Report October 2013

report

OCTOBER 2013

THE MAGAZINE FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS & LECTURERS £2.50

Taking away TAs?

Why losing support staff would damage children’s education

No limits

Report meets a headteacher using a new approach to learning

Debate not demand Mary Bousted on why ATL is not taking industrial action now

ADVICE Returning to work part time after maternity leave

JOIN THE DEBATE Robert Peston on bringing inspiring speakers to schools

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Contents

Welcome

Alison Sherratt, national president, ATL

RUBBERBALL/ALAMY

A 21 Features

Your ATL 04

News Including concerns for sixth form colleges, changes to qualifications in the FE sector and ATL at TUC congress Noticeboard Information, events and opportunities to get involved, including a free dining card from the Gourmet Society

The value of support staff Report explores the many benefits of TAs

No limits Headteacher Alison Peacock on how she is getting creative

GCSEs under review Government plans to reform GCSEs are explained

Help and advice

Join the debate 12

Agenda Mary Bousted explains why now is not the time for industrial action ATL in Wales and Northern Ireland Philip Dixon and Mark Langhammer give their views Letters ATL members on a sense of déjà-vu and why teachers should stop being blamed Final word The BBC’s Robert Peston on inspiring young people in schools

After maternity leave Guidance on requesting to work part time after having a baby

Contact All the details you need to get in touch with ATL

The angry learner Tips on managing the angry student

Resources 26

ATL training New CPD with ATL

ATL’s education survey Tell us your views on education

27 29

Classified advertisements Crossword Your chance to win £50 of Marks & Spencer vouchers

Report is the magazine from the Association of Teachers & Lecturers, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD Telephone: 020 7930 6441 Fax: 020 7930 1359 Email report@atl.org.uk or membership@atl.org.uk Internet www.atl.org.uk Managing editor Victoria Poskitt Editors Alex Tomlin, Charlotte Tamvakis Head of advertising sales Stephen Price 01603 772856 Advertising sales Lisa Marrison (née Parkinson) 01603 772521

s many of you settle into new routines with fresh groups of pupils and students, I am beginning a whole new chapter in my life. You may well be thinking: “Of course she is. She has just become president of ATL.” And it’s true, I have started in the role after being voted onto the officer group by you, the members, in 2010. But the new chapter in my life actually began on Tuesday 14 July: I was presented with flowers, presents and cards on my very last day as a class teacher. As I read the homemade cards, did I find one thanking me for teaching the children their 12 times tables, or phonics, or historical dates? No. I found recollections of enjoyment, excitement and well-remembered lessons. The obvious truth was there for all to see. Mr Gove, you’ve got it all wrong! Have a listen to some of the messages those children wanted to tell me. “Thank you for teaching us about safety.” “I remember when we went to the woods to look for nature.” “Thank you for letting me be ‘child of the week’.” “Dear Mrs Sherratt, thank you for being an outstanding teacher.” Now that is better than any Ofsted accolade! I know that none of this would have happened without the skills and motivation of my support staff. These colleagues work hard and tirelessly to help provide vibrant learning environments. The coalition committed an unpardonable act by abolishing the fledgling School Support Staff Negotiating Body before it had even met for the first time. I am pleased ATL regards support staff with the professional respect they deserve and I draw your attention to the excellent article on page 10. Managing the angry learner (p24) is also fascinating reading. As educators, we need as many tools as possible to help us in the workplace. Barry Stay has pinpointed some excellent strategies to recognise and defuse explosive situations. Finally, I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can over the next year in your workplaces and branches, and to confirming that Mr Gove certainly does have it all wrong.

Report is produced and designed for ATL by Archant Dialogue Ltd, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR1 1RE. Email: mail@archantdialogue.co.uk Production editor Lucy Mowatt, Art editor Claire Leibrick, Creative director Nick Paul, Managing ad production controller Kay Brown, Publishing director Zoë Francis-Cox, Managing director Mick Hurrell Printed in the UK on FSC-accredited stock. Subscription: Non-members, including libraries, may subscribe at the rate of £16 per year. 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 the articles in Report are the contributors’ own and do not necessarily reflect ATL policy. Official policy statements issued on behalf of the Association 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.

your ATL / news

Redressing the balance ATL’s new president depicted the stark contrast between the experiences of children today and those when she started teaching in her inaugural speech. Describing her first ever class, in 1973, to those gathered at the ATL president’s reception in London in September, Alison Sherratt said: “They enjoyed coming to school. They knew they would find something interesting to do. “They investigated topics where art met history, at the same time as using newly acquired language skills to report and record their learning. They used maths to develop and discover scientific investigations.” Alison said she enjoyed work every day

because she knew she was welcomed into an education establishment where her professionalism was valued, her assessments would be scrutinised but never undermined, and she had the autonomy to plan child-led topics, based on her knowledge of the learning needs of every child. In contrast, Alison talked about how pressures from the government for league tables and data collection have been forced on the profession against all better judgements. As a consequence, today’s children have had their daily routine dictated by having to use time for language and maths and time for testing, with barely time for the teachers

and support staff to really get to know their pupils’ characters and skills, she said, and so “risk being destroyed by prescriptive and failure-inspiring education”. Alison concluded: “I look forward to working closely with all ATL members, our general secretary and all ATL staff, to begin to redress the balance, to challenge the Secretary of State for Education to work with us to rebuild a social partnership where we can work together with the government, and other unions, to achieve an education system fit for purpose, and not just fit for the test — a partnership where all will be listened to, and respect for the profession acknowledged.”

Sudden school closures Assessment anger ATL has called for more robust regulations on school governance after two independent schools were closed just weeks before the start of the new school year. In August, trustees at Stanbridge Earls School in Hampshire announced the school for children with special educational needs would close. Earlier the same month, parents were informed that the 150-year-old Howell’s School in Denbigh, north Wales, would not reopen in September. ATL believes the government should introduce stricter regulations on school governance to prevent sudden closures such as these. John Richardson, ATL’s national official for the independent sector, said: “ATL believes the government should institute a rigorous and standard ‘fit and proper person’ test for any individual or company seeking to run an educational establishment. “Schools need to be run properly and have sound financial and strategic planning. In the unfortunate situation that a school becomes financially unviable, it is vital closure is carried out in a timely and dignified fashion to give pupils and staff adequate opportunity to find alternative schools.” He added: “For a school like Stanbridge Earls, the consequences of closure with inadequate notice may hit even harder as the pupils have special educational needs, which

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means some students may need more time to adjust to change. ATL will make sure its members get any payments and redundancy pay to which they are entitled, and will help them to find other jobs.” Howell’s School was at the centre of an unfair dismissal case last year in which an ATL member was awarded more than £33,000 after she was sacked because she was pregnant; she has not yet received this money. Dr Philip Dixon, director of ATL in Wales, said: “We are angry about the closure of this school at such short notice. We will be working hard to secure the best interests of parents, pupils and staff. The school’s owners have repeatedly shown a complete disregard for staff and pupils, have totally ignored a succession of tribunal cases and have shown themselves to be unfit to run a school. We will fight to ensure staff who are ATL members receive any unpaid pay, notice pay and redundancy pay.” He added: “We are furious that money owed, following successful legal action against the school, has still not been paid. This case highlights how hard it is for wronged staff to receive money to which they are legally entitled. Even when they have won a court case there is no guarantee they will receive the money due to them. We are fighting hard to get the cash due.”

ATL in Northern Ireland has temporarily postponed a ballot over “unacceptable” new arrangements for cross-curriculum assessment. ATL members say the new system being introduced by the Department of Education and the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment is unacceptable, not just in terms of its excessive bureaucracy and workload, but because it represents an educational ‘own goal’. ATL’s director in Northern Ireland, Mark Langhammer, commented: “We have held numerous meetings with members and have heard strong views. They value their pedagogic autonomy, and rightly consider job discretion necessary within an intellectual, reflective profession. “After being informed that we will be presented with proposals for a revised scheme, we decided to temporarily postpone ballots so we can closely scrutinise the proposals and consult members. “However, we must be clear that we are looking for a fundamental review of school accountability, not a mere sticking plaster on a fatally flawed scheme.” October 2013

Defending sixth form colleges Schools Minister David Laws has responded to ATL’s concerns over the challenges faced by sixth form colleges with a strong statement of support for the sector. Simon Holland, ATL’s lead member for sixth form colleges, is warning that government funding cuts, recruitment issues related to the end of EMA and increasing competition from academies and free schools are putting pressure on the sector. After presenting a unanimously supported motion on the issue at ATL’s 2013 Conference, he is encouraging reps and members in sixth form colleges to write to their MPs to raise the profile of

BOB FALLON

Simon Holland addresses delegates at ATL’s 2013 Conference in Liverpool

the sector and the challenges it faces. Simon, who is also a member of ATL’s Further and Higher Education Sectors Advisory Group (FESAG) and is an ATL rep, said: “Many MPs, including my own, have supported the campaign. These changes threaten the very viability of the sixth form college sector, which is widely recognised as providing both good outcomes for students from a wide range of backgrounds and very good value for money. “Competition is also not on a level playing field, as academies and free schools are able to reclaim VAT and insurance costs from the government, whereas sixth form colleges cannot, meaning in reality funding is lower in colleges.”

