gary Toward and Chris Henley taught for a combined total of over 70 years.

Their training company is called Decisive Element and, along with Andy Cope, they are authors of four best-selling books, including The Art of Being a Brilliant Classroom Assistant. www.decisiveelement.co.uk, @PositiveWeather.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 17

11/11/2016 17:13

Knights’ tale

School governors have never been in greater demand – and teachers have a vital part to play too. National Governors Association chief executive Emma Knights explains all to Edie Mullen

WHEN I MEET with Emma Knights, chief executive of the National Governors Association (NGA), mid-unpacking at their brand new, bigger office in Birmingham, the evidence of her organisation’s ever-expanding remit is more than apparent. “Over time we’ve become a very different organisation,” she says, “going from five- to 30-strong. We’ve taken on a lot of training work and are growing our advice team. Some local authorities offer great support and training to governance boards, but many are just no longer able to provide it.”

It’s not just education budget cuts that have necessitated the expansion of the NGA, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year.

The completely different governance structure of multiacademy trusts (MATs) – which mostly implement an overarching ‘board of trustees’, with schools themselves running ‘stakeholder councils’ to supply feedback, rather than strategic direction – means members’ situations now vary more than ever.

“If anyone is interested in becoming a governor, we can provide help and advice no matter what their school setting,” says Knights, a former governor at her own children’s school. “When schools are standalone academies, governance doesn’t differ much from that of maintained schools, but as groups of academies come together into MATs everything changes. Our guidance centre has had to work a lot harder to cover all the bases.”

The heart of governance Before I ask her about any further change, it makes sense to start with an outline of the basic principles of school governance. “A school’s governing board is its accountable body,” explains Knights. “It sets the culture, the ethos and the strategic direction for the school, and then hands that over to the headteacher or senior executive team to deliver on behalf of pupils. The second, incredibly important, part of the role is that the board will then hold the headteacher to account to deliver that strategy.”

In addition to setting the strategy of a school, she adds, governors in maintained schools determine the senior staffing structure and recruit, then subsequently manage, the headteacher. With this level of responsibility, what skills are required?

“In terms of business skills, boards definitely need someone who knows finance inside out,” she says, “and without a shadow of a doubt, someone who knows their analytical data. Bearing in mind how much is going on with schools, it’s good to have someone who knows about change management, and always at least one educationalist. Maybe also people who have worked within other health and support services for children, so they’re aware of issues around pupils’ general welfare.

“But a board of governors is a team, with skills that should be regarded on the whole, so no governor needs to offer this entire

list. We think sometimes the soft skills aren’t emphasised enough; it’s vital that every governor has the time, commitment and ability to ask useful questions and build relationships. Getting that balance of challenging the headteacher, but not in such a way it’s undermining or detrimental, is a phenomenally important skill that sometimes takes a while to perfect.”

Involving staff When it comes to staff governors, Knights says it’s important to be strict on roles and responsibilities. “These aren’t staff reps – it’s sometimes hard for people to divorce those two roles.

You have knowledge of the school, and when everyone is sitting round the table you are all equals, governing in the interests of the children.

“Staff governors tell us it’s the best form of CPD, because they then understand how a school works as an organisation – which is really useful if they have aspirations to be a middle or senior leader.” She is keen to emphasise that training is key for this: “It is essential that they get the governance training that their colleagues do; it’s often overlooked because they feel they ‘already know the school’.”

For this reason, the NGA suggests serving as a staff governor in another school. As Knights

“A SCHOOL'S GOVERNING BOARD SETS THE CULTURE, THE ETHOS AND THE STRATEGIC DIRECTION FOR THE SCHOOL”

18 REPORT | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

explains: “While you shouldn’t have any problems setting strategic vision in your own school, it can often be difficult to hold your boss to account.

During periods of restructuring and redundancy, chances are you’d have to withdraw from those discussions, which would affect your colleagues and friends.

“Governing at another school still allows you to bring that essential knowledge base and means you don’t have to navigate all those conflicts of interest. You get a look at the inside of another school, and it’s great experience if you’re thinking of transitioning to a different educational phase.”

And who better, she adds, to understand the crucial issue of workload than someone who has first-hand experience? “All the curriculum and assessment changes mean a huge workload for school staff, and governors need to find ways of making those workloads manageable. It’s going to be a lot easier to get it right from the beginning and keep the people you’ve got, than end up recruiting, which is expensive, time-consuming and might not be successful.

“We have disseminated the Government’s workload advice to our members, but we’re also advising them that when a headteacher brings WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

them any new proposal they should always first ask what the effect on staff workload would be; they cannot assume that it will just take care of itself. A lot of boards will have asked that question already, but perhaps not regularly and methodically.”

