Report September 2012

report

SEPTEMBER 2012

THE MAGAZINE FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS & LECTURERS £2.50

The dark days of Ofsted Report outlines ATL’s alternative

Meet the president New ATL president Hank Roberts

Victorian values How the coalition is living in the past ADVICE How to engage students from the very beginning

JOIN THE DEBATE Why film should be part of the curriculum

Don’t get left on the shelf RM Books – Easy access to a growing range of digital textbooks

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Contents

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Welcome ILLUSTRATION: PETER LUBACH

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Your ATL

Features

04

News Including ATL on sport in schools and regional teacher of the year awards

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Ofsted alternative Report looks at the new inspection process and sets out ATL’s ideas on another way

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Noticeboard Advice, information, events and opportunities to get involved

18

Meet the president Getting to know incoming ATL president Hank Roberts

21

Employment laws Report looks at potential changes that could affect your working conditions

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CPD ATL launches its new online learning zone with new courses for members

Help and advice 22

Pay to claim ATL’s legal team on the changes to employment tribunal costs

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

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Learning by accident How to get children hooked on lessons

Resources 28

Classified advertisements

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Crossword Your chance to win £50 in 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 Editor Alex Tomlin News editor Oonagh Hayes Head of advertising sales Samantha Overton 01603 772520 Advertising sales Lisa Parkinson 01603 772521

Alice Robinson, national president, ATL

Join the debate 14

Agenda General secretary Mary Bousted on professionalism in teaching

15

ATL in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland Philip Dixon, Mark Langhammer and Keith Robson on their respective inspectorates

17

Letters ATL members have their say on ageism in schools and children’s negative body image

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Final word BFI creative director Heather Stewart on why film should be included in the curriculum

his is my last column for Report.

I find it hard to believe that the year has passed so quickly. I have been extremely privileged to be the president of ATL. In my role I have travelled the country to visit branches, schools and colleges, and have been allowed into your classrooms and lecture rooms.

In a meeting in Birmingham I met a member who had taught me on his first teaching practice in 1967.

In another, while visiting a school in Dorset, I met the headteacher, only to realise that I had taught him 30 years ago. It is indeed a small world.

I have so many people to thank for their help and support during the past year: the officer group, the Executive, branch secretaries, the staff and, of course, you, the members, who have taken time out of your busy lives to meet or to contact me. It is with a sense of gratitude that we say goodbye to Andy Brown, our immediate past president, as he takes up his new post as a principal lecturer in Northern Ireland, and we wish him well.

I hand over the reins of my office to Hank Roberts, who I am sure will be kept as busy as I have been.

Hank’s campaigning skills will, I am certain, be well used in the coming year. You can read the interview with Hank on page 18.

The constant onslaught of changes to all sectors of education during the last two years has been relentless and shows no signs of abating. The issues relating to regional pay, the push towards all schools becoming academies, and the proposed changes to qualifications and assessment, to name but a few, will be of concern to many of you.

On a lighter note, I wonder if anyone has pointed out to Michael Gove that phonics are of little use in trying to decode the King James Bible.

Goodbye and I wish all well for the coming academic year.

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 Catherine Page, Managing art editor Nicky Wright, Art director Nick Paul, Managing ad production controller Kay Brown, Editorial 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.

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your ATL / news

James Thomas, Woodruffe School

Hugh Chambers, Sir Thomas Boteler C of E High School

John Ireland, St John Rigby College

Teaching awards success Three ATL members have recently received recognition for their outstanding teaching practice in the Pearson regional teaching awards.

All three have been at their respective schools for more than 30 years and the commitment they put into teaching and their pupils, as well as the wider community, were key factors in each one winning their award.

James Thomas, head of sixth form at Woodruffe School, received a lifetime achievement award for the south west region. Having started out as a geography teacher before working up to head of sixth form, James also has a long history of volunteering, first for the local lifeboat crew for 21 years and then the coastguard for the last 12 years. Many of his former pupils have joined as volunteers over the years.

On winning the award James said: “I’m

extremely proud but extremely humbled at the same time. You do your job for so many years and suddenly this happens, which is completely unexpected.”

Also receiving a lifetime achievement award, this time in the north, is Hugh Chambers, deputy head of Sir Thomas Boteler C of E High School. Having started out as a French teacher, over the years Hugh has also worked closely with the school’s NQTs. He has developed student voice and youth leadership among pupils, and he developed and coaches the school basketball team for which he gets exstudents to help out with training both during the week and at the summer school.

Hugh said: “I couldn’t believe I had won an award. It was a very pleasant surprise. I’m delighted not just for myself but also because it is recognition to the profession and all the teachers out there that are doing a great job.”

ATL slams government sport policy Teachers have been under attack again — this time being blamed by the coalition government for not doing enough to encourage competitive sports in children.

Discussing the issue of the Olympic legacy and sports provision in schools last month, Prime Minister David Cameron told a presenter on LBC 97.3 FM radio that money and investment were not the problem when it came to creating a sporting legacy. Instead, “the problem has been too many schools not wanting to have competitive sport, [and] some teachers not wanting to join in and play their part”.

He added: “We need a big cultural change — a cultural change in favour of competitive sports. That’s what I think really matters. And one of the answers there is making sure the sports clubs really deliver in terms of sports in our schools.”

Nansi Ellis, head of education policy, said: “It seems that David Cameron www.atl.org.uk

has forgotten that the ethos of the Olympics is about taking part and doing your best.

“Schools and teachers would love to have the curriculum time and facilities to teach a range of sports that will appeal to sporty pupils as well as non-sporty so that they can keep fit, enjoy sports and learn the importance of taking part, being a good team player, persevering, the determination to win, and being competitive.

“But instead of helping, this government has sold off playing fields, cut funding for the Schools Sports Partnership and removed the requirement to teach a minimum amount of PE, while increasing the pressure to focus on subjects that will score well in league tables.”

Join the debate at: twitter.com/atlunion or facebook.com/atlunion

Winning FE lecturer/teacher of the year in the north, John Ireland, head of physical education at St John Rigby College, built the college’s PE department from scratch.

Starting with introducing unusual games, such as handball and judo, to get pupils interested in the subject, the college became one of the first in the country to offer GCSE PE in 1988 and was in the second cohort of A-level PE. John has also co-written the textbooks used for the AS and A2 curriculum for both staff and students, and runs INSET days on the subject at colleges across the country.

He says: “It was such a surprise but I’m thrilled and completely overwhelmed to receive the award. The college has been so supportive of me over the years, which has allowed me to do the things I have in the job.”

The national winners of the teaching awards will be announced on 21 October.

Teacher respect due Teacher professionalism is being impacted drastically by the government, ATL general secretary Dr Mary Bousted told a seminar recently.

Dr Bousted was one of three speakers at the recent Unions 21 and Labour Teachers event in London. Unions 21 provides an open forum for debate between union officers and members on the future of the trade union movement, including sharing best practice.

“The coalition government, despite all its promises, has pulled levers far too quickly and far too often and proposes to police primary school practice to a hitherto unprecedented level. [So] many teachers feel that they are not given the professional respect which is their due,” Dr Bousted said.

See Agenda on page 14 for more on teacher professionalism.

September 2012

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Tackling homophobia in schools members, so that they can feel confident A third of lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) in challenging homophobic bullying in pupils have seriously considered not their workplace. continuing in education because they Homophobic bullying, or the fear of fear homophobic bullying will continue it, has a serious effect on young people’s in college. mental health, with 56% deliberately However, where schools address the issue harming themselves. and include an Tackling homophobic anti-homophobic bullying section or Homophobic bullying, bullying enables schools and colleges sentence within or the fear of it, has a to boost students’ their school policy, serious effect on young these figures drop academic experience people’s mental health and their mental — but more still health and create a needs to be done. good school ethos, This was the with meaningful values and policies. resounding message from the recent Ignoring the issues and not challenging Stonewall conference — Education for All, comments such as ‘that’s so gay’ or ‘you’re held in London. so gay’ could be construed as siding with Stonewall is a prominent LGB rights and the bullies. campaigning charity in England, Scotland Stonewall wants anti-homophobic and Wales. Wanda Wyporska, ATL bullying awareness in all initial teaching equalities officer, attended the conference training, which Dr Wyporska says would to share expertise and ideas to help develop help give new teachers confidence to an effective training programme for ATL

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intervene in cases of homophobic bullying and support those pupils who are suffering at the hands of bullies.