FE qualification concerns ATL believes new legislation that means lecturers in the FE sector no longer need a teaching qualification will casualise the workforce and could harm students’ education. The government has revoked regulations dating from 2007, and from September 2013 FE teachers and trainers are no longer required to have a recognised teaching qualification in order to teach. At the same time, a new series of nonmandatory qualifications is being brought in for the sector. October 2013

Martin Freedman, director of economic strategy and negotiation at ATL, said: “This is a retrograde step. All FE teachers should have to have a teaching qualification and be given the time to complete one. Everyone who is teaching, whether in FE or a school, needs to be trained to teach so they understand the range of ways in which young people learn and know how to help each individual student. “This measure is another move to casualise FE teaching,” he added. “It is likely to lead to lower pay for lecturers, increase

In May 2013, the Schools Minister responded to the concerns Simon raised, stating: “Sixth form colleges are centres of excellence, offering considerable value for money in delivering broad and successful learning programmes.” He also indicated the Department for Education will consider the VAT position of colleges. Norman Crowther, ATL’s national official for the post-16 sector, said: “It is alarming that government policy is creating perverse pressures on the sixth form sector, which is the cornerstone of academic progression. “One would have thought that David Laws and Michael Gove would have defended and rewarded this sector. Instead, they are leaving it fallow of policy, funding and credibility.” ATL is holding an event for members working in sixth form colleges on 27 November in London, where Simon will be discussing the campaign’s aims with key speakers involved in the sector. For more information about the event and to request a copy of a model letter for your MP, email ATL’s national official for the post-16 sector, Norman Crowther, at ncrowther@atl.org.uk.

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It is alarming that government policy is creating perverse pressures on the sixth form sector, which is the cornerstone of academic progression

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their job insecurity, make it harder for FE lecturers to work in schools and result in a poorer education for students. We fear the government is only interested in driving down costs, and does not care if this is at the expense of young people’s education and of those who teach them.” Mark Wright, ATL’s national official for leadership and management, said: “AMiE members should do whatever is necessary to maintain the quality of teaching and learning through a strong CPD offer for the teaching workforce.” www.atl.org.uk

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your ATL / news

ATL at TUC congress Key issues of curriculum, Ofsted and TUC’s Executive, ATL Executive member teaching assistants were debated by the Niamh Sweeney described Ofsted as a ATL delegation at the TUC’s 2013 annual “fatally damaged brand” and asked all congress last month. political parties to “review their policies Alison Sherratt, ATL’s president, for the quality assurance of schools and supported a composite resolution on the colleges, replacing a centralised and defence of education and the national politicised agency with local curriculum. She told delegates: “People arrangements for accountability don’t need knowledge, they need to know and institutional improvement”. how to access and use knowledge. While ATL Executive member Alec Clark Gove looks back to a curriculum spoke in support of a resolution developed for a tiny elite who were calling for an end to the attack on masters of the empire, teaching assistants, we ask ourselves how while fellow People ... need to to support youngsters Executive members know how to access to become successful Avie Kaur and Julia and use knowledge Neal also spoke in at social relationships, support of motions as friends, partners on women and employment rights, and and parents; successful as citizens; and international LGBT rights, respectively. yes, successful economically.” The motion, which was carried, ATL’s general secretary Mary Bousted spoke against a motion calling for the condemns the Secretary of State for practicalities of holding a general Education for ignoring all expert opinion strike to be investigated, once again in revising the national curriculum, and stressing her view that, currently, will see the TUC’s general council campaign for the advancement of “debate is better than demand”. comprehensive education. You can read more in her ‘Agenda’ In an ATL motion remitted to the article on page 12.

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Autumn message ATL general secretary Mary Bousted has delivered a message to members following a series of summer conferences at which she heard your views. At the conferences, Dr Bousted talked to members about how you want ATL to make your voices heard by government, especially at a time when colleagues in the NUT and NASUWT are due to take industrial action. ATL went on strike twice in 2011 in order to bring the government back to the negotiating table over pensions and subsequent talks resulted in offers that were better than what was originally proposed. Since then, persuasive dialogue has also secured significant improvements on the original proposals for teachers’ performance-related pay, while ATL’s October 2013

consultation response and campaign over changes to the curriculum has also led to a rethink in some areas. At this point, ATL believes debate is better than demand and therefore does not plan to take action. Members’ views from the conferences are being used to develop ATL’s ‘Shaping education’ campaign — our manifesto for the next general election. Members will also get a chance to share their views in our survey, see www.atl.org.uk/ autumnsurvey. To hear more from Dr Bousted on these issues, see her ‘Agenda’ article on page 12. For her message to members in full, along with advice on what to do when colleagues from other unions take action and details of how to make your voice heard, see www.atl.org.uk/ autumnmessage.

Caroline Kolek teaching in India

Eastern lessons ATL Executive member Caroline Kolek has once again travelled to India to take part in a charity programme to develop the skills and expertise of teachers there. She spent four weeks this summer in a Catholic missionary school in south Tripura, in the north east of India, working with teachers studying for a three-year diploma in teacher education accredited by University College Dublin as part of charity Global Schoolroom’s programme. Caroline said: “I was delighted to be able to participate for a second time, and work again with teachers and missionaries I met last year. Taking part has been an amazing experience both professionally and personally. “The opportunity of sharing our knowledge and expertise with other teachers across the cultural divide really does make you reflect on your own practice and is a wonderful form of CPD.” She added: “These teachers work without modern technology, which reminds you how creative you need to be to engage young people. They were a joy to work with; they were keen to learn and certainly dedicated to their students.” Global Schoolroom has been working in north east India for a number of years. It was originally aimed at Irish teachers, but in 2014 it starts programmes in new locations in the region, timed at the end of July and August specifically for British teachers to deliver. Training takes place mainly in London but also in Dublin and includes four one-day sessions on a Saturday and a residential weekend. The closing date for applications for Global Schoolroom’s trip in 2014 is 22 November 2013. For more information and an application form see www.globalschoolroom.net Interested members can also email queries to carolinejk@sky.com

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your ATL / noticeboard, get involved

Noticeboard Inclusivity award Does your school make a special effort to be inclusive, taking extra steps to: • promote the growth of mutual understanding between those of different cultural backgrounds, religions and non-religious beliefs? • encourage shared spiritual, moral, social and cultural development in ways appropriate to all staff, pupils and families? • enhance greater equality of opportunity and tackle discrimination and bullying? • develop pupils’ capacity for making autonomous choices, being active citizens and contributing to the wider community?

Calling all leaders If you are an ATL member in a leadership role in a school or college and haven’t moved into AMiE membership yet, you could be missing out. AMiE is ATL’s section for leaders in education. On top of the benefits of ATL, AMiE’s leadership publications and seminars support your professional development, while our team of experts provides specialist advice, bespoke guidance and assistance for you in your role as both an employee and leader. And we’ve just launched a brand-new website at www.amie.atl.org.uk, where you can find lots of advice on common management issues, as well as an area dedicated to useful publications, links and other resources especially for AMiE members. New features include: • an updated, clutter-free home page with quick links to the latest news and information • a new easy-to-use menu system • social media share links on every page • an online resource bank featuring dozens of important guides and briefing documents. For full details of the specific benefits of moving into AMiE, all for just a small additional subscription fee, visit www.amie.atl.org.uk, or sign up by calling 020 7782 1602 or emailing membership@atl.org.uk.

If so, then the Accord coalition, of which ATL is a member, is inviting you to nominate your school for the 2014 Accord Inclusivity Award. The award — now in its fourth year — rewards those schools that do most within their own particular circumstances to promote mutual understanding, build links within and between communities, and celebrate and advance an ethos of inclusion (with particular regard to inclusivity on the grounds of religion and belief). The award is open to all schools in England and Wales, and the winners will be announced in the local and national press. For full details and to apply, see www.accordcoalition.org.uk/inclusivityaward-2014. The deadline is 8 December 2013.

Guardian University Awards ATL is supporting the Guardian University Awards 2014, which recognise achievement and innovation across a range of categories in the sector, including teaching best practice. Higher education institutes, university departments, professionals working in the HE sector, students and graduates will be invited to nominate working projects in universities that demonstrate genuine innovation in the sector, collaborative delivery on the ground and meaningful impact both inside their institutions and beyond, with the potential to inspire others. A university ideas bank of all winning and shortlisted entries will be published on the Guardian website. Visit www.guardian.co.uk/university-awards for more information.

Your FREE Dining Card Did you notice your free Gourmet Society Dining Card inside this edition of Report? Your dining card gets you up to 50% off meals at a fabulous range of restaurants, from big-name national chains to award-winning local independents. For instant access to these fantastic restaurant savings, activate your free card now at www.gourmetsociety.co.uk/atl.