It’s this layer of protection that Knights believes is vital to the general well-being of a workplace, especially considering the current skills shortage crisis. “I was really interested to see a recent report by the National Foundation for Educational Research, which looked at the factors for retention in schools – and an effective governance system was found to be the fifth biggest. We have passed this on to our members so that they can appreciate that the way they govern a school has a far greater impact than they’d perhaps have imagined.”

Where next?

Now the DfE has retreated from its original proposal to make parent governors optional on boards, the future of school governance looks set for greater stability – so what developments does Knights want to see in the NGA’s next 10 years?

A big part of her vision rests upon strengthening school boards through improving diversity of make-up: “We are slightly worried that boards are becoming too ‘self-selecting’, which

2 Emma Knights advises headteachers to be mindful of teacher workload

is not a healthy model. One of the things NGA does, as experts in governance, is to look at the practice across different sectors. That research tells us strong boards are the ones with a range of people – not only in terms of skills, but also background, experience and knowledge.

“This is why we campaigned so hard to keep elected parent governors. Yes, academy trusts can and do appoint parents, but they could get into the business of appointing the parents that they want. If you don’t have a member who comes from a community served by your school, then you’re going to be missing out on a slice of experience and understanding.

We’re looking to boost numbers of young and black and minority ethnicity (BME) governors; we’re trying to support existing governors in these categories and encouraging more people to get involved.”

Knights and the NGA are also supporting the governors of maintained schools as they face the uncertainty of the DfE’s changing proposals for academisation.

“Looking forward, we can’t now predict what proportion of schools will become academies and MATs. If I was guessing, I’d say some maintained schools will come together in their own groups instead.

We’re really, really, positive about federations, which are maintainedschool versions of MATs. They have proven benefits to schools and staff alike, improving the offer and outcomes for pupils and bringing with them better CPD, promotion opportunities and support from specialists in other schools.

“Ultimately, it rests in the hands of governing boards, but we have been promoting the idea through our ‘Federation First’ campaign.”

It’s looking as if Knights has a big to-do list. “This is the longest I’ve been in any job,” she laughs, “and that’s partly because there’s been so much change in governance – it never gets boring.”

If you'd like to find out more about becoming a staff governor, visit www.nga.org.uk/Be-aGovernor; you can get further information on Federation First at www.nga.org.uk/federationfirst.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 19

PHOTOGRAPHY: DANNY FITZPATRICK

IN PROFILE… EMMA KNIGHTS

r o f g n i h Teac h t i w y r e t s a M s u c a Ab New to Abacus ✔ Mastery checkpoints to help you assess mastery of objec tives. ental ✔ Bar modelling tool which embeds a consistent and developm approach to models and images. ent course. ✔ Teaching for Mastery with Abacus Professional Developm

help Book an appointment to find out more about how Abacus can you teach for mastery and inspire a genuine love of maths. www.pearsonprimary.co.uk/abacusmasteryatl

W017

✔ Mastery support with CPD videos and expert advice.

YOUR ATL… CONTENTS AND CONTACTS

Your ATL

REMEMBER TO PASS YOUR COPY OF REPORT TO COLLEAGUES WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN IT

EXPERT ADVICE, TEACHING TOOLS, MEMBER BENEFITS – AND YOUR RIGHT TO REPLY IN THIS SECTION

23

27

GOING FURTHER

YOUR VIEWS

ATL’s award-winning reps on working and supporting members in the turbulent world of FE

ATL members on stress, workload and SEND cutbacks

24 LEGAL ADVICE Our legal team on your rights when it comes to working on a fixed-term contract

25 CROSSWORD Your chance to win a £50 Marks & Spencer voucher with our mindtickling cryptic crossword

23

29 NOTICEBOARD Information, events and opportunities to get involved

29 RESOURCES

“NO MATTER WHAT YOUR SECTOR, IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN PEOPLE AND YOU WANT TO HELP THEM, I RECOMMEND BECOMING A REP”

The autumn issues of ATL’s popular newsletters for support staff members and those working in post-16 settings, plus the Trainee and Newly Qualified Report supplement

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 ATL branch. If they are unable to help, contact ATL member advisers on the general enquiries number below or you can call our out-of-hours helpline between 5pm and 7pm Monday to Friday on 020 7782 1612.