Dr Stephen Twigg MP, shadow education secretary, praised the progress made by schools and colleges and the work of many organisations, including teaching trade unions, to date. He also gave particular praise for the Magna Carta school video, which featured at ATL’s Conference this year.

For ATL’s position statement on homophobic bullying, go to: www.atl.org.uk/homophobia

ATL attended the recent LGBT TUC conference, with Malcolm Gilpin and Julia Neal attending as delegates and Wanda Wyporska, ATL equalities officer, attending as a visitor. Our motion, calling for more to be done to ensure school and college leaders are tackling homophobic bullying, was enthusiastically supported by conference and passed. A delegation also attended the TUC disabled workers’ conference.

Principal recognised in Queen’s birthday honours Maxine Room had a pleasant surprise earlier this summer when she learnt she had received a CBE. Principal of the newly merged Lewisham and Southwark Colleges, Ms Room received the award in the Queen’s birthday honours for the national work she has undertaken in leadership in FE, and race and gender equalities.

Ms Room, who is a member of AMIE, ATL’s leadership section, said: “It’s a great honour to receive this and it has taken me aback.

I thought it was a spoof when I received the letter from Buckingham Palace. I’m absolutely thrilled to be recognised by my sector for the work that I do.”

Ms Room was originally nominated by the Association of Colleges. She has held the principalship of four different FE colleges across the country and has been involved in FE for her entire career, starting out as a home economics teacher in 1979.

September 2012

Maxine Room CBE

Ms Room has always been dedicated to equal opportunities in her work. While at Swansea College, her work ensured that the college reflected the community in which it served and included black students on its roll, something it hadn’t done when she first arrived there.

Ms Room’s new college spans five sites with 20,000 students and 800 staff, but despite this new challenge, she is determined to continue to develop talent in her current roles — she is actively involved with the Network for Black Professionals and coaches and mentors women into leadership roles.

Ms Room is yet to collect her CBE from the palace, but has been told a date will be set before Christmas. She also recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bristol and has been nominated for a European Diversity Award. www.atl.org.uk

your ATL / news

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ATL seeks payout for staff The shock closure of Oakfield School in Woking, Surrey, left five ATL members jobless, only a month before the start of autumn term.

ATL is currently seeking back pay and redundancy pay for the members concerned, who only heard of the news on 3 August when they received letters saying the school had been closed by the directors, Leslie and Mary Tucker, due to financial reasons.

Oakfield School was an independent prepreparatory school for boys and girls (ages

three to seven) and independent girls’ school (ages seven to 16), which had been open for 96 years.

Allan Deacon, ATL senior regional official for the south east, said: “This huge blow for staff, pupils and parents came without any warning after the end of the summer term. One of our members was travelling to the airport to go on holiday when she learned the shock news that the school had closed and she would be jobless in September. Staff were told that their July

pay cheque was their last and, as well as having no job, they would not get their August salary.

“We are disappointed the school has not consulted the staff about the closure, as it is legally required to do, or explored any alternatives to closure with them.

“ATL will now do all it can to make sure its members get any pay and redundancy payments to which they are entitled, including taking the school to an employment tribunal if necessary.”

An American adventure Wales welcomes visitors ranging from private schools with fees around £14,000 a year through to state schools where children are provided with breakfast, snack and lunch each day at no cost to their parents.

One thing in particular that caught Caroline’s attention, and is something she would like to implement back in her workplace, was the focus on the child’s body when it came to their behaviour.

Caroline explains: “If a child was having difficulty standing in a line or sitting still on a carpet, the teacher would say something like ‘you need to calm your body down’. In this way teaching and support staff were enabling the child to take responsibility for their actions without labelling them ‘naughty’. The child was given the opportunity to respond by taking control of their own body.”

An ATL member who was awarded the Walter Hines Page scholarship 2012 says her trip to the United States in March this year gave her valuable strategies to use back home.

Caroline Godin, a community centre teacher at Crosland Moor children’s centre in Huddersfield, wanted to study how quality of pre-school provision is assessed in the USA, with a particular focus on the use of early childhood environment rating scales.

Her two-week trip involved visiting 11 different schools in four different states, September 2012

For more details on how to apply for the Walter Hines Page scholarship 2013 visit: www.atl.org.uk/scholarships

A number of members have also been awarded money towards their training courses through the Peter Smith scholarship.

Celia Bone, Claire Large, Greg Rimmer and Jenny Vale-Onslow were awarded £300.

Judith Al-Rawazik, Debra Craggs, Debra Griffin, Olivia Jones, Natalie Langer and Gemma Machin were all awarded £200.

And Kimberley Venn received £100. For more details on how to apply go to www.atl.org.uk/about/peter-smith.asp.

Over the summer ATL Cymru held its inaugural annual lecture ‘Everyone a Winner; Equity and Excellence for All’ given by educationalist professor Mel Ainscow.

Professor Ainscow spoke about the fact that while most schools could improve in areas, the tools and experience necessary for this were already present at the school in the form of talented teachers and leaders.

Attending the lecture along with members was education minister, Leighton Andrews, who stayed afterwards to discuss aspects of educational policy with members.

ATL Cymru also played host to a delegation from the Japan Federation of Bar Associations last month. The group had travelled to Cardiff to research and report on UK education policy over the last few decades with a view to incorporating aspects into Japanese education reforms.

Dr Philip Dixon, director of ATL Cymru, said: “It was a very enjoyable afternoon and our Japanese guests were very well informed about both devolution and education. They were keen to examine the Welsh Government’s new banding system and also how the inspectorate operated. They were also fascinated by the divergence in policy and practice now taking place between Wales and England.” www.atl.org.uk

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your ATL / noticeboard, get involved

Noticeboard Your pension: important reminders It is vital that you keep your monthly payslips as they are the only proof of when and how much you pay, should you need to correct your pensionable service record.

You should receive your annual statement from Teachers’ Pensions by September each year. If you haven’t received it, please contact TPS to check that they have your correct address and personal details.

Please note that if you have visited the TPS website and accessed the ‘My pension online’ service to look up information about your pension benefits in the last 12 months, you will not receive an annual statement and will need to request one.

If you are a part-time teacher, you should check the service on your annual statement each year to ensure the amount of service corresponds to the amount of years that you have been contributing to your pension.

If it doesn’t, you should also contact Teachers’ Pensions. Their contact details can be found at www.teacherspensions.co.uk.

If you are in receipt of your pension but have returned to work, make sure you complete the certificate of re-employment at least once a year and, in any case, whenever your salary changes.

Remember that the ATL pensions team is on hand to

www.atl.org.uk

help you with any questions about the TPS. You can call them on 0207 782 1600.

Contribution rates: please note that if you have a salary increase taking effect in September 2012, this could take you into the next salary bracket as far as contributions are concerned. Rates can be found at www.atl.org.uk/ pensions/current/contributionrates-2012.asp.

Finally, if you are interested in attending any of our ATL pre-retirement courses in 2012/2013, please register your interest online at www.atl.org.uk/learningzone.

Pensions: autoenrolment The government is introducing major new legislation on pensions that could affect teachers and support staff, depending on their pension status.

From October 2012, every employer in the UK will be required to automatically enrol all employees into a qualifying pension scheme.

The changes are being phased in, starting with the largest employers first.

Employees will still have the right to opt out, but will have to elect to do so.

Full details of the changes and how they might affect you can be found in the factsheet on auto-enrolment.

Visit www.atl.org.uk/ factsheets.

New recruitment service Middle tier paper With the advent of academies and reduction in power of local authorities, ATL has produced a discussion paper on the issue of local accountability.

The Middle Tier: A Voice from the Profession is available to download from: www.atl.org.uk/publicationsand-resources/researchpublications/middle-tier.asp.

Changes to ATL insurance coverage Since January 2012, ATL’s insurance for members has extended to cover the accidental death of any member, whether on workrelated business or not, and in any location (ie in the UK or abroad). £10,000 will be paid to the member’s estate and an additional maximum of £5,000 can be claimed for funeral expenses after a member’s accidental death.

For more details, contact legal and member services on 020 7930 6441.

ATL and Hays Education are pleased to announce Job Finder, a dedicated recruitment service for ATL members.

The new partnership aims to provide members with the very best in career advice and job opportunities.

Hays Education offers a personalised service to those looking for their next permanent position and, with a national network of 33 offices, provides access to permanent jobs locally or further afield should relocating be an option.

Hays Education works with nurseries, schools, academies and colleges across England and Wales to provide exclusive access to specialist teaching and support roles. This September, Hays will have helped more than 1,000 education specialists to find their next permanent support, NQT, MPS, TLR and leadership positions.

