WELCOME to the July/August issue of Educate – I hope you have lots of relaxing summer plans coming up.
As we went to press, the General Election was imminent and we didn’t know if there would be a change in government. At the time of writing, the debate is pretty shallow – a focus on Rishi Sunak going without Sky TV as a child.
The lack of attention given to genuine childhood poverty – which our members see the grim reality of every day – has been disheartening. Nine children out of a class of 30 go to school hungry or without adequate clothing.
So the failure to get to grips with this national scandal is more than disappointing. Introducing free school meals for all primary school pupils would make a big difference to those children growing up in poverty. So, too, would scrapping the two-child benefit cap, which would lift 300,000 children out of poverty, according to the Child Poverty Action Group.
We publish the NEU’s Manifesto for Education in full on pages 8 and 9. It comes with a guide on how to encourage your parliamentary candidate to support it. I hope you find this an inspiring benchmark and it helps you hold your incoming MP to account.
A pivotal cause of so many problems in schools is the lack of funding. As soon as the election was announced we relaunched our School Cuts campaign to pressure MPs to pledge to support adequate funding for education. In the 2017 election we put school cuts centre stage, and in 2019 our campaign won billions for education – we hope to have a similar impact in 2024 (see page 7).
Meanwhile, life goes on – members continue to take strike action to defend their pensions and jobs (see news, pages 12 to 20). And we have some interesting features – revisiting the killing of anti-racist teacher Blair Peach; an exploration of the challenges for teacher parents; and we platform the campaign for justice for seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola, whose family have been calling for an inquiry into his death since 2014.
Plus all the regulars. Hope you enjoy it. As ever, do let me know your thoughts – email me at educate@neu.org.uk
Max Watson Editor, Educate
(left)
NEU president Emma Rose
WE GIVE YOUNG PEOPLE THE TOOLS TO AIM HIGH AND LIVE THEIR BEST LIVES FIND OUT HOW WE CAN INSPIRE YOUR STUDENTS
Raising aspirations ∙ Interview skills ∙ Confidence ∙ Team building ∙ Public speaking ∙ Networking ∙ Leadership skills ∙ Personal storytelling ∙ Resillience ∙ Emotional intelligence ∙ Communication ∙ Enterprise
95% learned new skills to improve their communication
Emmeline Pankhurst is born Emmeline Goulden in Moss Side, Manchester. In 1903, she founds the Women’s Social and Political Union, after her local branch of the Independent Labour party refused to admit female members. This becomes the suffragette movement, leading the historic campaign for women’s suffrage which won the full right to vote in July 1928, shortly after Pankhurst’s death.
Seven-year-old’s death “one of the burning injustices of our time” (left).
New documentary explores death of anti-racist teacher (below left).
With so many parents leaving teaching we explore the challenges (above).
Your magazine is now printed on 100 per cent recycled paper (below right).
PHOTO by Kois Miah
YouGov poll highlights parent dissatisfaction with school cuts
MORE than half of parents polled by YouGov say teachers are underpaid, and almost half are dissatisfied with government funding for staffing at their child’s school.
The poll of more than 3,000 parents in England, which was commissioned by the NEU, showed how concerned parents are by staff shortages and funding cuts.
It revealed that 40 per cent believe more qualified teachers would help their child succeed at school, while 43 per cent said the same of support staff.
Findings on the impact of staff pressures showed 60 per cent of parents of secondary age children said their child had been taught by a supply or non-specialist teacher for more than a week once a month. The figure for parents whose children are preparing for exams in years 10 and 11 was 57 per cent. In primaries, it was 35 per cent.
The poll results were published a week after the Department for Education released alarming figures on the education workforce. One in four new teachers are leaving within three years of qualifying, the number of new entrants to the profession has dropped by a fifth and teacher vacancies have increased six-fold since 2010.
It’s time to get rid of ‘wholly negative’ force
NO amount of rebranding will eradicate the entrenched view that Ofsted’s days are numbered.
That was the NEU’s message to the toxic inspectorate in a submission to Ofsted’s Big Listen consultation.
Launched in March, the Big Listen sought to gauge the views of the profession on how inspection could be improved. It was one of a number of measures announced in response to the suicide of NEU member and primary head Ruth Perry in January 2023.
In December last year, the coroner who held an inquest into Ruth’s death concluded that Ofsted’s decision to grade her school Inadequate had contributed to her death.
90% say single-word grading unfair
The union’s response to the Big Listen said: “We know Ofsted has been forced into this listening exercise because of that tragedy, but the NEU and its membership do not believe this will lead to fundamental change.”
The response is based on the views and experiences of thousands of our members. Included in the NEU’s submission are findings
“We do not believe this listening exercise will lead to fundamental change.”
from this year’s State of Education survey, completed by more than 8,000 members, which showed 82 per cent want Ofsted to be replaced. The poll also found 90 per cent of teachers believe single-word judgements are unfair, while 83 per cent say the current inspection system adds to their workload.
The NEU told Ofsted it was a “wholly negative force,” which never offers advice or solutions, stands up to the government, or questions the damage that real-terms funding cuts are doing to schools.
“Only root and branch reform can bring an end to the tyranny of inspection,” it added.
Education Renewed:
MORE than 100 leading figures from children’s charities, trade unions and academic institutions gathered in County Hall, London, for an education summit ahead of the UK General Election.
The NEU-sponsored Education Renewed summit was a forum to consider the policies of the past decade and propose solutions to the immense challenges facing the sector.
The event, which took place on 14 June, was chaired by Laura McInerney (pictured left), Teacher Tapp co-founder and chief executive, and opened with a panel discussion on the state of the education sector and the key priorities for the next government.
PHOTO by Rehan Jamil
School Cuts website
70 per cent of schools in England have less real-terms funding than in 2010. Is your school on the list? schoolcuts.org.uk
General Election: the fight for funding
WHEN the General Election was announced for 4 July, the NEU’s School Cuts campaign kicked into gear. This election will be crucial for the future of our schools, and our aim is simple – to make underfunding education politically unthinkable.
Over 14 years of devastating cuts, successive governments have failed our children on education. Now, rising food and energy costs are stretching school budgets even further.
Seventy per cent of schools in England have less funding in real terms than in 2010. This means they cannot afford the same essential running costs they could 14 years ago.
Taking a toll on pupils and teachers
The government cannot cut school budgets year after year without education suffering. All members can see the consequences: larger class sizes, burnt out teachers leaving the profession, and buildings falling apart.
NEU activists are making sure the word gets out to every parent and community about the impact that cuts are having on schools. Campaigners delivered more than a million leaflets to voters, and hung over 100 banners on school gates across the country. At the 2017 election, school cuts became the headline issue and changed the minds of
750,000 voters. Within weeks, we had won back £1.3 billion for schools. We are confident that we can have the same impact at this election, and have been encouraging all political candidates, regardless of party, to sign up to a pledge committing them to campaign for real-terms increases in funding for education.
To start reversing the impact of 14 years of cuts, schools need £12.2bn this year. That means £3.2bn for the core schools budget,
£4.6bn for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) funding, and £4.4bn for school buildings and facilities.
The power of this campaign is in collaboration between educators, senior leaders, governors and parents. The NEU is determined to win back this funding for schools and the campaign will not stop at this election.
n See the NEU’s election Manifesto for Education in full on pages 8 and 9
experts gather to discuss the future, as General Election looms
Incoming NEU president Phil Clarke said a lack of teacher autonomy was fuelling excessive workload and, consequently, the recruitment and retention crisis: “Teaching becomes an impossible job when we are micromanaged from Westminster. We need to be trusted as professionals. The recruitment and retention crisis will only be beaten by tackling excessive workload and funding simultaneously.”
Poverty, pay, premises
Delegates took part in themed roundtables on eight policy areas –school inspection, curriculum and assessment, early years, special educational needs and disabilities, poverty, technology, pay and conditions, and education spaces.
Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, chaired a session during which delegates agreed that every child should have what they need to thrive at school and that education must not reinforce inequalities – through, for example, requiring parents to buy uniform from specific suppliers.
The intersectionality of racism and poverty was also discussed, in sessions on discrimination against minoritised children and the need to decolonise the curriculum.
In a session on the education workforce, delegates agreed that uncompetitive pay and sky-high workload are key causes of the recruitment and retention crisis. They agreed that the next government must
implement fully funded and significant improvements to pay and workload.
‘Bold and radical ambition’ needed
Addressing delegates, NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “We stand on the precipice of a new phase for the education system. A new government will have to take bold action to address the scale of the challenges. School budgets are at breaking point, and education provision, enrichment and specialist support have been cut to the bone.
“The scale of the crisis requires solutions that are radical in ambition. As we navigate a period of political change, I hope that the conversations today will help us forge collaborations based on shared goals.”
(Left) NEU members from Bournemouth giving out leaflets and stickers (Above) Banners on school gates in Lancashire and London
Reverse cuts to schools, colleges and nurseries and increase education spending to five per cent of GDP.
End child poverty, starting with the removal of the two-child benefit cap and guarantee a free, nutritious school lunch for every pupil.
An engaging and inclusive curriculum, which embeds anti-racism and guarantees all pupils access to a broad range of subjects, including the arts and PE.
End Government tests in primary schools and overhaul 14-19 assessment to stop the exam factory culture.
Provide appropriate special needs support quickly and without unnecessary bureaucracy.
Recruit enough teachers and school staff to fill soaring vacancies, by making pay competitive again.
Abolish Ofsted and replace it with a collaborative and supportive system, focused on giving good advice and feedback to schools.
Keep teachers, leaders and school staff in the profession by asking us how to tackle unmanageable workloads.
Increase non-teaching time for professional development, collaboration and planning, especially for early career teachers.
Tighter regulation of social media companies to protect children from online harm and prioritise their welfare.
Share and discuss it with your fellow educators.
Share it with parents in your nursery, school or college community.
Share it with Parliamentaryyour candidates and ask for their support.
Read more here:
A visit to Remember
Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Other
Here’s to a brighter future for education
NEU
general secretary
Daniel Kebede sets out the union’s stall for the next government.
BY the time you read this, voters will probably have decided which party they would like to form the next government.
As we went to press, the polls were predicting that it would be the Labour party in power after 4 July.
The NEU is not politically affiliated, and we do not tell our members who to vote for. We will work with any elected party to improve education and reverse the harm done to the profession after 14 years of austerity politics.
A profession in crisis
Whichever party forms the next government, it will inherit a growing recruitment and retention crisis, the like of which the profession has not seen before.
n According to the outgoing government’s own figures, teacher vacancies have increased sharply and are at a six-fold increase on 2010.
teachers and soaring making again. replace it with supportive giving good feedback to schools.
n The number of newly qualified entrants to the profession has dropped by a fifth.
n Teacher retention rates have worsened for almost all yearly cohorts – more than one in four teachers are leaving within three years of qualifying. Last year, a new record was set for the number of teachers leaving for reasons other than retirement.
n There are increasing shortages across the school system, and students’ education is suffering – with an increase in lessons taught by non-specialist subject teachers across almost the whole of the secondary curriculum. In maths, in science, in languages, in computing.
leaders and school profession by asking unmanageable non-teaching time development, planning, career teachers. of social media protect children and prioritise
n More than one million pupils are being taught in classes bigger than 30, and heads are warning that funding cuts next year would mean even larger class sizes.
