THE MAGAZINE FROM ATL, THE EDUCATION UNION
WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
FEBRUARY 2015 ÂŁ2.50
A learning profession How good CPD benefits schools and colleges, their staff and students GUIDE
ASSAULT ADVICE Steps to take if you are attacked at work
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IN PROFILE
TOP TEACHERS
Award-winning ATL members talk about their careers
FINAL WORD
A VITAL INGREDIENT The importance of food education in schools
26/01/2015 16:54
Trade fiction
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Contents UPFRONT
Y O U R AT L
UPDATE
USEFUL CONTACTS
4
ATL speaks out about the state of school inspection, and our survey showing the exploitation of support staff
9 AGENDA
Mary Bousted explains why education should be at the forefront of pre-election debate
11 WALES AND
NORTHERN IRELAND
Philip Dixon on influencing CPD for the profession in Wales, while Mark Langhammer predicts dire consequences of cuts in Northern Ireland F E AT U R E S
21
How to get in touch with ATL
23 GUIDE
What you and your school should do if you are assaulted by a pupil
25
LEGAL ADVICE
Updated rules on sharing parental leave
26
YOUR VIEWS
ATL members on prejudice and SRE
27 CROSSWORD
Your chance to win a £50 Marks & Spencer voucher
28
NOTICEBOARD
Information, events and opportunities to get involved
12 A LEARNING PROFESSION Why giving education professionals excellent CPD can only improve standards
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IN PROFILE
Four award-winning ATL members explain why they gave up jobs elsewhere to devote themselves to teaching Report is the magazine from ATL, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD Tel 020 7930 6441 Fax 020 7930 1359 Email report@atl.org.uk or membership@atl.org.uk Website www.atl.org.uk Editors Alex Tomlin, Charlotte Tamvakis Report is produced and designed for ATL by Think Publishing, The Pall Mall Deposit, 124-128 Barlby Road, London W10 6BL Tel 020 8962 3020 Email info@thinkpublishing.co.uk Sub editor Chloë Barrow Art director Darren Endicott Designer Alix Thomazi Advertising sales Michael Coulsey, 020 8962 3020 Account manager Kieran Paul Managing director Polly Arnold
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29 YOUR RESOURCES
Guidance on dealing with violence and abuse, and ATL’s online learning opportunities
30
FINAL WORD
The wonders of learning about food and cooking ATL accepts no liability for any insert, display or classified advertisement included in this publication. While every reasonable care is taken to ensure that all advertisers are reliable and reputable, ATL can give no assurance that they will fulfil their obligation under all circumstances. The views expressed in articles in Report are the contributors’ own and do not necessarily reflect
ATL policy. Official policy statements issued on behalf of ATL are indicated as such. All rights reserved. Material contained in this publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior permission of ATL. Cover illustration: Matt Harrison Clough
Welcome MARK BAKER, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, ATL As the run-up to May’s elections intensifies, the pressures remain as the politicians are keen to grab the headlines, austerity bites and Ofsted continues to do what it does - badly! However, as I learn from colleagues in schools and colleges, there appears to be something positive emerging. From such adversity, we are pulling together more. For so long we have endured a culture of blame and false accountability, yet we, as professionals, know what we’re doing and how to do it well. We also know where the problem lies, and it is right to set an expectation upon our policy-makers to lead and support. Showering us with illconsidered initiatives will no longer wash, particularly when it increases workload and distracts us from our really important work, which is to teach, motivate, inspire and protect our children and young people. I am proud our profession embraces the principles of fairness, equality and mutual support along with the notion of making a contribution to the greater good without, necessarily, personal gain. By working together we can develop, grow in confidence and realise our aspirations. Remember ATL’s strapline: ‘Get involved. You’ve joined us. Now join in.’ You only need to read this issue’s articles on professionalism (p12) and our award-winning members (p16) to get the drift. So be emboldened, stand up together, let Ofsted’s negativity wash over you, and challenge pointless policies.
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27/01/2015 17:32
UPDATE
IN WORDS
“THE SOONER THE GOVERNMENT AND THE CHIEF INSPECTOR REALISE OFSTED’S MODE OF WORKING IS PART OF THE PROBLEM, NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION, THE BETTER”
Time to transform inspection system School accountability should be about accurately identifying strengths and weaknesses, fostering collaboration and supporting sustainable improvement, ATL has warned English inspection agency Ofsted published its annual report in December, which said primary schools continue to forge ahead but that secondary school improvement “has stalled”. It found a similar number of secondary schools inspected over the last 12 months have improved as have declined, and that 50 more secondaries are in special measures. Among the issues cited by Ofsted were “poor and inconsistent leadership”, “ineffective middle management”, “too much lowlevel disruption” and “weak governance and oversight”. ATL general secretary Mary Bousted commented: “Constant belittlement of schools and the teachers working in them does no good. The sooner the Government and the chief inspector realise Ofsted’s mode of working is part of the problem, not part of the solution, the better. “Sir Michael Wilshaw’s view that there are too many weak headteachers can be no surprise
to him, when day-by-day he makes the profession seem as unattractive as possible – governed by faddish inspection and with high stakes to rival football managers’ job security. Parents and pupils deserve better stability in their local schools
and reliable programmes of inspection and improvement.” Ofsted has failed to address its long-standing problem of quality assurance, she said, adding that there are many possible reasons for lower grades in secondary schools compared with last year.
“Despite what the inspectorate says, this doesn’t necessarily mean standards of education are dropping. Ofsted inspected a greater proportion of weaker schools this time – and secondary schools have been managing unprecedented levels of change, including qualification and examination reform and the removal of vocational qualifications from league tables. “Are parents better served by being told schools are awful, or by effective systems that accurately identify strengths and weaknesses, foster crossschool collaboration and support sustainable improvement? The chief inspector’s comments put him in the former camp. ATL believes the latter best serves the nation’s children.” ATL believes Ofsted’s national inspection regime should be replaced by local systems that are focused on understanding the challenges and opportunities in the local area. See more at www.atl.org.uk/manifesto.
INDEPENDENT PLANS ATL believes greater clarity is needed over how independent schools could work with maintained schools and qualify for tax relief – but says a wider discussion is needed if tackling inequality is the goal. The Labour Party said in November it would make £700 million currently received by private schools in business rates relief conditional on meeting minimum standards of partnership with the state sector,
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and end exclusive private school competitions for activities such as sports and debating. Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, said: “Independent schools would welcome much greater clarity about how they would have to collaborate with the state sector to qualify for business tax relief, with expectations that are proportionate to a school’s finances. While rich, famous independent schools may grab the
headlines, many independent schools are just balancing their books. “We agree both sectors have much to learn from one another. This is clearly evident in the very good state-private sector partnerships that already exist. But schools alone cannot tackle inequality. ATL looks forward to a wider discussion on tackling issues of inequality in society, so that all children get the best possible education .”
IN BRIEF
TEACHING ASSISTANT STANDARDS New standards being drafted for teaching assistants (TAs) must ensure they are recognised as fully fledged professionals and be linked to their career development, ATL believes. The Department for Education (DfE) has consulted on a set of standards that would be applicable to all TAs at all levels and across all phases of education, including those working with students needing additional support. ATL welcomed the consultation and set out a series of statements and standards it feels are key to any new professional standards for teaching assistants. ATL senior policy adviser Alison Ryan said: “ATL believes these standards should be used to enhance the status of TAs in schools, so that they are recognised as education professionals by teachers, management, governors, students and parents. We hope these standards, if truly informed by those working in education, will provide the right structure to support their roles, their entitlement and access to CPD, and a genuine career path.” Two ATL members, Kathryn Booth and Susan Coates, are playing a key role on the new panel set up by the Government to work on the new standards, which are due to be announced soon. WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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UPDATE
IN NUMBER S
21% 70% of ATL support staff members work between four and six hours over their contracted hours
do not get paid for working extra hours
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Support staff face injustice, says survey
PHOTO: JESS HURD
Unmanageable workloads, lack of support and an expectation of teaching whole classes are among the issues raised in ATL’s annual survey of support staff More than two thirds of ATL support staff work above their contracted hours because their workload demands it, a survey of more than 1,600 members working in state-funded schools has found. A fifth (21%) work between four and six hours extra, while eight per cent work between seven and 10 hours more – yet the majority (70%) do not get paid for this work. One member told us: “I am regularly expected to perform tasks above my pay scale and the workload is relentless and exhausting.” Another said: “We are constantly given more things to do, such as interventions, phonics groups and cover supervision, with very little time allowed to adequately prepare for these sessions.” Another reported: “Teachers are often unaware I am not paid during breaks or after the pupils leave. It is often difficult to find time to discuss advance lesson plans and students’ needs, or follow up issues with them and fill in the follow-on forms during my paid hours.” More than a third (38%) of members said they undertake cover supervision and, of these, a quarter do this most days, while just under two thirds (62%) said it is not possible to supervise the class without delivering lessons. Of those who covered for longer absences, 24% covered for between one and four weeks, 16% covered for half a term, 19% covered for a term, and 15% covered for a year or longer. One member who took part in the survey told us: “I frequently have sole charge of classes of 30. All teaching assistants in my school cover regular classes during teacher PPA time.” Another member said: “HLTA status means I am used to teach the bottom set Year 10 and 11 maths groups to entry level and GCSE syllabus. I am classed as the designated teacher; I am expected to attend parents’ evenings, after-hours department meetings, write reports, and complete effort and progress monitoring.” WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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Pupil discipline and lack of support from management are the biggest challenges cited by support staff members. At the same time, while just over a fifth of members in our survey had completed a PGCE and/or had qualified teacher status, for 42%, teaching whole classes was expected while being paid support staff rates. The lack of possibility for pay progression was another concern. “Sometimes I feel it is unfair that teachers have performance-related pay and many of us trained TAs/LAs are not paid according to experience and don’t seem to have anywhere to move in terms of salary,” said one member. Another said: “I am on the top of the ‘H4’ grade and work 32 hours a week, taking home just over £1,000 a month. Is this realistic when TAs are expected to do so much more now, such as taking small groups, leading intervention groups, medical help, morning/lunchtime duties and clubs, as well as supporting lessons and much more?” The survey also found almost half of workplaces have a policy of classroom observation for support staff – with half of these taking place in whole-class settings, and these were most commonly carried out by senior management. ATL’s national official for support staff, Peter Morris, said: “Without such invaluable intelligence, ATL would not be in a position to improve its work on behalf of support staff members. The results indicate that workplace challenges remain intense, but ATL will redouble its efforts to deal with them in the coming months.” To view the full results of the survey, see www.atl.org.uk/recentsurveys. ATL’s factsheets for support staff, including advice on observations, are available at www.atl.org.uk/factsheets.