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

AMiE members: Call the employment helpline on 01858 464171 helpline@amie.atl.org.uk Membership enquiries: membership@atl.org.uk Pension enquiries: 020 7782 1600

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/MEMBERSCHARTER. WHEN EMAILING ATL FROM HOME, PLEASE INCLUDE EITHER YOUR MEMBERSHIP NUMBER OR HOME POSTCODE TO HELP US DEAL WITH YOUR ENQUIRY MORE EFFICIENTLY.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 22

Trade Union Services

HAVE YOU HAD AN ACCIDENT? AS A UNION MEMBER, WE’LL GUARANTEE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY 100% OF YOUR COMPENSATION Changing government legislation means many legal firms now keep up to 40% of your Personal Injury compensation to cover costs. But at Morrish Solicitors, we believe that every penny you’re awarded should go to you.

As an ATL member, you and your family members can enjoy friendly, professional legal advice from Morrish Solicitors, including our FREE Personal Injury service.

So if you’ve been injured and it wasn’t your fault, talk to us today.

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

MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE • CONVEYANCING • WILLS AND PROBATE • FAMILY MATTERS

IN PROFILE… REP AWARD WINNERS

Two award-winning post-16 ATL reps tell Report how they are helping members in challenging times. Words by Edie Mullen REPORT MET WENDY WILDERSPIN, a health, social care and childcare course lead from Cambridge, and Mike Pevitt, a maths lecturer from Bolton, who have both been honoured with a Rep of the Year award for their dedication and effort as ATL workplace reps in a turbulent era for further education.

Norman Crowther, ATL’s national official for post-16 education, says: “Wendy has been the ATL rep in one of the largest college workplaces and has supported and represented members superbly ... and I would recommend anybody to listen to what Mike has to say about FE. He has led some strong campaigns around the area review process.”

Mike explains: “There’s a lot of uncertainty. We are in consultation about a merger, but now the Department for Education is back in charge of FE, the finer details are being held up. We’ve got a joint reps’ group going now with Unison and UCU; we meet before the meetings so we’re going into consultations fully prepared. It all keeps me busy – especially as the instability has led to more colleagues joining ATL.” Wendy’s college area hasn’t yet started its review, but that doesn’t mean a quiet life as a rep. “We’ve had phase two of a business review at my college,” she says, “though we’re hoping phase three, which isn’t far off, won’t affect too many staff. But then there’ll be an internal quality review, which will mean more pressure on staff, and more support needed for members.”

When they’re not safeguarding the interests of members during these large-scale organisational shifts, Wendy and Mike are constantly on hand for the day-to-day support too.

“Reps are a safety net for members; if something goes wrong, we’re there for them to get them WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

back on track,” says Wendy.

“If you’re a staff member looking across the table at your manager and someone from HR, you can sometimes feel as if you’re outnumbered. We’re there to offer help and support. And if anyone has an issue that can’t be resolved locally, then we can speak to the ATL London office on their behalf.”

“Being a rep isn’t just about being unafraid to speak on behalf of members who need us,” adds Mike. “Reps have all the information to hand, so they’re the members’ first port of call.”

“A lot of our members don’t contact us until there is a problem,” says Wendy, “but ATL is there to help them in good times as well as bad.

Some staff think of unions simply as striking organisations, and are surprised to learn what CPD ATL offers. We’ve been allocated union learning funding for training for teaching of English and maths too.”

So how can our two union heroes put so much into their work for ATL, while still delivering as education professionals? “Working in such a

2017 Nominations for ATL’s 2017 Rep of the Year Awards are now open, see www.atl.org. uk/repawards.

To get more involved with ATL’s work, supporting fellow members and taking advantage of the fantastic training ATL offers, visit www.atl. org.uk/ becomingarep.

PHOTOGRAPHY: SARAH TURTON

Going further

turbulent sector, with so many issues,” explains Crowther, “means Mike and Wendy have to be supported by a team around them.

There is the local team of fellow reps; the ATL team that works to support reps in the region through campaigning, organising and legal support; and finally, the national team of officials and policy advisers, who are on hand to advocate at the highest levels for members. The effectiveness of these three teams working together shows why ATL is a growing trade union in this sector.”

“I’ve got plenty of support from local regional officers for my area, I couldn’t ask for more,” says Mike.

“No matter what your sector, if you’re interested in people and you want to help them, I recommend becoming a rep. And definitely do so if you’re career-minded; the skills you’ll learn through ATL reps’ training are useful and transferable.”

Wendy agrees. “Get involved – just do it. It is hard work sometimes, but so rewarding. You’ll have a great bunch of people to work with, and the London office’s legal and member services department is always there to help us too.”