To view the ATL Job Finder service, go to: www.hays.co.uk/jobs/atl or email atl@hays.com.

September 2012

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A future that works ATL is supporting the TUC-organised rally, ‘A future that works’, which takes place on 20 October in London.

ATL, like the TUC, believes that austerity isn’t working. Our country faces long-term economic problems but our political leaders have failed to face up to them. For the next five years or more, unless policies change, the economy will not grow, incomes will not rise, and there will be almost no new jobs.

Speak out for young people and join your fellow ATL members on the march.

September 2012

We’ll be meeting at 10am at the Mermaid Conference and Events Centre, Puddle Dock, Blackfriars EC4V 3DB before joining the march at noon.

You can let us know you plan to join the march or you can show your support by signing ATL’s pledge at www.surveymonkey.com/s/ATL20thOct. You can also download a flyer to help publicise the event at www.atl.org.uk/campaignflyers.

To find out more, please visit: http://afuturethatworks.org and to look for transport-sharing from your area, please visit http://falseeconomy.org.uk/oct20.

Equality survey Trade unions, voluntary sector bodies and some academics believe that government spending cuts in the

public sector will affect some groups of people, particularly women and black and minority ethnic groups, more than others as they are more likely to be employed in the public sector.

The TUC is working with the Runnymede Trust to monitor how the cuts are impacting levels of employment of different groups of people. The survey will compare information on the make-up of the workforce at December 2010 and April 2012. The survey is available at http://rminsight.co.uk/surveys/ runnymede/ along with online guidance about how to obtain the information from your employer and fill in the questionnaire.

Completing the survey should take no more than 15 minutes. The deadline for completing it is Friday 28 September.

www.atl.org.uk

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cover feature / Ofsted

Ofsted requires improvement As the dark cloud of yet another Ofsted inspection regime descends on classrooms, Report explains ATL’s alternative vision for school improvement

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nother school year, another new Ofsted framework, with the latest version starting this September, only eight months after the last framework was rolled out.

While ATL believes that school accountability is essential, the union also believes that the current inspection system is not working, and it is time for Ofsted’s regime to end.

ATL’s alternative vision for accountability is simple: a locally based system that monitors and challenges schools on an ongoing basis, then provides support for improvement.

This combined approach of inspection and support should be carried out by experts with an education background who develop a relationship with the school and understand the local community the school serves. These experts would work for the local authority, with Ofsted taking a national role of quality control to ensure local authorities don’t become complacent or fail to tackle difficult issues.

Having explored members’ experiences of Ofsted in an ATL survey of recently inspected schools, the reality of the current inspection regime is far from ATL’s ideal. Members report little support, little consistency of approach and even little education knowledge among inspectors, with some not having worked in the sector or having no experience of the subjects they are inspecting.

ATL’s proposed changes to the inspection regime are not about avoiding criticism as the union believes that a cycle of

www.atl.org.uk

monitoring, challenging and supporting One key area for concern among ATL schools is vital to improvement. Member members is the length of time inspectors Sarah Garred explains: “I value the spend in lessons. ATL believes that opinions of my more experienced snapshot observation is an inadequate way colleagues, rather than inspectors, as to pass judgement, often detrimental to I feel they have better advice to offer me both education professionals and students. and are more aware of the realities of dayATL member Georgina Manville was to-day teaching. observed by an inspector who “came in at “It is surely better in the long run to help some random point, stayed for 10 minutes, and develop teachers, rather than judge left, then came back for the last five and then walk away.” minutes. She told me she couldn’t give me September’s new framework introduces any proper feedback but did tell me my ‘almost no-notice’ inspections, with lesson was ‘nothing special’. I’ve never had inspectors calling the afternoon before feedback like that in my entire career. It they visit, a change that HM chief inspector was unhelpful and insulting.”

Sir Michael Wilshaw reassures parents Another member said: “They don’t will mean “inspectors witness the gratitude are seeing schools as I value the opinions from parents for the they really are”.

I helped their of my more experienced grades This is not a view child get, the ‘thank colleagues, rather shared by many you’ cards from members, who say that than inspectors students for helping a move to nearly nothem get their notice inspections places pressure on a university place or dream career, or my time school to be on constant standby, taking at lunch times and after school for students time away from educating pupils. As one who need that extra support to achieve, member working in the early years sector but mainly they do not see the social and put it, no-notice inspections will be “like a emotional difficulties of teenagers that Damocles sword over your head every day”.

I am faced with. I know I am outstanding Of course, Ofsted would argue that through all of the extras I put in; I do not nearly no-notice inspections mean a need Ofsted to tick boxes to tell me that.”

“It is near impossible to fully understand school can be assessed warts and all, but all the challenges a teacher faces in the in reality Ofsted itself often falls short classroom,” adds Adrian Prandle, ATL’s of providing excellent and consistent education policy adviser. “We are sceptical inspections. And given the pressure for that inspectors can properly assess places at ‘outstanding’ schools, the stakes teaching and learning without prejudice are too high for a school to receive an in such short observations. inaccurate report.

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September 2012

ILLUSTRATION: PETER LUBACH

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“Instead ATL would prefer a relationship to develop between the school and the local expert, which is based on a mutually devised way to monitor and improve the school’s work. A visit won’t be a oneoff stressful event, like current Ofsted inspections, but a regular, low-key feature of the school’s schedule.

“In dialogue with the school, the local expert will use many ways to engage with teachers, assess their skills and offer advice and support. Lesson observations form part of the process, with expectations agreed with the teacher beforehand and useful feedback provided afterwards.”

ATL’s view has been for some time that anyone inspecting a school should hold educational qualifications and have recent classroom experience, thereby giving them a clear understanding of school cultures and ethos. ATL also questions inspectors’ September 2012

abilities to judge classes in which they are not subject specialists.

This lack of classroom experience among inspectors was highlighted in July this year, when Tribal Consulting, the largest provider of inspectors, admitted five lead inspectors were not qualified as teachers.

As well as lack of relevant experience, ATL has concerns over how inspectors are trained in giving feedback, with one member reporting that an inspector said their lesson would have been outstanding had they used the interactive whiteboard, but when asked how, the response was “I don’t know, some keywords?”

“It should not be too much to ask that those working in schools receive proper professional feedback from inspectors,” says Mr Prandle.

“Every observation should be accompanied by a two-way dialogue between the inspector and the teacher or

lecturer, and feedback must be practical to enable improvement.”

The lack of dialogue feeds into the ‘no excuses’ ethos extolled by both Ofsted and the coalition government, but ATL believes the current inspection regime is too onedimensional in its approach.

As ATL member Viv Dryer says: “Schools are not factories. They are full of individuals requiring, at times, individual attention. To assess them on a ‘one size fits all’ basis must seriously call into question the very nature of that assessment.”

For example, ATL member Mary Simpson was concerned that the inspector picked out a pupil who had been in school for two weeks and spoke no English, and had not developed the stamina of other Year 2 pupils to last a whole school day. The inspector felt the pupil was not engaged, but did not accept her circumstances as a reason.

The lack of context is compounded when looking at students in mainstream schools with special educational needs, as teaching assistant Helen Cope explains: “Progress is more than just about learning subject matter for some students; the life and social skills learnt through attending mainstream school will last a lifetime.”

Other key features of the new framework include replacing the rating of ‘satisfactory’ with ‘requires improvement’. Those schools requiring improvement will be re-inspected within two years; and those schools requiring improvement on two consecutive inspections will be put into special measures if they haven’t improved by their third inspection.

ATL believes this new terminology is overly negative, and highlights Ofsted’s punitive, non-supportive approach, where goalposts are moved yet again over what is and isn’t an acceptable standard of practice for schools.

Elsewhere in the UK, attitudes towards inspection agencies vary, but none seem to have the level of animosity seen in England.

Philip Dixon, director of ATL Cymru, describes Wales’ equivalent Estyn as the closest model to ATL’s ideal inspection regime, calling it “the critical friend of the profession” where “inspection reports are well-researched and closely argued” and “judgements also take full account www.atl.org.uk

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cover feature / Ofsted

Class teacher Olly Bloom gives one member’s view “The problem with Ofsted is that it places unrealistic expectations and tries to measure the immeasurable.

The things it measures should not be the goal of any self-respecting teacher, but tools and methods to be utilised as appropriate.

When I discuss my teaching with parents they

are not interested in any of the other things that Ofsted claims to be able to reliably measure. They simply want to know that their child is going to succeed at school and beyond.