ATL members get involved in The Big TUC Youth Debate
YOUTH TALK Careers, housing and other issues facing young people were addressed by a TUC youth debate involving young people, experts and campaigners. Hannah Inwood and Shim Amin, part of ATL Future, the group representing student and newly qualified members, took part in The Big TUC Youth Debate, which was supported by the NUS. Speaking afterwards, Shim said: “More than a third of graduates go on to non-graduate-level jobs after university, and are struggling to live after accommodation and bills are paid. Young people need to step up and be an active voice, yet lots of young people are feeling worthless because of the dead-end jobs they are in and the lack of pay. “We also heard that students need more support in choices they make for FE. Organisations such as youth clubs and [careers advice service] Connexions are dying out due to cuts in Government funding, leaving young people lost and unaware of their options after education.” Housing problems for students and under-16s were also highlighted, and progressive and radical approaches to addressing these issues were discussed. “The conference proved to be a real eye-opener on the issues Britain as a whole is going through, and how they have knock-on effects on one another. Not only do the issues affect us professionally, but our personal lives are also affected. As a union, we are in this together,” said Shim.
FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 5
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26/01/2015 03/09/2014 15:26 10:00
UPDATE
IN PIC TURES
(L) Staff at BMETC take part in ATL’s training day and (R) ATL members during a CPD session at Boston College in December
Strike plans slammed
PHOTO: JAMIE TOPLISS-YATES/PW PHOTOGRAPHY
Plans to make it harder for public sector staff to strike are misjudged, ATL has warned The Conservative Party announced in January that its manifesto would outline a requirement that public services, including schools, health, transport and fire services, have the backing of at least 40% of eligible union members to hold a strike, with a minimum 50% turnout. It also said it would end the ban on using agency workers to cover classes during strikes, impose a duty on schools to remain open throughout, curb picketing and set a threemonth time limit for action. ATL general secretary Mary Bousted responded: “The Conservative Party is wrong in principle and wrong in practice. It is setting a poor example to children, saying teachers have to abide by one form of democracy while politicians have another. “Strikes should be averted where possible, but the Conservatives have misjudged the level of public support for the right to withdraw labour. At the same time as telling schools they have to actively promote ‘fundamental British values’, ministers say they don’t believe in majority votes.” Dr Bousted added: “We would like more members to vote in ballots, but the current balloting rules belong to the 1960s. Electronic voting could raise participation in union ballots, but the Government won’t allow it, and instead disparages public sector workers yet again.” WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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Leading in learning More than a thousand people have taken part in training at further education colleges as part of ATL’s Union Learning Fund (ULF) project for 2014-15 ATL is working with 12 FE colleges through the ULF project to deliver CPD for school and college staff in English, maths, traineeships and apprenticeships. ATL is the only organisation running wholecollege staff CPD, and has secured a ULF grant for 2015-16, which means it can continue this work in the sector. Last term, more than 300 teachers, managers and support staff at Birmingham Metropolitan College (BMETC) took part in workshops on topics ranging from workbased learning to funding for young people and adults in post-16 education. Halesowen College hosted a range of workshops and a TeachMeet event, while members and staff benefited from specialist training in apprenticeships at Leeds City College. ATL organised 14 workshops for more than 150 people as part of a joint staff development day at Boston College in Lincolnshire in December. ATL ULF project worker Miranda Harr said: “We worked with the college to develop, send and analyse the results of a staff learning needs survey to get a clear picture.” The union organised 14 workshops covering managing stress, adolescent
mental health, apprenticeships and traineeships, and effective maths and English provision, with the college providing others, including one on using software and apps in teaching and learning. Between November and January, 100 maths teachers took part in sessions in Cumbria, Oldham, the Wirral and Manchester, set up by ATL with AQA maths advocates and designed to equip attendees for the new curriculum. In January, more than 170 staff and members benefited from courses on maths, English and apprenticeships run by ATL during a staff development day at Middlesbrough College. More events are planned in the coming weeks at locations including Doncaster College on 13 February, which is open to all FE and sixth form members in the area, Leeds City College, Hull College, and Bilborough Sixth Form College, which is open to teachers across the Midlands. For more information about events in the northern or eastern regions, email Miranda Harr at mharr@atl.org.uk, and for events in the north west and the Midlands, email Rebecca Poorhady at rpoorhady@atl.org.uk.
Redundancy recalculation Members who were set to be paid too little when they were made redundant at a school that had converted to academy status received the money they were due thanks to ATL. With ATL’s support, staff at the school in the south west of England proved that a new and less generous redundancy policy had been wrongly applied. Under the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment Regulations, or TUPE, staff at the school should have expected two times statutory redundancy pay, as this was what was set out in their contracts when the school became an academy in 2010. However, the school was only
planning to pay minimum statutory redundancy pay as set out in a new redundancy policy it claimed it implemented after becoming an academy. ATL’s regional official advised members the school had neither fulfilled the requirements of consulting about, nor come to an agreed outcome on, the new policy – and so it was inapplicable. She said: “As this case shows, it’s important that members speak to their union when they believe something is wrong or they have concerns about their terms and conditions of employment.” If you have any concerns about your terms and conditions, see the contact details for ATL on page 21.
FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 7
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AGENDA
AS I WRITE, the opening salvo in the general election campaign has been fired. We can expect four months of claim and counterclaim on the two battlegrounds chosen – the economy for the Tories, and the NHS for Labour. Education is not, I predict, going to be at the forefront of the election debate. This is a pity because the future of education policy in England is in desperate need of fundamental and far-reaching debate. My last agenda column detailed (and left me exhausted just writing it) the maelstrom of curriculum and qualification changes hitting schools. My view is that the new GCSEs and A-levels will be a disaster for many pupils whose talents do not lie in timed linear exams, upon which their future depends. Nor does it make any sense to exclude essential skills and knowledge from qualifications – including speaking and listening from English and practical work from science. These policies are going to be directly responsible for falling standards, a growth in NEETs and a decline in our national prosperity (a view shared by the CBI). All this should be a major focus of debate – but I doubt it will be. Nor are any of the main parties planning to reverse the direction of travel on curriculum and qualification reform. The entirely predictable results of the rapid, poorly planned and badly executed move to schoolbased initial teacher training (ITT) are now becoming all too apparent. What should have been obvious to the National College for Teaching and Leadership, which runs the School Direct programme, is that a market approach to ITT was bound to fail. Teaching is the largest graduate recruiter, but 35,000 teachers are needed per year just to replace those who retire from and leave the profession. Such a large need cannot be met by schools alone. Central coordination is needed to ensure enough trainees are recruited. It is clear higher education institutions were the glue that kept initial teacher recruitment and training on track. It is now widely recognised that we are heading for a teacher recruitment crisis – indeed, school WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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Focus on education Education probably won’t be one of the major points of pre-election debate, but it should be, says ATL general secretary Mary Bousted leaders in many areas are already finding it almost impossible to recruit teachers across a wide range of subjects and age phases. This will become a major political hot potato after the election, as whichever party (or parties) forms the new government will have to deal with the effects of inadequate teacher numbers. You will not, however, encounter much debate on this before the election. This is why ATL has produced its education manifesto, which draws upon issues members raise. Our manifesto starts with young people; they have got the raw end of the deal. Indeed, we are worried many of them don’t think they are part of the deal at all – and by that, I mean the deal one generation makes with the next, that if they work hard and contribute to
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society, they will have a future and stake in that society. So our manifesto makes clear demands that young people get better access to further education, so they can develop the skills and dispositions needed for fulfilling working lives in the 21st century, and can access careers guidance to show what opportunities, qualifications and experience are available to them. ATL’s manifesto argues for education as a social good. We do not want our schools to be run for profit, but we know this is already happening as board members of academy trusts and free schools make full use of related transactions to provide ‘services’ to their schools – HR, estate management, IT – all meant to be provided ‘at cost’ but with no apparent means to ensure they are. ATL wants every penny of public money spent on schools to be for the benefit of students, not to line the pockets of academy trustees or their relatives. Proposals developed by Labour for a middle tier – to provide support and accountability for all schools – are, we think, a step in the right direction. No government can run thousands of schools from Whitehall; recent financial scandals and free school failures show what happens when the centre does not hold – things fall apart. Our manifesto then moves to consider educational professionals – ATL members: teachers, lecturers and support staff. We argue it should be obvious that unless better care is taken of those who work in education, standards of achievement will fall. We want a serious response to the issues blighting teachers’ working lives, and an end to the spiralling workload pressures that make teaching unattractive and unsustainable. I will write about workload again in my next column. See our education manifesto at www.atl.org.uk/manifesto. You can follow Mary Bousted on Twitter @MaryBoustedATL. FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 9
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THE VIEW FROM… WALES/NORTHERN IRELAND
Northern Ireland
Wales DR PHILIP DIXON ATL members can help shape the new deal for CPD in Wales
MARK LANGHAMMER Budget cuts: something’s got to give
NOTWITHSTANDING THE last ditch Stormont House Agreement, the draft education budget for 2015-16 outlines cuts of £36.1 million to the capital budget (19.7%) and £162.5 million (8.4%) to the resource budget. There will be cuts of £20 million (five per cent) to the Education and Library Boards, £3 million (15%) to schools maintenance and £2 million (29%) to the entitlement framework. The most significant hit will be £78.7 million (seven per cent) from the aggregated schools budget. ATL estimates this will mean average school budget reductions of seven or eight per cent.
Relative to 2010-11, there have been real-term cuts of 13.6% in 2014-15. This represents a staggering blow for 2015-16, and it may be replicated in subsequent years. This is an unjust burden to ask pupils, parents and schools to pay. A senior departmental official estimates 2,500 staff redundancies in 2015-16, which we believe is an underestimate. Such cuts will impact on every school, classroom and pupil. School leaders and governors will preside over decisions that will increase class sizes, lead to more composite classes, decrease the number of teachers and support staff, and reduce the curriculum range. They will create more work for remaining teachers, increase staff absence and defer school maintenance indefinitely. These cuts may even close your school and will certainly accelerate the regional school closure and rationalisation process. ATL believes it is time to stand up for education. We will be consulting members on what action to take in the coming weeks.
A FEW MONTHS ago the minister for education and skills, Huw Lewis, announced a ‘new deal’ for the education workforce to guarantee CPD as an entitlement, rather than a reward. We welcomed that announcement, as the quality and quantity of CPD is too much of a lottery. However, we still have little or no detail about what this deal might look like. With budgets slashed for schools and FE colleges, it is unlikely that a great deal of funding will be available. It seems as if we are still in
support staff, who were given very little CPD. The thrust of inter-school cooperation means that peer-to-peer sharing and mentoring is likely to form the bulk of what is on offer. This is no bad thing as we know professionals learn best from each other. So perhaps we have to start thinking of new ways to access and deliver CPD. As ever, your experience and your voice will be at the heart of all that we will be bringing to the table. Contact us at cymru@atl. org.uk with your thoughts.
“WE HAVE TO THINK OF NEW WAYS TO ACCESS AND DELIVER CPD” the first stages of the new deal, but this means if we are smart, we can still help shape what will be offered. We will need to insist the new deal covers the entire workforce. The old regime provided good early professional development and, eventually, good development for headship, but in between it was too hit and miss. It was even worse when it came to
Our manifesto, your vote Share our manifesto with colleagues, parents, governors, MPs and decision-makers www.atl.org.uk/manifesto Find out how you can get involved at organise@atl.org.uk Join the debate #ShapeEducation @ATLUnion @ATL_AMiE
WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 11
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A learning p WHY IT’S TIME TO PUT PROFESSIONALISM AND CPD BACK ON THE EDUCATION AGENDA “THE QUALITY OF TEACHING is the single most important factor in raising educational standards. Research has shown that when school leaders focus on supporting teacher development, this is the most effective tool to improve pupil achievement,” explains ATL senior policy adviser Alison Ryan. Late last year, when education secretary Nicky Morgan unveiled a consultation on measures to “support a world-class teaching profession”, it seemed, after a decade of education policy fixated on school structures, assessment and accountability, that the Government was finally recognising the value of teacher development by putting professionalism on the agenda. Professionalism is at the heart of ATL’s education manifesto, launched in May 2014, which calls for a better working life for all education professionals, and a right to, and control over, CPD, which would follow on from a nationwide system of teacher training that grants a professional qualification. Last month saw the third in ATL’s series of five pre-election panel debates exploring issues raised in the manifesto. Politicians, policy-makers and educationalists heard key figures address the issues around professionalism in education, including the role of CPD.
ILLUSTRATION: MATT HARRISON CLOUGH
What is professionalism? “Teaching is, or should be, a learning profession,” says Alison. “Teacher professionalism is about exercising judgement on curriculum, assessment and pedagogy. There has to be a balance between teacher autonomy and appropriate accountability measures prescribed by the Government. Teachers also have a responsibility to debate education practice.” To achieve this, ATL believes all education staff need relevant, high-quality CPD and reflective practice, which, for teachers, builds on their initial training. Kate Quigley, ATL’s national learning 12 REPORT | FEBRUARY 2015
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manager, explains: “High-quality teaching is about maintaining your skills and knowledge. We believe teachers should have a contractual right to CPD to maintain and develop their professional skills and their impact on teaching and learning. As education professionals, they should be given some control over how CPD happens, with time to research their subjects, learn with expert colleagues and innovate, for the benefit of the students. “It’s also really important to find out what people’s needs are before they undertake professional development. The most effective CPD comes from an appropriate needs analysis, in terms of what the pupils, the school and the individual need. Schools may have certain issues, such as behaviour or the implementation of a new framework, but without staff who are informed and confident in their practice, these issues will reoccur. Workplaces that allow time to try out new practice, and to research, evidence and reflect on what works, lead the way for staff development.” Understanding What Enables High Quality Professional Learning, a 2012 report from the Centre for the Use of Research and Evidence in Education, drew on studies into the characteristics of high-quality professional learning for education staff. It found that when leaders promote and participate in teacher development, it is more than twice as effective as any other leadership activity in improving student outcomes. It also describes a growing consensus that the quality of teaching is the major influence on pupil achievement. ATL has a long history of supporting such staff development – more than 20,000 members have so far taken part in our training courses around the country. But for many education staff, access to good-quality CPD is unattainable – either because they cannot find the right courses, or because it is has not been enough of a priority for schools. WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
26/01/2015 16:20
SPOTLIGHT ON… A LEARNING PROFESSION
g profession This is exactly what prompted former maths teacher David Weston, a panellist at our professionalism debate last month, to set up The Teacher Development Trust (TDT) in 2012. “I taught for nine years at a couple of secondary schools in London, and one of the things I noticed during my career was that I’d been on a few CPD courses and I had a stack of stuff under my desk, but nothing stuck with me. The other thing I noticed was the number of times I ended up reinventing the wheel, planning things by myself,” he says. The more he looked into this area, the more he realised there were some big issues around professional development for teachers. “There were lots of flashin-the-pan one-offs, lots of us sitting listening to people, whereas when I read the research I saw that actually we should have more opportunity for professional
their professional judgement over what they’re doing, with more peer-to-peer assessment, quality assurance and staff supporting each other as well as holding each other responsible for improvement.” Central to the Government’s proposals for teacher professionalism is the creation of a new, independent, professional body to “represent and champion high standards in the teaching profession” – a College of Teaching. ATL welcomed the consultation on a profession-led body for teachers – but has stressed that it must be truly independent. “For a College of Teaching to be successful, it must be independent of the Government, and teachers will need to be convinced it will help them to develop their careers and not just provide more hoops to jump through,” explains Alison. She continues: “Too often training has become a stop-gap to make sure teachers can implement the latest Government initiative. The best professional development enables teachers both to improve their day-to-day practice in the classroom and at school, and to develop their careers within the profession.” The TDT is also supportive of the idea. “It will be a useful thing for teachers to get a proper, established career path, which doesn’t necessarily only mean taking on managerial responsibility, but, through professional learning, being able to specialise in being in the classroom, or specialise in particular areas such as special needs or mathematics,” says David. “A College of Teaching, provided it is voluntary and not foisted upon anyone, and is also independent of Government, is something that would really help.” Last year the Labour Party unveiled its own plans for teacher training and development to be part of a ‘licence to teach’, but ATL is concerned this would be used for sacking under-performing teachers, rather than being linked to professional entitlements for teachers, such as guaranteed access to effective training and support. David is also 3 cautious: “I don’t like the language
“TOO OFTEN TRAINING HAS BECOME A STOPGAP TO MAKE SURE TEACHERS IMPLEMENT THE LATEST GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE” dialogue, for planning lessons together, observing each other, using evidence of things that work. I was blown away when I started reading research about the more effective pedagogies I’d never heard of. “I just thought something was terribly wrong. Historically in the UK, people only get interested in CPD when the Government does, and that tends to only be for a year at a time. At the TDT, we want to make the changes we believe teachers deserve.” The TDT has more than 100 schools on its national teacher enquiry network, and also has what David Weston describes as a TripAdvisor for CPD - its Good CPD Guide, a free online national course database. He adds: “I don’t inherently have a problem with accountability. I do think we have got the balance wrong though. It seems the only lever we have in our system is to say ‘make Ofsted assess it’, or to put it in a league table, but we’ve gone as far as we can go along that line. What we’re really missing is a strong sense it is possible for teachers and schools to use WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 13
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SPOTLIGHT ON… A LEARNING PROFESSION
“IT’S A TOTAL FALSE ECONOMY TO CUT THE TEACHER DEVELOPMENT BUDGET. IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR STAFF AND YOU WANT TO DEVELOP THEM, THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR JUST INVESTING MORE TIME AND MONEY” because it’s a bit negative. It talks about yet another threshold you have to show you’ve crossed. We need to stop obsessing about not getting worse, focus on getting better and growing and learning, and helping colleagues do the same, so we can reach ever higher standards.”
