Educate magazine September / October 2023

Educate

September/October 2023

NEU president

Emma Rose

NEU general secretary

Daniel Kebede

Editor Max Watson

Journalists

Sally Gillen, Emily Jenkins & Sarah Thompson

Newsdesk

t: 020 7380 4760

e: educate@neu.org.uk

Design & subbing Amanda Ellis

neu.org.uk

facebook.com/ nationaleducationunion

twitter.com/NEUnion

WELCOME back from a well-deserved summer break. I hope you all recharged your batteries.

This issue of Educate is an issue of firsts. It’s the first time we talk to Daniel Kebede, our first Black NEU general secretary and the NEU’s first single leader.

See our interview with Daniel on page 26 and read his first opinion piece on page 11.

It’s also my first welcome page for Educate magazine. As editor, it’s a privilege to write about and reflect on the inspiring work that you, our members, do. And not least over the last few months of the Pay Up! campaign.

On pages 6-7 we report back on the results of the consultation on the new pay offer from the Government, which members overwhelmingly accepted.

I’d like to pay tribute to all the members who took significant strike action, which forced the Government to improve its offer. It was a moving campaign to witness and report on.

This issue features an interview with two brothers who many members may already be familiar with – the Two Mr Ps in a Pod(cast), who are determined to focus on the funny side of education, with anecdotes and stories from teachers and support staff to make you chuckle (see page 22). We are keen to hear from readers who have their own funny stories from the classroom.

We also interview Emma Rose, the new NEU president for this year, on page 31. And we report back on a week of action campaigning for free school meals (FSM) for all primary pupils. With Scotland, Wales and (this year at least) London all providing FSM for all primary school pupils, the rest of England is lagging well behind. Members took the campaign to Whitehall and delivered a petition to Downing Street signed by a whopping 90,000 people.

Your magazine has all your favourite regulars, including Jon Biddle on reading for pleasure, a cartoon from Tim Sanders, puzzle pages and the ever-popular teacher’s pet. And on page 15 bigger picture features DJ Deaders sporting a ‘Striking Teacher’ T-shirt on the wheels of steel at Glastonbury this year. Brilliant.

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Except where the NEU has formally negotiated agreements with companies as part of its services to members, inclusion of an advertisement in Educate does not imply any form of recommendation. While every effort is made to ensure the reliability of advertisers, the NEU cannot accept any liability for the quality of goods or services offered. Educate is printed by Walstead Bicester Ltd. Inside pages are printed on paper comprised of 100% recycled, post-consumer waste.

I hope you enjoy this issue of your magazine and look forward to your feedback – email me at educate@neu.org.uk

Max Watson Editor, Educate

Daniel Kebede, outside Hamilton House, NEU HQ, London.

Photo: Jess Hurd jesshurd.com

Meet your new general secretary, Daniel Kebede

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The rest is history

28 September 1985

A police officer shot 37-year-old Dorothy “Cherry” Groce in her home, leading to two days of riots by the Black community in Brixton, south London. She was paralysed from the waist down and died in 2011. In 2014, her son Lee set up the Cherry Groce Foundation, which focuses on restorative justice. In 2014, the Metropolitan Police finally apologised unreservedly for the shooting. Visit cherrygroce.org

p22-25

22 Two Mr Ps in a Pod(cast) Brothers’ popular education podcast “where you don’t learn anything” (above).

26 Meet the NEU’s new general secretary Daniel Kebede on his hopes of building “broad, mass campaigns” on funding, pay, workload and Ofsted (left).

31 ‘Every time we fought, we won’ NEU president Emma Rose on the problems plaguing the profession she loves (below).

6

9

13

15

“Finding the fun” with science teacher Sally Bone (far left).

“The stories we get sent are hilarious.”

save our schools members win highest pay award

THE six-month pay dispute came to an end in July after members’ eight days of strike action forced the Government to increase its offer to 6.5 per cent. Eighty-six per cent of members, on a 60 per cent turnout, voted to accept.

The industrial action between February and July would have continued into the autumn term if the Government had failed to improve the pay award for teachers at England’s state schools in 2023/24.

‘Final’ 4.3 per cent pay offer

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, who had insisted that the 4.3 per cent pay offer made at the end of March was final, had looked set to reject the 6.5 per cent increase recommended by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).

She refused to negotiate with unions from March onwards and then held onto the STRB report for two months before publishing it in mid-July.

But as pressure from unions mounted, with four unions – NEU, ASCL, NASUWT and NAHT – all balloting for strikes in the autumn term, the Government was left with little option but to accept the STRB

recommendations. Industrial action by four education unions would have impacted almost every school in England.

Pay linked to shortage of teachers

In its report, finally released on 13 July, the STRB linked the falling value of teacher pay to the growing shortage of teachers, saying it was “deeply concerned” about the recruitment of

last day of action No ifs, no buts, no education cuts

CHANTING “Come on, Gill, pay the bill!” and “Our pay’s no higher, Rishi Sunak is a liar!” thousands of members demonstrated in central London on 5 July, the seventh day of strike action. Powered by frustration at Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s refusal to negotiate on pay since March, and then her failure to publish the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) report for two months, members took industrial action at schools across England on 5 and 7 July.

funding needed to do your job

“The anger has become more palpable,” special needs teacher Ben Stewart told Educate, as he marched alongside colleagues in London.

He summed up the feelings of many others, including early career teacher Shamola. “I came into the profession to make a difference and to do that you need funding to be able to do your job properly,” she said. “I’ve been to every strike, and I’ll go to the rest, until we get a good result.”

Secondary teacher Adam Ledlie said: “The STRB report being kept out of the public domain is the reason the action is really gathering pace. There’s no communication and no transparency. People are getting to the end of the year and they are weary. It’s just another kick in the teeth.”

abdication of responsibility

On a day of sunshine and showers, members marched from Waterloo to Westminster. Cheers, chants and whistles rang out along the way, turning to boos on the approach to the Department for Education, before members rallied on Parliament Green.

Gathering for speeches by outgoing NEU joint general secretary Mary Bousted, new general secretary Daniel Kebede, NEU national president Emma Rose, the general secretaries of the NAHT and ASCL, and MPs, members chanted and whistled as they were urged to keep up their fight for a fair and funded pay deal.

Daniel told them: “We have an Education Secretary with her head in the sand. Gillian Keegan has refused to meet with us since April. An outstanding abdication of responsibility. She tells us to just wait for the STRB report, despite sitting on it since May. The Government recommended 3.5 per cent to the STRB and it was your action that moved the STRB report to 6.5 per cent.”

we have justice on our side

To cries of “shame!” from the crowd, Daniel said the crisis in schools, seen by educators and parents every day, had driven 44,000 out of the profession last year.

“Our stories are a damning indictment of a Government-created crisis of over a decade of mishandling of education,” he said. “The outcome of this dispute will determine the future of education for generations to come. We will win because we have justice on our side. If they don’t meet our demands, we will not be moved.”

award in 30 years

teachers, particularly the “persistent problems of under-recruiting to certain subjects”.

It also concluded that the falling value of teacher pay, compared with other professions, meant the profession is no longer attracting enough graduates.

Outgoing NEU joint general secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, who retired at the end of August and have been

succeeded by Daniel Kebede, said: “The NEU submissions to the STRB went a long way towards changing the Government’s position on pay and funding. The strike action taken by our members also shifted the dial, securing the highest pay award for over 30 years. Members should be proud they have also secured extra funding for schools.”

They added: “The Government should be in no doubt that we will hold its feet to the fire on delivering for teachers and support staff on workload and funding and continue to represent the profession in future STRB

adam ledlie, rep at marylebone Boys ’ school “I’ve been working as a teacher for five years. I have just secured a job in Abu Dhabi because the cost of living in London means my wife and I can’t afford to buy a place to live. I’m angry and frustrated.”

Emily Cade, primary school teacher in Camden “I’m striking because of the shocking lack of funding for schools. My school is probably one of the best funded in the country and we are still struggling for resources and struggling to support the children, particularly those with special educational needs who are being completely failed by the Government. My main issue with the pay offer is that it is unfunded.”

Ben Stewart, teacher at a special needs school in Camden “The Government needs to respond to what we’re asking for, which is a fully funded pay rise, and to fully fund schools. Every strike day there has been tens of

consultations. It remains the view of the NEU that school and college funding is far from adequate. It remains a commitment of the NEU to campaign for further increases in teacher pay.”

Support staff balloted on funding

Support staff members were also balloted over funding, with 85 per cent voting to end industrial action following the new pay offer in an electronic vote. The turnout was 46 per cent.

thousands of teachers on the streets but it feels like the Government isn’t listening. Until Gillian Keegan publishes the STRB report response, we’re not going to get anywhere, and we will keep on striking.”