Pay, workload and education cuts
This ticking timebomb is a direct consequence of government policy, of real-terms cuts to pay, excessive workload and the intensity of teachers’ work, and 14 years of chronic underinvestment in our education system.
“Work with the NEU and our sister unions to solve the crisis, and use the knowledge and experience at the chalkface.”
After the snap election was called, the NEU began lobbying all political parties with our Manifesto for Education (see pages 8 and 9). We began speaking to candidates from all parties about pay, workload, assessment, Ofsted and child poverty, to extract pledges from them to act if they are elected.
The next government must act urgently to repair the damage that has been done to education, by establishing an independent commission to investigate the improvements to pay, workload and flexible working that are needed to fully resolve the recruitment and retention crisis.
And, crucially, we need a commitment to properly fund our schools and colleges so our
educators can give all children the education they deserve.
Children get one chance at education
A new government should seek to work with the NEU and our sister unions to solve the crisis, and use the knowledge and experience at the chalkface to develop ideas to tackle it.
This is as vital for parents and children as it is for teachers and school leaders. Children get one chance at education and families have waited a long time for a government that will make the difference they need.
Labour has made welcome comments about wanting to reset the relationship between government and educators. If it is Labour that forms the next administration, establishing a commission could signal to support staff, teachers and leaders that it is serious about wanting to work with us to raise the status of the profession.
Whatever the outcome of polling day, the NEU will continue to act in the best interests of our members, our schools and colleges, and the children they teach.
THE south-west region’s LGBT+ weekender (pictured above) in Croyde Bay, Devon, was fantastic. There is nothing quite like having 50 LGBT+ educators in a room discussing the state of the educational landscape and what we can do to improve equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in schools and colleges.
It was my first NEU event, and I was very nervous, but the atmosphere was welcoming, the sun was shining and the whole weekend was created to be a safe space where we could be
ourselves. Friday night began with a quiz – a great way to meet new people and lean into the inclusive atmosphere. Saturday was busy with EDI member-led CPD, focusing on allyship, curriculum, diversity and how we can work to create safe spaces in education for everyone. I learned a lot and am looking forward to discussing it at my new school in September.
I can’t wait to get more involved in the NEU at future events.
By Sammy Wells-McCulloch, NEU trainee member, Plymouth
Independent support staff struggling to make ends meet
THE NEU has launched a national campaign for better pay and conditions for support staff members in the independent sector following a motion to annual conference.
Despite the key role they play in school life, support staff are some of the lowest paid workers in education. Pay for teaching assistants (TAs) on term-time contracts can be as little as £12,000 a year.
Alex Cook, who has worked as a science
technician for 11 years in an independent school in London, said there are unique challenges for support staff members: “Pay has steadily eroded by more than 20 per cent in real terms over the last ten years. This particularly hits those on lower pay, whose margins for ‘making ends meet’ are often tighter than staff on higher pay scales. Rents, mortgage costs, council tax and energy bills have all increased at alarming rates.
“Many staff are struggling to pay their bills or are reliant on food banks. Cleaners, estate staff, office workers, TAs and
Aurora drops pensions threat after three days of strikes TEACHERS at schools run by The Aurora Group are celebrating a victory in a dispute over pensions.
Aurora, which runs 18 schools for children and young people with special needs, was proposing to cap its contribution to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. This would leave staff to make up the shortfall – either through a pay cut, or a forced move to an inferior, defined contribution pension scheme. The decision was prompted by the government’s five per cent increase in employer contributions for independent schools in April.
NEU members at White House and Eccles schools in Norfolk took three days of strike action in April, alongside members of ASCL, NAHT and NASUWT. Bob Groome, NEU Norfolk branch secretary, said: “Messages of solidarity came in from all over the country. Members now feel like we are not alone; we belong to a family.”
n Following a letter from general secretary Daniel Kebede to the secretary of state, the government has pledged to fund the increased TPS contribution for all independent special schools until at least April 2025.
technicians can all join the NEU to stand collectively to demand better pay. This would make all the difference.”
The NEU represents more than 34,000 members in the independent sector, many of them support staff. We are urging all reps to call a meeting in their workplace to identify local support staff issues, and to recruit new support staff members.
n Campaign materials, including leaflets, posters, videos and presentations, are available at neu.org.uk/indie-support
NEU members on the picket line at Aurora Eccles School
Two-thirds of all constituencies have a least a quarter of children living in poverty, according to a report by
‘Once they’re gone, they’re
Members battle to save 20 jobs and protect nursery places under threat.
NURSERY school staff at two sites in south London have taken 12 days of strike action against ‘devastating’ cuts to jobs and provision.
Members of Balham Nursery School and Eastwood Nursery School – which are managed by The Wandsworth Federation of Maintained Nursery Schools – were informed about the proposals in January. The nursery schools cater for children aged two to four years and provide funded specialist places for children with high-level special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Twenty roles are threatened, including those of both deputy heads, the special educational needs co-ordinator, teachers, teaching assistants, nursery nurses and meal supervisors. In addition, both sites will be forced to reduce their facilities and floor space, which staff say will significantly reduce the quality and range of provision they are able to offer, and also raise health and safety
gone for good’
concerns, with increased numbers of children in one room.
Jade Louise Jones’ daughter has attended Balham Nursery for nearly two years. She has echolalia, which was initially picked up by staff, and required more support. Cuts to SEND provision will have a lasting impact, Jade said: “You don’t get staff like this everywhere. It’s not just someone looking after my child, it’s family.
What have the children done to deserve it? My daughter, and every other child, deserves better.”
Paul Robinson, NEU regional officer, said: “Highly trained, highly experienced professionals are being made redundant and will not be returning to the sector. Once these valuable members are gone, they’re gone for good.”
n As Educate went to press, three more days of strike action were planned.
NEU Black members call out government for legitimising racism
THE TUC Black workers’ conference, held from 26-28 April in London, was a platform where voices from over 30 unions, from sectors as disparate as the creative arts and physiotherapy, resonated with a singular message: our fights are one fight. Among them, was a 20-strong NEU delegation.
A powerful cultural evening dedicated to poet and author Benjamin Zephaniah, who died in December 2023, demonstrated the spirit of resilience and creativity within the Black community. Three NEU members gave electrifying performances of his works.
NEU delegate Tashan Charles spoke to a motion on structural racism in employment practices.
“We are in a political climate where racism, dehumanisation, bigotry and misogynoir have been legitimised by the government, and gaslighting has been deemed normal. This must stop,” he said.
Another NEU delegate, Bernice Edogiawerie, gave an impassioned speech addressing Black women’s experiences of sexual harassment. She said: “Black women are stronger because of all the obstacles we have to navigate to achieve our goals. We would prefer to focus our energy on excelling rather than jumping hurdles.”
Delegates voted to submit a motion on the ethnicity pay gap to the annual Trades Union Congress in September. Report by seven NEU delegates
SENCo Mary Edgar (centre right), whose role is threatened with redundancy
PHOTO by Kois Miah
Some of the NEU delegation to the TUC Black workers’ conference
Members take Ofsted complaint to adjudicator
MEMBERS at a north London primary have taken six days of strike action over plans to force their school into an academy trust following an Ofsted rating of Inadequate.
On 5 June, a 2,000-signature petition opposing the plans was handed in to the Department for Education.
Inspectors visited Byron Court Primary School, in Wembley, in November 2023. Their report has accelerated plans to force the 800-pupil school into the Harris Federation multi-academy trust.
Teachers were joined on the picket line by NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede on 22 May. They also took action on 17 and 21 May, as well as 4, 5 and 6 June. As Educate went to press, another eight strike days had been announced.
Strong support for the campaign from parents and the community is boosting staff morale. Teacher Alice Butterton, one of two NEU reps at the school, said: “We believe it was an unfair inspection with an ulterior motive of turning the school into an academy.”
She added that staff submitted a collective complaint to Ofsted about the
inspection – the first visit in 12 years –highlighting the chaotic and unprofessional conduct of the inspectors.
Inspectors “chopped and changed” their timetable, said Alice, and one teacher was observed for a whole day, while others who did deep-dive interviews were denied the opportunity to be supported by a member
of the senior leadership team. Staff have now escalated their complaint to the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted and are also calling for their school to be re-inspected.
“This is all about privatising education,” added Alice. “What kind of system is it when you can be forced into academisation?”
Protest against supply agency profiteering
SUPPLY teachers gathered at the Birmingham office of Tradewind Recruitment on 28 May to protest its gross profiteering.
Supply agencies are exploiting the recruitment and retention crisis, with the eight leading supply agencies showing combined gross profits of £108.9 million in 2022 – an increase of 55 per cent on the previous year.
Tradewind, which has 12 offices across the UK, states that it specialises in “matching teachers and support staff with their dream job”. It made £18 million profit in 2022, yet pays its teachers less than the minimum national rate – even for experienced teachers.
One supply member said she wouldn’t be comfortable sharing her views for fear of agency assignments drying up. “Sadly, this fear factor is all too familiar,” said Martin Kenny, NEU national officer for supply.
The NEU is calling for a national supply register and for nationally agreed terms and conditions for supply teachers.
NEU members on the picket line at Byron Court Primary School
PHOTO by Kois Miah
NEU members outside Tradewind Recruitment in Birmingham
PHOTO by Kois Miah
SIX days of strike action by support staff and teachers at City Academy Bristol have forced the employer to agree to nine of their 11 demands.
They took industrial action in April and May and have vowed to take more next term if the trust fails to agree to the two remaining issues.
Members want break times to be recognised as part of directed time, and a pay disparity – whereby pastoral support staff at City Academy are being paid less than those at other schools in the Cabot Learning Federation – to be resolved.
Ten negotiation meetings, including two with arbitration service Acas, have taken place since March. Wins include an agreement that student-facing support staff will get 20 per cent of the school day as protected time for duties
such as writing safeguarding reports and dealing with emails.
Rep Kerys Taylor, a higher learning teaching assistant, said most of the staff are NEU members and membership has grown during the dispute.
She told Educate: “Members want to keep up the pressure and fight for all 11 asks. They have seen that management listens and moves on another ask every time we go out on strike. It is fantastic this work is paying off.
“Nobody wants to be in dispute, but we are winning big things and changing a culture.”
PHOTO by Hannah Packham
‘Conference made me proud to be a disabled educator’
By Darcy Shaw, NEU disabled member
I HAD the pleasure of attending the NEU disabled members’ conference over the first weekend in June. I am neurodiverse and face health challenges, so I wanted to learn more about disability in the workplace and how to advocate for myself.
The conference began with an inspiring speech by general secretary Daniel Kebede, touching on the General Election and the importance of keeping education in the conversation, especially in regards to special educational needs and disabilities funding and child poverty. I enjoyed a discussion led by NEU executive member Colleen Johnson on the social model of disability, with educators sharing their lived experiences of barriers in the workplace and in society.
There was a great selection of workshops. I attended Breaking barriers, focused on women’s health and having open discussions in the workplace. There was a feeling of empowerment and collectiveness across the room.
The conference was a fantastic opportunity to make connections, learn about disability campaigns, and how to promote disabled activism in schools. For probably the first time since joining the education sector four years ago, I feel proud to be a disabled educator.
Creative, humorous, inspirational
ON Saturday 4 May, members of the NEU and the UK Literary Association (UKLA) gathered at a joint Literacy in primary classrooms conference at NEU HQ, Hamilton House.