The challenges Funding cuts have underlined the current coalition Government’s term in office. In education, local authorities and schools are implementing cuts across all parts of their budgets – including SEN support services and support staff, resources and maintenance – and CPD has also been a target. David Weston is clear: “It’s a disaster if people say it’s easy to cut back on the CPD budget. They don’t realise what really effective professional development can be, that it can articulate a collegiate professional discussion around solving the problems our children have and helping them reach the aspirations we have for them. Spend more money, spend it better so children succeed and teachers thrive. “It’s a total false economy to cut the teacher development budget. If you don’t want to be spending hours and hours every single year trying to replace teachers who have gone and burned out, if you want to keep your staff and you want to develop them, there is no substitute for just investing more time and money. WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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“We also see some schools thinking they can save lots of money by doing everything in-house, but the research is clear: teachers need to get some external expertise in their own professional development, we need to be talking to each other as a profession, we need to talk to people who have spent more time with evidence of what works or solving problems with other teachers.” Along with funding, effective CPD also relies on the right school culture. “You don’t really learn without taking risks,” explains Kate Quigley. “If you’re going to try something out, an innovative, creative idea, there is an element of risk that it might not work effectively, so you have to have a culture that says you can try these ideas out, that we’ll collaboratively learn, mistakes are to learn from, hopefully we’ll succeed, and hopefully we’ll also learn from that. “Then, if it works, or some of it works, we will figure out how to replicate and adapt it for other phases or subjects. The problem is, at a time when schools feel at the forefront of an awful lot of criticism, and have quite a fear of Ofsted, there’s an awful lot of risk-averse practice.”
The bigger picture “Of course, professionalism is about more than CPD and a career structure,” says Alison. “It’s also about respect for a profession, which is valued by society. Yet, as a nation, we have been treating
our education staff quite badly. Our members say workload has increased and they’re having to implement externally imposed and ideologically driven changes to qualifications, curriculum and SEN provision. “It’s hardly surprising morale is plummeting. Along with the weakening of QTS and job uncertainty – particularly for headteachers, whose jobs are often as secure as their last Ofsted judgement – this means teaching is becoming less attractive as a career choice.” Indeed, the Government’s announcement about professionalism comes on the heels of its ‘workload challenge’. More than 44,000 teachers responded to this survey about workload carried out through the TES late last year, and their responses were used to create a plan to reduce teachers’ workloads. But the realities of teaching for many education staff – secondary teachers work, on average, a 63-hour week – beg the question, even if there is high-quality CPD available in a school, would staff even have time to access it? Meanwhile, teacher recruitment figures, announced in November, suggest there will be a seven per cent shortfall in teaching staff in September - the third annual shortfall in a row, with some experts warning a shortage of more than 6,000 teachers has built up. We were also told last year that, on average, 40% of newly qualified teachers are leaving the profession within five years. David concludes: “We’re seeing the most searches on courses about the new national curriculum and assessment. That’s no surprise, because that’s where the biggest policy churn is, and it comes back to the fact the Government tinkers with things so much, and most people are spending their time trying to deal with that change. People are also concerned about Ofsted – it’s a shame; a lot of CPD tends to be ‘what can I do to alleviate my fear’ as opposed to ‘what can I do to achieve my vision?’” “We know teachers are experts in curriculum, assessment and pedagogy and that they work best collaboratively,” says Alison. “Their professionalism should be recognised through increased autonomy in curriculum development, pupil assessment and pedagogy, supported by CPD that is built on a teacher’s needs and wishes alongside the school’s requirements, rather than following policy diktat.” n You can read more about this and all ATL’s pre-election debates at www.atl.org.uk/ shapeeducationdebates. ATL’s education manifesto is at www.atl.org.uk/manifesto. FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 15
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Changing tack John Andrews JOHN IS THE LEAD TEACHER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE AT FEATHERSTONE HIGH SCHOOL IN WEST LONDON, WHERE HE IS ALSO THE SCHOOL NURSE. THE 31-YEAR-OLD COLLECTED A SILVER AWARD FOR TEACHER OF THE YEAR IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL I have been teaching for eight years now. Before that I was a theatre and anaesthetic nurse, which I loved, but I wanted to do a PGCE. I came to London but kept my job in Northern Ireland because I was intending to go back, then I fell into the London lifestyle and I’m still here. The training was intense. At my interview, I said work-life balance wouldn’t be a problem because I’ve done three years’ nursing training. But my PGCE felt like my nurse training squashed into one year. Just because you’re good at doing something, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be a good teacher. There still needs to be some kind of formal education. There’s a
lot to be said about going to university and learning a little bit of theory in a safe haven where you can go to the library, you don’t have bells dinging around your head, you have a support network, then you can practise what you’ve learnt. Nursing and teaching are both stressful. In nursing, it’s more emotional, but you don’t actually wheel your patients home with you. With teaching, you take marking home, and if you don’t do things in an ordered fashion, you will literally collapse under a pile of marking. But it’s important for students’ progression that assessment is completed to a high standard; I’m never going to complain about having to mark
“YOU KNOW YOU’VE DONE YOUR JOB AS A TEACHER WHEN YOU’VE IMPACTED ON CHILDREN’S LIVES”
30 books because that helps me see who is struggling and who may need some sort of intervention. The paperwork around it, ‘this bit of paper needs to be filled in to prove you’ve looked in this book’, etc – that could be more efficient. To anybody coming into education now, it is hard, there are lots of pressures – you
Jane Westlake JANE TEACHES MATHS AT KILGARTH SCHOOL IN BIRKENHEAD, A SCHOOL FOR BOYS WITH SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIOURAL DIFFICULTIES, HAVING WORKED AS A TEACHING ASSISTANT AND MENTOR AT THE SAME SCHOOL. SHE WON A SILVER AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING NEW TEACHER OF THE YEAR I always knew I wanted to be a teacher but I went into work, not university. I originally thought teaching was unreachable for me but, when I was in my late 20s I thought, ‘actually, I can do this’. It’s been a long way working my way up to being a teacher, first as a TA, and then a mentor and senior mentor, but the benefits are massive. It has enabled me to take the best bits of teaching I’ve seen. Working as a mentor, one-to-one with students and parents, has shown me perspectives from all sides. After I finished my degree, I really felt ready to teach. I trained part time at Edge Hill, with my placement here at Kilgarth. It was invaluable, as I could put my learning into practice straight away. Training has to
16 REPORT | FEBRUARY 2015
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have a good balance between the theory and the practice. I understand the social and emotional side of the pupils, and the difficulties they have with learning or school, and the challenges they may have already faced by the time they come into school. It’s really important to bear their circumstances in mind when I’m teaching. I know some children struggle with maths. There are always one or two Year 7 pupils who are reluctant to even come through the classroom door. So I try to make it interesting, fun and practical, get
them engaged, and build their confidence in the subject. When I was at school I was told not to ask why. They said ‘this is the method, just remember it’, but, for any child, relying on memory is going to be a struggle. If they truly understand why and how it works, it’s going to stick, and they will be able to attach that understanding to other parts of their learning. Having worked as a TA has helped now I’m a teacher. My TAs are a really valuable asset. It’s up to me to prepare them for what we’re doing. It’s important to get the
”TEACHING ASSISTANTS ARE A VALUABLE PART OF THE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS” WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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IN PROFILE… AWARD-WINNING MEMBERS
Four ATL members won silver teaching awards in July last year, all of them having come to teaching after pursuing careers elsewhere first. Here they explain why they chose teaching and how it compares to their previous jobs
need to manage them well, and if you’re in a good school where they sort of sieve out the pressures, so that they are not all coming down to you, it helps. In our department we have experienced health and social care teachers. Our students, especially those interested in social work, nursing, midwifery, biomedical science and law, like having that experience on site. My biggest concern is the Government valuing vocational education. One size doesn’t fit all, and the challenge is making sure children are on an appropriate course to improve their future, not just to tick an education box. I feel very proud and privileged to get the award, and got enjoyment seeing how pleased the children were – there was such a buzz for weeks. But no teacher can stand there and say this award is theirs – there’s such a big team. My colleague, who started on the same day as me and set up the travel and tourism course, three quarters of the award is hers. Without her mentorship
I would have never been a teacher whom children would have wanted to thank. Some of my students have parents who had no formal education after 12, so they are on their own education-wise when they leave school to complete homework. If I was in their situation, I’d hope a teacher would help me. You know you’ve done your job as a teacher when you haven’t just ticked the boxes and done the marking, you’ve actually impacted on those children’s lives. Whenever people talk about low morale, I say, “You know what, be selfish and think about yourself – do you feel good about the job you’re doing? Do you see progress, your students having the ability to do more, maybe because of that worksheet you gave them?” When my students start failing and doing worse, that’s when my morale will go down. Pressures are pressures, and they are not going to go away. The Government’s agenda isn’t going to change. We are the soldiers doing the job, and we’ve just got to sing a happy tune.