Megan Oliver, secondary teacher in Camden “We are here to say enough is enough. We want a pay rise and more funding for schools. I’ve been an art teacher for three years, and myself and colleagues are always paying for things out of our own pockets. We are always out of pocket, and we aren’t paid well enough anyway, so it’s an endless, vicious circle.”

Melanie Wilkes, primary teacher in Caversham, Berkshire “We are striking because enough is enough. There’s no money anywhere. I’ve been underpaid for decades. We just have fewer resources, and fewer staff in school doing more work. The Government needs to do something and striking is our only way to be heard.”

“Strike action by our members shifted the dial. Members should be proud they have also secured extra funding for schools.”

photos by rehan jamil

Strike action over ‘culture of fear and bullying’

NEU

members at Courthouse Green Primary School in Coventry took strike action on 20, 24 and 25 July, with four further days planned this month.

On a vibrant picket line on 20 July, members spoke about a longstanding culture of fear and bullying, coming from the top of Triumph multi-academy trust.

One member was refused leave to attend a cancer scan during work time. She had to cancel the NHS scan and pay for private treatment in her own time. She was diagnosed with cancer, which was successfully treated.

Other issues include the inappropriate use of informal capability procedures, members being forced out, and working hours being well over the 1,265 directed time.

Members had been scared to speak out, but their confidence grew from organising pickets during the pay strikes and they decided to call the branch, and a meeting of over 40

members came together and voted to ballot. The three NEU reps in school have been incredible, in negotiating with management and in giving members the confidence to act.

n Send messages of support to christopher. denson@neu.org.uk

By Chris Denson, Coventry NEU joint district secretary

Wear Red against racism

SHOW Racism the Red Card (SRtRC)’s annual Wear Red Day will take place on 20 October. The day is an opportunity to unite against racism. SRtRC, the UK’s leading anti-racism education charity, delivers workshops in schools and workplaces, and this year hit the landmark figure of one million people passing through its education workshop programme.

n Scan the QR code above or register at theredcard.org/wear-red-day

Labour members back NEU

A DISPUTE at what is reported to be Britain’s oldest public school was resolved after one day of strike action. Staff at The King’s School in Canterbury (pictured above) took strike action on 13 June – one of six planned days – after governors proposed to cap the school’s contribution to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and threatened to fire and rehire staff to force the change through. The proposal meant that any increase in contributions placed on the school by the Government would be expected to be met by staff who had opted to remain in the TPS, resulting in a pay cut.

NEU rep Mike Cox said members felt the practice of fire and rehire was “abhorrent”, adding that “it was a big stick hanging over everybody”.

THE NEU has urged Labour to end high-stakes testing, after a new poll conducted by YouGov on behalf of the NEU found that 78 per cent of Labour Party members feel the present school system focuses too heavily on tests and qualifications. Almost two thirds said they believe that formal tests in primary schools are a poor method of supporting children’s learning, and more than half (57 per cent) said they are a bad indicator of a school’s performance.

The picket line at Courthouse Green

PHOTO by John Harris

What’s for lunch, Rishi?

FROM 24-30 June, NEU members and child poverty campaigners across England came together for a week of action, to call on the Government to provide free school meals (FSM) for all primary aged children.

More than 70 members of the NCLB coalition, alongside children and young people, marched to Downing Street to deliver an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 29 June. The letter had been signed by more than 240 community organisations, faith groups, charities and trade unions and over 90,000 individuals.

The week of action was covered widely in the media, with the Mirror (our NCLB media partner), the Times, the Big Issue, the Guardian, and programmes on ITV and BBC all raising the alarm about the four million children living in poverty in the UK.

Children, parents and campaigners tweeted photos of their lunches to the PM using the hashtags #Whatsforlunch and #FreeSchoolMealsForAll, including Labour councillors Chris Price and Rachel Massey. A YouGov poll found that of 1,017 Labour Party members surveyed, 89 per cent support extending FSM.

Part of the NEU’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) campaign, which is fighting to break down the barriers around equal access to education that child poverty presents, the week included dedicated lessons by educators, coffee mornings by parents, assemblies by young people, and faith leaders and communities taking action.

Pupils at Bonner Primary School in London thought about ways to tackle world hunger and learned about the NCLB campaign.

Children at Monksdown Primary School in Liverpool staged a demonstration in their playground (pictured below), and MP Ian Byrne and food alliance Feeding Liverpool delivered their letters to Rishi Sunak.

Taking their campaign nationwide, two Monksdown pupils were interviewed on daytime TV show This Morning.

Faith leaders have their say Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg of Masorti Judaism UK wrote in the The Times calling for politicians to put children at the top of the national priority list, starting with FSM.

PHOTO by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona

YPRES (BELGIUM) WAS THE FIRST WORLD WAR, DURING

RAZED TO THE GROUND.

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE BROCHURE

In the town’s reconstructed Cloth Hall, the In Flanders Fields Museum tells the story of the Great War through thought-provoking interactive displays and is the ideal starting point for your school battlefield tour in the region. Visits include a climb to the top of the belfry (bell tower), to provide students with a bird’s-eye view of the Ypres Salient

The Museum’s Learning Team has developed a wide range of educational programmes, that explore the museum and the surrounding area.

• Fit for Key Stage 2 (Year 6) to Key Stage 5.

• Aligned with the National Curriculum & GCSE exams. www.iffm.be/learn

© Antony d'Ypres, collection IFFM

A great team of 500,000 dedicated educators

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede sets out his stall for the next five years, with pay, workload, Ofsted, school funding and child poverty high on his agenda.

I’M proud of our union. I was proud to be a teacher and an NEU rep. I was proud to be a local NEU secretary and a national executive member. I was proud to be your national president and now I am immensely proud to be your general secretary. I am sobered by the enormous responsibility that has been placed on me.

However, while the office I hold is important, it is far from the be-all and end-all of our union.

We are all part of a great team of more than half a million of the most dedicated and hard-working people in the country, held in high regard as we work every day for the betterment of our society. We have thousands of reps in schools all over the country – standing up for their fellow educators and for education, giving up their evenings to do casework on top of marking at the end of a busy day. The union has hundreds of excellent staff who hold immense knowledge and give great advice, showing flair and integrity in their work. Under the collective leadership of this union, overseen by dozens of the most experienced among us, I will be one cog in that machine.

Standing on the shoulders of giants I would personally like to thank both Kevin and Mary for investing their time in me, sharing their knowledge, wisdom and experience. They have done tremendous work for our union, and more importantly for this profession. In the last six years they have taken the NEU from an idea discussed over pizza to a serious force for good, with a high moral purpose, capable of delivering real change in education. Our movement is built on the shoulders of the last generation – and what giants Kevin and Mary are.

I stood for election as general secretary on a platform that said education needs fundamental change. Enough is enough –

this Government has abused our profession’s dedication to education and, as a result, the recruitment and retention crisis is deep and severe.

You have led inspirational action on the issues of pay and funding over the last 12 months. Your sustained campaign moved this Government, forcing it to award 6.5 per cent this year and deliver extra funding for schools. However, we know this is not enough. The Government must go further. Our campaign for a correction in the pay of school staff will continue and may lead to further industrial ballots in the future should this Government not take steps to correct a decade of pay cuts.

Workload woes must be addressed

We will also organise to cut the workload of school staff. We see educators working late into the night and then getting up early the next morning to do it all over again. We need

to make working in education compatible with family life again.

We need an end to Ofsted – a pernicious organisation that has justly come under the scrutiny it so richly deserves in recent months.

Child poverty under election spotlight

The Government’s mistreatment of educators is only one part of the story. On this Government’s watch child poverty has risen so that today it blights the lives of one in three children. When schools suffer, children suffer, because education is the great liberator. How can this country have a bright future when this Government refuses to invest in it?

We will take these campaigns into the general election, seeking a commitment that any incoming government invests the OECD average of five per cent of GDP in education.

I want us to build on the great work we have done over the last five years and I am looking forward to working with all of you.

Daniel speaking at the Pay Up! march in London on 5 July

PHOTO by Rehan Jamil

Maternity Matters resources

A SUITE of resources on maternity rights in the workplace is being produced by the NEU.

The Maternity Matters packs will be available in the coming months. Produced alongside charity Maternity Action, the five sets cover:

n being pregnant at work

n pregnancy loss or termination

n maternity leave and pay

n breastfeeding women at work

n returning to work.

Each includes a call-to-action report, with research and recommendations, a checklist and a poster.

A 2022 NEU survey of 3,700 women who had been pregnant within the last five years revealed many had experienced discrimination. For example, there were women who had returned to work while still breastfeeding who were forced to express milk in dirty toilets, car parks and science labs.