Keynote speaker Dr Teresa Cremin, UKLA trustee, articulated the importance of creating a culture of intrinsic motivation for children to read and write for pleasure – something we should strive to achieve through being positive role-models for our students.
We had the opportunity to choose from a variety of workshops. The first one I attended offered tangible ideas and strategies to support neurodivergent children with reading. In the second, we discussed gender representation, offering solutions to break away from the restrictive stereotypes that society, and often our literature and its illustrations, impose on children.
The highlight was hearing children’s laureate Joseph Coelho speak about the pure joy and creativity of playing with words. This session was creative, humorous and inspirational. I came away feeling empowered.
This conference has helped me to foster the love of reading and writing that I had as a child in the young people that I now have the privilege of working with. I am sharing more poetry in my classroom as a result.
By Katy Roberts, NEU primary member
“The highlight of my day was hearing children’s laureate Joseph Coelho (above).”
Katy Roberts
NEU members at The Garden School in Hackney, east London (pictured left), have won major concessions from management in a long-running dispute over workload. It centred on the excessive demands placed on teachers, with working hours well over the 1,265 directed time. Staff had requested a directed time calendar in October, but by May it still had not been produced. Following two days of strike action, management introduced a workload reduction plan, a commitment to produce a directed time calendar for next year, three wellbeing days and two days’ extra pay as compensation for the extra hours worked this year.
NEU rep Vanessa Roberts said: “Teachers would not back down and we fought hard for our rights. What made us happy were the messages of encouragement from other schools and people who supported us on the picket line. Teachers united will never be defeated.”
by Rehan
PHOTO
Jamil
Adam Mosley works as a geography teacher and is NEU rep at Blue Coat School in Coventry, which is part of Inspire Education Trust.
‘We
forget that we all need help’
What do you love about your job?
I love supporting people, keeping them safe and informed, and working alongside different colleagues to help make school better for all staff. I also love geography trips and seeing students learn outside the classroom.
What do you love about being in the union?
Being part of something that makes a difference and showing people what we can achieve together.
What have you been up to lately?
A few months ago, I attended the NEU organising around mental health issues course, which introduced us to the union’s mental health charter. It was a great experience to work with other people dealing with the same wellbeing issues in their schools.
I came back from the training fired up. I spoke to other reps in school and we agreed the charter was what we needed. I took it to our leadership and they also saw the benefit for all of our staff.
Three months after attending the training, the NEU mental health charter was adopted across the whole multi-academy trust (MAT), with the board of trustees fully supporting it. People are already feeling the
benefits and it is making their lives better; this means the world to me.
Sometimes in the business – or busyness – of MATs we forget that we all need help, and this is a great example of the trust needing a model to work from and the NEU providing that model. We have also used
the NEU’s menopause and domestic abuse policies, and badged them with the trust’s logo. If we show people what great model policies we have at the NEU, education settings will use them and our members will be better supported.
What’s important to you right now?
My goal is to get our school’s NEU membership to over 100. It’s really important to me that we keep supporting and promoting the work of unions.
What do you do on your day off?
I watch my children play football. I love supporting local teams, and watching the Premier League and Women’s Super League live and in-person with my family.
Tell us something that we don’t know. In 2010 I was lucky enough to visit Antarctica, achieving a milestone of visiting my seventh continent. I even got into the Southern Ocean (very briefly) and was asked to post from the ‘penguin post office’, otherwise known as Port Lockroy, the UK’s most southerly public post office in British Antarctic Territory.
n Visit neu.org.uk/latest/library/mentalhealth-charter
Members defeat restructure and redundancy plans
NEU members at Claremont Independent School in East Sussex have defeated plans for a series of compulsory redundancies and won a backdated pay award, after threatening their employer with strike action.
In January, Claremont school informed staff that there would be a major restructure, which would include redundancies and a reduction of working hours and pay.
After a failed consultation process, NEU members voted to take industrial action to oppose the restructure, with five strike days planned for May. On the eve of the first day of action, the
employer backed down and offered a withdrawal of all compulsory redundancies, a backdated pay award of four per cent, and safeguarding of pay for those members who have seen a reduction in their hours or the removal of their responsibility allowance.
Members voted to accept the offer. Jenny Sutton, NEU Hastings district secretary, said: “By declaring their willingness to strike to protect jobs and conditions, members have shown that collective action works.
“NEU members at Claremont are now in a stronger position to stand up for their interests and those of their students.”
NEU Hastings’ Jenny Sutton
NEU joins global campaign to provide daily nutritious meal
THE NEU has become the first trade union to join an international coalition campaigning for universal free school meals.
The School Meals Coalition was established at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the aim of ensuring every child has a nutritious, daily meal in school by 2030.
Almost 100 countries have joined the coalition alongside more than 115 partners, including international organisations, civil society, and regional bodies and cities.
TPS fire-and-rehire plan dropped after strike threat by members
TEACHERS at Ewell Castle School in Epsom, Surrey, have won a Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) dispute.
Their employer had proposed a five per cent cut to teachers’ pay to remain in the TPS, or the option to join an inferior scheme.
The independent school also proposed to fire and rehire staff on these inferior terms. Following the proposal, members held an indicative ballot, with a 97 per cent Yes vote on a 76 per cent turnout. A formal ballot was authorised, and the employer then withdrew its proposal.
“This is a fantastic result for our members at Ewell Castle and shows what can be achieved when union members stand together,” said NEU senior regional officer Nick Childs.
TEACHERS and support staff at Hatton School and Special Needs Centre and Little Heath School in Redbridge, east London, held four days of strike action in June (left). Their dispute is about large class sizes. At Little Heath, a special needs secondary school, pupil numbers have shot up from 120 in 2012 to 236 this year. With a growing proportion of pupils having complex needs, class sizes should have been reduced.
Staff are also unhappy about the consultation on plans for a new site.
There was a 98 per cent Yes vote for strikes, with more than 70 members of staff joining the NEU since January.
By Ben Morris, Redbridge NEU membership secretary
New professionals and young workers gather to shape the profession’s future
ON 16 March, educators and activists converged upon the NEU new professionals and young workers’ (NPYW) south east region conference, with a shared vision of shaping the future of the profession.
Early career teachers (ECTs), students and trainees immersed themselves in a range of talks and interactive sessions. From exploring the challenges faced by ECTs, to fostering connections with international delegations, every aspect of the event was designed to inspire and empower.
One highlight was the discussion about the role of the NEU in supporting and advocating for the rights of young professionals. Through insightful discussions and engaging workshops, participants gained an insight into the resources and opportunities available to them through the NEU network. The conference also offered practical, troubleshooting sessions. Participants engaged in brainstorming and problem-solving to overcome obstacles.
Attendees had the chance to unwind and forge lasting connections during the social. We left the conference with renewed inspiration, invaluable insights, and a strengthened vision to be the change we wish to see in our profession and communities.
By Elizabeth Linsky & Rebecca Brown
NEU NPYW members at their annual conference
The mystery of the barrel
Words by Michael Rosen Illustration by Dan Berry
Wise people looked in the barrel, they wondered and wondered and wondered. Why was the barrel never full? Was it that someone had blundered?
Scientists came to take a look to find out what was possibly wrong. They tested and probed and measured, promising it wouldn’t take long.
“The answer to the problem is clear,” the chief of the team gave a shout. “There’s not enough water going in and too much water coming out.”
There’s one analogy I could mention: it’s called recruitment ’n’ retention. And on that, there’s one thing to say: the solution’s, of course, better pay.
Welsh holiday plans on hold
PLANS to reduce the school summer holiday to five weeks in Wales have been put on hold until after the next Welsh Parliamentary election in May 2026.
The Welsh government (WG) was proposing to shorten the summer holiday from six to five weeks and extend the October half-term holiday from one to two weeks. Ministers said this would benefit children from disadvantaged households, where families were more likely to struggle with childcare over the six weeks. They also argued it would be less tiring for students and staff.
NEU Cymru said in response there was no clear rationale or evidence for reform and the WG needed to focus on more urgent issues, including funding, workload, pupil behaviour and attendance, and mental health challenges for staff and students.
Nicola Fitzpatrick, NEU interim secretary for Wales, said: “Members will be pleased that the WG has seen sense. It remains a difficult time in education, and the workforce has gone through significant periods of change, including implementing the new curriculum and additional learning needs reform.”
Rep
cleared at St Ursula’s
AN NEU rep who was suspended from work for eight months following a complaint from a parent has paid tribute to the “selfless actions” of colleagues who took strike action to fight for his return.
Alex Turpie was cleared following an independent investigation (15 May), which found he had no case to answer in relation to claims that he had bullied pupils.
Colleagues and NEU members at St Ursula’s Convent School in Greenwich, south London, where Alex has taught history for 23 years and been a rep for 15, took 14 days of action. They believe Alex, who was suspended in September 2023, was targeted following a successful campaign at the school to fight academisation plans in 2022.
Alex said: “The support of colleagues was very moving and played a crucial role in winning my case. Their selfless actions in voting for industrial action showed the school they believed in my innocence, which led to an independent investigation.”
Rethink ‘outdated, unreliable and flawed’ exam system
By Rafia Hussain (right), SAWP member
THE Secondary Assessment Working Party (SAWP) was set up following the adoption of two NEU conference motions in 2022, and the subsequent publication of the Independent Assessment Commission’s (IAC) New ERA report.
The report highlighted the urgency for educators to explore alternatives to a system which is exam driven.
I was one of 13 NEU members nominated from across the regions to take part in the SAWP, which intends to focus on the assessment and qualifications for 14- to 19-year-olds. There was a consensus among us all that the current mode of assessment is fundamentally outdated, unreliable and flawed.
My interest lies in mental health and the positive wellbeing of young people. I have
increasingly witnessed the disengagement, discontent and heightened anxiety among my students, caused by the pressures of a punitive exam system. My contributions to the SAWP have primarily focused on creating a system that aims to bring joy and satisfaction to both teaching and learning.
Each member of the group was given the opportunity to research and collate case studies of alternative provision for assessment in secondary education, which is not exam driven. My case study focused on the sociology degree course at Sheffield Hallam University, where various forms of assessments take place but students do not sit any formal written examinations.
We would be naive to think the change to our outdated model of assessment will occur swiftly. Nonetheless, it’s evident that outstanding and personalised student-led, alternative provisions are being tested, with very successful learning outcomes.
As teachers, we need to continue to increase the pressure on policymakers, and campaign for change.
n Visit neu.org.uk/secondary-assessmentreport
THE NEU Northern Ireland annual conference took place in Belfast on 10 May, with opening remarks by regional secretary Pauline Buchanan and NEU NI president Edel McInerney. The conference theme was Evolving education, focusing on online childhood, and technology in our schools. The keynote address, titled Growing up online, was delivered by Professor Noel Purdy, followed by insights from the Northern Ireland Children’s Commissioner, Chris Quinn. A panel discussion on the opportunities and threats of artificial intelligence and technology explored the evolving landscape of educational tech and policy. The event also highlighted critical issues surrounding teacher workload, followed by a panel featuring NEU deputy general secretary Niamh Sweeney and national president Emma Rose.
(Pictured from left) NI district secretary Bronagh Wright, Niamh Sweeney, Emma Rose and Edel McInerney
Zane Gbangbola’s parents ask only one thing of the new government: that it establishes an independent panel inquiry into their son’s death. Sally Gillen reports.