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October 2013

Events for your diary ATL’s 2013 independent schools’ conference 9 November 2013 Hilton Hotel, Paddington, London W2 1EE If pirates are just violent thieves, why do we dress our children up to imitate them? Kester Brewin, teacher, author and, not least, ATL rep, will tell you what it has got to do with education, when he addresses members at ATL’s independent schools’ conference this November. Your general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, will be giving her authoritative perspective on the latest developments in education and how they affect you, and there will be an opportunity to ask Mary questions.

October 2013

The conference provides an excellent opportunity to meet colleagues working in the sector, learn new things, and to take part in policy debate. Many heads view the conference as CPD and ask attendees to report back to the school. Best of all, it is free to members, including lunch and refreshments throughout the day. Lively debate is expected in the discussion groups which, among other topics, include ‘What is an outstanding lesson?’, while conference is also the first opportunity to find out the results of the 2013 ATL independent sector pay and conditions survey. The event is always popular, so you are advised to book as early as possible. Priority booking is for ATL school representatives and contacts. If they can’t make it then an ATL substitute for your school is welcome. Full details and how to book are available at www.atl.org.uk/independentconference.

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cover feature / teaching assistants

Teaching assistants need to be used more effectively and valued, not got rid of, say ATL members in response to suggestions that their impact is negligible. Words by Alex Tomlin

upporting children with special educational needs; assisting children with behavioural difficulties; one-toone help with reading; helping pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities; working with pupils who have English as a second language; preparing the classroom for lessons; tidying up and keeping the classroom in good order; creating displays of pupils’ work; helping on school outings and at school events. Just a few of the jobs undertaken by teaching assistants (TAs) to support the work of teachers. So is the Department for Education really thinking of getting rid of TAs? Michael Gove has asked the School Teachers’ Review Body to remove the restriction on teachers performing the 24 administration tasks, which are currently supposed to be only done by support staff. Many have seen this as a step towards removing TAs from maintained schools to save money. The centre-right Reform think-tank has questioned the value for money of TAs and asserted their impact on educational outcomes for pupils is “negligible”. “That defies belief,” says ATL president Alison Sherratt. “Support staff help teachers create a really good education. If anything, they’re undervalued.” ATL member Daniel Coward, who manages a team of support staff at a school, agrees: “Quite a few children wouldn’t have been able to cope without the support of

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TAs. They have a big impact on teachers’ well-being.” Debbie Polwarth, special needs assistant in a secondary school and ATL’s lead member for support staff adds: “My first response [to the Reform claims] would be get yourself into the classroom, listen to teachers, pupils, parents, because TAs do have a little more time to get to know individual pupils in a way that teachers unfortunately don’t.” An Institute of Education study is being used to justify headlines on the ‘negligible’ impact of TAs. However, author of that research Professor Blatchford is clear it is more a matter of organisation than of the intrinsic lack of value in support staff. “This is not the fault of TAs,” he states. “Policy-makers and school staff need to rethink the way TAs are used in classrooms and prepared for the tasks that teachers give them. This will help maximise their huge potential to help teachers and pupils.” Daniel Coward echoes this. “Teachers aren’t appropriately trained to line manage a TA. They’ve got so much else to do. If a TA is just thrown in to a classroom they have no idea whether they should be cleaning paint pots or supporting a child. You can’t just guess.” ATL Future, our group of student and newly qualified teachers, tells us there is little or no provision in initial teacher training on how to best use a TA. Cathy Tattersfield, ATL’s lead member for SEN, believes: “TAs will only do as well as they are allowed to by others. A good TA can

JUICE IMAGES/ALAMY

Adding value be restricted by poor management.” She advocates a management structure in a school for behaviour and SEN so TAs have direction in their areas of responsibility. Daniel Coward’s school has put this into practice. TAs offer traditional pastoral support to very young children. Beyond that, all the TAs are centralised into an intervention team, with decisions made about where and how they are deployed taken following discussions with parents, children and the class teacher. Daniel’s headteacher Karen Thompson says, “Where we’ve seen real advances is where TAs are dedicated to group intervention so they’ve become adept at that. We’ve got others skilled in short-term oneto-one interventions, so phonics, reading schemes, etc. Then the behaviour team know about [working with] challenging children. “I strongly believe if you’re going to invest that significant amount of money into [employing TAs] it should be in capable, competent, trained people who are wellmatched to the task you’ve given them.” In the time-pressured environment that exists in education, just a few minutes for the teacher and the TA to discuss what the TA should be doing can be invaluable, although TAs do not usually have free periods for such discussions. “As long as the TA and the teacher work in tandem, team-teaching, it’s a seamless act,” says Debbie Polwarth. “When it works well, it works damn well.” Alongside a more effective organisational October 2013

structure would be better relevant training for support staff, starting from induction, something that appears to be lacking in many places. Karen Thompson has seen benefits to training TAs. “TAs are happier because they’re more able to develop skills and get real satisfaction from seeing progress that is directly due to them; they’re not just fetching and carrying for the teacher.” “All TAs need much better training,” says Daniel Coward. “You’ve got to sort out the abysmal pay first though: pay is a big issue.” A figure bandied about in media reports is the ‘average salary’ of £17,000 a year, but many ATL members are surprised if it is that high. “Pay is appalling,” says Debbie Polwarth. “When single status came in it meant, even though support staff work over the holidays, they don’t get paid; it is goodwill. I don’t know any support staff who don’t work unpaid over their hours. They take on extra responsibility when asked because it’s needed. All they want is to be treated as a professional and paid accordingly.” At ATL’s 2013 Conference, Debbie proposed a motion, unanimously passed, calling for the main political parties to commit to reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB), which would have enabled more negotiation over salaries. It was disbanded shortly after the coalition government came to power. When the vice chair of ATL’s Support Staff October 2013

Members’ Advisory Group, Kathryn Booth, So what would life be like if TAs were to asked Labour’s shadow education secretary disappear from the classroom? Stephen Twigg if he would bring back the “In our school it would mean the exclusion SSSNB, he replied: “Absolutely.” of certain children,” states Daniel Coward. “I have known support staff who said “You’ve also got the stress on the teachers, they could get better pay working at Tesco,” without the support. TAs’ work is a bridge Kathryn says. “But they don’t do it because between teacher and children.” they love the job.” It would make teaching more of an uphill Kathryn gave up a 35-year career in book struggle than it already is,” says Debbie publishing to become a TA. “I left because I Polwarth. “Teachers value support staff, they wanted to do the work I’m doing with the trust them, work seamlessly with them. If children. I’m absolutely passionate about they are not there we will lose a lot of teachers it and I think that’s common among TAs.” because they won’t be able to do the job.” She adds that derisory references to “I can’t imagine a classroom without TAs,” a ‘Mums’ army’ ignore the fact that TAs’ says Kathryn Booth. “Look at the 24 tasks qualifications range from GCSEs to PhDs. being done by TAs and the amount of TAs also include teachers taking a career paperwork teachers already have to do. break and graduates considering a teaching Teachers work 50, 60 hours. They are career. specifically trained to teach children. “When you get a good TA they will bend To spend time photocopying would be over backwards,” says Debbie Polwarth. a waste of money.” “They’re in the job because they believe “There are a lot of wonderful TAs out in it, they love it, they’re passionate about it, there. Just let them do their job. Empower they’re dedicated. There are a lot who will do them to be the true professionals they are,” jobs that are beyond their role simply because says Debbie Polwarth. “There is so much they want to stretch themselves.” positivity out there when you speak to Cathy Tattersfield believes those criticising support staff about their job. Only one group support staff overlook a number of roles they recognises the value of support staff and take on, which are not formally recognised. that’s ATL. I have not felt so hopeful the “For example, they clearly are the first port of whole time I’ve worked in education until I call for all care issues. Most pupils in special started working more closely with ATL and schools and a number in mainstream have it’s really heartening.” incontinence problems. If the teacher is to ATL extended its introductory offer for be able to deliver the lesson, you have to have new members to support staff. This means someone able to take the new joiners will now pay children out. just 50% of the normal They’re in the job “Also in terms of rate for the because they believe in subscription physiotherapy or first year of membership. it, they love it, they’re posture in wheelchairs If you have views on — the TAs become more passionate about it the role and use of TAs, expert in that than the let us know at teachers, but there’s no formal way www.facebook.com/atlunion or using of recognising that.” the details on page 22. She continues: “Mentoring children with If you are interested in getting involved challenging behaviour — the TAs become with ATL’s Support Staff Members’ Advisory experts. My school spent a lot of time Group to help shape union policy, contact training for challenging behaviour. TAs have national official Peter Morris at huge responsibility delivering a behaviour pmorris@atl.org.uk or visit plan. It can help to free up the teachers to www.atl.org.uk/ssmag. ATL also provides deliver the lesson. a course for teachers and support staff: “The TAs become the advocate for the ‘Effective classroom teamwork: child but are not recognised as such. They communication and assertiveness skills’. can highlight concerns about their physical, Details at www.atl.org.uk/learningzone. mental and emotional well-being. But often ATL is also running its first conference the teacher goes to meetings about a child for support staff on 8 February 2014. See that the TA may know more about.” www.atl.org.uk/supportconference.