partnership right. It would be a massive struggle if I didn’t have a TA, especially with our pupils who have really complex social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. TAs are not just there to manage behaviour though; they’re very much part of the teaching and learning process. As a teacher, workload is definitely greater than when I was a TA, but the pros are having the freedom to be able to do things the way I want to. It’s my subject to plan how I think best.
Looking back, I can imagine I would have been fine going into teaching straight away, but maybe I would have been less confident. I do put a huge value on the experience I had before. For anyone, especially any support staff, if you’ve got the desire to become a teacher then definitely go for it. It is a passion though. You really have to give 100% because what you get out very much depends on what you put in. My main ethos is high expectation. Our expectations of a child’s potential to achieve should be uncompromising. I tell the Year 7 class not to say, ‘I can’t do it,’ but to say, ‘I can’t do it yet.’ It’s really important to manage their frustration and reassure them that if we work hard together, we will get there. I’m seriously shattered; this has been a really hard term. But, it’s the best feeling when I see the pupils beginning to enjoy maths and when I hear a child saying ‘Ah, now I get it.’
WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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John Burgess JOHN WORKED IN INDUSTRY FOR 14 YEARS BEFORE TRAINING AS A TEACHER 12 YEARS AGO. HE IS A CURRICULUM LEADER AND SCIENCE TEACHER AT NORTHFIELD SCHOOL AND SPORTS COLLEGE IN STOCKTON-ON-TEES. HE WON A SILVER AWARD FOR TEACHER OF THE YEAR IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL I was accepted on to a PGCE when I was 22, but I didn’t go through with it because I was offered a job with a major chemical company. I worked in hightech industrial chemicals for 14 years, travelling the world. But in 2001 I decided it was something I didn’t want to do, mostly because I was never at home. And I felt I was satisfying the needs of shareholders, not of society. All that time I’d had doubts about whether I’d made the right decision not to do the PGCE. At 36, I thought I’d be too old to retrain, but if I didn’t do it then, I would never have done it. My Graduate Teacher Programme was very much school-based. I’m forever beholden to that school, St Roberts. Without them I wouldn’t be the teacher I am today. I got a job at a school in Sunderland, one of the eight worst in the country for behaviour at the time. It was while I was working there that I broke my neck playing rugby and was partially paralysed in all four limbs. The doctors didn’t even know if I would survive for a while, but once I got out of hospital my intention was to get back into the classroom. I gave up an awful lot to teach: a lifestyle, a very generous salary, and bonuses, and I wasn’t going to let a little thing like paralysis stop me from at least trying to FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 17
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IN PROFILE… AWARD-WINNING MEMBERS
“I GAVE UP AN AWFUL LOT TO TEACH AND I WASN’T GOING TO LET PARALYSIS STOP ME FROM AT LEAST TRYING TO DO IT” do it. And the teaching award has been a real vindication of what I’m doing, even though I think there are better teachers than me in this school. Teaching is pretty slow in celebrating its successes. We have a lot to shout about in education. Teachers, as well as TAs, leaders and all the others in schools, are professionals, but by and large they’re not treated like professionals by parents and the Government. There’s been attempts by governments to treat education like a business, talking about outcomes and key performance indicators. These are children, not commodities. They do have value, but it’s something you can’t quantify. Appraisals in schools are trying to follow a business format too. I don’t know another job where you are wholly dependent on someone else’s actions. It doesn’t matter how well I’ve prepped the students, if they underperform in the exam, that’s seen as my fault. In industry that doesn’t happen – your role is clearly defined, you’re responsible for X, Y and Z and that will be clearly evidenced. In teaching it’s much more woolly. In teaching, we also take our most exceptional teachers and move them along a career path away from the classroom where they’re best impacting on students. But the best teachers don’t always make the best senior leaders. In industry, great leaders surround themselves with capable people. Coming to teaching later has made me a better teacher. Teachers coming in straight from school and university; they’re good, well trained and professional, but they haven’t got the world experience that adds to teaching. I’d say to anyone considering teaching, don’t think it is like what you saw as a student. You need to see a teacher teaching now and talk to them before you take it on. It’s superb and rewarding, but go in with your eyes open. Teaching is the best way of earning a living. There’s nothing better than sitting in front of a class and seeing those lightbulbs go on, seeing them enjoy the educational process. WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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Steve Trubacik STEVE WON A SILVER AWARD FOR TEACHER OF THE YEAR IN A SECONDARY SCHOOL. THE 52-YEAR-OLD TEACHES A-LEVEL MATHS AND IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE KEY STAGE 5 CURRICULUM AT RINGWOOD SCHOOL IN HAMPSHIRE My first job was in IT programming, but teaching was something that had always appealed to me. My first teaching post was in 1995. Just because somebody is a mature entrant, they’re not going to automatically be better than someone coming from university, but you do bring something different. You’ve got that anecdotal, real-world experience, and with the age group I work with, it’s particularly relevant. I’ve deliberately stayed out of going up the career ladder because I really enjoy the work I do. I guess that’s what I learnt from my previous career. You do programming, you become a programme analyst, an analyst, then a project leader, and all of a sudden you’re managing people and budgets, not the job you went into. The job I went into is working with students in the classroom, and I’ve had opportunities to move on, but I’ve resisted those to stay in the classroom. In general, parents are really supportive; they value the role you’re doing as a teacher. I would say you need some sort of qualification to be a teacher.
all the skills they need that are transferable outside maths, while allowing them to excel within the discipline. Ultimately, their proof of that to the outside world is exam results, so we work very hard in providing the resources to support all of that. My job is to make all of those things happen in the classroom on a daily basis. The biggest headache I have is the change in the syllabus - just now we’re going through A-level changes. We’re told it’s going to change, there’s a consultation document saying ‘it’s probably going to change like this’, but we’ve had zero effective information.
“THE BIGGEST HEADACHE I HAVE IS THE CHANGE IN THE SYLLABUS. CHANGE IS GOOD, BUT THERE HAVE TO BE GOOD REASONS FOR IT” There are some jobs where you can tread water for a bit, but with teaching you’ve got people in front of you who you’re going to influence significantly; you’re responsible for them, not just yourself. You need in-depth knowledge of your subject, and know how to work with and manage students and bridge the gap between their engagement and your subject knowledge. I don’t think you can do that by just hoping it’ll happen. You need an element of both theory and practice in teacher training, but it is key you get the right practical experience; you need to be in a school where you’ve got structured support. You also need a chance to sit with co-trainees outside the classroom, and possibly outside the school, where you can talk about your experience. We work very hard to generate a curriculum that provides students with
Things get put down on you quite quickly – in fact, maths has just been put back another year at A-level. That is one of the big problems – when things do change, the planning-delivery lifecycle can be on the short side, and that can create a lot of work. Change is good, but there have to be good reasons for it. I know I’m doing a good job because I’m told I do a good job, but I don’t expect any extra reward or prize for doing it, so the award was a complete surprise. Teaching is a team event. You cannot deliver the maths curriculum without a range of staff who work with you. It’s also a team event with students, because they have to want to do their best. I’ve had some really long days in teaching, but I’ve never had a slow day. To me, that’s good; I’m busy, and that appeals. I enjoy my job; I love working with the students. FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 19
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YOUR ATL… CONTENTS AND CONTACTS
Your ATL EXPERT ADVICE, TEACHING TOOLS, MEMBER BENEFITS – AND YOUR RIGHT TO REPLY
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ATL advice on what you and your employer should do if you are assaulted by a pupil
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USEFUL CONTACTS If you need help with matters related to your employment, your first point of contact should be your school or college ATL rep, or your AMiE regional officer if you are a leadership member. You can also contact your local ATL branch for advice and support. If they are unable to help, contact ATL using these details: General enquiries: 020 7930 6441 info@atl.org.uk BELFAST: 028 9078 2020 ni@atl.org.uk CARDIFF: 029 2046 5000 cymru@atl.org.uk
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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. 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.