KYE Gbangbola and Nicole Lawler believe their son Zane (pictured right), who was aged seven, was poisoned as he slept. For over a decade they have been fighting for a truth they feel sits in plain sight.
On the night of the tragedy in February 2014, hazardous materials experts detected the deadly nerve agent hydrogen cyanide gas (HCN) at very high levels in their home. The fire brigade, police and Hazardous Area Response Team evacuated the area, and an emergency government crisis response committee (Cobra) meeting was convened.
On this evidence, Zane’s parents believe their son died after floodwater passing through a former landfill site carried HCN into the family home.
An inquest in 2016 ruled he had died by carbon monoxide exhaust fumes generated by a petrol pump. Crucially, this verdict does not match the evidence: only HCN was detected at very high levels, and doctors who treated Kye diagnosed him with paraplegia caused that night by HCN poisoning.
The inquest reinforced a false narrative put out by the Government, which failed to say that on the night Zane was killed the local hospital was overwhelmed and a pop-up hospital was set up to protect non-contaminated patients. More than 50 emergency responders had to be decontaminated.
Furthermore, four years before Zane was killed, the Environment Agency had commissioned a report on the secret landfill site, which looked like a field with a lake, next door to Zane’s home. It warned that
the land had migrating gases that were an “unacceptable risk” that could cause serious injury and death.
Kye tells Educate his son’s death, and the long campaign for the truth, is “one of the burning injustices of our time”, adding that there has been a “blockage of truth”. Many others have been more direct: councillors at Spelthorne Borough Council united to call out the cover-up.
“Children shouldn’t be poisoned in their homes,” says Kye. “After Zane died, his friends were afraid to go to sleep because they were afraid they wouldn’t wake up.”
Join Kye and Nicole’s fight for justice
A petition calling for an independent panel inquiry, signed by 118,000 people, was handed in on 21 October 2022, which would have been Zane’s 16th birthday.
Unions including the Fire Brigades Union, CWU, Unison and the NEU back the campaign, and our general secretary Daniel Kebede is calling on members to stand with Kye and Nicole to demand justice for Zane.
Kye says: “NEU members can support us by calling for an inquiry, but also by supporting our call for Zane’s law. Local authorities across the UK are calling for a law to protect
communities from hazardous landfill. The Environment Agency should make information available about landfill sites, so people can see what dangers exist around them.”
In the UK, 80 per cent of people live within two kilometres of landfill sites, Kye adds, many containing dangerous material: “People should know if they are potentially in danger. We will pursue a legacy of truth for Zane.
“Our son loved people, he loved school, and the teachers loved him. He had the reading age of a teenager, and was one of the country’s youngest STEM ambassadors. He was also a Taekwondo black belt leader. At the grading the week before he was killed, he gave his belt to the little girl next to him – the award belts had run out, he cared that she was happy – and said he would get his the following week, but that never came for Zane.
“I miss my little boy so much every single day. The pain and abuse from the patronising disposition of unaccountable power is unbearable and wrong. We don’t want this to happen to other people’s loved ones. This case is about justice, children, parents, families. All things NEU members understand.
“A child’s death is not political but will remain a stain on the country until those responsible are held to account.”
A legacy of truth for Zane
Following the release of Defiance on Channel 4, Emily Jenkins explores the death of anti-racist NUT activist and teacher Blair Peach.
BLAIR Peach was a New Zealandborn special needs teacher and the president of east London National Union of Teachers (NUT).
On 23 April 1979 he was killed by police during an anti-racist protest in Southall. Blair’s murder sent shockwaves throughout the country. More than 10,000 people attended his funeral and the Inner London Education Authority allowed one teacher from every school in London paid leave to attend the funeral.
Fifty years on, the events leading up to his death are now being explored as part of a three-part series, Defiance: Fighting the Far Right, on Channel 4.
The series examines how Britain’s Asian community was targeted with a campaign of violence between 1976 and 1981, as National Front (NF) activity became increasingly prominent. Beginning with the murder of teenager Gurdip Singh Chaggar in 1976, who was stabbed to death by white youths in Southall, and the subsequent comment by NF chairman John Kingsley Read, “One down, one million to go”, it uses a combination of archive footage and present-day interviews to investigate seminal events within the British civil rights movement.
‘We did the right
These include the Southall protests and the death of Blair Peach, the Battle for Brick Lane and the story of the Bradford 12 – events which were often overlooked or politicised by the press, police and government.
“We wanted to tell the stories from the inside, not from the establishment,” explains series producer Anoop Pandhal. “Giving a voice to ordinary, everyday people who found themselves in these extraordinary pivotal moments that helped shape society today.”
Talking about the idea for the series, Anoop says the project began with the title Defiance. They wanted to show that the
“Giving a voice to ordinary people in extraordinary moments that shaped society.”
British Asian communities standing up against daily racist attacks were not passive or downtrodden but “heroes who went unrecognised and were not credited for what they did”.
Riot police defend the National Front
The second episode in the series investigates the Southall protests and the death of teacher and NUT member Blair Peach. Jo Lang, also a teacher and fellow union member, was with him the day he died.
“Blair and I met through the NUT. We were in several of the same political organisations, including the Anti-Nazi League, so I saw him almost every day. We were friends and part of a group which was trying to do anti-racist work and be part of the union,” she says.
When Blair and Jo heard the NF intended to hold an election meeting in Southall, west London, and that the British Asian community in the area (50 per cent of the population of Southall at the time) planned to go on strike to protest the meeting,
(From left) Jo Long; Blair’s funeral and a protest in Southall (both Channel 4); Blair Peach (inset)
pulled: you would turn and run away. Which I did. But when I got to the top of the road I realised that Blair wasn’t with us.”
they decided to drive over from east London to stand in solidarity. A petition to cancel the NF meeting, signed by over 10,000 residents, had already been ignored by the local council and, instead, nearly 3,000 police officers were deployed to protect the NF and escort them safely to the town hall. Among them were police from the Special Patrol Group (SPG), specialist uniformed police officers who were trained to control public disturbances.
Crowds began to gather outside the heavily cordoned town hall at 1pm, in advance of the scheduled 7.30pm NF meeting. The plan was to hold a peaceful sit-down demonstration but, as the police presence grew, things turned violent.
After standing in the street for hours, hemmed in by police, Jo, Blair and their friends decided to try and leave.
“We were walking away and turned down Beachcroft Avenue to go back to the car, and the SPG vans pulled up at the top of the street,” Jo recalls. “Police jumped out of the vans and ran towards us. Imagine seeing someone in full riot gear with their truncheon
Despite being afraid to return, Jo went back to find Blair and discovered he had been helped into a house by a local family who had called an ambulance. Blair had been struck on the head and was unconscious. Jo wasn’t allowed to accompany him to the hospital.
“We had to ring several times. The police were at the hospital, I think they knew what had happened,” she says.
Blair was taken into the operating theatre. When Jo called again to see how he was, she was told he had died.
Satiyesh Manoharajah, director of Defiance, explains why it was so important to include the Southall protests and Blair’s death in the series: “Blair and his friends travelled
Blair was “almost certainly” killed by one of six riot police officers of the SPG.
across London because anti-racism mattered to them, partly because they were teaching kids in the East End who were coming under attack on an almost daily basis. It represented allyship with British Asian communities.”
Within a day, more than 700 anti-racism protestors were arrested, 345 of them charged and hundreds more injured. Reflecting on the police presence, Jo says: “It’s surprising that only one person was killed. The police were very violent.”
The story hit the headlines, but was described by media and government officials as a “riot” caused by local residents, and police and the government were quick to close ranks.
“We were essentially told it was our fault,” says Jo. “They said we shouldn’t have been on the demonstration trying to show solidarity. And that was difficult to hear. But we did the right thing.”
‘Essentially, they got away with it’ Satiyesh was at primary school in London at the time and remembers how much Blair’s death was felt within his British Asian community. “Knowing that one of the teachers from my school would have been at the funeral is really moving for me,” he says.
Despite an investigation being held at the time of his death, it took over 40 years for the report, compiled by Metropolitan Police Commander John Cass, to be released. It concluded that Blair was “almost certainly” killed by one of six riot police officers who were members of the SPG.
It also revealed that officers had deliberately lied to obstruct the investigation into Blair’s death. To this day, no one has been charged with his murder. “Essentially, they got away with it,” says Jo. “It’s a huge injustice.”
The Southall community commemorates Blair Peach’s death every year, and he has remained an important figure to both local residents and teachers across the country.
The NUT established the Blair Peach award in 2011, which is presented annually to an NEU member who has made an exemplary contribution to their school or union branch’s work in any area of equality and diversity.
“I’m really proud that there’s a Blair Peach award, and I’m also proud that the union is at the forefront of pushing for equal opportunities,” says Jo.
“I think it’s a tribute to teachers that they are still there, trying their best not only to teach but also to protect kids and promote equal rights and opportunities.”
Photo by Lee Thomas Charlotte Ovey
Women aged 30-39, many of whom are parents, are leaving the profession in droves. Sarah Thompson spoke to members to find out why – and how the NEU can help women stay and thrive.
‘Stumbling
FIGURES from the latest School Workforce Census (2023) reveal that in the last year, the full-time equivalent of 9,147 women teachers aged 30-39 left the profession. The true number is likely to be significantly higher, as part-time workers are not fully counted.
That should sound an alarm for the Government, especially with teacher recruitment and retention at crisis point. Nearly nine in ten (89 per cent) of local authorities in England have seen an increase in teacher vacancies since 2010, according to the Trades Union Congress. And the Conservative Government missed teacher recruitment targets in nine out of the last ten years.
In this context, the fact so many women are leaving teaching is something that should be investigated. These are experienced teachers, subject specialists and leaders,
blocks at every stage’
mentors for new teachers, role models for young people, and future leaders.
NEU survey paints a worrying picture It is likely that a large number of those 9,147 women highlighted in the School Workforce Census are parents.
In 2022, the NEU surveyed 3,700 women members aged 30 to 45 who had been pregnant within the last five years about their treatment in the workplace.
The survey found that even the most basic statutory rights were being breached across England and Wales. There were myriad examples of discrimination and unfair and unlawful treatment with regards to pay, flexible working, relinquishing of promoted posts, and lack of promotion during pregnancy and maternity leave.
They included reports of women who had returned to work while still breastfeeding being forced to express milk
Charlotte Ovey (pictured left) primary teacher & NEU rep, Devon
Charlotte Ovey has two children and describes “stumbling blocks at every stage” in the workplace.
During both pregnancies, she says there was a general lack of care from her school – from a generic risk assessment form, for which the point of contact for those working from home during Covid-19 was a staff member who had left the school years ago, to being told she could take a break to express milk, but there being no suitable room provided or cover for her classes arranged.
“Everyone is so stretched, so I understand the difficulty. But I know that for a lot of friends, going back to work has been the point at which they have stopped breastfeeding – not because they want to, and not because their baby wants to, but because they can’t do it any other way.”
During Covid-19, when pregnant women were advised to isolate, Charlotte was told she needed to come into school. “It was a real battle to be able to stand up for what was right. I was conflicted –do I do what I know is right for me and my unborn baby, or do I bow to pressure and try not to be a troublemaker? It was the last thing I needed.”
in toilets and car parks. The frequent breaches of statutory rights were, in some cases, due to insufficient knowledge of maternity rights among members, reps and leaders, or deliberate breaching by some schools.