Crowther is understandably impressed with the pair’s individual efforts on behalf of ATL. “It’s one thing to be a rep,” he says, “but quite another to keep such a strong presence over many years. Mike and Wendy have both been truly inspirational in the way they have set about representing the best interests of members.”

Wendy and Mike, far right, pictured with the other winners of the 2016 Rep Awards at Annual Conference

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 23

YOUR ATL… LEGAL GUIDE

IT IS COMMON PRACTICE for employers to issue fixed-term contracts (also known as temporary contracts) to those covering permanent employees on maternity leave or those absent due to long-term sickness, secondment or sabbatical.

A fixed-term employee is someone who is employed under a contract of employment that will end on a specified date or on completion of a particular task. However, the contract can give the employer and the employee opportunity to terminate it earlier, by giving notice.

The non-renewal of a fixed-term contract is a dismissal. Where the original post-holder resumes work, the dismissal of the fixed-term employee can be fair.

There will be no dismissal on the grounds of redundancy and no entitlement to a redundancy payment because there is no reduction in the need for employees.

A redundancy situation could arise if the funding on which the post is dependent has run out. Furthermore, the right to claim unfair dismissal and/or a redundancy payment is only acquired after two years’ continuous service – on a permanent or fixed-term contract.

A series of fixed-term contracts can be linked to form one unbroken period of continuous employment, eg, one ending on 31 August and the next beginning 1 September. Continuity will also be preserved during a period in which there is no contract, such as an academic vacation, as the break in employment is likely to be regarded as being due to a ‘temporary cessation of work’.

The Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 (FTE regulations) gives fixed-term employees the right not to be treated less favourably than a comparable permanent employee, ie someone who undertakes the same or broadly similar work for the same employer at the same establishment.

To pursue a claim for equal treatment, a comparator must be identified. If there is no comparator at the same establishment,

someone at a different location can be cited.

The FTE regulations (which do not apply to agency workers) enable those on fixedterm contracts to challenge differences in pay, failure to receive training, and lack of access to pension schemes and other benefits. Fixed-term employees have the right to request a written statement from their employers of the reasons for the less favourable treatment within 21 days.

Fixed-term employees are entitled to be informed of available permanent vacancies in the establishment. It is sufficient for the vacancy to appear in an advertisement that the employee has a reasonable opportunity to read in the course of his/her employment or that he/she is notified of it in some other way.

However, there is no specific entitlement to be considered for vacancies.

FIXED-TERM CONTRACTS ATL solicitor Sharon Liburd gives the lowdown on this common form of employment contract

There is also a right of conversion to permanent status after four years’ continuous employment under a single contract that has been renewed at least once or under a series of successive fixedterm contracts – unless the employer can objectively justify refusal of this.

The funding of a post by an external third party may justify the continuance of employment on a fixed-term basis; merely to maintain staffing flexibility is unlikely to be considered a good reason. Under section 9 of the FTE regulations, the employee can make a written request for confirmation of his/her new status as a permanent member of staff within 21 days, or give reasons as to why the contract remains fixed term. Failure to do so will enable the employee to apply to an employment tribunal for a ruling that he/she is permanent. However, the application must be made while they are still in employment.

When faced with redundancy situations, employers should not select fixed-term employees purely because of their status, unless this can be objectively justified.

Where the employer is contemplating dismissing 20 or more employees at one establishment within a 90-day period, it has a legal duty to undertake collective redundancy consultations. However, fixed-term employees are excluded from this duty unless the employer is proposing to dismiss them as redundant prior to the expiry of the term.

If the employer fails to respond to the employee’s written request or is evasive, an employment tribunal may draw adverse inference. The process of bringing a claim to an employment tribunal must be started no later than three months (less one day) from the date of the less favourable treatment.

You can contact ATL using the details on page 21

24 REPORT | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

YOUR ATL… PRIZE CROSSWORD

WIN!

Prize crossword ACROSS 8 After-school study – ‘How Rome is Destroyed’ – end of book (8) 9 ‘Lord Miliband’ perceived with difficulty? (6) 10 Sort one-third from fifty per cent (4) 11 Chum in appalling circumstances (3) 12 Academy’s capital is in red – got together some more money? (6) 13 See 27 across 15 Scholarly and erudite, as well as dead cute, in a way! (8) 17 See 3 down 19 No terms wasted by experienced advisors (7) 22 Maybe trace son, an earlier member of the family (8) 24 Ken has French article – very easy task! (6) 25 Heartless Perkins might turn into a gunman (6) 27 and 13 across Chap has forgeries involving head of Westminster – having once tried to destroy it? (3,6) 28 See 23 down 29 A tip – OU might be a perfect place (6) 30 Fantasising that I’m back in garden design (8)

A £50 Marks & Spencer voucher

DOWN 1 He has very wide knowledge of Lytham Post Office, oddly (8) 2 Head of French? (4) 3 and 17 across SCR choir is put in disarray at Cambridge college (6,7) 4 Talented head of school murdered (7) 5 An opening in the photographic business? (8) 6 Half removed from seminars (4) 7 A bit of New Year’s Eve revision?