Member Tara Mellor was forced to express milk in toilets at her school and was supported by the NEU to take her case to an employment tribunal. It ruled her school had subjected her to a “degrading and humiliating” environment.

n Visit neu.org.uk/maternity

Advice for subject leaders

THE NEU has published new guidance for subject, middle and senior leaders on manageable workloads, professional support and collegiate learning cultures. n Visit neu.org.uk/advice/member-groups/ leaders/advice-and-support-subject-leaders

Olympic star visits NEU office

NEU staff in the newly opened North West regional office in Bolton were delighted to welcome a very special visitor on 19 July.

Milena Oktas, daughter of staff member Bora Oktas, was one of 80 athletes selected for Team GB in the Special Olympics held in Berlin in June and competed as a cyclist in two events.

Fifteen-year-old Milena proudly wore her medals and was presented with flowers and gifts by staff. She hopes to be able to compete in the next Special Olympics in Perth, Australia, in 2027.

SW women’s ‘inspirational and supportive’ conference

THE NEU South West women’s conference emerged as a standout event on the weekend of 23-25 June, drawing attendees from across the region. While Glastonbury festival drew attention, it was our conference that stole the spotlight…

Gathering at picturesque Croyde Bay in Devon, 70 NEU women members, along with their guests and children, came together for a weekend of connection and collaboration, representing each of the 14 districts in the region.

The conference began with empowering lessons on the history of women in trade unions, featuring a brilliant speech from NEU Dudley’s Lucy Atherton on the women chainmakers. Fuelled by their stories, delegates engaged in workshops tackling pressing workplace issues, delving into topics such as the menopause and exploring the toolkit for combating sexism and sexual harassment.

Amid the productive discussions, there was also time for members to unwind and recharge, basking in the serene surroundings, including the nearby beach.

Feedback from the weekend has been resoundingly positive, with attendees talking of its inspirational and supportive

atmosphere, providing a perfect platform for networking, sharing experiences, and collaborative problem-solving. Many left the conference feeling invigorated and inspired by the connections they forged with fellow remarkable women.

The NEU South West women’s conference has undoubtedly solidified its reputation as an unmissable event, where women unite, empower each other, and pave the way for a brighter future for the union movement.

By Elly Owen, NEU South West women’s organising forum member

(From left) Debbie Brown (Swindon district & branch secretary), Frances King (rep at Eldene Nursery & Primary School) and Katie Phillips (rep at The Deanery Academy)

Delegates at the NEU’s South West women’s conference, which took place in Devon

LGBT+ members from across the East and West Midlands came together for a residential event (pictured above) in Solihull in July. The Midlands LGBT+ weekender

included workshops on a range of issues, including the NEU’s new charter for LGBT+ inclusion. Thanks was given to outgoing LGBT+ organising forum rep, Adam

Celebrating educators as LGBT+ allies

McIvor, for his leadership of the event and outstanding contribution to LGBT+ organising in the West Midlands.

n Visit neu.org.uk/lgbt

Motion to protect trans lives

THE TUC LGBT+ conference took place at Congress House in London on 29-30 June. It brought together LGBT+ workers from trade unions up and down the UK, offering a safe space where we could discuss and champion campaigns and issues that affect us as LGBT+ workers.

The NEU had a strong presence at conference with the biggest delegation of Black LGBT+ educators to date. I was a first-time delegate and speaker and had the privilege of proposing our motion which talked about the importance of challenging the antiwoke narrative, now more than ever, and that inclusion for all can and does work in educational establishments.

BRIGHTON Pride parade was held on 5 August. And despite weather warnings, the NEU open-top bus boasted banners, flags and educators wearing Support LGBT+ Inclusion T-shirts (under their rain ponchos).

Our playlist kept us dancing throughout the seafront and city centre parade route. The camaraderie, solidarity and community among the LGBT+ supporting union members is what makes Pride, and the NEU, so important to this queer educator. Having the

NEU being loudly represented demonstrates the commitment our members show to having a positive impact on the experience of LGBT+ people in education settings.

I remember watching Pride as a young person and being so thrilled when the teachers’ union, then NUT, bus went past. It showed me that school was an environment I could feel safe in, and teachers could be allies.

By Rebecca Bradshaw-Bleach, a teacher in West Sussex

The most prominent concern at the conference was transphobia and the persistent erasure of non-binary people, which is currently rampant in our society, endorsed by the right-wing media and weaponised by the Government. The motion of protecting trans lives was prioritised by delegates for discussion at TUC Congress later this year.

n Join the TUC’s trade unions for trans rights network at zc.vg/4OTOe

By Tashan Charles, London & Black LGBT+ network committee, LGBT+ national organising forum

More than 60 NEU members, led by the union’s trans and non-binary educators’ network, took part in the Trans Pride march on 8 July in London.

NEU member Emily Deadman, aka DJ Deaders, played a set at the opening ceremony of the Shangri-La area at Glastonbury festival in June. Political fashion collective Sports Banger asked striking workers to submit a mix tape for the chance to win the coveted slot, and DJ Deaders’ mix of “really banging house with a wicked groove” was the winning entry. “It was the most incredible day of my life,” said Emily. “The night before I had a serious case of imposter syndrome, but the reception I got from the crowd was so positive it made me relax. At the end they got me to bow, and everyone cheered. I really felt the love and solidarity.”

PHOTO by Jody Hartley Photography jodyhartley.com jodyhartley

Primary fined after pupil badly burned at carol concert

A LONDON primary school has been fined £35,000 after a seven-year-old pupil received 45 per cent burns to their body during a church carol concert. Southwark Crown Court also ordered the school, which had pleaded not guilty to breaching section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, to pay £25,970 in costs.

The boy was with 59 other pupils in a narrow corridor of a church, holding a ten-inch lit taper candle, when his sheep costume made of cotton wool caught fire. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the school failed to take appropriate measures to account for the risks of giving lit candles to children wearing potentially flammable costumes.

The boy will need regular, invasive surgeries throughout his life.

HSE Inspector Sarah Whittle said: “This was a shocking and scary incident that could have so easily been avoided. The importance of a suitable and sufficient risk assessment has never been made so clear.”

Schools invited to join project monitoring indoor air quality

FOLLOWING a successful trial last year, the Schools’ Air quality Monitoring for Health and Education (SAMHE) project is inviting UK schools to register to receive a free, indoor air quality monitor.

The monitor is linked to an app where teachers and pupils can view the data in a range of formats and use it in curriculum-linked activities and experiments.

SAMHE (pronounced ‘Sammy’) brings together scientists, pupils and teachers to help develop understanding of indoor air quality in schools, which impacts pupils’ health and attention levels. It enables pupils to interact with real-world data about their immediate environment, gives them agency to take informed action and offers an opportunity to collaborate with scientists and contribute to important research. It can be used by pupils aged five to 18.

n Visit samhe.org.uk

n See the joint union guidance on ventilation at neu.org.uk/latest/library/ventilation-schools

A GROUP of 15 students, led by electronics and computer science teacher and NEU rep Bec Fallows, have won a top prize at the FIRST Tech Challenge - a global robotics competition with around 6,000 teams competing worldwide. The team, aged 11 to 16, from St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy in Stoke-on-Trent, won the Design Award main prize. Bec is keen to encourage other schools to take part: “This competition really helped bring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to life for the students involved. Our team, which was mostly girls, was so inspired by seeing so many other girls in the competition that many have decided to pursue STEM careers.”

(Pictured above) Year 10 pupil and captain Angela Jacob with the team’s first place Design Award trophy and Motivate Award runners-up trophy.

n Visit firstuk.org

Defibrillator saved teacher’s life after cardiac arrest

NEU member Neale Kenyon collapsed with a cardiac arrest while playing a charity football game at The Heath School in Runcorn, Cheshire.

Three colleagues performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), while another accessed the school’s defibrillator, which had been installed following a campaign by the Oliver King Foundation. Defibrillators work by delivering an electric shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat.

“They defibbed me once and fortunately I came around,” said Neale, who was unconscious for around eight minutes.

The foundation was set up by the parents of 12-year-old Oliver King, who died of a cardiac arrest while swimming.

Their ten-year campaign, supported by the NEU, called on the Government to provide defibrillators in all state schools by the end of 2023.

Defibrillators needed in all schools

Neale said his experience has confirmed for him the importance of schools having a defibrillator onsite and, crucially, staff and students understanding how to use it.

“It was instrumental in saving my life. Because of the CPR and the use of the defibrillator, I’ve come through it reasonably unscathed. It’s about training and making staff – and the kids – aware of what the defibrillator is and how to operate it. The more awareness we can create, the better.”

n Visit theoliverkingfoundation.co.uk

NEU agency pay assessor

The union has developed a tool to help you find out if you are entitled to higher pay, so you can raise the issue with your agency. Visit awrpayassessor.neu.org.uk

‘Two days of essential info for supply staff’

THE NEU supply educators’ conference took place from 24-25 June in Crewe, Cheshire.

Having started secondary English supply teaching at the beginning of the 2022-23 academic year, I had questions about the rights of supply staff that had never been clearly addressed by my agency or placement schools.