My greatest success has been in transforming a Year 11 class with no ambition and a 10% expected pass

of context and the tensions faced by schools in difficult social situations.”

In Scotland, ATL national official Keith Robson feels Education Scotland is “more akin to ATL’s notion of inspection” than Ofsted, although Mark Langhammer, director of ATL Northern Ireland, is concerned that “the way in which teachers experience inspection is changing towards a very high-stakes, pressurised event”.

See page 15 for more on inspection in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Back in England, ATL has expressed deep concern over inspectors’ conversations with pupils, such as one incident described by Georgina Manville where a “very articulate” Year 11 pupil reported that the inspector was twisting what she said and didn’t listen when she tried to clarify.

Mr Prandle says: “We’re generally supportive of pupils giving feedback — when it’s done well. It’s a terrible experience for children and knocks their confidence and development if such ‘important’ people visibly dismiss their views.

“If inspectors already have an agenda and don’t intend to listen properly, then what’s the point in disrupting pupils’ learning?”

Another perennial bugbear among members is lesson plans, which nationally Ofsted insists are not needed for inspected lessons, a position ATL supports. However, members report that inspectors state they would have got a better grade with a formal lesson plan, and one inspector even expressed disbelief that a teacher would know what they were teaching without a lesson plan.

“Ofsted inspections are frequently undermined by exactly this type of www.atl.org.uk

rate into a class of solid mathematicians with a pass rate of over 90%. I was lucky enough to be able to set off a spark of ambition in a group of uninspired students and progress came from there. I can honestly say that Ofsted would struggle to rate this class as good, let alone outstanding, in any one 30-minute session, but they would be missing the point to do so.

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Real progress is qualitative. Thousands of teachers inspire students to achieve beyond their assumed capability without fitting into the prescribed methods of Ofsted. I believe wholeheartedly in inspections and accountability, but it is about time Ofsted listened to the concerns of the public rather than telling them what they should be concerned about.”

Comments and judgements can appear arbitrary, so how can schools do what is expected of them?

inconsistency,” says Mr Prandle. “These comments and judgements can appear arbitrary, so how can schools ensure they are doing what is expected of them?

“Worse still is that Ofsted collates inspectors’ reports to paint a national picture of the standard of the nation’s schools. Put simply, we can’t trust these national reports to reflect accurately what’s happening in education because we know at school level inspectors don’t act consistently.”

Under ATL’s alternative inspection system, the focus would not be on labelling of a school, but on monitoring, challenging and improving a school on a continuous basis.

Reports on a school’s progress would be more than snapshots, but a real-time overview of its current circumstances, unlike Ofsted’s reports which, since January, have stopped using ‘contextual value added’ evidence that considers the individual circumstances of a school and its pupils.

Under ATL’s local system of ongoing, qualitative reporting, it would be largely impossible for Ofsted to continue its current national comparison of schools, thus making categories like ‘outstanding’ redundant.

It is not to say, however, that ATL does not support national reporting, but only when it has a useful purpose.

ATL is deeply regretful that Ofsted will discontinue thematic reporting

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from September — a valuable survey across all schools of issues such as SEN, modern foreign languages and leadership across federations.

Despite advocating a move to local inspection regimes, ATL and its members are very clear that there is no suggestion that teachers should not be monitored and challenged.

“People should be accountable,” says Georgina Manville. “That’s how you challenge underperformance and validate good performance, but it has to be done in the right way.

“Nearly all of us want to do what we’re doing, and are reflective and self-critical.

We are professional; our professional opinions should count.”

ATL wants to hear more of your ideas on how accountability in education could be fairer and more effective, and whether professionals themselves could hold each other to account without a punitive national inspection regime.

We are currently surveying members on their experiences of Ofsted inspections in 2012, and we’re committed to supporting teachers who believe they’ve faced unfair inspections.

If you’d like to share your experiences or arrange a workplace visit to talk through the issues, email aprandle@atl.org.uk.

For more information, visit: www.atl.org.uk/ofstedcampaign

September 2012

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14

join the debate / agenda

Victorian values Academies being able to employ unqualified staff is another step towards the Victorian education the coalition seem to crave, says ATL general secretary Mary Bousted

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he day of the Olympic opening need to be well-versed in the subjects they ceremony was, the Department teach in order to be adept at using different for Education (DfE) press office methods and, if necessary, changing their decided, a good time to bury bad approaches to optimise learning. They need news. Under the cover of the footage of the a rich repertoire of teaching strategies, Olympic opening ceremony — a wonderful the ability to combine approaches, and the vision of Victorian England with factory knowledge of how and when to use certain owners, mill chimneys, and Kenneth methods and strategies ... importantly, Branagh in a top hat with Bradley Wiggins’ teachers also need to have a deep sideburns — the DfE announced that from understanding of how learning happens, now on academies do not need to employ in general, and of individual students’ qualified teachers. The announcement was motivations, emotions and lives outside in keeping with the Victorian values so the classroom.” ably portrayed by the dedicated volunteers ATL is in full agreement with the who made the opening ceremony come OECD. Teachers do deeply demanding and alive. Victorian teachers did not need important work, giving the next generation to be qualified, were paid by results and the intellectual tools and social skills favoured rote learning. All grist to the to live fulfilled and useful lives. In our mill of Michael Gove and Nick Gibb. statement on teacher professionalism Paraded in aid of this moment of (www.atl.org.uk/teacherprofessionalism) madness were the leading lights of the we articulate how important it is for academies and free schools movement. teachers to have high-quality initial training: They eulogised about the freedom to “The content and structure for initial teacher employ various geniuses (nuclear education (ITE) programmes should physicists, actors, even someone from the include a breadth and depth of knowledge.

BBC). They were, we were assured, going In addition to subject pedagogy, ITE to leap forward from the starting block programmes should ensure new teachers freed from the shackles of regulation have sufficient understanding of child and raise standards development and having pupils taught by special educational The evidence flies in needs gained through creative geniuses, with or without a teaching evidence-based theory, the face of government qualification. classroom practice and propaganda All this is, of course, access to specialist arrant nonsense. More expertise. All teachers than that, it is an insult to teachers and should have a nationally recognised lecturers. The evidence flies in the face of qualification in teaching and education, government propaganda. High-performing such as QTS or QTLS.” education systems recruit high-quality So, why, against all the evidence, has graduates, train them well and continue the coalition government made this that training through extensive, thorough extraordinary decision? And, in particular, and effective continuing professional how does Michael Gove square his latest development. The latest report from the announcement on unqualified teachers with OECD (the organisation that produces his repeated desire to raise the standing and those all-important PISA international the skills of the teaching profession? I think education league tables) titled Preparing the answer lies in ministers’ profound Teachers and Developing School Leaders ignorance of the process of learning. They are for the 21st Century states that: “Teachers impatient of the facts of the matter. They want

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learning to be simple — teachers teach, pupils learn. They do not understand that learning is a highly complex process and that the management of learning — for individual pupils, groups of pupils and whole classes — is a skilled activity that requires teachers to be in possession of deep professional knowledge.

Nor do ministers understand that teachers need to be expert in a range of teaching and assessment strategies, and have an extensive knowledge of theories of learning in order to teach effectively. That is why teachers need to be qualified and to have ongoing opportunities to improve their professional knowledge and practice through continuing professional development.

It is because ATL understands just how demanding the job of teaching and lecturing is that we have invested massive support in providing members with effective continuing professional development — our union learning programme offers thousands of ATL members the training they need close to their homes and schools. That is why ATL has more than 4,000 members taking MA courses with our higher education partner Edge Hill University. That is why your union devotes massive resources to educational publications which support effective teaching practice, downloadable free from the ATL website. When we exhort our members to join up, join in and get on — both in the union and in their careers — it is not just words, but something that ATL supports and, more importantly, works to achieve.

It is because your union, ATL, understands the challenges and demands placed upon teachers and lecturers that we work so hard to provide the right support to enable each member to learn and to develop, to become a better education professional. It is deeply disappointing that Michael Gove does not understand just how complex the work is that teachers do and how important it is for them to be professionally qualified.

September 2012

join the debate / Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

15

Northern Ireland Mark Langhammer

Wales Dr Philip Dixon Teachers in Wales have neither love nor hate for Estyn

Is inspection in Northern Ireland changing for the worse?

Inspectorates are never loved, but neither are they universally loathed. While Ofsted in England has enraged the profession with slipshod judgements and sloppy arguments, Estyn in Wales has gained a respect that is somewhat more than grudging.

The overriding reason is that Estyn sees itself as a critical friend of the profession, not its implacable enemy. Gradually the discredited contracting out of inspections is being replaced by a system led by staff from the inspectorate itself.