That’s harsh! (6) 14 Blade held up by chef in King’s (5) 16 Fresh cadet performed a role (5) 18 Innovative OU trial involves end of daft one-to-one teaching session (8) 20 Travel north-east, perhaps, to the point (8) 21 Plan great day without a Hamlet, for example (7) 23 and 28 across Fine! Vote in crazy working day! (4-2-4) 24 Poet has alcohol-free study? (6) 26 I get into philosophy, politics and economics; used to smoke (4) 28 Renown comes from initially failing at most exams! (4)

1

2

3

4

5

8

6

7

9

10

11

13

14

17

12

15

18

16

19

20

21 22

23

25

24

26

29

27

28

30

HOW TO ENTER

Send your completed crossword with your contact details to: ATL November crossword competition, Think Publishing, Capital House, 25 Chapel Street, London NW1 5DH. The closing date is 4 January 2017. If you have an ATL membership number, please include this here: The winner of the November competition will be announced in the February 2017 issue of Report.

LAST ISSUE’S SOLUTION ACROSS: 1 Masculine 6 Cases 9 Dread 10 Sherborne 11 Alma 12 Mater 13 Pact 16 Atheist 17 Tallest 19 Aspired 21 Harbour 22 High 24 Table 25 Room 29 Thrashing 30 Amiss 31 Cushy 32 Generates DOWN: 1 Media 2 Steamship 3 Urdu 4 Instant 5 Everest 6 Cuba 7 Syria 8 Spectator 14 Mitre 15 Alert 16 Apathetic 18 Economist 20 Drawing 21 Halogen 23 Girls 26 Muses 27 Espy 28 Hair CONGRATULATIONS TO SEPTEMBER’S WINNER – MR NICHOLAS C FIELD, BATH

STRUGGLING TO FIND HIGH QUALITY TEACHERS? The answer is right in front of you.

Upskill your existing school staff and take control of your workforce with Straight to Teaching.

Our online and in-school programme is a personalised, low cost alternative to initial teacher training that leads to QTS. Best of all, your staff can qualify without leaving your school.

As the largest Assessment Only provider in England, you can trust our experienced team.

Over 450 schools already have. You could be next.

tes.com/institute/report | 020 3194 3200

YOUR ATL… YOUR VIEWS

Letters STA R L E T T E R

THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC One afternoon last week, I found myself sitting in the middle of the lounge floor with a cup of tea in hand, bopping around to pop songs. I was singing with gusto – as much as a middle-aged mother of two teenagers is ever allowed to – when my enjoyment was interrupted by a flashback of another time, when I used to enjoy pop music that makes it on to Chris Evans’ breakfast show playlist. My playing popular music loudly in my classroom to mark the end of my working day was well known to my colleagues, as was my dancing!

That’s when it dawned on me that it had been a long time – several months in fact – since I had played music at the end of a school day. Many other such reminders have flooded my thoughts in the past two weeks since I got signed off work with stress. I’m a primary school teacher with over 12 years’ experience and stress has happened to me.

I never even considered it would, not after so many years of doing what I do, day after day. I’m told “Oh you’re good, very good”.

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

027_ATL_NOV-DEC16_LETTERS.indd 27

But still I’m driven to a point where are being produced in different family members and health amounts of time, depending how professionals have had to ‘keen’ the school is to pressure intervene to save whatever is left pupils to attend. of me. It’s not just the music I have first-hand that had disappeared experience of my sons from my life, it’s the being pressured desire to enjoy into attending The author of this letter wins £100 friends and booster classes in book tokens. If you want to voice family and my at primary your opinion on issues raised in Report or any other aspect of education, great love – school despite please send a letter or email to the food! But I didn’t being highaddresses below, including your even realise it flyers. Now in phone number. One letter will be chosen every issue to win was creeping up secondary, my the tokens. on me before it was eldest has been told too late. As I sit here, he has to attend GCSE listening to some of my after-school club or else be favourite pop songs, I’m unsure if given a detention, yet his I have a future in teaching. But I’m behaviour record is excellent. glad that music is slowly returning I know of a school where they to my life. set up GCSE revision classes in Name supplied the Easter holidays one year.