I was surprised by the extent of essential information the speakers were able to include

Education

throughout the two-day event and pleased with the level of detail provided, particularly during the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) session. As a dyslexic learner, I felt this segment was well paced and clearly explained.

The Q&A sessions that followed each presentation gave individual members a space to voice ideas and concerns. As a non-permanent provision in an established team, supply teaching can be quite solitary. Connecting at conference with a diverse

museum nears its target

THE National Education Museum (NEM) has been celebrating the life of its late honorary patron, Fred Jarvis CBE, with a memorial lecture at the Aspex Gallery in Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth.

The audience, which included Shadow Schools Minister and museum trustee Stephen Morgan MP, gathered on 1 July to hear journalist and education campaigner Melissa Benn deliver her lecture, What do we do now?

Challenging the new education establishment.

Fred Jarvis was general secretary of the National Union of Teachers from 1975 to 1989. As the 2012 winner of the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award, Melissa Benn was an appropriate first speaker. Museum trustee and director of operations Jean Roberts said: “Melissa gave a brilliant, thought-provoking lecture supported by a wealth of research and expert analysis.”

The NEM thanks those who have supported the museum financially, especially through the Founder Patron scheme. Currently, funds are approaching £200,000

– the first target of £250,000 will be used to purchase the museum’s initial premises.

n Email nationaleducationmuseum@gmail. com for more information.

n Watch Melissa Benn’s lecture at nationaleducationmuseum.uk

membership, who shared similar experiences, was reassuringly inclusive.

I was made aware of current legislation versus typical agency practice, and the creation of a bespoke NEU online AWR tool. I gained the confidence to discuss how, when I returned to school, I might support other supply staff. n Visit neu.org.uk/advice/member-groups/ supply-teachers

By Judith Miller, a supply educator in the Midlands and first-time delegate

The reality of retirement

RETIREMENT can be daunting, frightening or liberating after years of dedication and service. The North West retired members team is planning sessions with a psychologist to help members enjoy their twilight years.

Some educators are forced to retire; here are three case studies:

n I became ill and had to leave my A-level class. I felt I had abandoned my students. The school could not find a replacement teacher. It broke my heart.

n I would happily spend my weekends marking and preparing lessons. My school days were filled with so many conversations with colleagues, students, parents and the cleaners. When I retired my days were filled with silence and loneliness. I lost my identity.

n I was bullied by the senior leadership team in my final school. My experience was dismissed and I felt very vulnerable. I was forced to take early retirement. I am still angry. I feel the bullies won.

By David Moorhead, retired members forum

Supply educators at the NEU conference in Crewe in Cheshire

Melissa Benn and Stephen Morgan MP

Alice Derby is a

computing

teacher in Paignton in Torbay, Devon, and a branch district secretary.

‘Always there for you’

What do you love about your job?

I get to be inventive with my planning and to pass creativity on to my class, whether that be in writing, art or computing. I love being over-the-top, dramatic and teaching children to take joy in communicating with others.

I very much appreciate that I work in a school that allows me freedom and autonomy in my planning and has confidence in my teaching style.

What do you love about being in the union?

My first partner teacher, Tom, told me: “The union will always be there for you, so make sure you’re always there for them.” I don’t think he knew how much I’d take that statement to heart. The NEU has given me training, friends, inspiration and support. In my current role, I feel I can pay that back. It’s given me a purpose and a way to make real, tangible change.

Plus, trade unionism is in my blood. My great uncle Ted was a branch secretary and then on the general executive of the Transport and General Workers’ Union. He received a British Empire Medal for his service to unions. I have a photo of him holding his region banner, which my nan sewed for him, and his pride in his union makes my heart sing.

What have you been up to lately?

Torbay is awesome, and I’m trying to prove that. I took on the district secretary role because our district needed officers to process hardship fund applications, which our reps knew would be a massive factor for successful strike action in Torbay.

Lisa, Natalie and I took on three officer roles in January without knowing much about what they entailed. I didn’t understand the full responsibility of the job until I was at my rep training and someone said: “Ask your district secretary if you need more help.” And I thought: “Oh no, I think that’s me...”

Since then, Torbay has grown in numbers and in activity. We’re gaining new members,

reps and activists. I’ve organised two marches on strike days so far; they were wonderful and exceeded my expectations. I was a first-time delegate at annual conference this year and attended as the only member from Torbay, but next year we might fill our spaces with observers too. Our annual general meeting was attended by one member last year, and this year we had 14 members.

I’ve had some excellent support from Mike Gurney, Devon’s district secretary, Sarah and Jess in the South West regional office, and all the officers, reps and members I’ve met at various conferences and meetings. I cannot believe the things that Torbay has achieved since I took on the role.

What’s important to you right now? Torbay is a tiny place but still feels very disconnected. I was ashamed of how few schools I knew in the area despite working here

for years. When I found out how rundown the union district was, I became inspired. Torbay members don’t deserve that. They deserve an active district that can support, guide and inspire them. They deserve a district secretary who knows her stuff and is a strong voice like so many of the other secretaries I have connected with across the South West.

I want to build up Torbay’s social events and make friends with people across the district. I want to build a safe place where we can share positive stories, cry about things that have gone wrong and compare good practice as union representatives and members. That’s my goal.

Tell us something we don’t know. I attended Bristol Pride this year with friends I made at the NEU South West LGBT+ weekender. It was my first ever Pride event, despite being out for over ten years.

“The NEU has given me training, friends, inspiration and support. In my current role, I feel I can pay that back.”

Alice Derby (right)

Do What You Can

There’s an amazing trick being prepared There will be no effort or money spared A plan will be carried out to the letter and it’s going to make education better.

You prick up your ears and wonder how. You wonder if this plan’s coming now? But before you guess which way to bet the details can’t be revealed just yet.

All we can say on the Government’s behalf: education will be provided with fewer staff

No matter the sincerity of the Government’s intention We have a crisis in recruitment and retention.

But don’t let that make you criticise the plan Just get on with the job and do what you can.

Michael Rosen

Words by Michael Rosen Illustration by Dan Berry

Lee (left) and Adam Parkinson: “Our

tagline is that it’s an education podcast where you don’t learn anything.”

Portraits by Danielle Baguely

FIVE years ago, Lee Parkinson and his younger brother Adam, who both work in Manchester primary schools, decided to record themselves swapping funny stories from their classrooms. They called it Two Mr Ps in a Pod(Cast).

Within a year, it had become the number one education podcast, and has so far amassed over five million episode listens. They now have a devoted following of listeners from across the UK submitting, anonymously, their classroom blunders and stories for the brothers to share.

“Our tagline is that it’s an education podcast where you don’t learn anything,” says Lee, who has worked as a primary teacher for 15 years and also leads CPD and Inset training on workload management and raising standards. “We have a really strong community of listeners and the stories we get sent are absolutely hilarious.”

Adam, a higher level teaching assistant (HLTA), proudly agrees: “One of the main reasons the podcast has grown so big is because of how involved the audience is. And the joke is never on the children; it’s always on the adult or the mistakes they’ve made.”

Definitely not for show and tell…

When I ask for one of their favourite anecdotes, Adam grins and goes on to tell me about occasions when children have brought in “certain adult devices” for show and tell.

“Parents really should be warned to lock their ‘toy’ drawer,” he laughs. “Otherwise you can end up having a really awkward conversation where a teacher’s telling you that your little cherub has been running around the playground, pretending to be Harry Potter, waving a vibrating pink wand

and screaming ‘Expelliarmus’ at the top of their voice.”

Laughing, Lee jumps in with another story from a listener, who met someone on a night out, spent the night at their place and, in the morning and wearing very little, stumbled to the bathroom only to bump into her head teacher; who turned out to be her date’s father. “I bet that made for one awkward performance management meeting,” jokes Lee.

profession, which has been really sad as I know how much they loved their job. My worry is the knock-on effect this continued decimation of school budgets is having on children.”

Lee is particularly vocal on many aspects of the crisis in education. Thanks to the success of the podcast, he has become a regular guest on TV programmes including This Morning and Lorraine, where he tries to raise awareness of the issues educators are facing.

“Teaching should be the best job in the world. But it’s not at the minute. I think if you ask any educator, they love spending time with the children, it’s all the other nonsense that’s the problem,” says Lee.

Respect for the amazing support staff

But there’s also a serious side to the brothers, who are proud to use their podcast to share the joys, jokes and challenges of working in education. For Adam, one thing that has meant a lot to him is being able to shine a light on the importance of support staff.

“I’m very proud to call myself a teaching assistant and I hope that through the podcast we are drumming up more respect for all the amazing support staff out there. Because you won’t have a successful school and happy children without them.”