In response, the union published a suite of NEU resources – Maternity Matters –covering five key themes: n being pregnant at work n pregnancy loss and termination n maternity leave and pay n breastfeeding n returning to work and flexible working.
The resources include call-to-action reports (drafted by Maternity Action, the UK’s maternity rights charity), guidance for members, sample pregnancy risk assessment and letters, checklists for reps and leaders, and model policies.
Educate spoke to some members about their experiences.
She says many members find it difficult to access information on their rights, and describes the Maternity Matters resources as groundbreaking. “As a union, we’ve worked with women to try to elevate their rights and let them know what they’re entitled to. We want to challenge decisions and bring power back to the membership.”
But she is also clear that it is not only women who are pregnant or who plan to become pregnant who need to know and understand maternity rights, but that leaders and reps, for example, should also be using the Maternity Matters resources.
Rosie Kelly-Smith (pictured page 27)
English intervention lead & NEU women’s officer, Sutton
Rosie Kelly-Smith was 30 when she became pregnant with her second child. She loved being head of year, a job she had done for more than five years. Having carried out the role part-time when her first child was born, she optimistically put in a request for flexible working. It was rejected outright.
“This was something I’d been able to do successfully before, but I was told it would be detrimental to the quality of provision,” Rosie says. continued on page 27
○
continued from page 25
Rosie decided to appeal the decision but, worried about her prospects of success, also began to look for other jobs, including roles outside of teaching where, she says: “I felt I’d have a better chance to find work with more flexible hours.”
She describes the experience as “allconsuming – I didn’t know whether I would be able to return, or what job I was going to”.
The trust chief executive officer upheld the head teacher’s decision to reject Rosie’s flexible working request.
Rosie was baffled by the reluctance to see the benefits of agreeing to flexible working, from retaining staff and improved staff wellbeing, to increased collaboration and staff development. During her time as a part-time head of year, the assistant head of year stepped up on the day Rosie was absent, allowing them to develop their skills in a safe, relatively low-pressure way.
In the end, Rosie found a part-time role in a new school, but it meant a drop in salary and responsibilities.
“I’m just about hanging on in teaching,” she admits. “Women are at the mercy of the head teacher’s whims, and how open they are to flexible working.”
continued on page 29
by Kois Miah
Some members in the NEU’s survey reported very positive experiences, describing line managers and leaders who are “extremely supportive” and “flexible and accommodating”.
Hilary Pearson works two and a half days a week as an English teacher and assistant head of year at The Westgate School in Hampshire. She was on placement at the school while training to become a teacher and worked there for a number of years before finding a position elsewhere.
But when she became pregnant, she decided to move back. “I knew the department was incredibly supportive – as is the school. It felt like the right thing to do. I feel part of that family environment.”
Her request for flexible working was agreed without
question, and she joins a number of other part-time colleagues. The school has a nursery on site, which offers a discount to staff and priority places, and Hilary says there is a general recognition of the value of part-time staff.
“When you work part time, you become incredibly skilled at time management and organisation. You’re an asset – a highly productive member of the team. It really is in the head teacher’s interests to facilitate flexible working and recognise the skills of those teachers in that 30 to 39 age bracket and work with them, like they do at The Westgate School. It’s a tragedy to lose those women, especially in the recruitment and retention crisis.
“At my school there’s a culture that teachers are your most valuable resource, so it serves you well to look after them.”
Hilary Pearson English teacher & assistant head of year, Hampshire
Photo
Rosie KellySmith
Being pregnant at work
We call on employers to:
Respect our confidentiality – it is up to us whom to tell and when
Protect our safety – organise safe working for pregnant women
Preserve our dignity – arrange support and rest facilities for expectant mothers
Facilitate don’t punish us for attending antenatal appointments Value
Sandra Igwe founder of The Motherhood Group, London
The NEU Maternity Matters resources highlight that many Black and Asian women do not receive appropriate individualised or culturally sensitive maternity care outside of work and that this can impact on their physical and mental health at work.
The union urges leaders to offer appropriate support and ask about what workplace systems might need to be adjusted to ensure that expectant Black and Asian women feel supported and valued in their workplace. The NEU encourages reps to seek further advice if a member is not receiving the support that she needs at work.
In 2016, Sandra Igwe set up The Motherhood Group, a social enterprise that supports Black mothers and provides peer-topeer support, training and community events.
The dual aspects of sexism and racism mean that Black women are at a severely disadvantaged position in maternity and maternal care. Analysis of NHS figures (2022-23) by the Guardian found that Black women are up to six times more likely than white women to experience serious birth complications during hospital delivery across England; while the risk of maternal death is almost four times higher, according to national audit programme MBRRACE-UK.
Sandra describes her experiences of pregnancy and birth as “extremely challenging, both physically and emotionally”. Any concerns she raised were ignored and dismissed. “As a Black woman, I was acutely aware of the increased risks and worse
maternal health outcomes,” says Sandra. “I carried the weight of knowing that the odds were stacked against me, which added to my anxiety and feelings of vulnerability.”
She spoke to other Black women and discovered her experience wasn’t a one-off. A year-long inquiry into racial injustice in the maternity services, run by charity Birthrights and co-chaired by Sandra, found that Black women often felt unsafe, ignored, dehumanised and disbelieved.
The Motherhood Group offers a range of support, including workshops that offer culturally relevant education and preparation, facilitated sharing circles where women can
NEU Maternity Matters guidance
Key messages
Checklists, model policies and sample letters to help pregnant staff and staff on maternity leave to get the appropriate support. The NEU urges all employers to adopt policies that prohibit unlawful discrimination and allow employers to identify and tackle discrimination. Visit neu.org.uk/maternity
n Pregnancy is sensitive personal information that shouldn’t be shared without consent.
n Not undertaking an individualised risk assessment when a woman has disclosed that she is pregnant is discrimination on grounds of sex.
n Being on maternity leave does not remove a woman’s entitlement to pay progression.
n Pregnancy-related absences must be recorded separately and should not trigger absence-management penalties.
n Refusing to allow a woman to return to work part-time from maternity leave could be indirect sex discrimination.
n Giving a woman no choice but to express breastmilk in the toilets or car park is harassment based on sex.
openly discuss their experiences, events and peer-to-peer support, training for healthcare professionals and the UK’s first awareness week, highlighting the disparities of Black women’s maternal mental health outcomes –Black maternal mental health week.
Sandra says educators can provide support to Black mothers within their school communities by being aware of the challenges they face, creating inclusive environments where all parents feel welcome and understood, and signposting to groups such as The Motherhood Group: “Together, we can work towards a future where every mother, regardless of race, receives the care and support she needs to thrive.”
NEU AdviceLine
n England 0345 811 8111
n Wales 029 2049 1818
n Northern Ireland 028 9078 2020
NEU Parents
A grassroots group providing support and guidance nationally.
n twitter.com/NEUparents n facebook.com/NEUparents
Maternity Teacher, Paternity Teacher
Charity for parent-teachers, providing support, networking, coaching and CPD. n mtpt.org.uk
Climate-conscious choices
Educate magazine is now printed on 100 per cent recycled paper. Emily Jenkins visits our new UK-based supplier, Palm Paper, to hear about its eco-credentials.
PALM Paper mill in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, believes nothing should be wasted.
Built in 2009, the factory has been specifically designed to receive, sort and recycle used paper products and make them into fresh, highquality paper. And the entire process takes only four hours.
“We look for the most ecologically friendly processes we can use in the industry,” says Simon Morris, managing director of business and administration at Palm Paper, and our guide for the day.
Ninety-six per cent of water recycled
We start off in a huge warehouse where household paper waste collected by councils’ refuse collectors, everything from cereal packets to old newspapers, is delivered daily. This warehouse can house more than 8,000 tonnes of loose paper and is only the first of several huge buildings we are about to travel through.
After being sorted, the recovered paper is pulped and de-inked using fresh water from the River Ouse estuary, which runs adjacent to the factory. It is then broken down into fibres that will be used to make fresh paper. Water treatment facilities on the site are sufficient to
provide clean water for a city of 300,000 inhabitants, allowing for 96 per cent of the water used by the factory to be put through extensive cleaning and purification processes.
Another machine – the largest of its type in the world – then produces new paper from the pulp. Housed in its own building, it runs at 2,000 metres per minute (equivalent to 75 miles per hour) and can produce 400,000 tonnes of paper a year. The broken-down paper fibres are mixed with water on a large mesh before undergoing a series of compressing, heating and cooling processes to bond the fibres, and gradually decrease the water content. The finished sheet – made from 100 per cent recycled paper – is then wound onto a spool to produce jumbo rolls of paper, each 10.6 metres wide and weighing 100 metric tonnes.
Low carbon footprint
The paper mill is also only 70 miles from where Educate is printed, meaning its carbon footprint is low. Max Watson, editor of Educate, explains that this was an important consideration when choosing a paper supplier: “It is vital for us to be as climate conscious as possible. Our members are passionate about protecting our planet as activists, campaigners and educators and we want the magazine to reflect that.”
(Clockwise from above) Simon Morris with Educate’s Emily Jenkins and Max Watson; paper waste from councils; giant spools of recycled paper
PHOTOS by Kois Miah
Cartoon by Tim Sanders
What lies ahead for education spending?
Warwick Mansell is a freelance education journalist and founder/writer of educationuncovered.
WILL we see a new focus on education from the Treasury in the coming years?
This seems an important question, after 14 years in which real spending on schools per pupil fell for the best part of a decade, only partially rebounding during the most recent parliamentary term.
Educate readers will need no reminding of the effects of this, from teacher pay failing to keep pace with inflation, to the crumbling school buildings of the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) debacle.
But I received an added insight into the importance of this debate after covering a government decision, taken back in the spring, to axe funding for a scheme which seems quietly to have done an extremely important job supporting classrooms.
Science Learning Partnerships (SLPs), in operation since the mid-2010s and run by the charity STEM Learning, provided invaluable training for science teachers and technicians at thousands of schools and colleges across England.
Often offered through remote learning sessions after school, the partnerships provided a huge range of support: from curriculum and exam advice for teachers, to training for technicians and health and safety guidance for practical lessons.
With schools facing a worsening crisis over teacher recruitment and retention, such that many science lessons are now taught by non-specialists, this was a scheme doing vital work in helping to plug knowledge gaps through subject enhancement courses.
Its work has been acknowledged by the Department for Education (DfE), which stated four years ago, as it announced renewed funding for the SLPs, that they were part of a drive to “increase the take-up of science at GCSE and A-level and encourage young people to pursue a STEM-related career”.
But they are no more. SLPs appear to have paid the price as the DfE sought to find
£1.5 billion of cuts from its central spending earlier this year.
To which the obvious response would be: why did the Treasury not ensure that such important work was protected? Surely supporting the quality of science lessons in schools would have benefits, not just in its own right but in the longer-term impact on the economy.
But while schools did have a limited degree of protection, relative to other government spending, as austerity bit post2010, in reality they seem not enough of a national priority for the Treasury for this long-term view to be in evidence.
Data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that, while real-terms spending per pupil in England climbed sharply in the years to 2010, it then fell back steadily until 2019. It then climbed again. But by next year it was still predicted to be around four per cent lower (once school-specific costs are taken into account), than it was when David Cameron took power.
Is there a future for schemes doing important work such as the SLPs? For the sake of the country, that would be the hope.
Ask the union
GP appointment in work time
CAN my school refuse leave for routine medical appointments? I made a GP appointment during work time (the only time I could get one) and was told I could not go.