Results went up, so the next year THE WORKLOAD DILEMMA they set up minibus transport to Teacher workload is a major issue collect pupils to get even more for the majority of teachers – fact? to take part. I asked if the plan to Possibly, but the evidence can keep improving results would be contradictory. How many teachers agree to run booster classes to improve school results?

By staying to deliver these, teachers are adding to their workload and effectively saying the school day needs to be longer.

School league tables aren’t comparing like for like, as results

WIN!

JOIN THE DEBATE…

extend this pattern over the Christmas holidays.

Pupils need to take responsibility for their own efforts and learn about consequences.

I think everyone would be better off if: • after-school clubs were for enrichment activities, not more lessons • school leaders stepped up to protect classroom teachers by admitting that it is okay for children to fail tests • we all admit that the top-down pressure on ‘results’ has led to a system where too much is done to ‘ensure’ pupils pass/achieve/ progress/close the gap.

J Wilson, Wakefield SPECIAL NEEDS CUTBACKS I want to comment on your article, ‘Special delivery’ (Report, October 2016). I’m a qualified SENCO and took up a position with the local authority advising schools on SEND. Unfortunately, after a year my job was deleted. I and two colleagues were moved into other specialist advisory roles, although we have not had the training to fulfil them, and we are being left to train on the job.

We have also seen cuts in the number of specialist advisory teachers and SEND case officers.

My local authority no longer supports children with ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia. Schools are constantly told they have to manage these conditions.

Schools, even SENCOs, do not have the knowledge or experience to deal with these issues and they rightly expect the local authority to offer support.

This is disheartening to anyone who genuinely got into SEND support thinking they would be able to actually make a difference.

Name supplied

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

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

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 27

11/11/2016 17:03

Apply now to mark GCSEs and A-levels

Apply now

aqa.org.uk/apply

There are lots of benefits to marking, from building your expertise and knowledge of the new specifications, through to inspiring your teaching.

It’s a great role for teachers and we hope you decide to join us, so you too can: • enhance your teaching skills and knowledge of assessment • strengthen your knowledge of reformed specifications • earn extra income ahead of the holiday period.

And, you can mark at home, or in your free periods, during hours that suit you.

aqa.org.uk/apply

Gain QTLS:

Advance your career A new enriched QTLS available since September 2016

Get Paid to Inspire Young People on NCS This Summer

The benefits of QTLS · Career progression · Recognition of your status as a professional teacher or trainer · QTLS continues to hold legal parity with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) · Members with QTLS can use these initials as a designation

Apply for QTLS before: 31 January 2017 * https://set.et-foundation.co.uk/qtls

* To be eligible to apply for QTLS, you need to be a member of the Society for Education and Training (SET).

Help young people develop individually and as a team to tackle social challenges and make a difference in their local community.

Join us as a Programme Leader on NCS The Challenge in 2017 and teach them invaluable life skills and challenge them to connect their community.

Paid roles for teaching professionals of varying levels of experience and specialisations on this intensive and inclusive summer programme: - manage a team & gain leadership skills - get invaluable pastoral care experience & enhance your CPD - top up your salary in the summer!

Find out more and register your interest: ncsthechallnege.org/jobs

The Challenge_ATL_NovDec_16.indd 1

14/11/2016 10:31

IN P YOUR R O F IATL… LE NOTICEBOARD & RESOURCES

NOTICE BOARD TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT ADVICE Members should exercise caution when booking companies offering retirement advice. In some cases, the companies involved sound very official, with names and branding suggesting they are part of or are affiliated to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme or the Department for Education, but this has turned out not to be the case. They are often comparatively expensive and do not offer official advice. Please remember to check the details carefully of any retirement or financial advisers you invite into school or college to speak to staff.

ATL runs retirement courses throughout the academic year at various locations – see www.atl.org.uk/retirementplanning for more. We also endorse Lighthouse Financial Advice as providers of independent financial advice – see www.atl.org.uk/lighthouse for more details.

NEW ATL WEBSITE

Register for full access

We have relaunched the ATL website after an extensive period of consultation with members. It’s designed to be brighter and easier to use, and to work well however you

choose to access it – by smartphone, tablet, or laptop/desktop computer.

ATL members will need to register to access all the content available, even if you previously had an account on the old website. The process is easy and quick – simply follow the ‘register’ link in the top bar to set up an account and link it with your membership details.

Over the next few months, we’ll be introducing more personalised content based on the details we have on record about your workplace and where you live – so make sure you register an account and update your membership details if necessary.