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join the debate / agenda

Debate not demand ATL general secretary Mary Bousted explains why ATL does not believe now is the time for industrial action

met hundreds of ATL members as I attended our summer conferences in Manchester, York, Bristol, London and Birmingham: teachers, lecturers and support staff who were happy to sacrifice a day of their summer holidays to come to listen to me and my colleagues explain the work that ATL does on their behalf, and to contribute to workshop sessions shaping a vision of the education system they would want to work in. I came away from each conference reinvigorated and refreshed by the stimulating conversations I had with delegates. None were afraid to challenge, all were keen to listen. One issue that I addressed head on at each event was this: given ATL’s fierce criticism of the coalition government’s education policies and, in particular, the poisonous rhetoric of Michael Gove, who seems to be happy only when criticising the work of teachers and demeaning their achievements, why was ATL not taking industrial action alongside the NUT and the NASUWT? Was ATL not concerned with the break-up of the national pay framework for teachers, the rising workload under which the profession labours and low teacher morale? If you have read previous ‘Agenda’ columns you will know that I am extremely concerned about all of these pressing issues. The question is, however, what to do to make things better? Many ATL members, in 2011, took part in two days of national strike action to protest against the coalition government’s attack on teachers’ pensions. Strike action should always be a last resort — something done only when there is no alternative and where to do nothing would be disastrous. Through the action taken in 2011, ATL secured a pension scheme significantly better than the one the government had proposed — a better accrual rate, 10 years’ protection for those approaching retirement and early retirement factors. As a result of

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ATL’s action, and negotiation, 14% was on a wide range of issues dear to your added to the value of the pension scheme professional concerns, from assessment from the original proposals. This was a to health and safety to pay policies. clear dispute with a clear resolution. ATL campaigns for a better education The current NUT and NASUWT dispute system for all. We campaign for social justice, is wide ranging, covering workload, pay an end to child poverty, an end to the punitive and conditions, and pensions. Through Ofsted regime, the development of an their joint action both unions seek to stop effective assessment system. We support the coalition government implementing its teacher professionalism. We have a vision of a policy of performance-based pay and the world where teachers get the CPD they want. implementation of the revised pension We support teacher voice. And we know that scheme. without support staff, many teachers’ jobs In return, Michael Gove is adamant. The would simply become impossible. Through government is not going to halt its plans for our leadership arm, AMiE, we support school performance-related pay; it is not going to do and college leaders and managers, helping a valuation of a pension scheme that is no them to make sense of the topsy turvy world longer in existence. that is education and to become better at Of course, you and I share the concerns of leading and managing their colleagues. NUT and NASUWT members — about the Through our New2Teaching website we new pay system, about the threats to PPA support newly qualified teachers and time, about appraisal, about the crazy lecturers, helping them to make those first workload of justifying on paper everything steps in their career. ATL is always looking you do, not to mention the belittling of the for ways in which we can give practical, contribution made by useful assistance to support staff. We know The key issue is what our members. these things are driving We campaign against down morale. The key you want us to do together the discrimination issue, however, is what to improve things women teachers in you want us to do their 50s experience. together to improve things. The truth is, as We campaign for equal opportunities for all the government sets about abandoning education staff — and against discrimination national arrangements, school staff must based on race, gender, disability or sexuality. stand together at school level for sensible And we do more. We envision what arrangements. How can we help you do that? education should be like, for teachers, for So what is ATL doing at the moment lecturers, for support staff and for pupils. We instead of industrial action? ATL continues do more than challenge — we put the work to lobby government. We work with any into providing answers. ATL’s CPD courses, political party to try to get our message both nationally and locally, help you become across. It is because of ATL’s lobbying power better education professionals. that we now have a commitment from the ATL will continue to support its members. Labour front bench that if they get into We will tell truth to power and we will work government in 2015 they will restore a with you to improve your working lives and national framework for teachers’ pay and the education of the children and young conditions of service, and the requirement people in our professional care. for teachers to have QTS. Your voice in your union is vital to help us ATL supports members facing difficulty shape the education debate — you’ve joined in their careers. We produce print and online up, now get involved. Take part in our survey publications that give advice and guidance at www.atl.org.uk/autumnsurvey.

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October 2013

join the debate / Northern Ireland and Wales

Northern Ireland Mark Langhammer 21st-century accountability: the 20-point plan ATL contributed significantly to the joint General Teaching Council and Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council submission to the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Education Committee inquiry into inspection. Our ‘20-point plan’ has been distributed to politicians, key decision-makers and educational stakeholders. It sets out exhaustive evidence from other systems and endorses a constructive and supportive model of accountability, which builds teachers’ confidence and commitment (as opposed to the current fear-driven ‘deficit’ model that encourages undesirable practice to achieve compliance and avoid retribution). Bluntly, we can take the ‘high road’ over the ‘low road’. The ‘low road’ is paved with microaccountability, excessive testing, bureaucratic assessment and data-driven evaluation, with teaching a low-autonomy craft worthy of little respect. The ‘high

October 2013

Wales Dr Philip Dixon We need more education bodies that are independent of government, not fewer

road’ encourages reflective, high skill, autonomous professionalism, with practitioners recognised for their knowledge, expertise and judgement. Our recommendations include: • using census and geographic information to stratify schools by socio-economic intake to help calculate the value added • assessing language on entry to school as a key indicator for educational potential • using some sampling to provide independent monitoring data, disentangling teacher assessment from accountability • using standardised testing data only for formative purposes — preventing ‘teaching to the test’ • using pupil attitudinal surveys to gain insight into the correlation between ‘motivation’, ‘liking’ and achievement • developing skills assessments to ensure 21st-century skills become valued • as well as the five GCSE (A*-C) target, introducing a measure to reduce the number of pupils leaving school with no qualifications.

The latest professionalism it represents or Education Bill its central purpose of promoting is making its teaching and learning. way through Similarly, the relegation of its the Senedd ability to comment on matters and some of concern to the profession provisions are only in response to an explicit welcome. For instance, school request from the Minister is too term dates and holidays will be limiting. Most concerning of all set consistently for the whole of is the proposal that all its Wales, avoiding the problems members should be appointed caused when neighbouring local by the Welsh government. authorities choose different As members will be paying times. It’s also welcome that the for this body (some possibly as provision of SEN services will be much as £75) we will campaign streamlined to remove the vigorously for the fundamental unacceptable wait many principle that there can be ‘no youngsters have post-16. taxation without representation’. Similarly, we What we need are happy that are more bodies There can be the General that are more Teaching no taxation without independent of Council for government, not representation Wales will be fewer. Bitter retained and its experience has remit expanded to made us sceptical of any attempt FE and support staff. by the Department of Education But some of the provisions and Skills to run more of the relating to the newly enhanced show. Scotland shows us the body are unacceptable. For a way forward. There the General start, the proposed new name, Teaching Council is completely the uninspiringly dreary independent of government. ‘Education Workforce Council’ That’s how it should be and that’s does little to capture either the what we want in Wales.

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join the debate / letters

Send your letters to: Report, ATL, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD or email report@atl.org.uk. The views expressed in the letters printed in Report do not necessarily reflect ATL policy or opinion.

STAR LETTER What’s the story?

Nothing ever changes

MBI/ALAMY

One of the more depressing things you can hear in a classroom is “please sir, we’ve done this before”. Reading through the June/July issue of Report, I was struck by this same feeling — from the article on low-level classroom disruption, through to the ‘Royal College of Teaching’, the CBI’s interest in schools and everything ‘Gove’ in-between. As a retired teacher, I still have a keen Disruption in the classroom interest in my profession, and with a has always been a factor daughter in the classroom and four grandchildren at various stages in their education, I feel particularly concerned at the current state of affairs. Classroom disruption has always been a factor — at my own school boys (and occasionally girls) made some teachers’ lives difficult. I can’t believe that Mr Gove’s public school days were not marked on occasion by behaviour that fell short of ideal. We know there are no easy answers — but we also can be certain that, while MPs and sections of the press continually run down schools and teachers, things won’t improve. A ‘Royal College of Teaching’ is (still) an excellent idea. Mary Bousted’s ‘Agenda’ article put the argument better than I can. I’m wondering what Margaret Thatcher would have had to say, as my memory suggests that as education minister she proposed something of the sort, which eventually morphed into the late General Teaching Council. The CBI’s interest in education is also, of course, a long-running and repetitive theme. As an advisory teacher in the 1980s, I was involved with a Department of Trade and Industry project to introduce IT equipment into schools. I’m not convinced that what the CBI wants and what teachers see as essential will ever be easy to marry — it seems ironic that just as schools address the loss of food studies in this obese age, James Fothergill is calling for design and technology to ‘redress that balance’ regarding food and nutrition. As to our current Secretary of State, he joins a long line of dabblers who fall into the ageold trap — ‘I went to school so I know about education’. I really can’t recall an education minister who was popular with teachers, which leads me to conclude that while politicians continue to use education for their own ends — ie getting re-elected — we’ll never have the education system our children deserve.