Estyn’s reports are well researched and closely argued. And while the inspectorate’s judgement on the education system as a whole in Wales chimes with that of the minister, this has been arrived at independently and is certainly not the result of political pressure.

Judgements on local authority performance in the current cycle of inspections have revealed the dire need of reform Judgements on and refocus in that sphere. local authorities revealed Obviously problems remain. Members still dire need of reform complain of the workload and refocus that inspections can cause and some schools feel aggrieved at their categorisation. The inspectorate has responded to the first point by trying to develop lighter-touch inspections, especially for those schools that are judged to be successful at what they do.

Judgements also take full account of context and the tensions faced by schools in difficult social situations. My old school, Treorchy Comprehensive, was the first school in Wales to gain a clean sweep of grade ones in its recent inspection. All the more remarkable when one considers that the free school meal rate is above 25%. The committee in Wales will be inviting Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector to address one of its meetings in 2013, and she has already indicated that she wants to attend. We may not love Estyn, but we certainly don’t hate it.

My experience is that the Education and Training Inspectorate has been one of the most reflective parts of the education landscape in Northern Ireland. Yet there is little doubt that the way in which teachers experience inspection is changing towards a very ‘high stakes’ pressurised event.

This change has come about in several ways.

First, the school improvement policy ‘Every School a Good School’ (ESaGS) has been maligned. ATL has opposed ESaGS from the outset, characterising it as data-driven, micro-managed and ‘low trust’ in nature.

Second, the effect of a poor inspection grade can now be catastrophic. In the context of school rationalisation through viability auditing, a poor grade can close a school.

The effect of a poor Third, there is a developing and sharp inspection grade can battle of educational now be catastrophic philosophies between what I call the high road and the low road, with the low road characterised by microaccountability, excessive testing and assessment, and a tightly prescribed central curriculum — effectively teaching as merely a low-skill, low-discretion craft. The move by the Department of Education to treat the General Teaching Council as a nondepartmental public body, effectively neutering its independence as a teachers’ professional body, is concerning in this regard.

Talks over the summer between unions, the department and the inspectorate will aim to restore the joint Consultative Committee on Inspection. We will also seek an increase in teacher secondments to the inspectorate as associates. Let’s aim for the high road towards a reflective, high-skill, high-autonomy profession, with teachers recognised for their knowledge, expertise and judgement.

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Scotland Keith Robson Inspectors are viewed as mysterious men in black Here in Scotland we are fortunate on one level to have to deal with Education Scotland rather than Ofsted when it comes to our inspection regime.

The approach taken by Education Scotland is at least, on the surface, more akin to ATL’s notion of inspection than that of its counterpart south of the border.

September 2012

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The new inspection framework for schools has been in place for a year now. I would love to hear from members who have been through the process and get your thoughts on it. How did the inspection process relate to your previous experiences? Did the inspection report reflect the learning and teaching that takes place in your school?

Our son’s nursery is due to be inspected any time now, which led to an interesting discussion at the last parents’ group meeting.

A fellow parent is a teacher and described their experiences of inspection as ‘men in black’ who carry into school a locked black box as if it were nuclear codes, and said all staff stress levels are very high.

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Some things I have heard this summer starkly question the purpose of a school inspection regime, and to some extent the wider purpose of education. If developments unfold in the anticipated manner, then this autumn we will be having a ‘first principles’ debate on the purpose of inspection and by extension education itself. If that debate does not happen then quite frankly we will get the education system we deserve.

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How does your inspection report reflect teaching and learning?

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www.atl.org.uk

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Inspiring young minds

join the debate / letters

17

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

Age concern I think it is of increasing concern how senior management teams and headteachers are forcing older teachers out of schools. I realise this has recently been mentioned in the article ‘A rocky road ahead’ by Mary Bousted (Report, March 2012) and the letter ‘Time to read’ (May 2012).

I have observed in my own time as a (young-ish) teacher, new ‘superheads’ wanting ‘young and enthusiastic’ teachers, often NQTs, to follow them on their current mission with the latest trends in education, and discouraging more mature members of staff, who do not need these fashionable ideas as they have tried In other countries and tested methods that work. These older teachers are quickly shifted where I have taught, older off the teaching platform, to the teachers are respected detriment of a balanced teaching and celebrated approach for the pupils, and a wealth of knowledge for the staff.

An older teacher has actually told me that she was given a ‘needs improvement’ lesson observation by her head, who then told her if she didn’t improve by the next observation they would take measures to remove her. In the same discussion she was told that her next lesson observation would be ‘needs improvement’.

I think there is a hypocritical approach to teaching and ageism: on the one hand we are being asked to work longer, until we are much older. On the other hand, we are being persecuted for doing so. Sadly, this is not confined to teaching, but rather a reflection of our culture not being one to honour the elderly. In other countries where I have taught (where there is no state pension) older teachers are respected and celebrated.

I would like to take this opportunity to praise our older teachers, especially my stepmum, who has taught for 40 years and dedicated her life to her students. I can’t imagine lasting half as long!

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N Jones, Brighton

WIN

N Jones 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.

Fewer mistakes please Many of you wrote in to point out the grammatical error on the cover of the last issue of Report. Of course the cover should read “fewer ladders” rather than “less ladders” and we apologise for this error. We appreciate that it is important for an education magazine to demonstrate correct grammar in its content and we do endeavour to maintain high standards of editorial September 2012

content and proof-reading when producing Report. We believe we achieve this most of the time, however, on this occasion we fell below those standards.

Although we do know the difference between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’, it simply got missed in the proof-reading process. We will in future attempt to be more vigilant against such mistakes.

Report editors

Body battles Susie Orbach’s ‘Final word’ article (‘Body distress’, Report, June/July 2012) really struck a chord with me. I find it heartbreaking to see pupils getting sucked into an obsession with weight and body image; their own and those of their peers.

So many girls, and some boys, spend so much energy and time worrying and talking about weight, diet and clothes; time that could be better used in so many other more productive and enjoyable ways. Their studies for one thing, but also just enjoying life, which includes one of life’s great pleasures: food.

Those who, to my mind, spend their time more enjoyably and productively and who eat healthily (not by any means excessively) are often picked out by peers as eating ‘too much’ and I worry that they too will be drawn into the same depressing cycle. It takes a strong person to stand up to such jibes from fellow students.

All too frequently I hear girls making derogatory and frankly nasty remarks about classmates, suggesting they are fat or eat too much, when nothing could be further from the truth. I am aware that this has always happened to a certain extent but I am convinced it is becoming increasingly prevalent.

However, these comments can completely crush a young person.

And what is more, those making the comments are only doing so to deal with their own sense of insecurity about how they look.

And don’t even get me started on the appalling role models of stick insect celebrities adorning the pages of national newspapers. Daily Mail, I’m looking at you.

Of course we want our young people to be healthy and not overweight or obese. But we must make sure that they have a healthy attitude towards food and their own bodies. Skinny they may be but healthy and happy they are surely not.

S Daniels, Wiltshire

www.atl.org.uk

18

profile / Hank Roberts

Meet the president After an already long and eventful union career, Hank Roberts is about to become ATL president. Oonagh Hayes met him to find out more

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ften seen as a controversial and colourful figure in the media and union movement, Hank Roberts, the new ATL president, makes no excuses for how he is perceived.

Describing himself as “not being intimidated by anyone” and “focused to the point of being fanatical on occasion”, Hank believes that if you think something is right (and worth fighting for) then you need to go all out 100%. This attitude has seen him take on school closures and blow the whistle on the now former head of his current school.

It has also resulted in him receiving the Hazards Campaign’s affectionately nicknamed ‘troublemaker of the year’ award in 2009 for his tenacious campaigning to get rid of asbestos in school buildings.

Hank spent his formative years in Bermuda, a British colony. His mother was English, the daughter of a dockyard worker, and his father was Bermudan.

Hank’s early years education was in a white-only school — the island’s inhabitants living under segregation in education at the time — and so relocating to the UK just before his 11th birthday was a culture shock in more ways than one. “It was very strange as people didn’t say hello back when you greeted them in the street,” Hank says, “and it was also a lot colder in Portsmouth!”

Having failed the 11-plus, Hank initially attended a secondary modern school in Portsmouth before being moved to a military boarding school in Surrey. His expulsion from there led to his brief return to a secondary modern before attending a grammar school sixth form.

Despite his chequered educational history, Hank says he loved school, in particular the boarding school where, despite his expulsion as a teenager, he was asked back as an adult to address a union meeting.