While there is no legal right to take time off work for a medical appointment, employers have a duty of care to do all they reasonably can to protect their employees’ health and wellbeing at work.
Employers should be flexible when it comes to medical appointments and consider how difficult it can be to rearrange them. They should also consider that routine appointments may involve monitoring of an employee’s medical condition and/or disability, which could potentially lead to a discrimination claim if an employer were to deny an employee time off to attend appointments.
Ultimately, you should check your school’s policy to see where you stand and raise the issue with your workplace rep, as this is more than likely to be a collective issue within your workplace.
The NEU’s model special leave policy permits reasonable time off with pay for employees who need to attend medical appointments during working hours. However, every effort should be made to arrange appointments at either the beginning or end of the school day to minimise disruption.
n Visit neu.org.uk/special-leave-model-policy
Providing EHCP support
I TEACH three children with an education, health and care plans (EHCP), who are entitled to 65 hours of support each week between them. They’ve been put into one class for ease of giving support, but it’s difficult with just one teaching assistant (TA) and I’m concerned they are not being given their funded hours.
If the TA is full-time in class, and never called away to cover other classes, this may be a better way of ensuring consistent support for these students rather than each having a part-time TA with other duties. It can also provide a peer support group, reducing the isolation so many special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) students face in mainstream school.
Speak to the school special educational needs co-ordinator about your concerns and discuss whether the students are getting any other individual support outside the classroom from specialists such as speech and language therapists or child and adolescent mental health services. If they are, this could constitute the additional hours of their entitlement.
If having only one TA to support all three students causes additional workload for you – for example, in terms of planning,
Free CPD webinars for all NEU members
assessment and liaison with families – you should discuss this with your NEU workplace rep as they can support you, and other staff may also be experiencing the same issues.
The school funding crisis has made recruiting support staff increasingly difficult and school leaders are having to make difficult organisational decisions regarding support for SEND students.
Contact us…
n Please email your questions to educate@neu.org.uk
n If your question is urgent, please call the AdviceLine on 0345 811 811
NEU members have exclusive access to our continuing professional development (CPD) webinars. Here are some of the courses coming up in the autumn term.
October
A week of webinars around the theme of behaviour and a series of webinars specifically for early career teachers (ECTs) and trainees.
November Themed weeks of webinars on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and mental health and wellbeing, along with regular weekly webinar Wednesdays.
We will also be running a series of masterclass webinars for leaders, and specific webinars for support and supply members.
n Webinars are continuously added through the year.
n Webinars are available for 14 days.
n For more more information and to book, visit neu.org.uk/ national-cpd
A class act
‘A challenge, a joy, the icing on the cake’
Isabel Thomas (pictured) is a teacher and additional learning needs co-ordinator at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital in Cardiff. Sarah Thompson finds out what makes her a class act.
AS a teacher with over 30 years’ experience, Isabel’s enthusiasm for learning has never waned. It’s one of the reasons she loves working in a hospital school. The environment is fast paced and there are daily admissions to the wards and changes to her timetable. It means Isabel must be ready to teach any subject, from reception up to GCSE, sometimes at very short notice.
“No day is the same. It’s a challenge, but also a joy,” she says. “As long as you love learning, you can facilitate work quickly. I can research the night before and prepare a lesson.”
Following a varied career in eduction – she has been an assistant educational psychologist and a primary school teacher, teaching in both mainstream and special schools – Isabel describes her role at Noah’s Ark, where she has taught for eight years, as “the icing on the cake”.
“I knew as soon as I walked through the door that it was everything I’d ever wanted. I could use all those years of experience to make a learner’s day better. I feel it’s all led to this moment.”
Escalators and astronauts
When a child is admitted to Noah’s Ark, Isabel contacts their school to discuss learning levels, objectives and how best to support their learning. But, as a good way into teaching, she likes to begin with whatever they are interested in.
“One learner loved escalators and lifts, so I did a whole scheme of work on that. And this week, a learner said: ‘I want to know how astronauts go to the toilet in space.’ There were some great features about that from the International Space Station website. You never know what you’re going to be asked. It’s a very organic, bespoke approach.”
The young people Isabel teaches have a range of medical conditions, and lessons usually take place at the bedside. It requires some creative thinking and an understanding that interruptions are likely.
“Lessons can be disjointed. Medics will pop back and forth and that’s the learner’s
Do you know a class act?
Email educate@ neu.org.uk
primary need, so we step back whenever we need to,” says Isabel.
But hospital staff also understand the value of Isabel’s role – not only in the academic support she provides, but the fact that lessons offer young people some much-needed normality.
“It makes them feel like their peers, and less socially isolated,” says Isabel. “It makes them feel part of their learning community, which is everything to them.”
Catering for hopes and dreams
“You’re trying to offer something to make their day better,” she says. “In the hospital, young people are patients and I think they can lose a little bit of their identity. We recognise that they are learners, with hopes, dreams and aspirations. We’ve got to make sure we cater for that.”
The enthusiasm and thirst for learning from young people who are very ill can still surprise her. One learner, Eden, was given a terminal cancer diagnosis after two years at Noah’s Ark. “On the day, I went to see her and said, ‘OK Eden, tell me what you want to do today.’ She replied, ‘I really want to do trigonometry. I want to get my maths GCSE.’”
“I was not expecting that,” says Isabel, who adds that she had to quickly brush up on her trigonometry.
Eden achieved ten GCSEs, including maths, at grade C and above. “She was discharged before she received her results, but her mum said how delighted she was, and knew we would be thrilled too.”
Emotionally challenging environment
The challenging nature of the hospital environment requires you to be very aware of your own wellbeing, says Isabel. “You’re seeing things you wouldn’t see in a classroom, supporting a learner with their trauma and trying to offer some distraction. You’ve got to recognise when you’re feeling emotionally dysregulated.”
While there is no counselling service, Isabel says her manager is fantastic and will encourage her to take time out when she needs it.
“She’s great and has been very supportive in helping me regulate again if there’s been a traumatic incident. Then you come back knowing that what you’re doing makes the day better for other learners. It’s just a whole process of adjusting.”
The children of Gaza have been living through a nightmare. Children have lost their lives, their families and their homes. With your help we can deliver life-saving food, drinking water and medicine. Donate now at: www.savethechildren.org.uk/educate Or you can phone: 0800 8148148
Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Advocating for teachers of the Commonwealth
THE NEU, together with our sister union the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), ensured issues affecting the education workforce were on the agenda at the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in May.
The conference, held in London, brought together Commonwealth education ministers, senior government officials, teacher unions and development partners to address key education priorities.
The NEU was pleased to support SADTU’s deputy president, Lucky Goodman Mabutho Cele, and his colleague, Nthabiseng Nkosi, in attending the conference in their capacity as secretariat of the Commonwealth Teachers’ Group (CTG). The CTG represents the Commonwealth teachers’/educators’ unions that are affiliated to Education International, the global union federation of teachers’ trade unions.
During the two-day conference the CTG emphasised to ministers the importance of increasing and improving the recruitment, training, retention, remuneration and working conditions of educators, in order to address the teacher shortage across the Commonwealth.
Addressing the teacher shortage crisis
The CTG also called for a review of the implementation of the Protocol for the Recruitment of Commonwealth Teachers, which marks its 20th anniversary this year.
The protocol aims to balance the rights of teachers to migrate internationally, against the need to protect the integrity of national education systems and the human resource investments countries have made in teacher education. It also seeks to safeguard the rights and terms and conditions of recruited teachers.
However, as raised by the NEU, the protocol is under strain through the increasingly aggressive recruitment of overseas trained teachers (OTTs), with small island states in the Caribbean particularly affected.
Over the past year there has been a significant rise in the number of skilled worker visas issued by the UK to overseas teachers from the Commonwealth. For example, Jamaica – which is experiencing its own chronic shortages of qualified teachers – lost 486 teachers who were recruited to England last year alone. This has a significant effect in exacerbating the teacher shortage in
Commonwealth countries and the quality of education these countries can provide.
Furthermore, the requirement for OTTs to have a certificate of sponsorship in the UK can keep teachers tied to bad employers, since finding a new sponsor can be very difficult. OTTs are also paid on average £10,000 less than their colleagues to do the same work, because they are paid on the unqualified teacher pay scale – despite being qualified and doing the work of a qualified teacher.
The NEU wants to see significant changes in how the UK recruits and treats
“Learning from unions, teachers and colleagues around the world.”
OTTs to guard against their exploitation and ensure they can play more of a part in tackling the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.
Connected globally in our struggle
Our colleagues from SADTU also met with NEU representatives, including president Emma Rose and chair of the international committee Louise Regan. Conversations focused on the shared challenges experienced in schools in the UK and South Africa, and opportunities to strengthen collaboration between the two unions. They concluded their visit by attending a national demonstration for Palestine, where they were invited to hold the banner at the front of the march.
This is just one example of why the NEU’s international solidarity work is so important. It connects us and enables us to learn from unions, teachers and colleagues around the world.
Lucky and Nthabiseng holding the banner at the front of a Palestine march in London
Lucky and NEU president Emma Rose
Reviews
‘The
hold brilliant books have over us’
Jon Biddle, English lead and NEU rep at Moorlands Primary in Norfolk, is passionate about fostering a love of reading for pleasure. Here he – and year 10 pupil Ella – share ideas for schools to try.
WE know that as pupils get older, the influence of adults on their reading choices decreases as the opinions of their peers become more important.
A culture of peer recommendations is well established across our school, but we’re always exploring ways to try and deepen it.
Each year, we provide work experience opportunities for students from a local secondary school. This year, we were fortunate enough to be visited by year 10 pupil, Ella, an extremely passionate reader. Upon her arrival, she immediately started engaging in conversations about books with children in my class, and helped some of them put together that week’s pupil recommendation shelf.
I realised how interested my pupils were in finding out about Ella as a reader, so asked her if she would be willing to talk to the class about some books that had meant a lot to her when she was at primary school. The next day, she came in with a bag full of her favourite books, having written short reviews on their front covers, which was far more than I had expected or hoped for.
She talked to the class about each book, giving a brief summary of the plot and explaining why she had enjoyed it, speaking for almost 20 minutes. She then answered questions about the books and her reading in general. The pupils were extremely engaged throughout, with several of them making lists of the books mentioned.
Ella kindly offered to leave the books in school for a couple of weeks so my pupils could borrow them. By the end of the day, most of her books had been borrowed and were being read with great enthusiasm.
Escaping the stresses of teenage life
After she had left, I asked Ella (via her mum) for her views on the experience.
Ella said: “I’ve always loved reading. I love how it allows me to escape to a different world, especially when it’s so easy to get caught up in the stresses of being a teenager. That’s why, when I found that I was lucky enough to
be doing my work experience at Moorlands, I knew I was in for an enjoyable week.
“When I arrived, some students explained to me what the recommendations shelf was and, after speaking to Mr Biddle, this inspired me to bring my own recommendations into school the following day.
“As an older student, further along in my journey of reading for pleasure, I was honoured to share some of the stories that had made me laugh, cry and everything in between. It was so lovely to see the value that the students placed on my recommendations.
“The book that I most wanted to recommend to the class was Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah. A few pupils told me they had heard of the Windrush generation, but weren’t too sure of what it was or what happened during this time. Lots of them noted down the title of the book and instantly became intrigued by the history hidden within this story. When I read it, it brought me to tears and I wanted the students to experience the hold that brilliant books can have over us.