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I Reeve, Leicestershire

WIN

I Reeve wins £100 in book tokens. If you want to voice your opinion on any issues raised in Report or any other aspect of education, please send letters to the address above, including your phone number. One star letter will be chosen every issue to win the book tokens.

Stop blaming teachers I am not a teacher. I just read Report at my friend’s house. I was not aware of the future changes in education. The government is trying to increase school hours; as a parent I would not like it because longer days mean children will spend almost the whole day at school, and when they get home there will be nothing left to do at home, eg time for their hobbies and interests October 2013

and time with parents. If the government thinks longer hours produce more competent students, it’s wrong. If you carefully look at students with good grades, they are mostly from educated families which support teachers. I discuss every single issue of my daughter’s study with her and always tell her to respect and listen carefully to the teacher. She is doing great in her

MASKOT/ALAMY

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I much enjoyed Cressida Cowell’s ‘Final word’ article (Report, September 2013) on ‘Igniting the spark’, encouraging creative writing in young children. The delight small children get from writing and making up a story, even creating their own little storybooks, is a joy to behold. It gives them such a proud sense of achievement and confidence that will stand them in good stead, the sense of ‘I did that’, that their story came out of their imagination. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make that much sense, or have a recognisable plot (one could level that charge against many books written by adults), the important thing is that it is entirely theirs. I was also really pleased that Ms Cowell made the point that grammar should not be important, nor should spelling be too strenuously enforced. As heartwarming as it is to see a child’s pleasure in their story, it can be equally heartbreaking to see them slump and cast their work aside because an adult has told them there is only one ‘g’ in ‘dragon’ and there should really be a full stop there. The time for editing is later; first just let them write. As important as spelling and grammar is, it should compliment writing, not be more important than it. B Neville, Cheltenham school, although she came from India last year in Year 2. I am very happy with her teachers; they recognise her potential and always support her. The government should stop blaming teachers. The government depends on teachers and their parents. Longer hours cannot change the grades of education. Name supplied

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profile / Alison Peacock

No limits to learning

en years ago Wroxham was a failing school, in special measures, when Alison Peacock arrived as headteacher, setting out some basic tenets she wanted to see in the school: a happy learning community; high academic standards and achievement for everyone; teaching in partnership; the school as a centre of excellence; and breadth and balance of curriculum. “I didn’t consciously set out to find a school in difficulty but because this school was in special measures, I just thought it didn’t need to be like this; these children deserved a chance,” she recalls. “It was a challenge for a first headship, although not as much as it would be now, because if you take over a school in special measures now you risk losing your job.” Wroxham, a primary school in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, housing a music garden constructed of scrap metal, an old double-decker bus converted into a library, and a Celtic roundhouse — a work in progress that will host outdoor lessons — has just received its third consecutive ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted. The last was a short-notice inspection during SATs week when Alison explains there was no chance to change anything fundamental, “just to polish the silver. The verbal feedback was all about the sense of warmth in the school; everyone knows they’re trusted, everyone takes risks with their learning, can challenge themselves. If you just follow the rules, you can only ever be good. Outstanding learning has to be about innovation.” Alongside innovation, fairness is another of Alison’s watchwords; a strong sense of injustice has driven her throughout her career, from her father being denied the chance to go to his school of choice because the family couldn’t afford the uniform, to being told her first class of students couldn’t achieve higher than a D because they were in a lower set. “I’m trying to do something about inequality in the system. To say it doesn’t have to be like this,” she explains. As a classroom teacher she became involved in the ‘learning without limits’ project when the University of Cambridge sought nine teachers who were challenging the notion that ability was fixed, and that “you could reliably set a target, slap a label on a child’s forehead and say this is what I think you’re able to do now and what you’ll be able to do next,” she says. “This was the height of target-setting in schools so it was quite radical to say ‘I don’t believe in it’.

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“Children need to be valued for who they are. It’s not about setting low standards; it’s about setting the very highest standards,” she explains. “There will be children in pre-school settings who physically cannot sit still, who start to get an image of themselves as a failure before they’ve even started school. We’ve got setting of ability groups for phonics in nurseries. If you’re in the lowest group when you’re four … you’ve only been on the planet four years and you’re already being written off. It’s very damaging.” Positive messages can have detrimental consequences too. A question about teachers calling children ‘good boy’ and ‘good girl’ elicits a strangled squeal from Alison and the revelation she would be meeting that evening with renowned psychologist Professor Carol Dweck. “She’s done a lot of work on what we say to children. If we go down the ‘good boy/girl’ route, what we’re saying is there is an innate capacity to be a good person. We need to give feedback that is constantly about what they have to offer. She talks about fixed and growth mindsets. If you have a growth mindset you believe anything is possible. If you can’t do something today it just means that you can’t do it yet.” Use of language is crucial, Alison believes. “The word ‘potential’ is damaging, even if it feels like an open-ended concept, because it says there’s a fixed capacity you can reach and we need to get you to it. Also schools where no one set out to be cruel, but children are referred to as ‘bright’, ‘gifted’, ‘slow’, ‘special needs’, ‘top set’, ‘bottom set’, ‘thick’, ‘clever’; hugely pejorative language. If you’re told you’re gifted, the problem is you’ve got an awful lot to lose. The evidence is that children stop trying, refuse to move out of their comfort zone; they don’t want to be seen to fail.” The school often goes to unusual lengths to help children who are struggling. When one boy, with a very difficult home life, was going round threatening other pupils and shouting at teachers, a teaching assistant working with him discovered that his mother bred guinea pigs, and the school invested in some and made him the keeper of the guinea pigs. “He was very kind to the guinea pigs and so he went from being someone scary in a hood to being the guinea pig-stroker,” explains Alison. “You can’t get those things from a toolkit. It’s about being creative, having empathy, being prepared to do something different, taking risks.” That approach extends to the learning without limits ethos too. At Wroxham, tests are not used to suggest what a child will be able to do in the future, rather to ask what more the teachers can do to help the child learn. “It’s a October 2013

TOM CAMPBELL

Headteacher of the Wroxham School Alison Peacock tells Alex Tomlin how she is being creative and taking risks to avoid labelling children

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We’ve lost our voice because people are frightened to put their heads above the parapet

very powerful way of viewing the world,” says Alison. “For me, it’s about the children feeling confident, like they’re on a journey, feeling supported in the process of their learning, feeling able to ask questions, feeling excited about what they’re doing, not feeling frightened, feeling trusted, feeling like anything might be possible, that school is a good place to be. What we’re trying to do here is to enable the children to challenge themselves.” Two Year 6 girls tell me later that the maths challenges, where pupils choose the right level of task to challenge them, are their favourite things at Wroxham. The use of grades is another way of not labelling the children as successes or failures. The school collects assessment data but does not share it with the children; instead it uses it to plan the next stage of learning. The child can then receive constructive feedback unfiltered by the stigma of a grade. This is all very well at primary school, but how do the young people manage when they leave Wroxham and enter a potentially very different environment at secondary school? Alison says former pupils report that the transition is successful. “By the time a child is 11 they have a strong sense of identity and self,” she says. “If they believe learning is something they can keep on trying at rather than something that is given to them, they are able to cope much better. They think of what they can get out of it rather than waiting for someone to make them get something out of it.” Alison believes the learning without limits approach would work as well at secondary as at primary. “If you’re a teenager going through angst about everything, you feel as if things are being shut off to you. Our schools should be October 2013

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places where doors are kept open for as long as possible.” Doors are kept open for teachers too, with discussions about children who are having difficulties focusing on the child rather than suggesting deficiencies in the teacher. Alison says: “As a school leader, if you are constantly creating an environment where big questions get considered, rather than the minutiae, then people have an opportunity to interpret those big ideas in their own way. I’ve never said to any teacher ‘you must do it this way’.” This extends to support staff too, where Alison responds to political rhetoric and research that suggests teaching assistants don’t add value to learning. “What the research says is where TAs are highly valued, part of the team and they’re given opportunities to learn for themselves, they make a difference. It’s where they are brought in with no planning time and don’t know what’s going on that there’s a problem. Our TAs are part of teaching teams here; they plan together with teachers to contribute a tremendous amount.” Politically, she believes teachers, in primaries in particular, should speak out more. “When politicians stand up and say ‘all we want is the best for our children’ I feel there’s a silent chorus of people saying ‘so do we’. In primary we just want to do a good job for the children. There’s less tendency to have a political voice.” Alison is one of the strongest proponents of a Royal College of Teaching, “a professional body that’s not a union, but works with the unions, to enable us to have a collective voice that is principled and evidence based. So when the Daily Mail starts screaming headlines about children being unable to read because they spend all their time playing computer games, we can say that’s not true. “It’s not something for Michael Gove to have an opinion about; it’s something that needs to come from the profession. We’ve lost our voice because people are frightened to put their heads above the parapet and be seen to be saying something new, even if it’s something hugely ambitious for the profession. The college of teaching is not anti-government, it’s pro-professionalism.” Alison does not see Wroxham as a “beacon school” for others to follow but believes anyone, from individual teachers to heads, can apply the learning without limits philosophy. “Discuss with staff limits that unintentionally get set on children. Are there ways of keeping doors open and allowing children to surprise you? Think about small things that make a massive difference,” she says. “It’s more about us thinking, is there a better way? With the levels going, does this give us an opportunity to change how we view progress? Look at an alternative. It’s exciting. Or terrifying. But I think it’s exciting.” www.atl.org.uk