WORKLOAD: WHAT CHANGE WILL YOU MAKE TODAY? You can see ATL’s new Workload Campaign video What Change will you Make Today? at www.atl. org.uk/abouttimevideo.

Don’t forget to share it with friends and colleagues, and you can still sign up to ATL’s workload tracker to understand what's contributing to your workload each week, as well as check out our help and advice pages for practical tips on dealing with the issue, at

PARTNER OF THE MONTH ATL Protect: Over the years too many ATL members have faced financial hardship through loss of salary as a result of being unable to work due to illness or accident. That’s why we’ve teamed up with Irish Life and its appointed representative, Affinity, to put together a solution to this problem: ATL Protect - an innovative plan tailored specifically for ATL members, which can provide vital protection for members who lose their salary through illness. Call 0800 138 1690 or visit www.atl.org.uk/ plus.

www.atl.org.uk/abouttime. You can share your tips on Twitter using #Make1Change.

CHESS CONFERENCE OFFER The London Chess and Education Conference, on 10 and 11 December 2016 at the Hilton Kensington Olympia, London, is offering free places to five ATL members. The theme of the conference is ‘The Didactics of Chess’, focusing on the practice of teaching in the classroom.

Email John Richardson at jrichardson@atl. org.uk if you would like to attend and see www.londonchessconference.com for more information.

RESOURCES TRAINEE AND NEWLY QUALIFIED REPORT Trainee and newly qualified members will find, fitted snugly into the centre of their copies of Report, the latest issue of Trainee & Newly Qualified Report, featuring an

Trainee & NQ Report

PHOTO: SARAH TURTON

ATL Conference 2017 opportunity If you would like to get more involved with ATL and our work on behalf of education professionals, there’s no better way than attending the union’s Annual Conference as part of the ATL Future delegation of trainees and NQs. Up to 600 members nationwide will attend the three-day event (held in Liverpool between 10-12 April). Workshops, miniconferences and learning zones all help develop your career and get you involved in ATL, especially through the ATL Future steering group, which also holds its AGM during the event. Email atlfuture@atl.org.uk with your details and a few sentences about why you’d like a place. It is free and expenses are paid.

The deadline for applying is 31 January 2017.

ATL’s work-life campaign is already having

make 1 change

positive impact in improving workload in ‘It’s about time…’, since its launch a year ago.

ATL offers a series of usefulaschools publications and colleges.

You can use the workload tracker to see where for trainee and NQ teachers, all of which most of your time is spent and how it changes are free to members. They cover n Share using #make1change the one thing you over time, as well as make use of the array everything from essential classroom would change to improve your work-life balance of your advice on managing your workload in lesson strategies to comprehensiven jobUse our work-life tracker to track working and your workload marking and data collection. See seeking advice. Call 0845 450hours 0009 oranalyse go to what drives planning, n Check out our help and advicewww.atl.org.uk/abouttime. on managing www.atl.org.uk/publications for more details.

Time to tackle workload

your workload better

www.atl.org.uk/abouttime #make1change

RECLAIM YOUR TIME Improving long-term workload

2

ATL FUTURE Louise Atkinson on working smarter, not harder

3

ASK ATL Answering your questions on challenging behaviour and NQ expectations

4

Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of the competition to win a copy of Take Control of the Noisy Class by Rob Plevin. They are: Anne-Marie Le Blond, Krystal Horrocks, Malcolm Hardy, Ella Jones and Isabel Hopkins.

ATL’S WORK-LIFE CAMPAIGN

“Teachers understood that as an NQT, I would progress up a pay scale, and they offered me a mortgage a month before I started work.”

Richard Willsher, NQT, Dorset

Visit: Call:

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE

000_ATL_NOV16_TNQR INSERT .indd 1

NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER 2016

ATL SUPPORT The latest issue of ATL’s newsletter for support staff members has been sent out with this issue of Report, featuring the publication of the TA Standards, the ongoing battle for fair treatment of TAs in County Durham, support staff members' growing influence in ATL policy and learning opportunities galore.

IN THIS ISSUE…

ATL Future members gather in Liverpool at ATL’s Annual Conference

ATL trainee and Workload help One change can make aThousands difference of ATL members have joined NQ publications in with the union’s workload campaign, it’s about time...

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

in-depth look at how reflective practice can help alleviate workload. There are also answers to questions on managing behaviour and taking on extra responsibilities, as well as the opportunity to attend ATL’s Annual Conference in April.

teachersbs.co.uk 0800 378 669

Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Register no 156580).