It was while studying economics at Regent Street Polytechnic in London, which later became Westminster University, that he realised he wanted to work in education. This was also where Hank became fully involved in the union movement. “Everyone was doing it then,” he says. “There was a lot to protest about — against the Vietnam War and supporting the grants campaign.” He was

www.atl.org.uk

also active in the anti-apartheid movement. He later joined the NUT when he started teaching as “it was the largest and the main one at his school that everyone joined”.

His first job as a geography and RE teacher, which he gained despite telling the school he was a non-believer, was at Sladebrook School in Harlesden, north west London, an area with very high levels of deprivation. In 1989 Brent Education Authority decided it wanted to close the school, but, along with other union members, Hank campaigned to stop this from happening.

As a result of his stance, various allegations were made against him by the local authority and he was suspended from work. However, after a long battle, he won a high court injunction against Brent for victimisation on the grounds of trade union activities. The subsequent court case was dropped after Hank and the local authority came to an agreement that he move to Copland Community School in Brent, where he is currently still employed.

It was in 2009, when Hank had been working at Copland for more than 18 years, that he discovered evidence that the head, Sir Alan Davies, had been receiving high bonuses on top of his salary for a number of years. As a result of Hank’s whistleblowing, Sir Alan, along with five other members of staff, including two of the now former governors, were charged with fraud.

The case is currently being dealt with by the courts but, following further police investigations, Sir Alan has now also been charged with money laundering, falsifying accounts and abusing his position by failing to safeguard the school’s financial interests. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, the total value of the alleged fraud by the staff members is thought to be £2.7 million.

Hank has been a member of ATL, NUT and NASUWT for many years as he feels the only way to truly get results for the education workforce is for the unions to join together. To this end, in 1996 he and others set up a campaign group, Professional Unity 2000 — indicating the year he wanted to achieve his goal. “I thought it would be fairly easy to convince people to our way of thinking,” he says, “but unfortunately this wasn’t the case.”

The name has since been changed to Unify and Hank’s views remain resolutely the same. “Unions should, and can, cooperate, and there needs to be more of this.

Previous opinion polls have shown that the large majority of teachers support one union for all. I believe September 2012

19

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ALL PHOTOS: NICK DAWE

Even if there is only one school left that hasn’t been privatised, I will be campaigning to stop it and to reverse the whole system

the profession has suffered and will continue to suffer by not having one union representing the needs of everyone in the field of education.”

Although Hank held the position of joint Brent branch secretary in the NUT, he stood down so he can put all his energy into doing the best job possible as president of ATL. Apart from the intrinsic work of defending and seeking to advance the education workforce’s pay, conditions and professionalism, and defending state education, he hopes to achieve two main things in his presidency. The first is to explore working with the Royal Institution and Royal Society on advancing science education in the UK and to look at taking a scientific approach to education policy.

He says: “The evidence-based policy has been accepted in the medical world and works there, but this isn’t the case in education. We need to attack the government’s stance and stand up for a scientific approach to teaching.

The government seems to come up with a policy based on no evidence whatsoever and then tries to cherry-pick and even concoct ‘evidence’ to prove it works.”

Secondly, he hopes for increased closer working with the other education unions, in response to the changing landscape of education and the government’s negative stance on unions. He says: “The education workforce has to reclaim the classroom and their profession. We allow the government to insult our professionalism every day September 2012

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and we put up with it. Things are much worse now in the classroom than when I first started, both in terms of workload and pupil behaviour.

“The progress that was made last year for ATL members on pensions was made as a direct result of all the unions being prepared to take action and come together. It would not have been as strong if they hadn’t joined together. The government wants us to think we are completely weak and nothing can be done, but we’re not and things can be changed.”

Hank feels one of the main issues facing education at the moment is inequality between the rich and the poor, which is now worse than it was in 1921, a previous high, which he says “is a disgrace”.

“Inequality affects education. This is one of the reasons why Finland, which has far greater equality, has such a good education system,” says Hank. “As educators and citizens, we need to campaign to reverse the growing inequality in society. Mary Bousted has made this top of her agenda and I agree with her 100%.

“It’s also blindingly clear to anyone who studies what’s going on that the government intends to privatise state education and have it run for profit as they did with the Post Office and NHS. Therefore we will have to struggle hard to save the state education system and for me there is no tipping point on this. Even if there is only one school left that hasn’t been privatised, I will be campaigning to stop it and to reverse the whole system.”

Hank is aware that he can come across as arrogant at times and admits that, like all human beings, he has weaknesses and can sometimes get things wrong.

However, he adds: “I like to think that I analyse risks properly before making decisions and this means I get most things right rather than wrong when it comes to my trade union activity.”

Outside of work, Hank loves punk, ska and heavy metal music, is an avid theatre-goer, and a voracious reader — “The more I learn, the more I realise I don’t know,” he says. He also loves travelling and is a world champion at table football, an accolade he received many years ago but is very proud of. He feels this is proof that if you devote enough time to practising a skill, you can excel in it. “Anybody who puts in the time and effort to a particular area or skill can achieve good things, even if it is something new to them — this is what we need to instil into our pupils.” www.atl.org.uk

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feature / Join the debate

21

Employee rights and wrongs ATL has joined the TUC in its campaign against a stealth attack on your employment rights. Oonagh Hayes explains the changes affecting ATL members

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roposed changes to employment law by the government will further erode employees’ rights in the UK at a time when we already have the third least amount of protection among OECD countries.

For those working in education, who are already facing changes to capability and appraisals as well as other areas of employment law, this could end up as an attack on several fronts.

As featured in the June/July issue of Report, the TUC has launched a campaign, ‘Employee Rights, Stop Employment Wrongs’, to fight the proposed changes.

all relevant members, although proposals are vague at the moment.

3) Reduction in the length of statutory maternity leave.

Under government proposals, shared parental leave would be available after a shorter period of maternity leave of just 18 weeks. The risk is that women feel compelled to return to work after that short period. The changes may apply to all relevant members, although proposals are vague at the moment.

4) Substantial changes to employment tribunals, including the introduction of fees.

Here we set out what the key points are Employees will have to pay up to £1,200 and what they could mean for you. if they want to take their employer to a tribunal. This change shows that the 1) The abolition of unfair dismissal government is determined to ensure fewer protection, as featured in cases go to an employment tribunal. If May edition. individuals who have lost their job have From 6 April 2012 it has been necessary to to pay to start an unfair dismissal claim, have two years’ service before an employee perhaps without a trade union to support can claim unfair dismissal. The qualifying them, some may find the fees prohibit them period of employment was previously one from pursuing a perfectly legitimate case. year and applies to anyone commencing Employees who have had money employment on or after 6 April 2012. This unlawfully deducted from their wages may means you could be dismissed after 23 choose not to pursue the issue because the months in a job without an explanation, fees involved are higher than the sum that any rights to compensation and a minimal has been deducted. Unscrupulous employers notice period. may exploit that to their advantage.

There is also a 2) Moving statutory substantial risk that Employees will have maternity pay (SMP) to pay up to £1,200 if employers refuse to from being employer discuss settlement of a they want to take their administered to state claim in the hope that employer to a tribunal administered. the employee has to drop The risk with this their case because they change is that maternity pay becomes simply cannot afford to pay the fee. See page means-tested as a result and would probably 22 for more on fee changes. bring an end to more generous maternity leave payments that some employers make.

5) Substantial changes to the law on Furthermore, it means that new mothers will industrial action, including introducing have no contact with their employer, which a minimum voting threshold. could, in turn, make it more difficult for The government has been suggesting that them to return to work once their maternity industrial action should only be lawful if leave has ended. The changes may apply to a majority of those able to vote do so, even

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September 2012

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though the vast majority of elections in the UK see only a small minority of the voting constituency exercising their right to vote.

This would mean most strikes, including last year’s pensions strike, would not go ahead as, although a majority voted yes, the overall turnout for voting was below 50%.

6) Reduction in consultation periods for collective redundancy.

If an employer has 100 or more staff and wants to make redundancies, they currently have 90 days to consult with trade unions to try to find the best deal for employees. The government wants to reduce this to 30-45 days, which would mean less time to find a resolution or alternatives to redundancies.

7) Abolition of the statutory union recognition scheme.

This will mean that even if the majority of the workforce desires union recognition, their employer can ignore their requests.

Should this proposal go ahead, it will mean that once a school converts to an academy it can simply derecognise some or all of the trade unions, despite what may have historically been a successful relationship with the local authority.