As the conversation moves on to the current recruitment and retention crisis in education, Adam says: “Over the past ten years I’ve seen so many amazing educators leave the

An active member of the NEU, Lee has run several CPD courses for the union and believes its campaigning work has made a big difference to educators. Talking about this year’s successful pay ballot and subsequent strikes, he says: “The NEU has been absolutely brilliant in what it’s done and that’s been shown by how many educators have joined [50,000 new members have signed up since the pay ballot]. Having a union which is so supportive and outspoken about the profession is really important.”

Schools on brink of collapse

Lee, who I spoke to before the Government put forward a fully funded pay offer of 6.5 per cent, says: “If it is unfunded, it isn’t going to work. Schools are already expected to do more with less and the system is on the brink of collapse.”

As we move on to the topic of Ofsted, Lee explains that although he believes some accountability is important: “To reduce a complex machine like a school into a one-word judgement – which can have so many negative consequences, where people’s livelihoods and jobs are at risk – is ridiculous.”

continued on page 25

‘All the other

Brothers Lee and Adam Parkinson love sharing entertaining – and often cringe-inducing – anecdotes from the world of teaching in their popular podcast. Emily Jenkins talks to the Two Mr Ps.

“She stumbled to the bathroom, only to bump into her head teacher… who turned out to be her date’s father.”

nonsense is the problem’

continued from page 23

He adds that the reforms announced by Ofsted in June are “like a teacher seeing a child break their arm with the bone poking through the skin and going ‘Oh. Put a wet paper towel on that.’”

Is a wet paper towel the solution?

Not entirely coincidentally, Put A Wet Paper Towel On It is also the title of one of two books the brothers have written.

Adam explains the title comes from the joke that, when teaching primary children, ‘put a wet paper towel on it’ can basically be a solution for almost everything. The book is full of anecdotes covering “the weird and wonderful world of primary schools” and became a Sunday Times bestseller. Their second book, This Is Your Own Time You’re Wasting – also a Sunday Times bestseller –features some of their favourite stories from the podcast, and has just been released in paperback.

With a successful podcast, TV appearances and best-selling books under their belts, plus their day jobs, you’d think the two Mr Ps would be busy enough. But the

pair are now planning a new tour across the UK with 15 live dates over the autumn half term, including a massive London show at the Hackney Empire.

At The Show and Tell Tour, audience members will be invited to submit their own tales from the teaching frontline, for Lee and Adam to read out anonymously “to the rest of the class” on the night.

“We’re so excited to take this show on the road. Every night is going to be

Send Educate your classroom stories

Educate wants to hear your funny stories from the classroom for a new, regular feature in the magazine. Email your anecdotes, up to 250 words, to educate@neu.org.uk with the subject line ‘Classroom confidential’. Stories will be printed anonymously, but please include your name and membership number in your email.

All printed stories will receive a £30 book token.

different and full of laughs and giggles,” says Lee. Although he also confesses that he is “absolutely cacking it” at the thought of performing at the Hackney Empire, which seats over 1,200 people.

Adam is much less nervous. Describing Lee as the sensible one, and himself as “the renegade”, he says he is just excited to get back on stage again.

“Our last tour was so amazing. We’ve had so much support and love and I can’t wait to give that back with an even bigger and better show.”

Catch the Two Mr Ps on tour

n The Show and Tell Tour

15 October-

5 November 2mrpspodcast. com/live

n Mr P ICT Lee’s resources to help enhance your curriculum through technology mrpict.com

n Put A Wet Paper Towel On It and This Is Your Own Time You’re Wasting Also on Kindle and audiobook

“Our last tour was so amazing. We’ve had so much support and love and I can’t wait to give that back.”

Daniel Kebede (right) was elected as the new NEU general secretary in the spring and takes office this month. Max Watson met him to find out what makes him tick.

Photos by Jess Hurd

‘It doesn’t have to be this way’

AT 36, Daniel is a relatively young union leader. He is also the NEU’s first Black general secretary and, after Kevin Courtney and Mary Bousted, its first solo leader.

He’s got big boots to fill, following in the footsteps of Kevin and Mary who became household names for NEU members, and he has learned a lot from their approach.

“They brought together two trade unions with different cultures and different ways of doing things to become a real force for good in education. They’ve been absolutely inspirational,” he says. “How they managed the pandemic and the launch of the fightback on pay has been second to none.”

Their approach was – perhaps inevitably for a double act – to build consensus and Daniel intends to do the same. “I think there’s a lot of consensus on the issues that are impacting education. We all recognise funding is too low. There’s been successive pay cuts, and workload is unmanageable. Ofsted is a body that’s not fit for purpose. So I hope I can build some consensus around how we continue to turn the tide against some of these issues and build broad, mass campaigns and mobilisations that shape the future of education for the better.”

We’re nothing without reps

One thing the Pay Up! dispute has highlighted for Daniel is the vital role of reps. “The most important job in the union is that of a trade union rep – beyond what happens in headquarters or what the leadership is doing,” he says. “The reps are the people who deliver on the ground. The collective positions of the union would not have got through the Government’s anti-democratic strike threshold if it had not been for thousands of reps doing the hard graft of ensuring that people have voted. We need to recruit and retain reps because they’re essentially the lifeblood of the union.

“We have to take rep development immensely seriously and that can’t be done from the top. I would like to see organising academies for reps. But I also want to find out from them what can improve the experience of being a rep – how can we make that job easier? How can we encourage more people to do it?”

Educate met Daniel during the pay dispute, before the 6.5 per cent offer from the Government, and resolving the dispute was his immediate priority.

“But even beyond that, we need to then take steps towards pay restoration. I

think that’s the key thing. You know, I’m not unrealistic – we’re not going to get the full 24 per cent in teachers’ pay that we’ve lost since 2010 any time in this dispute. But it’s important for me that members have a victory, that they can see they shifted the Government, and that we can build a longerterm campaign to restore teaching as a valued profession. That’s a real priority.”

In five years’ time, he doesn’t want the union to be managing decline, he adds, after the damage done to education in the last decade. Growing class sizes and a recruitment and retention crisis are symptoms of the erosion of education as a public good.

“We need to actively restore education as a profession, so I will be counting the first five years as a success if we have restored pay, restored funding and reduced child poverty.”

He has seen at close quarters the union’s power to influence and drive change, having been NEU senior vice-president during Covid. The Section 44 letters declaring workplaces unsafe, which the union urged members to use, after Boris Johnson’s Government had stated schools would open as usual on 4 January 2021, is an example. A massive NEU Zoom call the day before, advising members that schools were unsafe, forcing the Government to U-turn and close schools, is another.

“That was an absolute turning point. There was a connection in a very deep way between the membership and reps, and the leadership. One thing I intend to do, as general secretary, is stay as connected as I can to the people in the classroom. I’m happiest when I’m working with members, so that’s what I’ll continue to do. That’s how you keep connected. I would like to spend time outside the NEU head office as much as feasibly possible –visiting members in schools, organising around campaigns and disputes with them.”

As important to him are the social justice goals of the union, around areas such as child poverty, which will “remain an absolute central thread of all that we do”.

He adds: “I hope we can have a win on the free school meals campaign, and I believe we’ve been building enough momentum up around that, but also I want us to start collectivising the issue of poverty much more. The real problem is poverty is often individualised – it’s often portrayed by the media as being down to feckless, work-shy, freeloading parents. But the reality is child poverty leads to a waste of human creativity. We lose doctors, architects, artists, and that harms us all.”

continued on page 29

“I will be counting the first five years as a success if we have restored pay, restored funding and reduced child poverty.”

Daniel Kebede

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What’s inspired Daniel politically?

A book

Red State Revolt by Eric Blanc about a teachers’ strike wave in the US during the Trump administration.

continued from page 27

A film

When We Were Kings, a 1996 documentary about a legendary boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. “Ali as an individual has been just a huge inspiration to me.”

Daniel grew up in a single parent household. “My mum has had a big impact on my life,” he says. “She’s a very determined woman. She went back to university when I was ten and did night classes, and I saw the transformational nature of education.”

His earliest memories are of the struggle to pay for everything they needed. “She worked all the hours God sends. She used to drop me off at the childminder at 7am and pick me up at 7pm. We would then have an hour together – when EastEnders came on, it was bedtime.”

“I remember our first holiday, going to a Haven park and staying in a caravan. That was thanks to the charity Gingerbread, which supports single parents. And I suppose that’s really informed my politics in the sense that I believe work should pay. We have 4.2 million children living in poverty at the moment and the majority of those children have parents who work.”

Enabling children to flourish

With a five-year-old son, Solomon, Daniel has an insight into balancing family life with work and activism. “When you are involved in trade union activity to the extent I am, it would be untrue to say it doesn’t have an impact on family life, because it does. But it also provides motivation. My son started reception this year. I want him to be educated in a system that enables him and every other five-year-old to flourish. I want him to develop a love of learning that lasts throughout his life.”