10/11/2016 11:27

WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

029_ATL_NOV16_NOTICEBOARD/RESOURCES.indd 29

POST-16 NEWS The autumn issue of Post-16 News has been sent to members working in post16 settings. It leads with updates on pay negotiations and also features ATL conferences with speakers from across the globe putting forward new and innovative ideas. Finally, there is good news on funding for ATL CPD opportunities.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 | REPORT 29

14/11/2016 12:18

FINAL WORD… MICHAEL MORPURGO

Dream a little dream

ILLUSTRATION: PHIL WRIGGLESWORTH

Author Michael Morpurgo on the importance of story time in school WE KNOW THE OBVIOUS benefits children can glean from developing a life-long love of reading. It widens and deepens knowledge and understanding, develops the ability to empathise, explore, discover, be comforted, excited, provoked and challenged, and it spurs confidence and creativity. Like many wordsmiths, I speak of all this often at gatherings of like-minded folk. Our hope is that we provoke debate to help to change attitudes, and contribute to the enriching of children's lives, and life chances, through a love of stories.

But is this a vain hope? I can bang the drum for the love of books and the importance of literacy for our children, I can bemoan the closing of libraries, the homes where parents don't read to their children, the schools where stories and poems can still so often be used simply as fodder for teaching literacy to the test. I could blame successive governments, which have all indulged in short-termism in their education policies, have

corralled schools and pressured teachers into teaching literacy fearfully, have insisted measurable outcomes and results are the be-all and end-all of education, and have often made a chore of reading and books, and have succeeded so often only in banishing enjoyment.

I loved stories before I went to school, because my mother read her favourite stories and poems to us with a passion. And we loved them with a passion. School killed all that, took the wonder of stories, the music and playfulness of language, and turned it into a 'subject' to be used for comprehension tests, handwriting tests, grammar tests, and spelling and punctuation tests.

In these tests at least as many of us failed as succeeded. The point of testing is to separate those who pass from those who fail. It is supposed to encourage both; it doesn't. When you fail, it brings only a sense of worthlessness and hopelessness.

You give up. I gave up. To give up on books is to give up on education, and then you can so easily give up

Michael Morpurgo has been Children's Laureate and has won numerous awards for his children’s books

on hope, on your future. You can turn children away from books and reading, and that can be a life sentence. So many avenues are barred, so many possibilities never imagined, so many discoveries never made, so much understanding of yourself and others stunted forever. There exists almost an apartheid system of a kind in this country between those who read – and through developing an enjoyment of literature, can have the opportunity to access the considerable cultural and material benefits of our society – and those who very early on were made to feel the world of words, books, stories and ideas was not for them.

In the country of Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Hughes, Dahl, Pullman and Rowling, the great divide is still there.

What are we to do? Here are a few notions that cost very little or nothing. Do not ever close libraries, in or out of school; make them better. Librarians, teachers and parents need the tools to do the job. Let there be half an hour of story time at the end of school in primary schools. Choose an author the children love. Invite in parents and grandparents, people from the local community, from the world community, to come in to tell their own stories, pass them on.

Make story time at the end of the day a special time, devoted entirely to reading, writing, storytelling and drama. No testing, no comprehension, no analysis, no interrogation. Let the children go home dreaming of the story, reliving it. All that matters at that early age is that they learn to love it; that they want to listen to more stories, read them, tell them, write them, act them out, sing them, dance them. You cannot force-feed children with literacy. Sow a seed on stony ground and try to make it grow with no sun and no rain; it won't happen. Children have to want to learn, so give them the love of story first and the rest will follow.

This has been adapted from a speech Michael gave in his role as president of reading charity BookTrust.

30 REPORT | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 WWW.ATL.ORG.UK

Enhance your teaching with Pearson We are recruiting teachers to work as Examiners across our GCSE and A Level Subjects.

This is an excellent opportunity to: • Develop your career in education • Gain invaluable insight into assessment • Earn some extra money in a part-time role, alongside any full time commitments you may have.

To find out further information, please visit www.edexcel.com/aa-recruitment

FIRST-TIME BUYER? TAKE A CLOSER LOOK...

YOUR HOME MAY BE CLOSER THAN YOU THINK •

Buy your first home with just a 5% deposit

•

Fixed rate mortgages available up to 95% Loan-to-Value

•

Shared Ownership and Help to Buy options available for teachers across England and Wales

•

Need help with the home buying process? Visit our website to request a copy of our free mortgage guide To find out how we could help you, get straight through to the friendly team on 0800 378 669.

Can you guess what this image is?

Visit teachersbs.co.uk/closerlook to find out.

Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Register no 156580)

OBC_ATL_Dec16.indd Teacher mag oct.indd 1 1

08/11/2016 09:13 17/10/2016 15:22:12