Combined, these changes constitute an attack on your employment rights.

To join the campaign against them and help raise awareness, visit the TUC site http://stopemploymentwrongs.org or join the debate at facebook.com/atlunion or twitter.com/atlunion. www.atl.org.uk

22

help and advice / legal

Pay to claim The government now says you have to pay more to go to an employment tribunal. ATL solicitor Elizabeth Doherty explains what this could mean for you

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fter months of dialogue with businesses, unions and members of the public, the government has finally published the results of its consultation regarding the introduction of fees to the employment tribunal.

Although traditionally an individual has been able to pursue a claim in the employment tribunal or the employment appeal tribunal (EAT) free of charge, from summer 2013 all those who wish to issue a claim will be required to pay a fee.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice makes clear that the purpose of introducing fees to the tribunal system is to lower the cost to the taxpayer and place the financial burden on the user. It is also clear from the press release that the introduction

of fees is part of the government’s it as a mechanism for resolving disputes, programme to encourage and facilitate rather than opting for a hearing, which early resolution of claims in the hope that at £1,200 is decidedly steeper. the tribunal system will be reserved for the The response makes it clear that the fees most complex cases. What is noticeable is are not representative of the actual cost that the government’s previous rationale of running the tribunal system and that of introducing fees as a way to reduce the the government intends to review the fee number of weak claims to assist businesses structure once it has been implemented. seems to have fallen by the wayside.

So what happens if a claimant proceeds to The TUC and its affiliate unions are hearing and is successful? The tribunal will currently in discussion about how best have the power to order an unsuccessful party to manage this new system. Members to reimburse the fees paid by the successful will be informed in due course. party. However, if the government is So what can a claimant who wishes to have successful in its aim of reducing the number their complaint heard by a tribunal expect of claims that progress to a hearing, it is to pay? This will ultimately depend on the anticipated that most cases will settle and nature of the claim the individual is seeking therefore fees will have to be dealt with as to bring. Issues that are deemed to be part of the settlement negotiations. straightforward, at least administratively The introduction of fees to the tribunal speaking, such as unlawful deduction of system has attracted its fair share of wages or claims for statutory redundancy controversy from employers and employees payments, will be known as ‘level one’ claims. alike. The former have voiced concerns If a claimant wishes that they will incur to pursue a level one additional costs if they To pursue a level one lose a hearing, while the claim to hearing it will cost them a total latter question whether it claim to hearing it will of £390. This figure will prevent individuals cost a total of £390 consists of an initial fee pursing claims. of £160 to issue a claim Given that those and a further hearing fee of £230, which will seeking to utilise employment tribunals are become payable if the parties are unable to often doing so as a result of losing their jobs, resolve the matter amongst themselves. questions have been asked as to whether Level two claims, which will include the introduction of fees will prejudice those claims for unfair dismissal, equal pay and individuals who are on low, or even no, discrimination, will attract higher fees; it is incomes from being able to access the justice set to cost an individual £250 to issue a claim system. The response does indicate that the and a further £950 if the matter proceeds to same fee remission and exclusion system that a hearing. is currently available to those who pay fees to Should a party wish to appeal a tribunal pursue claims through the civil courts will be decision at the EAT there will be an appeal accessible to some claimants. Whether this fee of £400 and a hearing fee of £1,200. is sufficient to ensure access to the tribunal Other fees that will be introduced include for those on a low or even middle income £60 for an application to dismiss proceedings remains to be seen. altogether or £600 for judicial mediation.

Once the fees are introduced it will be even The fact that the cost of judicial mediation more important for members to contact ATL is lower than the £750 that was proposed in as early as possible if a potential claim arises. the consultation seems to demonstrate the Members can contact us using the details government’s enthusiasm for parties to use on page 23.

KEITH LEIGHTON/ALAMY

‘‘

www.atl.org.uk

’’

September 2012

help and advice / contact

23

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:

Membership enquiries 020 7782 1602

General enquiries 020 7930 6441

Monday to Friday, 5-8pm during term time.

ATL’s regional officials are available to speak to you about work problems.

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: 1st Floor, 64B Newport Road, Cardiff CF24 0DF. Tel: 029 2046 5000.

Email: cymru@atl.org.uk Edinburgh: CBC House, 24 Canning Street, Edinburgh EH3 8EG. Tel: 0131 272 2748.

Email: scotland@atl.org.uk AMiE members: 35 The Point, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7QU. Contact your AMiE regional officer (contact details at www.amie.uk.com) or call the employment helpline 01858 464171.

Email: helpline@amie.atl.org.uk

Email: membership@atl.org.uk

Pension enquiries 020 7782 1600 Out of office hours helpline 020 7782 1612

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!

England: 08000 562 561 Wales: 08000 855 088 Scotland: 0800 564 2270

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.

September 2012

www.atl.org.uk

24

help and advice / guide

The first five minutes ATL trainer and author Hywel Roberts explains methods of getting children hooked into lessons quickly

It may seem obvious but I know I had to work really hard at these five things, especially on a wet Friday afternoon teaching Year 9 drama. There’s the spirit of inductive practice embodied in these acts — please don’t be fooled into thinking that these are soft skills. They are, in fact, sometimes very hard to muster. On Fridays I had to switch these specific teacher acts on. Do you know what impression you are giving out?

We can obviously help ourselves by ensuring that our rooms are places www.atl.org.uk

children don’t mind being. You don’t have to go far to find lots of advice about this sort of thing and these particular considerations work for me: • rights (both of child and teacher) • rules (and expectations) • responsibilities • routines • and in big fat letters, underpinning everything: RELATIONSHIPS. This list may well be familiar to you. If it is, what do these elements look like in your classroom? Something I had to do with some children in my classes was plan (and I do mean write down) how I was going to attempt to build positive relationships when it appeared all they wanted to do was dismiss the work — sometimes aggressively. I considered this to be differentiation by support.

There’s another ‘R’ that perhaps we could add to the list: rapport. Can you define rapport?

Julie Starr, in her great book The Coaching Manual, defines rapport as the ‘dance that happens behind communication’. I like that.

So, what dance do you do with your Year 7s?

I imagine it will be different to the dance you do with your Year 12s? Or when you’re talking to an Ofsted inspector?

So you’ve got your own behaviour sorted.

How then do we make lessons worth behaving for? For me, it is the first few minutes. Following the meet-and-greet, we are in. What’s happening then? Do you have a settler (a task to settle) or do you let them talk while you figure out the register?

What about the following: • A fat (open) question on the whiteboard — a new one every day. Two minutes to think, two minutes with talk partners, then feedback responses. For example, ‘Why do we have bones?’; ‘How can we reduce poverty?’; ‘What are we going to do about the Big Bad Wolf?’.

• A fascinating photograph — type ‘rich poor contrast’ into an image search engine and you’ll see what I mean. This image

RELAXIMAGES/ALAMY

G

one are the days of children sitting uniformly in rows, hanging on the teacher’s every word. Hooking children into the content of your lesson is now part and parcel of the job, and we need to ensure that we have a repertoire of resources at hand to support us... but that can often be easier said than done.

In the same way the uniformed rows of automaton-like children may be a thing of the past, so has our expectation that every child loves our subject, or the particular topic we’re hoping to fire them up with.

A lot of children experience school as learning being ‘done to them’ — they feel disconnected from it. Often school can say nothing to a child about their day-to-day experience of the world they live in. It is our job to alter that, to bring the world into the learning — to help some children shift from being streetwise to worldwise.

The best place to start hooking children into learning is to begin with your greatest resource and take a look in the mirror; who do the children see when they walk into your room? Teachers need to have some basics that they often forget to mention at teacher-training institutions. I call them specific teacher acts: • smiling • laughter • enthusiasm • energy • patience.

stimulus can invite the same process as the fat question.

• On a pen drive, build up a collection of powerful images and questions that you can access quickly, no matter what room you are in — this is particularly good for colleagues who supply or who are on cover supervision.

• Have an appropriate piece of music playing. In a recent Year 7 project around protest, I used songs by Billy Bragg, The Special AKA (they sang Free Nelson Mandela) and Billie Holliday, to name a few.

Stuck for ideas? Get on the internet for starters, or even Twitter if that’s your thing.

It’s those first five minutes that show who you are as a teacher and what you expect from your children. Don’t waste them.

Hywel Roberts is a teacher, author and creative educational consultant.