He also hopes that as the first Black general secretary of the NEU he will be an example to young people aspiring to top positions. “It’s a really important thing in terms of young people in classrooms up and down the country being able to aspire, and to be able to think that they can be a part of it. I also think it is important to have more Black teachers in education, so schools reflect the societies we work and operate in.”

His youth, he adds, will hopefully give him the energy

to try to stem the flow of people leaving the profession before retirement: “Teaching is a young profession these days. We’ve seen, unfortunately, due to the nature of education at the moment, a high turnover of staff –people not staying in the job until retirement. I hope my youth gives me a bit of energy, so that we can try and change that, because education does need to be a profession in which people can see themselves as having a lasting career that’s compatible with family life.”

So who or what influenced him to become politically active?

“Debate and discussion was always pretty rich around the dinner table with my grandparents. It wasn’t highlevel politics, but we’d certainly be discussing and arguing about what happened in the news that week. And that was quite a healthy environment to be in. Me arguing back as a young child was quite a welcome thing in the house. It wasn’t

‘children should be seen and not heard’. It was, you know, let’s explore. Let’s disagree on these things.”

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali was also a hero – not just as a sportsperson, but also as a Black person who was highly principled and had a lot of integrity. “He had his boxing licence revoked, as world champion, because he refused to fight in Vietnam,” says Daniel. “He sacrificed a lot of his own career for the very principled belief of not engaging in war.”

Then there are the people who come into your life at very particular times, who you connect with, he says, naming his PGCE tutor Gail Edwards as one such person.

“She was just so good at helping me articulate what I felt as a young teacher working in the North East; seeing young people and their lives being determined, essentially, by the environment that they grew up in,” he recalls.

As he takes over leadership of the NEU, Daniel recognises that the fight for a correction in teachers’ pay is not over. “We will be watching the Government closely. The recruitment and retention crisis is deep and severe. We absolutely need a pay correction to address it.

“What the Government needs to understand is there’s a real, deep expression of anger. It’s not just about pay, or even funding, but workload. Ofsted is being placed under real scrutiny at the moment. But even more broadly around the curriculum and assessment. “There’s definitely widespread discontent and also a belief and an understanding that things don’t have to be this way.”

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EMMA Rose is animated as she talks about the problems plaguing the profession she loves, regularly urging members to “push back” on unreasonable levels of scrutiny and attempts to erode their professional autonomy.

It’s a message she will be delivering personally in workplaces across the country when she begins her year as NEU national president in September, and she has plenty of experiences to share.

Starting as a rep in 2011 at her previous school, she led members through a series of disputes with a new head teacher who had told Emma when she introduced herself: “Unions are anathema to me.”

“Every time we fought, we won,” she smiles. Victories included refusing to take part in a mock Ofsted inspection, which meant it was abandoned. And so-called learning walks which were, in some cases, being used to gather information for performance management meetings, were also dropped. There was also a win over GCSE teachers’ gained time, which the head wanted to use for cover.

Every year there was an indicative ballot over something, she remembers. “When I started out as a rep, I wasn’t someone who had really seen myself in the role – which is the most important in the union because the power of the union is in the workplace. But then I realised we can push back on things,” she says. “We saw that during the pandemic, and we are seeing it now with the pay and funding dispute.

“Over the next year as president, I’ll be talking to members about how they can build the union in their workplace and win on things.”

‘Students feel safe to make mistakes, to learn, to explore’

For 23 years Emma has been a modern foreign languages teacher in Warwickshire. “I love my job, and even if I’m having a bad day, as soon as I get in the classroom that all changes,” she says.

“I’m not one of those ‘no smiles until Christmas’ teachers. I want my students to know I enjoy being with them. I just try to create an environment where students feel safe to make mistakes, to learn, to explore. But you never really know what kind of impact you have as a teacher.”

One former student, however, was happy to let Emma – and around 2,000 members in the auditorium at this year’s NEU annual conference – know what her impact had been. Patrick Jenkins, now a history early career teacher, began his first ever conference speech by paying tribute to “inspirational” Emma.

“To hear Patrick say that was a really beautiful moment,” she beams. “It meant a lot to me.”

Recently, a pupil gave Emma a book of German words for emotions you never knew you needed. “It included the phrase Luftfahrtorigaminiedergeschlagenheit. It means the despair you feel

when you make a paper airplane and launch it into the air, only to see it drop straight to the ground,” she laughs. “He said: ‘I saw this in the charity shop, and I just knew you’d love it. It’s for you to keep, miss.’”

‘Push back when our professional autonomy is eroded’ The story illustrates how teachers, however pressed, can still find time to connect with their pupils and build good relationships, although Emma agrees workload demands now make that much harder for many than it should be.

She says she knows of some teachers being forced to teach from booklets, which they aren’t allowed to stray from, and of classrooms where students are not permitted to ask questions.

She sighs with exasperation: “In lots of schools now there are prescribed lesson plans. That takes away our professional autonomy. These should be trade union issues. If you’re told your lesson plan must look a certain way, if you’re told you don’t have any autonomy, organise a meeting. Talk about it, push back on it.

“As a district secretary, I’ve noticed that if members are told that the lunch break will be shortened, or the school day made longer, they will email me immediately. But if they are told their lessons must look a certain way, they don’t think of that as a trade union issue as such.

“But if we start pushing back on things like this, we could begin thinking about the kind of education system we really want.”

Inspirational Emma

Sally Gillen talks beautiful moments and connecting with students with Emma Rose (right), the new NEU president.

“I’m not one of those ‘no smiles till Christmas’ teachers.”

Photo by Ben Broomfield

LYCEUM THEATRE, LONDON

GREAT EDUCATION RATES AVAILABLE

Will Labour channel Dickens’ Mr Gradgrind?

Warwick Mansell is a freelance education journalist and founder/writer of educationuncovered.

SIT up straight. Don’t ask too many questions. Silence is golden. Desks in neat rows, with the teacher offering “instruction” from the front.

Emphasise facts and recall over critique. Stress the technical aspects of language acquisition over the deeper points of understanding. Downplay fun and creativity, and marginalise the making of cross-curricular links, or the notion that the requirements on young people might change. Frown on the word “skills”.

This may sound like some caricature of what to some will seem like a dystopian vision for education. Yet all of the above approaches have been favoured under the past 13 years of Conservative Government, either directly through policymakers themselves, led by the Schools Minister Nick Gibb; by some of

the academy trusts that the Department for Education (DfE) favours; or by Ofsted.

I sometimes wonder whether the past decade-and-a-bit has been an attempt by the DfE to repurpose Mr Gradgrind not as the embodiment of the failings of Victorian schooling (as Charles Dickens intended in his 1854 novel Hard Times), but as a template for teaching more than 150 years later. I don’t want to rehearse all of the arguments about this here. I do think that all sides should be open to persuasion if evidence suggests a particular approach might genuinely support a widely shared goal, such as social justice.

But my question now is to what degree the above ideas would continue to find such forceful expression in classrooms under a Labour Government.

Many of the ideas set out above are badged by their supporters as “traditionalist”. Increasingly, I think the more powerful word to use is “conservative”, having been put forward by a Conservative thinker such as Mr Gibb for a reason: they fit with a conservative outlook which venerates past approaches to education.

There are some who describe themselves as Labour supporters who will argue that

the party needs to embrace some or all of the above. These approaches, would be the refrain, have the best chance of ensuring that the education system works for disadvantaged children in particular.

Labour under Keir Starmer is constantly portrayed as being cautious: unwilling to tinker too much with right-of-centre policymaking. But it was striking how the Labour leader’s recent “breaking the class ceiling” education speech seemed to mark a departure from Mr Gibb’s ideologically rigid approach.

“Skills” were embraced, while Sir Keir talked about a curriculum that was “outdated” and “a conservatism that refuses to re-examine whether what we should teach our children should keep pace with the world outside”. There should be “a greater emphasis on creativity, on resilience, on emotional intelligence and the ability to adapt”, he ventured.

Will there be a break from the Conservative education era under Labour, then? Or will caution be to the fore? It is tricky to predict. But my guess at the moment would be that a fair bit of the ideological force which has gone into the Conservative education project might dissipate under a change of government.

Cartoon by Tim Sanders

Ask the union

Sickness during pregnancy

I’VE been very sick during my pregnancy and have had repeated periods of time off work. I’ve not had any significant leave from work previously, but my school has triggered an absence procedure.

Sickness during pregnancy is a common condition. According to the NHS, about eight out of every ten pregnant women feel nauseous, vomit, or both during pregnancy. Detrimental treatment of women on grounds of pregnancy-related sickness is unlawful and the NEU expects employers to foster a supportive work environment for pregnant women. A good employer will show empathy and will implement your combined rights to sick leave and maternity leave.

You should be able to take the right amount of time off sick, particularly if you have needed medical treatment. You should be paid the contractual sick pay you would have received had you not been absent for a pregnancy-related reason.

