16 minute read
Academy order revoked
Funds raised by the NEU/Save the Children Afghan appeal could pay for 125 learning packs and enough high-nutrient peanut paste for 500 children. See page 14
Nativity on strike day: was the Grinch trying to steal Xmas?
A PRIMARY school in the middle of an academisation row moved its nativity play to clash with a pre-announced strike day.
NEU members at St Matthew’s Church of England Primary School, in Preston, Lancashire, voted by 85 per cent for strike action against proposals to join multiacademy trust Cidari.
Ian Watkinson, Preston NEU district secretary, accused head teacher Mark Mackley, who announced the new nativity play dates, of being “the Grinch trying to steal Christmas”.
The attempt to guilt-trip staff failed, however, and the head was forced to close the school on all pre-announced strike days in the run-up to Christmas. On the first two days of strikes, 7 and 9 December, 25 to 30 staff joined the picket line.
Ian said: “It’s hard to believe that with alternative dates available he would deliberately and cynically look to put the children’s nativity play at risk.”
Bora Oktas, NEU regional officer, said the school had failed to “meaningfully consult” with staff and parents about plans to academise, presenting its proposals as a “fait accompli”. NEU membership at the school has doubled during the dispute from 20 to 40.
Further strike dates were called for 14-16 December and the employer was notified of these dates more than two weeks in advance. The school moved its nativity play to 15 December, then cancelled it altogether.
NEU members on the picket line at St Matthew’s
Landmark victory over DfE ruling
AN “over the moon” school that successfully challenged an academisation order in a landmark court case has now forced the Department for Education (DfE) to revoke the order after winning a Good Ofsted grading.
In July, the High Court ruled that the then Secretary of State’s refusal to revoke an academy order placed on Yew Tree Primary School was “irrational”.
Judge Gavin Mansfield QC said there was clear evidence from the school of “both continued efforts to improve and success in achieving those improvements”, which were disregarded by the DfE.
Following the ruling, Yew Tree Primary School invited Ofsted to revisit. In October, it was reinspected and its grading went from Inadequate to Good on every level.
The DfE then confirmed that following a review of the evidence the school submitted, as well as its new Ofsted grading, it would revoke the academy order.
‘Staff and parents are delighted’
Head teacher Jamie Barry told Educate the school is “over the moon”.
He added: “We feel – it sounds a bit clichéd – but we feel so validated. We’ve been saying this for the past year to 18 months, really, and it just feels incredible. The staff and the parents, everybody’s just delighted, because everybody’s worked so hard for it.”
Ofsted graded the primary as Inadequate in January 2019 but the school insisted the inspectorate had got it wrong. It meant a distracting uphill battle during the pandemic that followed.
Jamie said: “During the pandemic, most schools were just operating and existed. We couldn’t allow ourselves to do that, and so everybody just feels such a sense of acknowledgement and appreciation.”
“What we’ve done here hasn’t just been for Ofsted, it’s been for our pupils,” he added.
The DfE can order academisation based on a single failing Ofsted grade. Jamie said it is “really sad” to witness the DfE ignoring other evidence that a school is effective and instead rely on a single Ofsted report, “which is a much smaller document with a much narrower viewpoint of evidence”.
Raising our voices against Zahawi’s Ofsted boost
NEU joint general secretary Mary
Bousted says inspection acceleration will add more stress and workload – and we need to stand together.
WHEN Nadhim Zahawi replaced the hapless and incompetent Gavin Williamson as Secretary of State for Education there was a hope that things could only get better – that Mr Zahawi might at least be competent.
There were some indications that he recognised the outstanding work of education professionals throughout the pandemic. On World Teachers’ Day (5 October), Zahawi tweeted: “Thank you to our incredible teachers and staff for everything you do to support young people. Your passion and hard work is inspiring, and despite the challenges we’ve faced you continue to improve the lives of pupils across the country.”
This was a hopeful start.
The saying “fine words don’t butter no parsnips” came to my mind five weeks later when I heard that so grateful was Mr Zahawi for the work of teachers and leaders, that he had given Ofsted an extra £24 million to speed up the rate of inspections.
Mr Zahawi gave an extraordinary justification for his decision to heap yet more pressure and stress on an exhausted profession, arguing that accelerating the rate of Ofsted inspections would provide parents with an upto-date picture and swifter recognition of the hard work of leaders and teachers.
Immense stress and workload
But he is, unfortunately for education professionals’ health and wellbeing, sadly wrong on both counts. I wonder what universe the new Secretary of State might live in if he really does think that teachers and leaders would believe that Ofsted exists to support the profession and recognise the hard work that it does?
Their reality is that Ofsted inspections cause immense stress and additional workload and that, coming on top of the stress and intensification of their work during Covid, will make their working lives intolerable.
Nor does Ofsted provide parents with an up-to-date picture of their child’s school. Because Ofsted inspects all schools to a rigid framework, inspection judgements are usually several years old.