His book Oops! Helping Children Learn Accidentally is available on Amazon. www.createlearninspire.co.uk Twitter: @hywel_roberts September 2012

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26

feature / CPD

In the learning zone ATL learning and development manager Kate Quigley introduces the new online learning zone and what the new training programme has to offer

‘‘T

his course has given me back my confidence,” says ATL member Mrs Doudican, one of the 2,500-plus members who have benefited from ATL’s commitment to learning this academic year.

This year she attended the ‘Creativity in the classroom’ course in Birmingham: “An inspiring course with an inspiring tutor — the most useful course I have attended. I feel that I have had the learning that I strive to achieve in my own teaching,” she says.

At ATL we help you to build on your skills and support you in your professional practice. This September we will be launching the ‘learning zone’ section of www.atl.org.uk to bring together all the courses we offer nationally and regionally. Providing information and guidance on the providers we work with, it will be the place to visit to book courses, find your local learning rep or start your online learning course.

For the past six years we have been providing ATL members with a range of free CPD courses. ATL believes all education professionals should have access to high-quality, high-impact training and our courses demonstrate what we think this should look like.

This year’s courses continue to focus on behaviour, leadership and creativity, and have been widened out to include courses identified by members in ATL’s survey on learning needs. We are excited to be including new courses on dyslexia and dyscalculia, managing extreme behaviour and classroom assessment — areas that members tell us they need support with.

Our online programme will also offer a new leadership course on managing change and a behaviour course.

Due to the demand for courses there are often waiting lists.

This is why this year for the first time we are introducing a

www.atl.org.uk

nominal charge for courses. Sadly, in the last academic year over 100 members failed to turn up to courses on the day, depriving others of the opportunity. The decision has been made to charge for courses in order to minimise the number of members not turning up to courses and to ensure that those who value the courses are able to attend.

The charges are £40 for all standard members and £20 for all standard support members and NQTs. We understand members are faced with increased costs in many areas of life and it is our expectation that employers should cover the cost of staff attending courses. Employers need to invest in staff-identified development as part of their commitment to professional development and we can support members to ask their employer for this contribution, which is far below costs of CPD with other providers.

Our commitment to development extends further than our CPD courses. We also work with branches and through union learning reps in your region to bring you twilight and half-day sessions. Most recent local events have covered the new Ofsted framework and functional skills. Information about events in your region can be found in the regional pages of the learning zone at www.atl.org.uk/learningzone.

Along with local and national provision we continue our work with Edge Hill University. The partnership, now in its fifth year, continues to provide members with access to the MA in education at a reduced cost.

Edge Hill University is one of the UK’s leading providers of professional development for the wider education workforce and has a highly successful track record in enabling staff to gain academic credit through portfolio evidence of professional activities undertaken on the job.

In its most recent Ofsted inspection (April 2011) it was awarded 33 grade ones out of 33, a unique achievement.

Thousands of ATL members have benefited since the partnership began, and we have now seen our first set of successful graduates. The MA programme is flexible and works in conjunction with current work in your sector or setting. The modules allow you to accredit current practice through producing evidence of critical reflection, improvement and impact, and create a portfolio of naturally occurring evidence. Members studying for their MA in previous years have submitted practice-based portfolios on a number of topics such as phonics and assessment for learning. Others have considered leadership and communication within schools and ICT. ATL members can access a third of the modules in the MA at no cost, while NQT members can access half the modules at no cost. To find out more about the Edge Hill partnership please go to www.atl.org.uk/learningzone or email learning@atl.org.uk.

September 2012

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29 1

Prize crossword

2

3

4

Down 1 Some clever boy defines ‘a word describing an action’ (4) 2 Lawyer gets ‘A’ — try Eton, perhaps (8) 3 Subject taken by graduate — this I omit (5) 4 After beginning, went in front, surprised! (8) 5 Circle, and part of circle — almost mark correct (6) 6 Slam rebel organisation, though it’s quite unimportant (5,4) 7 Dad and Miss Turner have a sheen that comes with age! (6) 8 and 13 Big health movement where college fellows eat? (4,5) 15 Impressionist painter, for example, in unhappy return (5) 16 College quadrangle’s cool for wooing! (9) 18 Scatter mice in with fish?

Just playful bad behaviour! (8) 19 Politically correct limit I fix, indirectly suggested (8) 21 Military event is rubbish, as well! (6) 22 Second and third letters of 11 and fourth of 10, haphazard (6) 24 Interrupt playtime? (5) 25 High point as a Chief Mechanical Engineer (4) 27 Medal struck before dinner (4)

The winner of the June/July crossword competition will be announced on the ATL website.

Congratulations to Karen Devaney, the winner of the May crossword competition.

September 2012

6

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Across 9 Former agricultural vehicle fan? (9) 10 Monsieur, I have French friend in Florida (5) 11 Monk in trouble is about right! (7) 12 I shall change after final of heat, being fairly high (7) 13 Blair, in the direction of New York, where … (4) 14 … bold Barack redesigned traditional classroom feature (10) 17 Time when you were a lad, young Robin! (7) 18 I get men sorted out for assembly (7) 20 See printer shaken by bold project (10) 23 Leamington and Bath in his passport! (4) 25 Painting, for example, is an assembly for skilled worker (7) 26 Throwing a game in Ireland? (7) 28 I wander back, originally from New Zealand (5) 29 Surgical procedure in Aida?

It is back on! (9)

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WIN!

One lucky reader will win £50 in Marks & Spencer vouchers. Simply send your completed crossword, with your contact details (incl. telephone number), to: ATL Sept Competition, Archant Dialogue, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR1 1RE. Closing date: October 02, 2012.

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 October 02, 2012. The editor’s decision is final. No purchase is necessary.

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30

join the debate / final word

A class in Hitchcock

Creative director for the British Film Institute, Heather Stewart, puts forward the case for studying film in the curriculum alongside the existing arts

ILLUSTRATION: PHIL WRIGGLESWORTH

A Heather Stewart Heather Stewart is the creative director of public programme at the British Film Institute

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t the press launch for our celebration of The Genius of Hitchcock — the British Film Institute’s contribution to the London 2012 festival, which features restorations of all Hitchcock’s surviving early British films — I happened to remark that just as ‘Dickensian’ or ‘Shakespearian’ have entered our language as shorthand to describe the work of major artists from our cultural heritage, so too has ‘Hitchcockian’.

I remarked further that Shakespeare is taught in schools, whereas Hitchcock is not. Notwithstanding that some of the small number of students who are able to study film at GCSE or A-level (or equivalent in Scotland) may encounter Hitchcock at school, we still in the UK seem unable to imagine that film is critical to the education of our young people. Two years ago, when the Culture Minister Ed Vaizey set out his vision for arts education, he stated that “every child should be introduced to the basics of an art form and helped to master some of its language”. It seems that “art form” includes literature, drama, art, music and dance, but not film.

As early as 1911, Ricciotto Canudo was writing a manifesto for cinema’s synthesis of the spatial and plastic

arts with the temporal, and still today the French describe film as ‘the seventh art’.

A century later we in Britain still have trouble imagining that great art can be synonymous with popular entertainment — as is the case with Hitchcock, and indeed was the case with Dickens.

Film’s uniqueness as a form, and a language, is built on three things: images, sounds and time (or duration). The window it opens on to different worlds makes it indispensable to most areas of the school curriculum: as a key source document for teaching history of the 20th century, enabling us to look more closely at places and cultures we may never experience first hand. In geography it can make links between the human and physical world. In English it supports, extends and enhances children’s literacy, as thousands of teachers will attest; film offers textual study as rewarding as print or spoken language or theatre; and language teachers regularly deploy film for its insight into other language cultures.

But film’s adaptability across the curriculum may also be an obstacle to claiming a dedicated position in the curriculum (in England at any rate — Scotland and Northern Ireland seem both more forward-looking and accepting of the importance of film in the curriculum) and to its formal study.

When we think of the film artists who have made decisive impacts on the language and form of film — the equivalents of Picasso and Matisse in painting, or Eliot and Joyce in literature — we think of Yasujiro Ozu, Alfred Hitchcock, Jean-Luc Godard and Jean Renoir. Maybe the place for studying film artists is the art curriculum; this is where the evolution of painting, sculpture, textiles, and lens- and time-based art (which sometimes include film) are explored by children from a very young age. The most recent generation of art teachers in schools will have been to art school and studied some moving image art — so let’s help them bring that knowledge directly into their classrooms and celebrate one of Britain’s greatest artists, in any medium.

What do you think of Heather’s idea that cinema should be given equal attention with art, theatre and literature?

Let us know your views for our letters page at report@atl.org.uk, on facebook.com/atlunion or twitter.com/atlunion

September 2012

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