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GUIDE
Dealing with violence ATL’s lead member adviser Ken McAdam explains what steps you and your employer should take if you are assaulted by a student IN THE MAJORITY of cases, staff and students enjoy a productive relationship based on mutual trust and respect. However, sometimes a student’s behaviour towards staff can become unacceptable and, very occasionally, violent. ATL takes a zero-tolerance approach to violent conduct towards our members, and employers should too. The following provides a clear steer about what to do if a member of staff is assaulted.
Your right to a safe place of work Your employer is under a statutory duty to provide a safe place of work for you, students and visitors involved in your school/college under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act). There is also an implied term in your contract of employment that your employer will provide a healthy and safe working environment, and this includes protection from violence or the risk of violence, whether on or off site. As an employee, you also have legal obligations. Under the HSW Act you must do the following: R Take reasonable care of your own health and safety and that of others, including your colleagues and the students in your care. R Cooperate with your employers on health and safety matters. R Act in accordance with training, instructions, policies and procedures. R Let your employer know about any serious risks. WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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Steps staff should follow after an assault by a student
Steps the school/college should take following an assault by a student
There are a number of steps you should consider taking after a physical assault: R You should be allowed access to a private area where you can sit with a friend/colleague. R You may want to leave the workplace and go home. If so, the school/college should offer to provide and pay for a taxi if appropriate. R You may have to visit your GP or a hospital, accompanied by a friend, representative or colleague. Again, the school/college should offer to provide and pay for a taxi if appropriate. R A medical assessment of any injury should be made as soon as practicable. A doctor’s report, or even photograph of the injury, can be important evidence in any personal injury claim or legal proceedings. R Speak to your employer about reporting the assault to the police. Please note you must report the assault to the police within 48 hours if a claim is to be made to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. R Make a written record of the assault in the school/college incident book, detailing any injury and the circumstances leading up to it, as soon as possible. R Report the assault to your ATL rep, health and safety rep or branch secretary. R Make a follow-up appointment with your GP if you experience any enduring symptoms. R If the assault occurred away from the premises, the school/college should be formally notified. R Read ATL’s model policy on violence, threatening behaviour and abuse, which can be found in our publication of the same name. See right for details.
The school/college should take the following steps following an assault by a student: R Suspend the student, pending a prompt assessment of the appropriate disciplinary process and penalties. R Carry out an investigation and ensure the student is dealt with promptly, fairly and firmly under the school/ college disciplinary procedures. R Report (with the member’s consent) the assault to the police. R Conduct a health and safety risk assessment. This should follow the following steps: identify the hazard; decide who might be harmed and how; evaluate the risks and decide on precautions; record the findings and revise and update the assessments periodically. R Ensure staff who have been assaulted are not directed to teach or supervise the student if she/he returns to the school/college. R Ensure time off following an assault at work is not counted against staff when it comes to sick leave and pay arrangements. Thankfully, assaults on staff by students are rare, and those schools and colleges that maintain a firm but fair policy on behaviour should ensure that this remains the case. However, if you have been the victim of an assault by a student and are not satisfied with the way the school/college has dealt with it, contact ATL for further information – contact details are on page 21. More detailed guidance can be found in the ‘Health and safety’ section of ATL’s website at www.atl.org.uk/violenceandassaults and in our publication Violence, Threatening Behaviour and Abuse, available to download from www.atl.org.uk/violenceguide.
FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 23
26/01/2015 16:20
Jan 2015_Layout 1 05/12/2014 14:55 Page 1
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Open 23rd February–12th June Win book tokens, cash prizes and attend a prize giving event in London with special guests. Winners’ work will be published online during the anniversary of the bombings. For more information on our competition or our free teaching resources, teacher training or school speakers, visit: @CNDPeaceEd www.cnduk.org/education facebook: CNDPeaceEducation
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26/01/2015 15:28
YOUR ATL… LEGAL GUIDE
Sharing the caring ATL solicitor Elizabeth Doherty explains the rights and requirements around sharing parental leave between a mother and her partner SHARED PARENTAL leave came into force on 1 December 2014 and is available to parents whose children are due on or after 5 April 2015. The new statutory scheme in Great Britain aims to allow working families more flexibility in caring for a child during its first year. Although the first two weeks after the birth must always be taken by the mother, the legislation enables the mother to then curtail up to 50 weeks of her statutory maternity leave (SML) and the associated statutory maternity pay (SMP). The balance of her entitlement can then be distributed between her and her partner (who may not necessarily be the child’s father). The leave will then be known as shared parental leave (SPL) and the parents will receive statutory shared parental pay (SSPP). A similar scheme is expected to come into force in Northern Ireland later in 2015. In order to qualify for SPL, the mother must be entitled to SML and SMP. The person claiming SPL and SSPP must have been continuously employed for 26 weeks up to and including the 14th week before the expected week of birth. In order for employees to qualify for SPL or SSPP, their partner must also meet the ‘employment and earnings test’. Namely, they must have: R been employed or self-employed in Great Britain for 26 weeks (not necessarily
WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
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continuously) in the period of 66 weeks leading up to the expected week of birth, and R earned an average of not less than £30 a week in 13 of those weeks. Both parents must also remain in employment until the first period of leave. Although selfemployed parents will not be eligible for SPL or SSPP, if they satisfy the test, their employed partner may be able to access SPL and SSPP. Assuming that a couple are eligible and wish to apply for SPL, there are various notification requirements. The mother must first serve her employer with written notice of her intention to curtail her maternity leave and, if appropriate, her entitlement to statutory maternity pay. The notices must set out the date that her SML will end and be sent at least eight weeks before that date. Both parents will also be required to notify their respective employers of their intention to divide the resulting leave. Once notice of curtailment has been given, it can only be withdrawn in these circumstances: R If it transpires neither parent is entitled to SPL, then notice may be withdrawn up to eight weeks after it was given. R If notice was provided before the baby’s birth, the mother may withdraw it without reason up to six weeks following the birth.
If the partner dies it can be withdrawn within a reasonably practicable time. R Notice of curtailment of the maternity pay period can only be revoked if notice was given pre-birth (unless the partner dies). Written notices must also be served to employers in order to book leave. The notices must detail the dates for which each period of leave is requested and, as with the curtailment notice, they must also be served to the employer at least eight weeks before the leave is due to begin. In terms of the patterns of leave available, the regulations state that an employer cannot refuse a request for a continuous block of leave, provided the notice requirements have been met. However, if the mother or her partner wishes to book discontinuous leave, the employer can: R consent to the discontinuous periods of leave requested R propose alternative dates R refuse the request without proposing alternative dates. In the third scenario (or where the employee does not accept the alternative dates) there is a two-week window (starting from the day notice is given) for the parties to try to reach an agreement. If agreement cannot be reached about discontinuous periods, the employee is entitled to take the total amount of leave requested in a continuous block (the default right). The regulations do state that employees can give notice to vary their dates of leave, but an employer is only obliged to accept three such variation notices (although there are exceptions to this rule). It is worth noting that the right to contractual maternity pay, which is higher than statutory maternity pay, will be lost if you curtail your maternity leave during the period when the higher rate is paid. It will not be transferable to your partner or to your SPL (unless your contract states otherwise). While the purpose of SPL is to provide parents with more care options, the regulations, especially surrounding the numerous notices to be served, are complex. Therefore, any member seeking to exercise their right to SPL should contact ATL for guidance first. See page 21 for contact details. For ATL’s factsheet on this and a range of other topics, see www.atl.org.uk/factsheets. R
FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 25
26/01/2015 16:20
YOUR ATL… YOUR VIEWS
Letters inflammatory? Does an implied accusation foster a feeling of unfairness and resentment? Is TOO AWARE OF PREJUDICE? the zeal of overenthusiastic I would like to add my support crusaders healthy and balanced? for the argument put forward by B Haynes in the letter ‘Protection Obviously, if an unacceptable or inappropriate remark is made, for all’ (Report, January 2015), there should be a strategy in which responds to the guide place to deal with the situation. on dealing with racist and Everyone should be aware of homophobic language. It the school culture and policy. It quite rightly addresses the should be dealt with firmly and perception that some sectors discreetly. Would a have more protection more balanced and rights than others. less dogmatic I am concerned The author of this letter wins approach be about whether £100 in book tokens. If you want to less divisive? overemphasising voice your opinion on issues raised in Perhaps more the eradication Report or any other aspect of education, please send a letter or email to research is of racism and the addresses below, including needed. homophobia your phone number. One letter Name supplied actually achieves will be chosen every issue to this aim. win the tokens. ATL’s lead equalities I have not done officer, Wanda Wyporska, any research into the responds: We absolutely agree subject, so I have no statistics or that the majority of young people data on which to draw; I only are kind and tolerant. However, have my own experience of life there is a lot of evidence to and working with young people. show that bullying, whether It is my experience that the vast racist, homophobic, sexist or majority of young people are neither racist nor homophobic. In of disabled young people, is a problem in the classroom, fact, if left to their own devices, online and elsewhere. these issues would not even For example, gay equality figure on their radar. organisation Stonewall They are preoccupied with friendships, music, TV, their future, reports that over 55% of young lesbian, gay or bisexual interests, etc. Most are kind, tolerant and don’t want to hurt the people are bullied. Bullying feelings of others. They reflect the has lifelong consequences for the victims, perpetrators characteristics that are fostered in and bystanders. In addition, this country and in school life. we get many requests from Is the disproportionate education staff for advice and elevation of awareness actually STA R L E T T E R
WIN!