feature / GCSEs

GCSEs under examination I

n February this year, at the same time as it made a U-turn on the English baccalaureate, the government said it would comprehensively reform GCSEs in England. More details were unveiled in June, when Michael Gove said GCSEs would be “more challenging, more ambitious and more rigorous”, with additional detailed subject content and “less variability”. The proposals include a move to linear courses with a final summer exam and a numbered grading system, with ‘1’ the highest grade and ‘8’ the lowest. The government had planned that new GCSEs in English language, English literature, maths, the sciences, history and geography would be taught from September 2015, with their exams in 2017, and other subjects would be introduced from 2016 with exams in 2018. But in September Ofqual said it “cannot be confident” that new highquality GCSEs in these subjects could be ready for 2015, which means that only new GCSEs in English language, English literature and maths would be brought in in two years’ time. Two consultations on these new-look GCSEs took place over the summer. One, by the Department for Education (DfE), looked at the subject content in the context of the new national curriculum. At the same time the exam regulator, Ofqual, consulted on the regulatory aspects of the new GCSEs: making sure they fulfil their purpose and provide valid and reliable results. After asking members for views, ATL’s responses to both, based on members’ views, were robust. ATL agrees key stage 4 qualifications

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need reform, but believes changes are, once the next few years would not have studied again, being steamrollered through without the subject chronologically at primary level, listening to education staff at a time when but would have to jump in at a certain point teachers and pupils are already stretched. chronologically in Year 7. ATL is concerned Jill Stokoe, a policy adviser who about what all this would mean for coordinated ATL’s response to Ofqual’s continuity between key stages. consultation, said: “The pace and scale of The changes also mean different GCSE all the changes in education are reckless exams being sat in the summer of 2017; and place undue pressure on education staff some would have numbered grading, others and students. There are real concerns about lettered, alongside different qualifications the practicalities of bringing in new GCSEs with the same name in Wales and Scotland. at a time when staff are also implementing Will employers and further/higher the new national curriculum and A-levels. education institutions understand these Ofqual’s announcement shows it’s been differences on pupils’ GCSE certificates? recognised that the government is trying Will these qualifications be portable for to make too many changes at once.” students moving between these regions? She added: “Given the school leaving age “There’s always potential for some is rising to 18, surely the starting point of confusion with new qualifications but, debate should have with the government been the role of exams trying to do so much at Changes are, once at 16 and whether they and the emphasis again, being steamrollered once are still required?” on ‘essential core through without listening knowledge’ throughout, It is unrealistic to implement such large- to education staff you are going to scale reform of GCSEs disadvantage some while ensuring they are fit for purpose. secondary pupils and teachers, who will Teachers are already in the midst of be playing catch-up,” said Jill Stokoe. adopting GCSE changes that came in this “This piecemeal approach to reform will September; if the current proposals are have an adverse impact on learners and the adopted, these will have only been in place teaching profession,” said Louisa Thomson, for two years before being replaced by the ATL policy adviser, who put together ATL’s new GCSEs from September 2015. response to the DfE on GCSE content. There is no time for pilots of these new She added: “As with other reforms, the GCSEs; the phasing of the new national government has not shown interest in curriculum framework and GCSEs is building consensus with the profession, unaligned; and time for teacher training is while the timing of the consultations over potentially limited — it is largely being left the summer suggests engaging with for schools to arrange CPD. And with, for teachers has been an afterthought.” example, the new focus on chronology in An ATL member who contributed to our history, pupils starting secondary school in survey on the proposals said: “Every time

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October 2013

JIM WILEMAN/ALAMY

This summer the government announced its plans for GCSEs. ATL asks if they make the grade

I plan a coherent programme of study for Year 7 through to GCSE, the requirements have changed before the pupils get to the critical time.” The emphasis on essential knowledge in the GCSE proposals reflects the new national curriculum. Louisa Thomson said: “Knowledge has been prioritised over skills, both in the content and assessment. There should be a blend of theoretical and applied learning. This is not achieved by including as many academic subjects as possible, and reinforcing the hierarchy between ‘core’ and ‘foundation’ subjects. “A better starting place would have been to think about how to cultivate entrepreneurship and develop skills for growth sectors such as social media, green technology, communications and creativity. Skills are what employers say they want.” She added: “The fact that there are no specifications for design and technology, music, art and design, and dance in the first tranche of reforms shows the emphasis is once again on the subjects the government feels are important. The reforms are not suited to the requirements for 21st-century assessment and may be a retrogressive step.” Another member who took part in ATL’s survey said: “Skills are more important than knowledge. It is no good being able October 2013

to state the reactivity series [in chemistry] if you cannot weigh arguments or use a washing machine. We need qualifications that demonstrate people’s abilities rather than memories.” Another said: “I disagree that a one-sizefits-all qualification is appropriate for all the young people in England. It is more important to be able to learn skills than regurgitate knowledge. I would much prefer to be able to use the periodic table to work out proton, neutron and electron numbers for different atoms of different elements rather than learn the table by rote.” The government wants these new GCSEs to be assessed after two years, with an emphasis on final exams. It also wants to prescribe question types and the proportion of open/closed and long/short questions, and synoptic responses in GCSEs, which ATL members believe shows the intention to centrally micromanage every aspect of both the new GCSEs and A-levels. While ATL members largely agreed with the proposals for tiering in exams — preferring overlapping tiers — and for exams to be externally assessed, there is concern the move away from a modular to a linear GCSE structure would disadvantage some pupils. Meanwhile, the new grading system would mean the number of grades at

the higher and middle performance ranges would increase, and those at the lower range would decrease, so there would be more differentiation at the top. As currently 40% of 16-year-olds do not achieve English and maths at A*-C, it is likely that this figure will increase as grade boundaries may shift upwards with the new grading structure. “This means schools would be held accountable for something they will not have the power to change, potentially causing further demoralisation and failure for teachers and students alike,” said Jill Stokoe. The government is likely to make a decision by the end of the year. But, with a general election due in 2015, is this another in a series of reforms in education that are being set in motion for political reasons, rather than for pupils? As one ATL member said in our survey: “I am sick of being a political football. I do not disagree that improvements can be made — but let’s make them in consultation with the people who have the expertise, in an appropriate timeframe. “In English we have had two different syllabuses on the go for Years 10 and 11 for three years now, and in 2015 it’s all going to change again. We are so busy trying to keep up with what’s happening, so that we don’t disadvantage our students, that we don’t have time to prepare properly.” Louisa Thomson said: “Our members have told us the most important principles for GCSE reform are having an equitable offer for teenagers and a broad curriculum. ‘Rigour’ does not mean making subjects harder, narrower and more challenging for pupils to progress. “Decisions about how to assess should be based on the purposes of assessment, and the skills and knowledge to be assessed, not on political whim.” Jill Stokoe added: “We are warning the government to listen to our concerns about the design and accreditation of GCSEs, something it has failed to do with the proposed reforms to AS/A2 exams.” You can see ATL’s responses and more about ATL’s policy and the reforms at: www.atl.org.uk/keystage4reforms What do you think? You can share your views using the contact details on p15, at www.facebook.com/atlunion or by emailing report@atl.org.uk

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help and advice / legal

Returning to work part time after maternity leave An employer refusing to allow you to work part time after maternity leave could be guilty of sex discrimination, says ATL solicitor Sharon Liburd

balance it against the discriminating TL receives many enquiries effect on you. from women members It is advisable to approach your employed on full-time employers (usually the headteacher or contracts who wish to principal) informally in the first instance work part time after and assess their reaction. Make a note of maternity leave. any concerns they have. You do not have an automatic right to You should make a written request, resume work on a general part-time or which tries to address concerns that have job-share basis after your maternity leave. been raised. It should be made clear that However, you can ask and your employer you have principal responsibility for the should consider your request seriously. care of your child(ren) and that you need It is generally accepted by employment to work part time in order to meet their tribunals and courts that women have needs. The tone of your letter should be greater childcare responsibilities than positive, emphasising your commitment to men. Therefore, employers who insist the school/college and that your skills and on resumption of full-time work after experience will be retained. maternity leave may indirectly discriminate If the request is refused, contact ATL against women since fewer of them are about lodging an appeal, which is advisable. able to work full time because of these ATL will, on request, consider legal responsibilities. An unjustifiable refusal proceedings on your behalf for indirect sex of a request to go part time or job-share discrimination. A claim must be lodged in can therefore amount to indirect sex the employment tribunals within three discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. months of the date of the alleged The starting point is to show that being discriminatory act, ie required to work full An imposed demotion the date of the first time will put you at a disadvantage. The could amount to indirect decision rejecting your request. As time physical and emotional sex discrimination limits are strictly stress of working full applied, you are strongly advised to contact time coupled with the inconvenience and ATL as soon as you receive a negative expense of maintaining practical childcare decision, either verbally or in writing, and arrangements can amount to a disadvantage. not wait for the outcome of an appeal. Your employer must prove that insisting In successful cases, the employment on full-time working can be objectively tribunals can order the employer to pay justified. They must show they have compensation to the employee for financial carefully examined whether the change loss, such as salary and pension benefits as to part time is feasible, what problems well as for ‘injury to feelings’ for the upset, continuing to work full time will cause hurt, etc caused by the discrimination. you and whether it is essential for the ATL believes that it is possible and school/college. Your employers should reasonable to maintain career development not rely on suppositions for rejecting your while working part time and positions of request; such as that the parents will not responsibility can often be successfully joblike it or that it would be detrimental to shared. A positive response to the sharing the education of the pupils/students. of responsibilities demonstrates an Employment tribunals and courts will employer’s commitment to equal consider the employer’s evidence and

