News in brief

Holiday grants available

GRANTS of up to £300 are available for teachers of limited means to help them pay for a convalescence break.

The Lucy Lund Holiday Grants, a charity established in 1927, is seeking applications from retired members – particularly those who retired early on grounds of ill health and have an annual pension income of less than £15,000. Teachers who are in temporary severe financial difficulty because of prolonged illness may also be eligible.

Application forms are available from The Secretary, The Lucy Lund Holiday Grants, Little Hoe Farm House, Paradise Lane, Bishops Waltham, Hampshire SO32 1NU.

Touring exhibition about role of Black classicists comes to UK

A FREE exhibition celebrating the role and historic contribution of African American classicists during the 19th and 20th centuries is being offered to schools in the UK.

Black Classicists: A Mural Mosaic, curated by Michele Ronnick, a professor of classics, has toured extensively in the US. It will open for the first time in the UK at St Gabriel’s School in Newbury, Berkshire, after Marc Ives, head of classics at the school, asked to display it.

“The exhibition came about because a GCSE class was following closely the George Floyd case and asked about colour with regards to the ancient world,” Marc told Educate.

NEU advisers tell minister of educators’ workload and stress

SHADOW Schools Minister Stephen Morgan MP visited the NEU’s AdviceLine office (above) to hear from our advisers and members directly about their reasons for leaving the profession.

NEU staff recounted the typical calls they get every day from members who are faced with unsustainable workloads, an increase in pupil behavioural issues and stress resulting from staff shortages.

There was a discussion about how individual issues members experience are all linked to a lack of funding and accountability pressures created by Ofsted. Staff explained the fundamental changes to the make-up of the workforce as more teachers are pushed out of the profession.

Stephen also spoke to a member on the phone who had left teaching after nearly a decade, citing excessive workload and other changes impacting on their wellbeing, such as shorter lunch breaks.

Stephen praised the work of the union in supporting members and agreed to continue to work with the NEU to tackle workload, accountability and funding.

“We thought it was a necessary response to a legacy of classics being elitist, exclusionary and overwhelmingly white. It gives pupils a chance to see that the world of classics has been historically much more diverse than people realise.”

n Email classicsexhibition@stgabriels.co.uk

TV star tells students: autism made me more determined

SEND students at Laleham Gap School in Kent received a virtual visit from West End and TV star Connor Curren for a Q&A on acting and autism.

The hour-long session took place with students who have autism or speech and language difficulties. Connor, who is himself autistic, is playing the lead role of Christopher, an autistic teenager, in the West End hit The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Connor shared with students that, as a teenager, he had found coping with some aspects of his autism hard, but he was now able to see what an “asset” it is. He explained it made him more determined and focussed and he probably saw things differently to neurotypical actors. This, he felt, gave him an edge.

The Q&A session was organised by post-16 teacher Mr Ursell, who said: “It is so important for my students to see that people with Asperger’s, autism or other communication issues can be successful and live fulfilling lives.”

Connor said afterwards: “It was lovely chatting to the students. They had such great questions and it was interesting hearing their perspective.

“I really want them to find the thing they love and go for it. For me, it was acting. For them it can be whatever they love.”

n Read our feature on neurodiverse teachers on page 28

National officers’ elections

THE NEU is pleased to announce that Emma Rose has been elected as senior vice-president (elect), Phil Clarke as junior vice-president (elect) and Louise Regan as membership and equalities officer. Hazel Danson was re-elected (unopposed) as national treasurer.

They will take up their roles in September 2022.