The latest inspection framework compounds this problem through its reliance on deep dives into two or three subjects, which act as a proxy for the quality of education across the school. Ofsted has no evidence that deep-dive judgements can accurately and fairly describe the quality of the rest of the school’s curriculum. Ofsted has no evidence that its inspectors have the knowledge and expertise to come to good-quality judgements when they deep dive into subjects they are not trained to teach and have never taught. Ofsted has no evidence that two inspectors, conducting a deep dive into the same subject in the same school would come to the same judgements about the quality of what they had observed. Remarkably, in its nearly 30 years of existence Ofsted has never released any evidence on any of these crucial questions.
Why do 40% leave teaching?
Mr Zahawi would do much better to really worry about the state of the profession. He should ask himself why nearly a quarter of teachers leave within two years of qualification, nearly a third within five years and nearly 40 per cent within ten years.
He should consider why, when teachers leave, they put the pressures of accountability as their top reason for deciding to walk away from the profession they love. He should know that it is not teaching that teachers find stressful (although there are always exceptions to that truth), but the huge amount of administrative work that they must wade through to prove to whoever wants to know, that they are planning their lessons, assessing their pupils’ work and entering data to record their progress.
Time to Value Educators
That is why the NEU has launched Value Education, Value Educators (VEVE), with a focus on in-school accountability. Go to neu.org.uk, which gives really clear information about what is, and is not, required for lesson preparation and assessment, data collection and marking, and much more.
Ask your rep to hold a meeting in your school or college so that all NEU members are able to discuss what is causing excessive workload, and then draw this to the attention of your school leadership team.
Don’t be afraid of doing this. As professionals, teachers have every right to have a discussion with leaders about the pace, the intensity and the quality of the work they are required to do. They have a right to be heard about what they consider to be useful, and what they think wastes their time.
It is time that the profession regained its voice. VEVE is there to support you in doing just that.
n Read about the impact of Ofsted on educators on page 24
GDST educators ready to defend their pensions
A “CLEAR and emphatic” message was delivered to the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), with a remarkable indicative ballot result in favour of strikes against pension changes.
Ninety-three per cent of NEU members voted Yes on a turnout of 93 per cent for action to defend their Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) at the 23 independent schools run by GDST in England and Wales.
The result means the union will now run a formal strike ballot in January. If members vote Yes, it will be the first time a strike has been held in the trust’s 149-year history.
Proposals to leave the TPS will mean teachers will lose, on average, 20 per cent of their pension.
‘Unacceptable attack on pensions’
Kevin Courtney, NEU joint general secretary, said: “This is a clear and emphatic message to the GDST.
“It should leave the employer in no doubt about the strength of feeling against this unacceptable attack on teacher pensions. During the period of the indicative ballot, the employer has failed to dispel the concerns of our members.
“This is an exceptionally strong mandate. It makes strike action look inevitable.”
As elsewhere in the sector, the employer has also resorted to the threat of ‘fire and rehire’ to force the changes through. If staff don’t accept the changes to their pensions, the employer is threatening them with dismissal, causing additional anger among members.
Publicly available accounts for the trust show it is in good financial health.
Kevin added: “The trust should reflect on just how a large body of committed and hard-working staff have reached this point. Members are resolved and rightly determined to defend their pensions.
“We sincerely hope that strikes can be averted. We call on the GDST to engage seriously with the NEU and withdraw the proposal to leave the TPS.”
Strikes would impact on 23 schools
Most teaching staff, 71 per cent, are members of the NEU – meaning any strikes at the 23 schools would have a significant impact.
The campaign at GDST is one in a long line of NEU disputes with independent sector employers wanting to leave the TPS (see past issues of Educate at neu.org.uk/educate).
Members in more than 60 schools have now convinced their employer not to leave the TPS since increases to employer contributions were announced in 2019.
NEU members (above) at an independent school in Hertfordshire have paused strike action in the middle of a pensions row. The dispute at St Francis Boarding School, Letchworth, is over plans to ‘fire and rehire’ staff and withdraw from the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme (TPS), which has involved three days’ strike action, from 16-18 November, so far. Strikes on 24 November and 7-8 December, were called off as a goodwill gesture after the employer announced a stay on the withdrawal of the pension scheme. Shaun Howard, NEU independent schools officer, Hertfordshire district, said: “This is a result of members taking action. The only reason the governors have shifted is because members were solid, because they showed their strength, togetherness and solidarity.” Further action will be announced in the New Year if talks prove to be fruitless.
Indicative strike ballot at independent Forest School returns a 91% Yes vote. See page 18 for more independent sector news.
NEU president Daniel Kebede (centre) joined strikers at NewVIc on 1 December
‘Resilient and resistant’ strikers at London college
STRIKES were underway at a London sixth form college in December.
The dispute involves allegations of bullying, soaring workload and management plans to academise Newham Sixth Form College (known as NewVIc), in east London.
NEU rep Rob Behan told Educate: “After coming back in September, there were new workload procedures being implemented. We’ve been through so many rounds of cuts in the last ten years that we’re constantly doing more with less.
“So the combination of these two factors – poor management practices combined with the workload – pushed members towards industrial action.”
Fearful of what the future holds
Members were then faced with “shocking” news. “The principal announced that the governing body and senior leadership team had been exploring the issue of academisation,” said Rob. Staff were left “fearful” about what might happen to their terms and conditions, and to the college.