“One tip that I would give to other students doing something similar is to be honest. Choose books that touched your core and inspired you. Choose books that you connected with and not what you think
others may view as ‘cool’. The chances are that if you connected with a book, other readers will feel the same.”
Read more ideas from Jon next issue
Building bridges between schools
Although the idea had taken place almost organically, it was obvious that it had been an enormous success, both for my year 5 and 6 pupils and also for Ella. As a result, I contacted the English lead at our local secondary to suggest that we try and repeat it this year, as well as roll out the idea to other primary schools.
It’s an easy but highly effective way to build bridges between primaries and secondaries, and to get children reading and discussing books with their peers.
@jonnybid
Year 10 student Ella’s favourite books in primary school, each with a review
HOW can you change a person’s negative attitude towards maths? Using a wealth of research and personal experience, the co-authors challenge commonly held beliefs people have, such as “maths is always right or wrong” and “maths is hard because it is abstract”.
They explore the rationale behind each misconception and provide practical tips for educators to challenge them, including case studies and video links. An informative resource that makes maths more interesting and helps educators break down the barriers people have. Ideal for primary school educators.
Cindy Shanks I Can’t Do Maths! by Professor Alf Coles and Professor Nathalie Sinclair. Bloomsbury. £13.49.
I Can’t Do Maths! Stone Arrows
Know any good educational websites and apps? Let us know if you’d like to review them –email us at educate@neu.org.uk
The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors
THIS book lays out the threats to our environment, and the benefits of taking lessons outside, including improved mental health and engagement among pupils.
Lesson plans matched to the curriculum will inspire confidence among teachers.
THIS exciting adventure set in the Mesolithic era tells the story of Zeta and her brother, Finn, who must leave their tribe after their father dies in suspicious circumstances. Together they must brave the elements and the tribes around them and search for their mother’s birth tribe.
This engrossing story is full of excitement and fast-paced adventure. It would be a great complement to any key stage 2 prehistory learning as it gives life and colour to a world very far from modern-day life.
Gillian Reynolds Stone Arrows by Elizabeth Barber. The Book Guild. £8.99.
Schools of Thought
A BALANCED and insightful examination of 30 schools, each with a different set of values, principles and philosophies at the heart of their educational practice.
As well as talking to head teachers and contributors from each school, David James and Jane Lunnon offer a counterview to each approach, taking the reader deeper into the debate about what makes a good or successful school. The authors examine the ethos of a wide range of faith schools, single-sex and co-ed schools, creative, technological,
progressive and traditional schools, surveying the impact of issues such as spirituality, gender and assessment on student experiences of education.
This is an eye-opening book that helps to promote meaningful discussion and reflection around the principles that underlie our educational establishments and how they prepare young people for modern life.
Katrina Reilly Schools of Thought: Lessons to Learn from Schools Doing Things Differently by David James and Jane Lunnon. Bloomsbury. £20.
These days many children spend a great deal more time inside – not helped by the draws of the online world and social media. By offering a strategy for reversing this trend and bringing children back to nature, this book is a potential game changer. A book like this for secondary would be equally welcome.
Mike Follows
The Sustainability and Climate Change Curriculum Outdoors by Alun Morgan, Deborah Lambert, Michelle Roberts and Sue Waite. Bloomsbury. £18.
Working Effectively With Your Teaching Assistant
A VALUABLE resource, not only for those of us who are lucky enough to have a teaching assistant in our classroom, but for anyone who works with a learning support assistant, a higher level teaching assistant.
This book offers a wealth of knowledge and ideas about creating a good working relationship among staff, with case studies providing a personal touch. I enjoyed the sections titled ‘if this isn’t working…try this’, which give practical advice on a variety of scenarios that will no doubt be familiar to all of us working in schools.
Gillian Reynolds
Working Effectively With Your Teaching Assistant by Sara Alston. Bloomsbury. £12.23.
Not a curriculum review, but a revolution I READ the report of NEU annual conference with interest (see Educate, May/June, pages 14-19).
I wholeheartedly agree with Ed Harlow, the music teacher from Haringey (page 17), who said: “We don’t need another curriculum review, we need a curriculum revolution.”
I have been a primary teacher in a deprived area of the Midlands for more than 30 years, the last ten a special needs coordinator (SENCo). I have seen educational fads come and go and the increasing politicisation of education.
The thing that I believe has had the greatest negative impact on staff and pupil wellbeing in the last 14 years is the toxic primary school curriculum.
It was already a bad curriculum when Michael Gove became education secretary.
Overnight, there was an increase in academic expectations for each year group. This was done with complete disregard for long-accepted understanding of child development.
At the younger end of the age range, this led to a move away from concrete learning in maths, and at the top end, exposure to GCSE-level questions on year 6 SATs papers.
As well as raising the academic level of the curriculum, more and more was added to it. Grammar was separated from English and all subjects now had to be taught discretely rather than under any sort of topic umbrella, removing the synergies that allowed children to make sense of their learning.
The curriculum favours pupils at the top end of the ability spectrum and those with a good memory. It is crammed with facts that children must regurgitate.
The curriculum is now so full that there is no spare second in the day to just ‘be’, explore individual pupil interests or follow up on misconceptions. Bring back creativity with time for proper art and music lessons. Let us nurture healthy lifestyles with more time for
Addie is the loving dog of Jessica Pritchett, an early years teacher in Grimsby.
Jessica says: “Addie loves to help me with my work when I’m at home. When I say ‘help’, she climbs onto the table and chews up my worksheets.
“But she’s always there to clear my busy teacher mind after stressful days with a long walk down the beach.”
If you have a treasured pet you’d like to show off, email a high-resolution photo with 50 words about what makes them so special to educate@neu.org.uk
physical movement and less time stuck behind a table.
If we don’t make a drastic change now, I fear for the present of our children and for the future of society.
Fiona Edwards,
Litchfield
Coverage lacking of retired members
YOUR coverage of annual conference didn’t include a motion on the the role retired members play in the union.
The retired members’ organising forum had worked on developing a resolution for conference to recognise the importance of retired members for the union; the first time that it would be debated at conference.
In many districts, retired members play a crucial role in maintaining the very fabric of the union, carrying out work needed for the branches to function. For many of us who were active union members, retirement has not meant an end of our commitment to, and activity in,
the union. Many of us are also either running retired members’ sections or participating in union campaigns, such as supporting activities around Gaza and the poverty campaign No Child Left Behind.
But, crucially, we are the section of the union which has consistently raised the issue of pensions, and the importance of the state retirement pension.
We know that many members with breaks in service – particularly women members with children – have lesser pensions, and the state retirement pension therefore plays a significant part of their income after retirement. This also applies to in-service members.
We hope to see a reflection of the activities of retired teachers in Educate in future.
Jane Shallice, member of the NEU retired members’ organising forum and convenor of the all-London retired educators’ group
Please write The editor welcomes your letters but reserves the right to edit them. Write to Letters, Educate, NEU, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD or email educate@neu.org.uk
Please note we cannot print letters sent in without a name and postal address (or NEU membership number), although we can withhold details from publication if you wish.
CLASSROOM confidential
WIN!
I have always used puppets with my foundation stage class. They particularly loved a black crow with a bright orange beak called Colin.
Send us your funny stories to win a £30 gift voucher
During one phonics session I sat down heavily on my chair and there was a universal howl. “You’ve killed Colin!”
To my horror I’d squashed him flat. I lifted him gently, plumped him up and reassured the class he was fine. Of course I did have to apologise to him.
n Email your classroom confidential to educate@neu.org.uk
Star letter
Talking about the menopause still taboo
THANKS for including coverage of the passing of a motion on the menopause at conference (see Educate, May/June, page 15). That motion started as a personal journey, which led me to research more about the perimenopause.
More than 50 per cent of the population will face this journey at some point in their lives, with a range of physical and psychological symptoms. But it is still a taboo subject.
Research shows that many people are uninformed about the menopause before the age of 40. The symptoms can make work impossible – so therefore, it’s a workplace issue. The Women and Equalities Committee in the House of Commons states that “there is a legal, economic and social imperative to address the needs of menopausal employees”.
In March this year a survey conducted by Manchester Metropolitan University (based on secondary teachers in England) was published. It stated that teachers with menopausal symptoms reported a lack of
Retirement at the age of 60 is not an option
AS a 59-year-old teacher facing divorce, the threat of capability and mental health issues, I think we need to help members in two ways: n Compulsory adult mental health training for senior leadership teams (SLTs).
If even Ofsted has recognised the need for this, surely it should be compulsory for SLTs? It might help with the retention crisis. n Make SLTs aware that getting rid of older staff is no longer an easy option because of the change in pension rules.
I suspect that SLTs are still thinking that people get a full teacher’s pension at the age of 60. As a result of my divorce, I’ve become more aware of when I will receive my state pension. The new rules for the Teachers’ Pension Scheme mean I might get only part of the pension at 60, but the full amount at 67.
Taking the easy way out and thinking about retirement at the age of 60 is not an option for me as it used to be for colleagues in the past.
I wonder how many colleagues may be in a similar position? Mike Angus, Alford
reasonable adjustments in the workplace. Additionally, teachers reported that stress and workload impacted their menopause symptoms and over half of participants felt that they were at a disadvantage in terms of work opportunities and/or progression
during their menopause transition. Unfortunately, some had to take leave or time off due to the severity of their symptoms.
This study found that only one in ten women felt supported. Furthermore, only 34.1 per cent reported that they have
a menopause policy in their workplace.
All workplaces should have a menopause policy to educate and protect staff, and to start conversations about this stage of our lives that we don’t choose.
Elzbieta
Maron, Hounslow
Delegates listening to a debate at NEU annual conference in April PHOTO by Kois Miah
GLORIOUS
NORTH DEVON
Only 9 cosy caravans on peaceful farm. Wonderful walks in woods & meadows. Close sea, moors & lovely days out. £125-395pw. Pets welcome. 01769 540366 www.snapdown.co.uk
FALMOUTH, CORNWALL
Waterside apartment, sleeps two 01209 860268
www.cabinfalmouth.co.uk
3 bedroom static caravan at Parkdean St Minver, Cornwall.
For more details phone 07947150298 or email lyndarob209@gmail.com
MALVERN
Outstanding barn conversion, sleeps 2. Spacious accommodation. Wonderful views. 4 star Gold award www.rhyddbarn.co.uk. 01643 703761
Lovely self-catering converted railway wagons.
www.thewagons.co.uk
Want to promote a service or product to over 500,000 educators?
Luxury barn conversions
NORTH DEVON COAST
Sleeps 2-8. Central heating and wood burner. Near coast & pubs. 22kw electric vehicle charge point on site.
Now with ne dining. Pets welcome in accommodation. 01237 441311
Restaurant reservations 01237 441444
www.pattard.co.uk • www.pattardrestaurant.co.uk
RESOURCES
Shape your students’ futures with technology!
Access FREE high quality, planned and resourced computing courses: Students create an app prototype for a community they care
THE MA in Black British History, a taught postgraduate programme at Goldsmiths, University of London, is open for applications for September 2024 entry. The deadline for applications is 31 July.
No prior knowledge of Black British history is required. Applications from students with undergraduate degrees from across the arts, humanities and social sciences are welcomed.
In addition to historicising African, Caribbean and British Black lives, the programme teaches key concepts and methods for writing, researching and sharing Black British histories, and offers opportunities for practice-based learning.