Your employer is not permitted to take into account any pregnancy-related absences during your pregnancy for the purposes of attendance management. Where continued sickness absence due to an illness or injury could lead to formal reviews and possibly dismissal, pregnancy-related sickness absence cannot be used as evidence against an employee’s record of attendance or performance.

n Seek support from your NEU rep or local branch. Visit neu.org.uk/advice/pregnancy-andmaternity-discrimination

n Pregnancy Sickness Support is a UK charity working to improve care, treatment and support for women suffering from nausea and vomiting in pregnancy and hyperemesis gravidarum. Visit www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk

Lost my job due to long Covid

I LOST my job as a result of developing long Covid. Has the NEU surveyed how many members have been impacted by this condition? Are you involved with the campaign for compensation and pension scheme for key workers with long Covid? What about practical support?

The NEU is putting together a member survey about Covid, of which long Covid will be a part. This is in anticipation of the education module of the Covid Public Inquiry. There is no date for the education module yet, but we are intending to conduct the survey later in the year.

Long Covid is discussed regularly at Teachers’ Pension Scheme meetings. But access to ill-health retirement benefits is only available if you have evidence that you are permanently incapable of teaching, which is very difficult to prove with long Covid.

In terms of practical support, caseworkers were issued a suite of guidance documents last year called Supporting members with long Covid. This sets out the steps to be taken to support members with personal injury, disability discrimination and unlawful deduction of wages claims, where appropriate. The guidance has been supplemented with briefings for staff and lay officer caseworkers. The regional/Wales offices and litigation unit have supported several legal claims since 2021.

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

Free CPD webinars for all NEU members

NEU members have exclusive access to our continuing professional development (CPD) webinars. Here are some of the courses coming up.

Early years to KS2: maths through stories

Learn how mathematical story picture books can be integrated into teaching and learning, and how pupils can create their own story books to help develop their mathematical understanding.

27 September from 3.45-5.15pm

Positive psychology

Explore the roots of positive psychology and its core principles with evidence for its growing relevance for those involved with

the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. The sessions will include theory and practical work.

4 October from 3.45-5pm (session 1)

11 October from 3.45-5pm (session 2)

Behaviour: routines for learning

Explore what effective behaviour management looks like in any classroom setting. You will be guided through productive routines for learning and given opportunities to reflect on your practice.

5 October from 3.45-5pm

n Webinars will remain available for seven days.

n Email cpd@neu.org.uk or visit neu.org.uk/national-cpd

IMAGE by Liubomyr Vorona

A class act

The fine art of inspiring a love of science

Sally Bone (pictured), a year 6 teacher, works part time at Mary Dean’s Church of England Primary School in Plymouth. Sarah Thompson discovers what makes her a class act.

FOR scientist Sally, teaching is an art.

The ability to think on your feet, trust your gut reaction and respond creatively to students are all crucial.

“If we’re teaching evolution, we get outside and look at all the different species. Why are there so many different things? Why are they here? If you see them in front of you, and you’re touching them – a fly comes buzzing past and a gull lands on the school gate – it really brings that home.”

It is also fun – which Sally says is an important part of the learning process.

“Finding the fun helps things to stick in children’s minds,” she says. “And we’re not talking about binary facts. We’re talking about experiences where information is much more complex.”

“One of the really lovely things about primary school is that you get to know the children very well. Knowing them and treating them as individuals, and knowing what they learnt yesterday, and what you want them to learn tomorrow, is really important.”

Too much planning and no wiggle room Frustratingly, this isn’t something Ofsted understands, argues Sally. “They say that’s important, but they want it all to be planned four years in advance.”

That’s impossible she says, because you don’t know the children yet, and you don’t know what opportunities are going to present themselves. “Flexibility is so important. Children don’t respond by numbers. They can say something that you were never expecting, and we need to be quick enough to capitalise on that. But if everything is planned inside out and we’ve got no wiggle room, you’re struggling to educate well.”

teacher there has been a move towards

an assessment-heavy curriculum, with its focus on hard measurable results, which is resulting in fewer opportunities to work creatively, she says. It is a frustration many teachers share.

One route to change is through union membership, Sally says. She joined the NUT as a student teacher and says the NEU plays a crucial role in supporting educators and providing opportunities for them to have their say. “The NEU gives us a forum to say no to the Government and to Ofsted: ‘Look, this isn’t right. This isn’t working for children in our experience as coalface practitioners.’ And when we all get together, we’ve got a very loud voice.”

Despite the challenges, Sally wouldn’t

Do you know a class act?

Email educate@ neu.org.uk

She cites the example of her class learning about light – what it is and how it behaves. “We go out and play shadow tag,” says Sally. “In order to tag each other, the children have to draw on an awful lot of knowledge about how shadows work.”

It was at primary school that Sally developed her love of science. Her teacher would take the class on nature walks. “There was a wood not far away and we’d go and look at all the plants, name them and spot animals,” Sally recalls. “I’m sure that’s why I became a biologist.”

Starting out as scientist, Sally went on to study for an open university teaching degree. She was hooked.

“You just get a buzz from children learning, and from learning about how to help children learn. I think it’s fascinating. Nothing’s as good as teaching.”

“You get a buzz from children learning. I think it’s fascinating. Nothing’s as good as teaching.”

Workers’ rights worsening globally

WORKERS in every region of the world – including the UK – have experienced a crackdown on their rights according to the 2023 Global Rights Index, an annual report by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

The index, initiated ten years ago, observes the extent to which countries, and the companies that operate within them, uphold the rights of workers as set out in international law. The latest findings paint a concerning and progressively worsening global outlook.

Nine in ten countries violate the right to strike, with workers being arrested or detained in more than a third, and experiencing violence in over 40, according to the index.

Widespread violations documented by the ITUC include criminalisation of the right to strike; erosion of collective bargaining; attacks on free speech and assembly; de-registration of unions; arbitrary arrests, detention and imprisonment; and violent attacks on workers.

According to the research, the ten worst countries for workers’ rights are Bangladesh, Belarus, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Guatemala, Myanmar, Tunisia, the Philippines and Turkey.

Deadliest country for union leaders

Educate has previously reported on the NEU’s wide-ranging international work, and the 2023 Global Rights Index spotlights many contexts in which the NEU works with sister unions.

Colombia was cited as the deadliest place in the world for trade union leaders; and Turkey was marked out for forceful repression of strikes, systematic union busting, and a place where workers face arrest and detention for exercising their fundamental rights.

In addition, Iran was flagged for increasingly brutal state responses to demands for labour rights. This included the arrest of 230 teachers for participating in national May Day celebrations.

Globally, the Middle East and North Africa region was ranked as the worst area for working people. In Europe, a place which has long regarded itself as a stronghold of democracy and workers’ rights, the average rating collapsed from 1.84 in 2014 to 2.56 in 2023, signifying repeated rights violations.

New UK laws ‘repress rights’

The UK’s status was downgraded to Rating 4. This amounts to “systematic violations of workers’ rights”. The only countries ranked lower in Europe were Turkey and Belarus where there is “no guarantee of workers’ rights”.

New UK laws were condemned by the report for “codifying the repression of workers’

rights”, with union busting, threats to the right to strike and protest, and violations of collective bargaining agreements all recorded as areas of serious concern.

Commenting on the publication of the index, the ITUC acting general secretary, Luc Triangle, said: “The line between autocracies and democracies is blurring. When the dialogue between state and citizen breaks down, when nations flirt with autocracy to pass unpopular laws, when governments deploy state forces to quell lawful resistance –democracy is on the line and working people suffer the consequences.”

He added: “To reinforce the fabric of our societies, to renew and establish democracy and to support working people we need a new social contract: decent jobs, just wages, social protection, fundamental rights, including safe and secure work and the assurance of equality and inclusion.

“Working people must be listened to and they must be at the centre of government decisions. To demand and support this, workers’ unions have never been more essential.”

Demonstration against government reforms and police violence under former President Ivan Duque in Bogota, Colombia PHOTO by MatthieuCattin/Shutterstock.com

“Nine in ten countries violate the right to strike; with workers arrested or detained in more than a third.”

Jon

Biddle, English lead and NEU rep at Moorlands Primary in Norfolk, is passionate about fostering a love of reading for pleasure. Here he shares ideas and tips for schools to try.

Happy reunion with my own childhood champ

READING relationships can have an enormous impact on a child’s attitude to reading. Professor Teresa Cremin, president of the UK Reading Association and the UK Literacy Association, said in her 2009 report, Teachers as readers, that “reading for pleasure is strongly influenced by relationships between teachers and children”.

One of the report’s recommendations is that we need to “build reading communities that blur the boundaries between children’s home and school reading worlds”. How do we blur those boundaries? Two recent events have made me think about why reading relationships matter so much.