JOIN THE DEBATE… 26 REPORT | FEBRUARY 2015
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report@atl.org.uk @ATLReport facebook.com/ATLUnion Report, ATL, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5RD
guidance on tackling these issues, so we developed the Safer Schools Network: www.saferschools.org.uk. LET’S NOT TALK ABOUT SEX On page 5 of the November/ December 2014 issue of Report, ATL stated it supports making SRE compulsory in schools. For many parents this is very worrying. As a retired ATL member, and onetime head of lower school involved in pastoral care, I think ATL’s support of this is wrong. The form of sex education now being taught in some schools varies. Certainly, already a number of parents have been horrified at the graphic and explicit forms of sex education being taught in some primary schools across Britain. The Sex Education Forum has stated that sex is normal and pleasurable, which of course it is, but that statement would probably be part of sex education if it became compulsory. What would be the effect of this on a primary class? Firstly, the graphic material used will encourage children to try it. This is how children react, as any teacher will tell you. This, of course, is a step towards destroying the innocence of childhood. Why are these organisations hell-bent on saturating young minds with sex? Anyone with a bit of sense can see that, rather than preventing sexual activity, they are encouraging it. In order to address the unacceptability of many teaching resources for sex education, the Government should make funding available to organisations, both religious and non-religious, to produce materials that support parents
and do not expose children and teenagers to explicit sexual images and messages. The big question for parents is: do you know what your child is being taught? Even if you know your school is not using this material, keep a careful eye out to see if things change in the future. P John, Cardiff
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN LETTERS AND COMMENTS PRINTED IN REPORT DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT ATL POLICY OR OPINION.
Overheard ATL members on Facebook respond to University of Reading vice-chancellor Sir David Bell’s call for the Government to stop interfering in the day-today running of schools. Garry Raven: Every government has to have a train set, just a shame it’s always education that gets poor conductors! Sarah Garred: I couldn’t agree more! In fact I sat in a meeting yesterday thinking, if only there was a body controlling schools that wasn’t the Government, then we might get some stability (and sensible decisions). Chris Davies-Barnard: If only there was a committee of industry, education and academic experts who decided the curriculum, with 80% core and 20% topical themes of the day - limiting how much could be changed in any academic year.
WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
26/01/2015 16:20
YOUR ATL… PRIZE CROSSWORD
WIN!
Prize crossword ACROSS 7 Confines teacher in charge to college on Tyneside? (9) 8 Middle of school to employ as division of school (5) 10 What to do when offered public office? Scarper! (3,3,2) 11 Assistance from international body includes party leader, but offers no remuneration (6) 12 Provides weapons to all rebellious middle schools initially (4) 13 I leave new training with zero, knowing nothing (8) 15 Schoolboy’s headwear’s brown – with rope wound round it? (7) 17 A horseback sport extremely ghastly – ‘I’m sorry’ (7) 20 Unexpectedly, CID came after a university teacher (8) 22 Study a subject at university, and produce article in colour (4) 25 Poor headmaster has no seat – gets injured (6) 26 I can go wrong about Saint, and I’m not sure about God (8) 27 Perfume despatched, it’s reported (5) 28 Arts money redirected to religious community (9)
A £50 Marks & Spencer voucher
DOWN 1 In short, a Cambridge college I found in California, America (5) 2 Showing some panache, I ferry over a farm animal (6) 3 New Chair – Head of Sociology – needs graduate with great personal charm (8) 4 Panic at changes by team leader (7) 5 Rank kind of punishment? (8) 6 The work of secret agents in PE, as ego-massaging! (9) 9 Completely spoil organising of reunion – one left out (4) 14 Perhaps fellow can teach. No hope of that! (3,6) 16 The dregs – mid-teens, possibly (8) 18 Learnt a piano badly – it’s to do with Mum and Dad! (8) 19 OU cared about South American country (7) 21 Constructed in the Drama Department (4) 23 As groups of pupils make money available to meet debts (6) 24 Ron left ordinary daily record (5)
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HOW TO ENTER
Send your completed crossword with your contact details to: ATL February crossword competition, Think Publishing, The Pall Mall Deposit, 124-128 Barlby Road, London W10 6BL. Closing date: 20 March 2015. If you have an ATL membership number, please include this here The winner of the February competition will be announced in the April/May issue of Report.
SOLUTION ACROSS: 1 Minuscule 8 Remark 9 Bother 12 Itch 13 Amend 14 Toil 17 Bayonet 18 Tuesday 19 Laertes 22 Inferno 24 Eats 25 Aches 26 Acts 29 Beware 30 Online 31 Candidate DOWN: 2 Iran 3 Unkempt 4 Cabinet 5 Late 6 Beachy 7 Behold 10 Disbelief 11 Playhouse 15 Knits 16 Serfs 20 Entree 21 Succeed 22 Ice-cold 23 Recent 27 Data 28 Flat CONGRATULATIONS TO NOV/DEC’S WINNER – C WRIGHTON, UXBRIDGE
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027_ATL_Feb15_crossword.indd 27
28/01/2015 15:03
YOUR ATL… NOTICEBOARD, GET INVOLVED
IN PROFILE
NOTICE BOARD Peter Smith scholarship
Executive Committee vacancies
As a lasting memorial to former ATL general secretary Peter Smith and his contribution to the work of the union, the Peter Smith scholarship offers financial assistance to ATL members who wish to return to full- or part-time study in areas that will help their professional and personal development. Last year’s awards included contributions towards the costs of a PhD in music education, and MAs in inclusive education and mathematics. For more details and to apply, see www.atl.org.uk/scholarships. You can also contact Bernadette Babayigit at bbabayigit@atl.org.uk for an application form. The closing date is 24 April 2015.
There are currently Executive Committee vacancies in the following constituencies: R South west region – Avon and Gloucester – one vacancy R Eastern region – Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Essex, Southend and Thurrock, Norfolk, Suffolk and Germany – one vacancy R North west region – Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan – one vacancy R North west region – Cumbria, Isle of Man and Lancashire – one vacancy Candidates must be standard members of ATL, able to provide proof they are delivering education, and be nominated by 10 others, all belonging to the relevant electoral division. Relevant forms, the canvassing protocol and ATL’s by-laws are available from pware@atl. org.uk. All nominations must be returned by 12 noon on Monday 23 February 2015. Failure to submit the required documents by the date specified will render the nomination invalid. A ballot will be held if the nominations exceed the number of available seats and canvassing for candidates is permitted only in accordance with a protocol approved by the Executive Committee. These are statutory elections and are being run according to ATL’s by-laws. ATL has appointed an independent scrutineer: Popularis Ltd, Nutsey Lane, Totton, Southampton SO40 3RL; call 02380 867335 or email annehock@popularis.org.
National officer elections Get involved by voting in ATL’s democratic process. There are three candidates for ATL’s vice-president in 2015, and so there will be a postal ballot of all ATL standard members during February. The candidates are Shelagh Hirst, Debbie Polwarth and Geoff Pye. The canvassing protocol agreed by the Executive Committee requires hustings for the presidential election (see www.atl.org.uk/hustings for candidates’ video statements and answers to members’ questions). Ballot papers are being despatched to eligible members in early February and the closing date is Friday 27 February. Nominations were also sought for the position of policy officer and Ralph Surman was elected unopposed.
GET INVOLVED A shared vision ATL and NUT’s event in Manchester on 28 February will explore how education professionals can work together to strengthen your voice in the run-up to May’s general election and beyond. From 11am to 3pm at The Midland hotel, members will hear from deputy general secretaries Peter Pendle and Kevin
28 REPORT WWW.ATL.ORG.UK | FEBRUARY 2015
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Courtney about a shared vision for education as outlined in ATL’s and NUT’s manifestos, and take part in discussions on tackling workload and raising the profession’s status. For more information, visit www.atl.org.uk/28feb.