It aims to give an understanding of the history of African-descended peoples in the British Isles, study in how diverse African, Caribbean and Black peoples have historically understood their own relationship with Britain, and how diasporas, empire and patterns of migration have shaped modern Britain.
British Black history on this course is
placed in global, national, regional, local and thematic historical perspectives. It engages fields including Black Europe, Caribbean and African history, post-colonial theory, and contemporary debates on racism, ethnicity, imperialism and reparations.
The MA is offered on both a full-time and part-time basis, with courses mainly taught in the evening.
n Visit gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-black-british-history
Shakespeare for deaf students
THE Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and Birmingham University have created resources to make Shakespeare accessible to deaf students.
They are part of the Signing Shakespeare project, an educational programme that brings together visual and active learning for the study of Macbeth, in order to address the gap between the teaching provision for hearing and deaf students in school.
Dr Abigail Rokison-Woodall, deputy director (education) and associate professor in Shakespeare and theatre at the Shakespeare Institute, who co-led the Signing Shakespeare project, said: “There are more than 50,000 deaf children in the UK, and Shakespeare is the only named author that all children are required to study in the national curriculum. But the fact is that there aren’t many resources for deaf students studying Shakespeare in school.”
The Signing Shakespeare resources have already been sent directly to all 22 deaf schools and every major deaf unit in the UK, but they are also available for teachers to access through the RSC website.
n Visit rsc.org.uk
Sixth form voter registration iVOTE is a new initiative that aims to inspire young people to vote. In collaboration with Votes for Schools, they have produced a free resource pack for teachers to help them organise voter registration days in sixth forms.
Only 16 per cent of young people aged 16-17 across the UK are registered to vote.
Votes for Schools and iVote want to encourage every sixth form, college and apprenticeship provider in England to get their students registered.
Philip Douglas, director of iVote, said: “The participation of young people in the electoral process has a key role to play in encouraging political parties to sustain credible action on issues that young people are interested in, such as climate change.”
n Visit iVote.org.uk
International Tiger Day
INTERNATIONAL Tiger Day on 29
July aims to raise awareness about the conservation of this endangered species. Tiger numbers have dropped by more than 95 per cent since the beginning of the 20th century.
The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) is inviting children to get to know more about this amazing species, and also has a dedicated educators’ newsletter to keep you up-to-date with new classroom resources, activities, events and courses. You’ll also have the opportunity to participate in WWF’s teacher panels, share your experiences and help contribute to its future education work.
n Visit wwf.org.uk/get-involved/schools
WIN! Send us your photo to win a £20 book token
THIS beautiful photo was captured by Jazleen Minton, a teacher based in London.
Jazleen says: “I took this photograph while walking along Cogden Beach in Dorset on Good Friday.”
Why not send a picture to us at educate@neu.org.uk? It should be large and high resolution, accompanied by 50 words about its subject. We send a £20 book token to each featured so don’t forget to include your address in the email too.
IT’S vital that the NEU has up-to-date details for all its members. You may be eligible for reduced subscriptions – for example, if you work part-time, are about to take maternity leave or retire.
It’s important that we have the correct address for you for balloting purposes so, if you have moved, make sure you tell us your new home or workplace address.
The easiest way to update your details is by logging on to myNEU. Go to my.neu.org.uk to manage
your membership, including updating your address, workplace and equality information. Alternatively: n call us on 0345 811 8111 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm) n email membership@neu.org.uk
n or write to Membership & Subscriptions, NEU, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD.
Access myRewards today
myNEU is also a portal to accessing hundreds of exclusive discounts available to members through myRewards. From savings on your weekly shop to holidays and special treats, you could save up to £1,000 a year. Visit neu.org.uk/neu-rewards
Quick crossword
Across
1 Roughly calculate (8)
5 Vera ___ : US fashion designer (4)
9 Garden mollusc (5)
10 Icy dwelling (5)
11 Antirrhinum (10)
14 ___ Gerrard: former England footballer (6)
15 ___ Bacall: star of classic Hollywood cinema (6)
17 The ___ : Ballet with music by Tchaikovsky (10)
20 Large, colourful parrot (5)
21 Major artery (5)
22 Eyelid infection (4)
23 ___ Kant: German philosopher (8)
Down
1 Character in the film Frozen (4)
2 Small dabbling duck (4)
3 One of the Spice Girls (7,5)
4 Popular springflowering plants (6)
6 A story that has a hidden meaning (8)
7 Matt ___ : creator of The Simpsons (8)
8 Spanish mountain range (6,6)
12 Massive tidal waves (8)
13 US state whose capital is Frankfort (8)
16 Horror film directed by Wes Craven (6)
18 Official language of Pakistan (4)
19 Roald ___ : author of many children’s books (4)
Sudoku
Across
1 - Roughly calculate (8)
5 - Vera ___ : US fashion designer (4)
9 - Garden mollusc (5)
10 - Icy dwelling (5)
11 - Antirrhinum (10)
14 - ___ Gerrard: former England footballer (6)
15 - ___ Bacall: star of classic Hollywood cinema (6)
17 - The ___ : Ballet with music by Tchaikovsky (10)
20 - Large, colourful parrot (5)
21 - Major artery (5)
22 - Eyelid infection (4)
23 - ___ Kant: German philosopher (8)
Down
1 - Character in the film Frozen (4)
2 - Small dabbling duck (4)
Sudoku solutions will feature on this page next issue. Last issue’s (May/June 2024) sudoku solution
(from left: Easy, Medium
3 - One of the Spice Girls (7,5)
4 - Popular spring-flowering plants (6)
6 - A story that has a hidden meaning (8)
7 - Matt ___ : creator of The Simpsons (8)
8 - Spanish mountain range (6,6)
12 - Massive tidal waves (8)
13 - US state whose capital is Frankfort (8)
16 - Horror film directed by Wes Craven (6)
18 - Official language of Pakistan (4)
19 - Roald ___ : author of many children's books (4)
Prize crossword
Across 4 & 8 across A blue gag and, sadly, swearing (3,8)
£50 Marks & Spencer voucher
9 Writer of Gold and Thunder God (6)
10 Poor monitors to ignore underage children (6)
11 They’re being taught about falling water in river (8)
13 The French got a new musical direction (6)
14 & 21 across What every restaurant wants, the criminals organised (8,4)
15 Nitrogen one mixed with another chemical element (4)
16 Works as a 9 – awfully wet, sir! (6)
18 Brown takes young man outside for plant study (6)
21 See 14 across
22 Poor Olga, involved with rich Russian businessman? (8)
24 Happens when one leaves new concourse (6)
26 Deadly weapon found in a grave entered by revolutionary gang (4,4)
29 20 ban development of English battlefield (6)
30 Maybe learn about end of wildebeest horn (6)
31 Company orders lesson on instrument panels (8)
32 Yellowstone National Park rears large deer (3)
Down
1 Arrange claim against head of English with ill will (6)
2 Ran and got in, surprisingly, knowing nothing (8)
3 Intense enthusiasms – exam success is no different (8)
4 ‘Bravo’ is French for ‘finest’ (4)
5 Information stored in cloud at academy (4)
6 Straight away, one-act novel! (2,4)
7 He tells jokes about MA in co-ed mix-up (8)
12 Redesigned uniform is necessary, initially causing financial collapse! (4)
13 Profession on the rise in Cornwall (3)
The winner and solution of this prize crossword will feature on this page next issue.
Reworked Phantom is without a piano in
for example (5) 17 Awfully neat girl telling a story (8) 18 Superb ending in wrong version by English poet (8)
19 I leave nasty thick soup at school snack bar (4,4)
20 End of Ivy League scholarships? Indeed (3)
21 Part of careless Cambridge fraud (4)
23 Wager a thousand on leisurely walk (6)
25 It erases bridge unit (6)
27 Go looking for adventure finally – like Shrek? (4)
28 Support defensive player (4)
Send your completed crossword, with your contact details, to: July/August crossword, Educate, NEU, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD, or email a photographed copy to crossword@neu.org.uk. Closing date: 31 July.
This issue’s quick crossword solution (p48)
Stephen Edwards from Ipswich
Final word
Training and guidance to tackle misogyny and sexism
Fact file
Farah Hussain is the director of UK Feminista. She is a co-opted school governor of a comprehensive school in east London. Visit ukfeminista. org.uk
Sexual harassment is just boys being boys not worth reporting no big deal never acceptable.
Together we can end sexism in schools.
ukfeminista.org.uk
IN 2017, UK Feminista and the NEU joined forces to carry out groundbreaking research into sexism and sexual harassment in schools.
The resulting report, It’s just everywhere, highlighted just how extensive this form of discrimination was in schools.
n More than a third (37 per cent) of female students at mixed-sex secondary schools had been sexually harassed while at school.
n Almost one in three (32 per cent) of teachers in mixed-sex secondary schools witnessed sexual harassment in their school on a weekly basis.
n Just 14 per cent of students who experienced sexual harassment reported it to a teacher.
n Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of secondary school teachers were unsure or unaware of the existence of any policies and practices in their school related to preventing sexism.
A whole-school approach needed
The report concluded that in order to tackle such a widespread problem, a whole-school approach is needed.
This comprehensive approach would work to prevent harassment and
discrimination from taking place, to ensure that robust measures are adopted to report such incidents, and victims are supported.
UK Feminista has provided live training to more than 1,500 teachers, trainee teachers and school staff in the last four years. We have developed an online teaching module which has been accessed by 9,850 people, 90 per cent of whom say they now feel more confident to tackle these issues.
Recognising that individual teachers are under immense pressure and time constraints, we also support schools and colleges more comprehensively to take a whole-school approach. We offer guidance for at least 12 months, support the development of schoolspecific action plans, survey students and staff about their experiences, and offer advice
“Don’t
Girls are your equals not your insults.
on how to engage parents about sexism and sexual harassment.
Tide of misogyny via smartphone NEU delegates and general secretary Daniel Kebede were right to highlight the influence of misogynistic online personalities on young people at the union’s annual conference in April (see Educate, May/June, pages 11 and 14-19).
Schools are at the forefront in confronting harmful attitudes promoted by people like Andrew Tate. UK Feminista works with educators who are battling against a tide of discriminatory ideas delivered to students via their smartphones. In response to the rise in this form of misogyny, we have developed guidance to inform educators, and classroom activities for students aged 11-19.
While we’re happy to support teachers committed to this work in any way we can, it should not be left to not-for-profit organisations like UK Feminista or trade unions such as the NEU to step in to deliver the guidance that the government should be providing to educators and schools.
The Department for Education should give educators the support and resources they need to end sexism and sexual harassment in our schools once and for all.
Rose Gold Leather
Bright Pink Nubuck
Sage Nubuck
Denim Navy Leather
ECT peasy...
We’re here to help teachers in buying a home of their own. To do this we have many ways to help, like smaller deposits, a longer mortgage term of up to 40 years. In fact we also offer up to 5 times your joint salary if you’re buying with a partner (who doesn’t need to be a teacher).
We’re here to help in so many ways which is why we also have appointments for you when you need them, in the evenings and on Saturdays. Find out more about the many ways we can help you into your first home. Ready to chat? Scan the QR code to arrange an appointment.
All of our mortgages are subject to lending criteria, and terms and conditions - please ask for details
A gentle reminder that your mortgage will be secured on your home so you must keep up your mortgage payments