‘‘

October 2013

’’

opportunities. An imposed demotion could amount to indirect sex discrimination. Nor would it be reasonable to be offered continued employment only on a fixed-term basis if permanent work is available. Though not a legal requirement, some women request part-time work or a job-share after maternity leave by completing a form under the Flexible Working Regulations. If you apply, your employers can reject it on at least one of the business reasons specified in the regulations. A claim under these regulations can only be brought in the employment tribunals on specified grounds, such as failure to follow the procedure laid down therein. Moreover, in successful claims, the employment tribunals can only order the employer to reconsider your application and award a maximum of eight weeks’ pay (currently capped at £450 per week). As limited legal redress is available under the Flexible Working Regulations, ATL members are advised to focus on issues concerned with indirect sex discrimination when requesting part time/job-share following resumption of work after maternity leave. Further advice is available from our London office (see page 22) and at www.atl.org.uk. An ATL factsheet Working Part Time after Maternity contains more detailed information, including a sample letter to help request part-time working from your employer. It is available from www.atl.org.uk/factsheets. www.atl.org.uk

help and advice / contact

Help and advice If you need help with matters related to your employment, your first point of contact should be your school or college ATL rep, or your AMiE regional officer if you are a leadership member. You can also contact your local ATL branch for advice and support. If they are unable to help, contact ATL using these details:

General enquiries 020 7930 6441 Email: info@atl.org.uk Website: www.atl.org.uk London: 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD. Belfast: 16 West Bank Drive, Belfast BT3 9LA. Tel: 028 9078 2020. Email: ni@atl.org.uk Cardiff: 9 Columbus Walk, Brigantine Place, Cardiff CF10 4BY. Tel: 029 2046 5000. Email: cymru@atl.org.uk AMiE members: 35 The Point, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7QU. Contact your AMiE regional officer (contact details at www.amie.atl.org.uk) or call the employment helpline 01858 464171. Email: helpline@amie.atl.org.uk

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

Pension enquiries 020 7782 1600 Out-of-office hours helpline 020 7782 1612 Monday to Friday, 5-7.30pm during term time. ATL’s regional officials are available to speak to you about work problems.

Personal injury claims 0800 083 7285 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. ATL should be your first port of call in the event of work-related issues. If you feel you need emotional support, Teacher Support Network is a group of independent charities and a social enterprise that provides emotional support to staff in the education sector and their families. Their support lines are available 24 hours a day:

If you are not a member of ATL and would like to join, please contact us on 0845 057 7000 (lo-call) Remember to pass your copy of Report to colleagues who may be interested in it!

UK: 08000 562 561 Wales: 08000 855 088 Email: support@teachersupport.info Text: 07909 341229

Terms of ATL’s support are outlined in our members’ charter, available via www.atl.org.uk. When emailing ATL from home, please include either your membership number or home postcode to help us deal with your enquiry more efficiently.

www.atl.org.uk

October 2013

Is your school up for our Christmas competition? This Christmas, we’re challenging your class to build the most wonderful, creative gingerbread house you can – and then sell it to support Shelter.

This year, 80,000 children in Britain will face Christmas without a home. Every class that takes part in our challenge will help homeless children, so we hope we can count on you.

To make things easy, we’ve put together lesson plans to ﬁt into each key-stage curriculum, so you can cross Christmas planning off your to-do list.

Download everything you need from shelter.org.uk/gingerbread

GOLDSMITHS’ GRANT FOR TEACHERS

2014 GRANTS FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TEACHERS Take Time Out from the Classroom! The Goldsmiths’ Grant for Teachers provides an opportunity for teachers and headteachers to undertake a project of their choice, in UK or abroad, aimed at enhancing their personal and professional development. The Grant forms part of the long-term commitment of the Goldsmiths’ Company to support teachers and headteachers in the United Kingdom. Grants will cover travel, accommodation, materials costs, etc, up to a maximum of £3,000. In addition the Goldsmiths’ Company will pay a maximum of £2,000 supply cover to your school” For guidelines and further details visit our website: www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk/charity-education/education/

or apply to: The Deputy Clerk, The Goldsmiths’ Company Goldsmiths’ Hall, Foster Lane, London EC2V 6BN

DON’T DELAY – APPLICATIONS MUST BE IN BY 1 DECEMBER 2013

help and advice / guide

The angry learner Anger is a normal human emotion but can create a barrier to learning for many young people. Trainer Barry Stay offers some tips on managing the angry learner

t is no surprise that anger can be so prevalent in our schools and colleges. Teachers and young people are stressed and under pressure in a results-driven education environment, while in the wider world road rage and air rage are on the rise. Certain staff who work with particular types of young people need very specific training, but all staff need a heightened awareness of certain dos and don’ts when dealing with anger. It is helpful to understand anger’s physiological effects. When a person is feeling angry or anxious, that is transmitted in the brain to the amygdala, which floods the body with adrenaline. This in turn increases blood pressure and heart rate, and breathing becomes faster. The heart takes blood from the brain, which is why angry people can’t reason well. It is pointless challenging or arguing with an angry person because the blood has left their brain. This process is part of the natural fightor-flight response and produces signs that,

with practice, can be relatively easy to spot. Angry people appear to go through five stages: trigger, escalation, crisis, recovery period and post-crisis depression. A person can move through these very quickly.

Trigger The trigger is the thing that sets the student off. Everybody’s got different triggers. It could be Jimmy Smith’s dad is in prison so Billy Jones mentions that to push his buttons. You can put strategies in place for that, so Jimmy isn’t sat near Billy, for example. If you can avoid the trigger the anger won’t explode in the first place.

Escalation Once the trigger has set someone’s blood pressure rising it can build towards a crisis, but there is still time to head it off at the pass. Observe young people as they come in for a lesson for signs of anger building, such as: • pacing up and down — angry people cannot keep still • angry people can become thirsty — keep a good supply of water handy • slipping off shoes — as feet become hotter • redness in the face, blotchiness on arms as blood pressure rises • tone of voice changing, talk speeding up, volume rising. If a young person appears to be angry, he or she will not be ready to learn. Ask him or her to go on an errand somewhere, accompanied by a teaching assistant. While walking, the adrenaline will be dispersed through the body, cooling him or her down and hopefully avoiding the crisis.

Crisis The crisis stage is where the student kicks off and staff have to learn what to do when it happens. It’s about de-escalating the situation and, for me, the golden rule is to get help. The school should have systems where no member of staff is left alone for long with a student who has lost their www.atl.org.uk

temper. If there are two of you and the student is focusing his or her anger on one of you, it may be worth the other taking over the situation with the first retreating to the background. Remove the audience if the incident is in a corridor or public space. Think about the physical space between you and the student. If approaching them, do so at a 45-degree angle or from the side, not straight on, in order to be less confrontational. If you have a good relationship with the student it may be possible to get him or her into a quiet room to calm down.

De-escalation When a person is really wound up it can take at least half an hour for their blood pressure to go back to normal. Many schools try to put young people back into class too quickly and the situation reignites. Some schools have a special room with bean bags, for example, where pupils can calm down by reading a book or doing a puzzle. Whatever it is can’t be more interesting than the classroom, though, otherwise it will be an incentive for them to kick off. Keep a log on who goes to the room, and when, to enable analysis of any patterns in behaviour.