Members voted 97 per cent Yes to strike action with a 78 per cent turnout – and membership increased. Forty members attended the “resilient and resistant” picket lines on the first day, 1 December, including a morale-boosting visit from NEU president Daniel Kebede.
“Thanks to all the reps at the schools and districts who have been supporting us. We’ll continue to fight and stay solid,” said Rob. n Two more strike days in December and three in January were announced as Educate went to press.
‘Massive morale boost’ as LA meets all demands at SEN school
EDUCATORS at a special educational needs school in Yorkshire have won a major victory over staff health and safety and support staff pay, after planned strike action forced management to return to the negotiating table.
Staff at St Anne’s School and Sixth Form College, in East Riding, had repeatedly raised concerns over their own and pupils’ safety.
‘Unsafe, unsupported’ staff resigning
Vacancies had created an unsafe staff to pupil ratio, leaving staff without the support to deal with challenging behaviour including biting. They were also expected to clean classrooms and empty bins during their breaks because of staff shortages.
Special educational needs co-ordinator Emma Holmes returned from maternity leave in September to find colleagues had resigned or were in the process of leaving: “I was shocked; staff morale was really low. I decided to reach out to the local NEU district.” Emma then became an NEU rep and union membership doubled.
Members successfully balloted for nine days of strike action in November. This prompted the local authority (LA) to take the unusual step of threatening a legal injunction. It claimed the strike was not a legitimate union dispute because it focussed on health and safety. This was vigorously challenged by the union’s law and rights at work team.
“The LA attempted to lock us out of negotiations, but fortunately the NEU legal team quickly got the injunction threat thrown out,” said Emma. Two days before the first strike day, the LA agreed to re-open discussions.
£2,000 for support staff workload
Members’ demands were met at a quickly arranged meeting. They included instituting a health and safety committee and the establishment of rotas to ensure staff safety.
An annual £2,000 supplement for support staff to reflect the additional workload undertaken during staff shortages and to aid recruitment and retention was also agreed.
“It was amazing how we all came together. There’s still a long way to go but this has boosted morale massively,” said Emma.
Protecting women at work
GREATER protection for women in the workplace was the focus of an NEU event to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (25 November).
London regional staff met to discuss the campaign, urging the Government to adopt the first international treaty requiring policies and laws to protect women from violence and sexual harassment at work.
The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) convention C190 came into force on 25 June, but has yet to be ratified by the UK Government. NEU deputy general secretary Amanda Brown is a member of the governing body of the ILO and said ratification was only the start.
“Employers should be thinking about how they embed this in policies, practice and procedures at workplace level. That’s how we’ll ensure it makes a difference to people,” Amanda said.
n Visit bit.ly/3GkhuzK Larry Culhane (left), cabinet member for children and education at Hammersmith and Fulham Council, and Mark Hopper, joint secretary of Hammersmith and Fulham NEU
Clothes vouchers to give child refugees a choice
Inequality, rights and action
THE union and the Friends of the Women Chainmakers have created a free resource pack for educators about campaigner Mary Macarthur and the Cradley Heath strike of 1910.
It is the story of working class women living in poverty who waged a ten-week dispute to win their right to a minimum wage.
The pack includes a guide about the “sweated labour” of chainmaking and the reality of working conditions in the late 19th century. It also references the global context at the time and the slave trade. Photos and first-hand accounts describing the harsh working conditions bring the resource to life for students.
The detailed 60-minute lesson plan encourages students to explore ideas around social inequality, women’s rights and the role of trade unions and collective action.
Lucy Atherton and Jenny Ermoyenous from the Friends of the Women Chainmakers said: “Working class women still face many of the challenges these Edwardian women endured. If we are to change the future, we must first understand our own history.”
CHILD refugees from Afghanistan have been given clothing vouchers by the NEU and been taught at their hotel until they could go to school, as part of efforts to help them settle.
Hammersmith and Fulham NEU, in west London, has donated £1,100 from its social justice fund to buy £40 vouchers for children and young people evacuated after the Taliban takeover in August.
“Due to the speed of the evacuation, many families arrived with few or no personal possessions,” said NEU joint branch secretary Mark Hopper. “We were happy to be able to help these young people who have been
A joint appeal by the NEU and charity Save the Children to raise money for Afghan refugees has so far received £8,985 in donations
through so much, even if it was only in a small way.” Around 80 Afghan refugees, half of them children, have been placed in the borough. NEU assistant branch secretary Emma Anderson, who organised the NEU’s donation, said: “There were lots of donations of clothes and food, but the biggest thing fed back to us was that these students wanted to have a choice and to select things for themselves. “The vouchers should help the young people find a sense of independence, and we hope that it will help them feel welcome in our community.” Schools, the council and educators have been doing great work to help the children settle, she added. “We know of at least one school – Fulham Cross Academy Trust – that has accepted about ten students. When their first day came, they weren’t allowed to start because of a mix-up
To regarding their vaccines. The special educational donate, needs co-ordinator and some support please visit staff went to their hotel to provide justgiving.com/ resources and start campaign/neu- their lessons there.” afghanistan