Fair Pay Fortnight From 16 February to 1 March the TUC is running Fair Pay Fortnight, a series of events across the country raising awareness about Britain’s cost-of-living crisis. Working people
ATL PLUS BHSF health cash plan A health cash plan from BHSF allows you to claim cash back towards your healthcare costs and gives you access to health and well-being services. Need new glasses? With a health cash plan you can get cash back on eye tests, contact lenses and glasses. Overdue a trip to the dentist? Whether it’s regular dental check-ups, treatment or a trip to the hygienist, the health cash plan could help you. Visiting a physiotherapist or chiropractor? You can claim towards a range of therapy treatments performed by registered practitioners, with no need for a GP referral. Five levels of cover to choose from. Anyone aged 17 or over who normally resides in the UK can apply. Children can be covered on a family plan until their 18th birthday. R No medical required. R Includes 100% refund on dental and optical benefit. R Cover starts from as little as £5 per month. R Premiums payable through Direct Debit R Claim from the start date of your policy. For maternity payment, you will need to wait 10 months from the policy start date, and if you have an existing medical condition, you will have to wait two years before you are covered for hospitalrelated claims. For more information, call 0800 622 552 or see www.atl.org.uk/plus. R R
in the UK are seeing their living standards squeezed harder and harder every year. Costs are soaring but wages aren’t keeping up. People have lost over £4,000 since 2009, and, while jobs may be returning to the economy, they’re increasingly low paid, low hours and low security – that’s why the TUC is running Fair Pay Fortnight and believes Britain needs a pay rise. For more information, see www.fairpayfortnight.org, and follow #fairpayfortnight on Twitter.
SEPTEMBER WWW.ATL.ORG.UK 2014 | REPORT 28
26/01/2015 16:21
YOUR ATL… RESOURCES AND LEARNING ZONE
ATL RESOURCES Spreading the word Members and reps can now make use of our new suite of recruitment materials in order to spread the word about ATL to friends and colleagues and increase our influence in your workplace. The flyers, posters and postcards, which have been redesigned and updated to reflect our Shape Education campaign, are aimed at recruiting teachers, lecturers and support staff in the state, independent and post-16 sectors, as well
as retiring members. They feature a host of compelling reasons to join ATL, including our comprehensive CPD programme, first-rate legal assistance and representation, and our ability to give members a voice in the political debate. The materials were sent to reps and contacts with the last issue of Report, but all members can download them from www.atl.org.uk/recruitment or order them from ATL Despatch, using the details below.
Dealing with violence ATL has updated its publication Violence, Threatening Behaviour and Abuse, a practical, easy-to-use guide giving all the advice you need on dealing with violence, threatening behaviour and abuse in an education setting. It covers prevention, training and policies and procedures, gives checklists of immediate action that should be taken in the event of an incident, and explains the legal situation as well as your entitlements if you suffer an injury. It also includes ATL’s model policy. It is free for ATL members and costs £9.99 for non-members. See www.atl.org.uk/ violenceguide for more information.
All ATL’s publications and resources can be found at www.atl.org.uk/resources, or can be ordered from ATL Despatch by calling 0845 4500 009, emailing despatch@atl.org.uk or writing to ATL Despatch, PO Box 485, Grays RM17 9HY. Please quote your membership number if you have one
LEARNING ZONE Online learning with ATL ATL knows getting time for your CPD can be difficult, with financial and time pressures, not to mention the permission from your school or college. That’s why we offer a range of online courses for ATL standard members. Our online courses, provided through Pivotal Education, can be worked through at your own pace and in your own time. Because they are internet-based you can access them from home or school, and your progress will be saved each time you visit.
CPD COURSES 2015
The multimedia content includes videos, articles, wikis and forums, alongside a number of quizzes, action research tasks, resource tasks and timed activities. At no point are you required to submit an essay; instead you will develop a portfolio of resources as you work through the course. The expert trainers provide feedback on portfolio tasks and submitted activities and are available at scheduled times in the online chatroom.
Our online courses currently include: R Taking care of behaviour R Taking care of behaviour for early years R Managing extreme behaviour R Level 2 safeguarding for schools R Level 2 safeguarding for colleges
For more about this and all courses, and to book, see www.atl.org.uk/learningzone WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
028-029_ATL_Feb15_Resources.indd 29
FEBRUARY 2015 | REPORT 29
27/01/2015 17:33
FINAL WORD… PETRIE HOSKEN AND CLAIRE BOSI
Thought for food
ILLUSTRATION : PHIL WRIGGLESWORTH
Journalist and broadcaster Petrie Hosken and her sister, restaurateur Claire Bosi, believe better food education could set children up for life WE LEARN ABOUT algorithms and Pythagoras’ theorem at school, but how often do we use these in our adult lives? We need to eat to live, but there is very little education about food in school. It’s great cookery is back on the curriculum, but we really hope it’s not just going to be smiley-face pizzas, cookies and rice-crispie cakes. We need to take a step back and have a lesson about food that is not necessarily about cooking, but food provenance. This means learning why there are different seasons for food, which parts of a pig you can eat and which parts of vegetables, and why you need protein, carbohydrate and fat, etc. It doesn’t have to be taught in a preachy fashion, but can be put across in an enjoyable, lively way. Schools seem to do really well teaching maths engagingly, so it would be great to see food and cooking taught in the same way. There are so many interesting things about food and its history. While researching our book, we did not find one single boring food. Even cauliflower is interesting! We learnt about Elizabethans washing beetroot in dung, that old lobsters hold young lobsters’ claws when they walk along the seabed, that a tomato is a fruit and a watermelon is a vegetable. Some facts are really intriguing, such as the Prussian king Frederick the Great putting guards around a royal potato field to convince 30 REPORT | FEBRUARY 2015
030_ATL_Feb15_finalword.indd 30
sceptical local peasants that potatoes were worth guarding, so therefore must be worth eating. Or there’s the pointless, but fun, fact that if a chicken has dark red earlobes, it will lay brown eggs, but if it has paler earlobes, it will lay paler eggs. We didn’t even know chickens had ears! Those sorts of things can inspire and encourage children to learn more. It’s also so important to involve children in preparing food. With our own children, we have found if they are just given, for example, a fish curry, they don’t want to eat it. But if we take them to the shop, encourage them to buy all the ingredients, then let them prepare it all themselves at home, they will happily eat the exact same meal. All the great chefs started with a fascination for the raw ingredients. If we can create an interest in food for young people, they could become passionate about it. Without that, they won’t. By involving them in learning about food and encouraging them to shop and cook, they will try new things and experiment in the kitchen. And then they will move away from ready-made pizzas and the like, so you’re improving their diets and helping to tackle kids’ obesity. They can also pass their knowledge and enthusiasm for food on to their own children. We were inspired to write our own book when we found that
cookbooks for children were mostly too patronising, or suggesting ways of hiding carrots in their food to make them eat vegetables. Children are too smart to be talked down to, they enjoy facts and figures and they love jokes. And if you hide carrots, they could grow up not knowing what a carrot is. We want teachers to realise there is more to food than cooking it, and that the raw ingredients are interesting. We hope teachers will be able to use our book to help make food and cooking more fun and interesting. The Gastronomical Guide to Fabulous Food! by Claire Bosi and Petrie Hosken is out now in hardback.
Petrie Hosken is a journalist and radio broadcaster on LBC radio. Claire Bosi co-founded the Michelin two-starred restaurant Hibiscus WWW.ATL.ORG.UK
26/01/2015 16:21
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Call us for a quick quote and see what we can do for you: 0800 656 9714^ Little things matter *Available to new customers only. Offer may be withdrawn at any time. Policies subsequently cancelled within 4 weeks of cover start date or with payments not up to date will not be eligible to receive offer. Gift Certificates will be sent by mail within 6 weeks of the commencement date of your policy. £35 Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates available to customers taking a new car insurance policy. £35 Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates to customers taking out a new combined buildings and contents policy or a contents-only policy. Buildings-only policies do not qualify for this offer. Not available in conjunction with any other offer. We reserve the right to offer alternative Gift Certificates of the same value in the event that Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates are unavailable. **Amazon.co.uk is not a sponsor of this promotion. Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates (“GCs”) may be redeemed on the Amazon.co.uk website or affiliated website Javari.co.uk towards the purchase of eligible products listed in our online catalogue and sold by Amazon.co.uk or any other seller selling through Amazon.co.uk. GCs cannot be reloaded, resold, transferred for value, redeemed for cash or applied to any other account. Amazon.co.uk is not responsible if a GC is lost, stolen, destroyed or used without permission. See www.amazon.co.uk/gc-legal for complete terms and conditions. GCs are issued by Amazon EU S.à r.l. All Amazon ®, ™ & © are IP of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. ^Lines are open 8am-6pm Monday to Friday, except bank holidays, 9am-12.30pm Saturday. Calls from UK landlines are free. Calls may be monitored and/or recorded.
Insurance underwritten by Aviva Insurance Limited. Registered in Scotland No. 2116. Registered office: Pitheavlis, Perth, PH2 0NH. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. CFPMPA0193 12.14 BD34799.
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