Post-crisis depression This is the stage that most schools miss out on, where you need to sit down with the student the next day to go through the incident and see how you can support them. Praise the positives and pick up on improvements they could make. It’s a journey the student is making behaviourally; you won’t get instant success. If you are proactive rather than reactive in the four non-crisis stages, you will have fewer crises. Of course, the real starting point is ourselves as teachers; we need to be calm at all times and provide a stable emotional model. That can be the most difficult thing to do; to change our behaviour before we can change theirs. October 2013

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resources / training

Spotlight on CPD for NQTs Creating great lessons to behave for – practical behaviour management and student engagement We know NQTs have a lot to keep up with. That’s why we have created two new courses specifically to support you to enhance your practice while developing your knowledge of teaching, learning and behaviour management. As well as ‘Securing the right job: applications and interview skills for NQTs’ in the spring and summer terms, our new course, ‘Creating great lessons to behave for’, starting this term, will help you to personalise learning and engage pupils via creative and innovative teaching practice. Held in locations around the country, this one-day course, delivered by two of ATL’s outstanding practitioners, will provide you with the opportunity to learn how to create great lessons pupils will want to behave for. The first of the two sessions looks at behaviour management and explores how to identify behaviour, implement behaviour management strategies and techniques for combating low-level disruption. The second session will help you to create a great classroom, looking at engagement of students, making a

curriculum matter and offering strategies and quick wins for creating great lessons to behave for. This course is available to all NQT members who have upgraded to standard membership, at a cost of only £25. Courses will be held on: 27 November – Manchester 5 December – Birmingham 12 December – York 23 January – Bath 27 January – London 6 February – Cambridge To register for your place visit www.atl.org.uk/learningzone.

‘‘

Excellent style, engaging and fun. Super strategies which I really want to put into practice. Many thanks for a great day Shelley Morris, ATL member

’’

Your CPD with ATL this autumn Level 2 safeguarding online for schools 28 October, online Managing change: a strategic approach 4 November – 16 December, online Managing challenging behaviour 20/21 June, North West Moving into headship 9 November, London Creativity and the curriculum 14 November, Cardiff Taking care of behaviour 19 November, online Creating great lessons to behave for 27 November, Manchester; 5 December, Birmingham; 12 December, York Early years: playing to learn 27 November, London Taking care of behaviour 3 December, Cambridge There is a nominal charge for courses to minimise the number of members not turning up: £40 for all standard members, £20 for standard support members and NQTs. It is our expectation that employers should cover the cost of attending.

See all of ATL’s training opportunities at www.atl.org.uk/learningzone

Shaping education in England — have your say We have a tough year ahead with many changes to the curriculum, pay and conditions, the drive to privatise education, on top of all the other stresses and pressures thrown at the profession. We want to hear your views, so please take a few minutes to fill in our survey and help us form our ‘Shaping education’ campaign ahead of the next general election. The main political parties start considering their election manifestos in early 2014 so now is a good time to influence their thinking on education. ATL’s president Alison Sherratt says: www.atl.org.uk

“We intend to continue the fight for children and young people. They have a right to an education they will look back on with enjoyment and not with a sense of gloom and boredom. Not testing, testing, testing but WOW!” We are also going to concentrate on the constant erosion of your professionalism as educators. As you know, NUT and NASUWT colleagues plan to take action this term but, having listened to our members, we know you want to make your voice heard through lobbying and negotiating at the heart of government.

We need your experiences and knowledge from the workplace to give us the tools to represent you effectively. So let us hear from you. We’re asking members in England to tell us more about your vision for teaching, learning and pay and conditions in our autumn survey. Go to www.atl.org.uk/ autumnsurvey to take part. October 2013

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October 2013

WIN £50& of Markser Spenc s voucher

Prize crossword

Down 1 Set of exam questions produces normal score, including physical education (5) 2 Overdramatic actor allowed to produce Shakespeare tragedy (6) 3 Funny ring-tone — it’s a gas! (8) 4 It’s hard on new master, getting small pet (7) 5 Part of England worn out during brief visit (8) 6 Badly tarnish Gove as being missing during the hours of darkness (9) 9 In school I’m pathetic, lacking firmness (4) 14 Seem upset with Blair, unhappy (9) 16 New motto, Sir — ‘He who holds the wheel controls the car’ (8) 18 Head of English joked — provided with the necessary kit? (8) 19 Centre of intellectual activity embraces it to make this country great? (7) 21 Takes part in the Boat Race, and gets lines? (4) 23 Not physically strong in company? (6) 24 Kind of tank? Use your brain! (5)

13 16

15 19

6 8

Across 7 Mad keen, but can fail at revision (9) 8 Maybe loves what you do to this clue! (5) 10 Department of Education and Science out, Cambridge college goes in and voluntarily ends the innings (8) 11 Pay no attention to new generation — a net loss! (6) 12 Party animal? (4) 13 Revolutionary MP I teach, forcibly expressed (8) 15 Freud perhaps musing on the end of mankind (7) 17 Law they revise to be better off (7) 20 He delivers an educational talk on overthrown ruler, etc (8) 22 Self-contained element of an educational course in the community (4) 25 Public school develops hydrogen missile (6) 26 and 27 Lots hope facts will be altered regarding position of highest-achieving pupil (3,2,3,5) 28 Sack Russell, being a very passionate sort (9)

22 25

27 31

23 26

26 28

29 34

28 32

WIN!

One lucky reader will win £50 in Marks & Spencer vouchers. Simply send your completed crossword, with your contact details, to: ATL Competition, Archant Dialogue, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR1 1RE. Closing date: 13 November 2013. If you have an ATL membership number, please include this _________________________________________________________________

Terms & conditions: Please include your full name, address and telephone number. The winner will be picked at random from the correct entries on 13 November 2013. The editor’s decision is final. No purchase is necessary. The prize is non-transferable. Employees of ATL and Archant are not eligible for the prize draw.

❒ Tick here if you do not wish to receive the latest information from Hays and ATL by email.

October 2013

Write your email address here________________________________________________________________________

✁

Last month’s solution - September 2013 Across: 1 Attention 8 Arctic 9 Umlaut 12 Avid 13 Pupil 14 Pier 17 Maypole 18 Tonight 19 Neutral 22 Staunch 24 Oars 25 Ocean 26 Opal 29 Palace 30 Loiter 31 Downstage Down: 2 Tate 3 Exclude 4 Tourist 5 Owls 6 Brainy 7 Outing 10 Badminton 11 Erstwhile 15 Court 16 On tap 20 Uproar 21 Lectern 22 Scarlet 23 Nipper 27 Sago 28 King

The winner of the September crossword competition will be announced on the ATL website.

www.atl.org.uk

join the debate / final word

Outside inspiration

ILLUSTRATION: PHIL WRIGGLESWORTH

BBC business editor Robert Peston explains his motivations for setting up education charity Speakers for Schools

W Robert Peston Robert Peston is the founder of Speakers for Schools, www.speakers 4schools.org, and is the BBC's business editor

www.atl.org.uk

hat did I inherit from my parents? Well, among other things, an irrational love of Arsenal Football Club, a passion for food and an almost religious belief in the importance of education. They sent me to our local comprehensive in north London, Highgate Wood School, which was what a good school should be: opening up opportunities for most of us, irrespective of our backgrounds; compassionate; and excited by knowledge. So today my support for state schools is as tribal as my support for Arsenal. I desperately want the schools in our communities, which are open to all, to be the best in the world. And although this is heart ruling head, it is vitally important for this country’s future that our schools are as good as they can be: we will only put these difficult years of economic stagnation sustainably behind us when our young people are the most skilled, creative, confident and ambitious of any in the world. Part of the UK’s economic weakness is a lack of very

specific skills. In my job as BBC business editor, I am regularly horrified when companies (big and small) tell me that a constraint on their ability to grow in Britain is the shortage of young local talent. That said, Speakers for Schools is not a charity set up to fill Britain’s skills gap. In supplying inspirational speakers to state schools for free, we are attempting something much broader than that: we want to generate enthusiasm for knowledge that is both within the curriculum and beyond it; we want to encourage ambition in the broadest sense; we want students to hear directly from people deemed to be successful that they too have what it takes to achieve their dreams. My proselytising mission would be simpler if I could point to some individual who came to my own school and inspired me to aim high. But actually my motive for setting up the charity was that absolutely no one of that sort ever came to my school — and I have always been envious of those whose schools were and are magnets for great thinkers and doers. I see it as something of a national tragedy that the schools with the strongest traditions of providing brilliant talks by distinguished outsiders are those whose students need this kind of intellectual and psychological leg-up the least — viz our leading fee-paying schools. How many of us believe that the boys of Eton are chronic underachievers with desperately little self-belief? Still, Eton succeeds in attracting copious numbers of world-class speakers of all political persuasions. So if Speakers for Schools is not providing skills in a conventional sense, it is trying to tackle one particular skills deficiency in the pupils of the local state school: the ability to schmooze and boast of having been given advice by acknowledged leaders from business, politics, culture, science, sports and so on. What I call a diploma in the ability to bullshit is hugely underrated. All of which is to say that Speakers for Schools is here to help, if you too think there is benefit both to students and society from connecting schools to top people. Since launch a couple of years ago, we’ve organised well over 500 free talks. Our plan is to facilitate at least 800 talks, all over the country, in the current academic year (thanks in large part to the generous financial support of our chairman Andrew Law, who went to a state school and shares my commitment to levelling the playing field between state and fee-paying schools). And even if, for some students, what we are doing is simply providing a bit of fun, a break from the routine, would that be such a bad thing? October 2013

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