Mr Ramsay: a fantastic storyteller

A few weeks ago, I was delighted to receive a visit from my teacher when I was in year 4, or upper juniors as it was called then, Mr Michael Ramsay. It was the first time we’d seen each other in over 40 years and it was wonderful to reminisce about life at Leiston Primary School. We talked about playing pirates on the ropes and climbing apparatus in the hall, something that would never be allowed now, and the excitement when the school television was wheeled into the classroom on a Monday morning so we could watch You and Me.

One of my fondest memories was of spending what felt like an entire term reading Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. I can only assume it was a children’s version, as I can’t imagine the language in the original is hugely accessible to eight-year-olds. He didn’t particularly remember reading it, because, as he said, “I read lots of stories”, but I certainly remembered listening to it. I also have vivid memories of making endless Lilliputians from clay and using them to surround a life-size, papier-mâché model of Gulliver. For some long-forgotten reason, mine was based on the Arsenal goalkeeper, Pat Jennings.

Mr Ramsay was a fantastic storyteller when I was a pupil and an even better one when I was an adult. Hearing his anecdotes again made me reflect upon all the fantastic

teachers I’d had on my journey through the school system and how much they’d all influenced my decision to become a teacher.

So many memories came back to me: daily story time on the carpet; being trusted to go to the school library by myself for the first time; a teacher lending me fantasy novels from his own shelves because he knew how much I loved playing Dungeons and Dragons; helping out at after-school book sales; and choosing the weekly story in my infant class. The more I thought back, the more I started to realise the long-term impact of those relationships on me as a reader.

Reading Champ now an English grad

It almost felt like the wheel had turned full circle when, only a couple of days after meeting Mr Ramsay, I received a message from a former pupil who wanted to tell me that she’d just finished her English literature degree and to say thank you for helping her find so many books to read when she was in my class. I clearly remember her passion for reading during her time in year 6 and how she was one of my very first Reading Champions. The fact that she associated her success in some small way to what

had happened in the classroom ten years previously meant a lot.

Lifelong impact of a love of reading

The two events have made me reflect on how we measure the impact of reading for pleasure in schools. It’s not something that can be assessed every few weeks or at the end of a unit, as such short-term quantitative data has minimal value. Last week, David read 114 pages and this week he read 121, so his enjoyment of reading has grown by 6.1 per cent… Its impact can only really be measured many years down the line when the children you invested all that time and effort in have become adults. We trust that the work we put in pays off because the evidence tells us it does. Occasionally we might find out, via an email or conversation, but usually we’ll never see our pupils again after they leave.

If our legacy as teachers when we retire or, increasingly, walk away from the job in frustration, is that we’ve sent hundreds of children into the world with a lifelong love of reading, we can be quietly confident we’ve done a good job. We’ve built a reading relationship that can’t be broken and have given them the best possible start we can. @jonnybid

John (left) with his year 4 teacher Michael Ramsay, who helped inspire his love of reading

Read more ideas from Jon next issue

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 Mystery in Flat 6B

A THOUGHT-provoking story following JoJo and his new friend as they attempt to decipher the mysterious noises coming from the flat next door and investigate the suspicion there is a hostage situation taking place.

Full of rich and descriptive language with plenty of difficult words to encourage a wide vocabulary, this book promotes the idea of

The Thinking Teacher

WRITTEN by headteacher and Independent Commission on Assessment in Primary Education (ICAPE) commissioner Dr Kulvarn Atwal, this book is a helpful guide for teachers who want to become ‘thinking teachers’ – critical thinkers who are self-motivated, reflective and able to build trust and positive relationships with their students.

The book offers educators, from early career teachers to heads, an opportunity to transform their attitudes to teaching and learning. Kulvarn poses many interesting questions that challenge teachers to reflect on their practice and motivations. He then provides a range of ideas to support them further. Action research, coaching and dialogic teaching are just some of the many topics clearly and concisely explained.

embracing change. A strong understanding of children’s emotions and the frightfulness of new and different situations illustrate the book’s underlying moral theme of not being judgemental.

A great, simple and positive story for young readers.

Esme Atkinson

A Young Person’s Guide to Vocal Health

AN excellent, reader-friendly resource, written by voice specialist Olivia Sparkhall. After explaining the science behind how the voice works, the author shares a wealth of practical advice on topics including vocal exercises, keeping healthy and tips for tackling performance nerves. A helpful colour key indicates when particular terms relate to a relevant topic, such as green words linking to healthy eating. Useful diagrams are interspersed within the text. There are questions and answers as well as sticky note illustrations containing important facts. Websites and books are listed for further research.

Ideal for key stages 3 and 4, especially those involved in singing or acting.

Cindy Shanks

A Young Person’s Guide to Vocal Health by Olivia Sparkhall, illustrated by David Welsey. Compton Publishing. £10.99.

Your Adventures at CERN

Both thought-provoking and illuminating, The Thinking Teacher offers all teachers and schools an opportunity to rethink and revitalise professional development.

Molly Hall

The Thinking Teacher: How to transform your mindset and your teaching by Dr Kulvarn Atwal. John Catt. £15.50.

Time to Shake up the Primary Curriculum

THIS is a book that every teacher should have on their bookshelf. It has some fantastic ideas about how to make your classroom diverse and inclusive. All it takes are small changes, thinking about appropriate people in history that pupils may relate to, or changing some of the authors and texts we look at in literacy/English, for example.

I was an English as an additional language pupil, moving from Latvia to

London at the age of six, and have worked in various schools in east London. I know the importance of making your pupils feel included by taking time to understand their backgrounds and cultures. I will keep this book in class and make sure to take the ideas into my classroom.

Katrina

Sakovica

Time to Shake up the Primary Curriculum by Sarah Wordlaw. Bloomsbury. £16.99.

WHAT a clever, imaginative and enchanting book, beautifully illustrated. Written like an interactive video game, your decisions send you to different pages. Do you want to be a researcher, student or tourist? Every reader will have a unique adventure and it begs to be re-read to explore a different trajectory through the book.

There are puzzles to solve and the range of science covered is staggering, with your animal companions getting in on the act too. It is sure to entertain and pique your curiosity no matter what your age.

Mike Follows

Your Adventures at CERN: Play the hero among particles and a particular dinosaur! by Letizia Diamante. World Scientific Publishing. £12.99.

The Mystery in Flat 6B by Karen McCombie, illustrated by Thy Bui. Bloomsbury. £6.29.

Irresponsible to ignore pupils’ excess weight

I READ Florence Taglight’s article about the National Child Measurement Programme yesterday (Educate, July/August, page 29 – pictured right) and couldn’t disagree more with the points she makes.

We have a duty of care towards the young people we serve. That includes providing, as kindly as we can of course, guidance about health. Personal, social, health and economic education programmes also aim to explain what a healthy body, and by extension a healthy mind, needs.

Quoting staff comments that show genuine concern about children’s health and branding them “fatphobic” is irresponsible. Bringing in the fact that BMI was invented by a white male and using that as an excuse to

Weighed by strangers at a vulnerable time

to family GPs who can help whoever needs support, be they underweight or overweight.

Given the known concerns, scientifically validated, about ever-expanding UK waistlines, advocating for opting out of weighing children is the opposite of what we need to do. Ask any NHS worker how obesity impacts the viability of their mission – gov.uk/government/ statistics/obesity-profile-updatemay-2023

meaning and understanding. In those days the likes of Frank Smith were as influential in the teaching of reading as Ruth Miskin is today, with the notable difference that schools were not tied into the purchase of expensive materials of questionable value.

abandon non-white students to their “cultural” body shape is not only ignorant but also dangerous. Abysmal bias.

In schools all over Europe, children from primary onwards are given a yearly health check (eyes, ears, height, weight). This information is communicated

Hiding away from tackling the problem of excess weight in children is not going to make our children healthier. Did you know that healthy people are happier?

Sandrine Le Marre, London

No-nonsense reading

HOW refreshing to read an article questioning the predominance of synthetic phonics in the teaching of reading (Educate, March/April, page 29).

As a long since retiree, my teacher education included exposure to the basic premise that reading is a developmental process directly related to language acquisition and, therefore, concerned with

Smith presaged the current doubts about synthetic phonics in his book Reading Without Nonsense (1985). More recently, Margaret Clark has produced a sustained, evidence-based challenge to the hegemony of phonics, her critique endorsed by the Education Endowment Foundation findings.

As a natural optimist, I am sure the tide is starting to turn with an increasing number of teachers questioning the validity of systematic synthetic phonics, as illustrated in the article. Professional curiosity at its best. Paul Howard, Eastbourne

Enjoyment of reading lost through phonics

I AM in total agreement with Molly Hall’s article about the focus on phonics and the dominance of teaching systemic

Teacher’s pet Leo

Leo is the beautiful pet of Sarah Barker, an English teacher from Surrey.

Sarah says: “Leo is lovable, playful and cheeky. He loves his bunny, and he loves his cuddles.

“Every morning he greets me and gets my day off to the perfect start. I leave for work in a calm and happy mood, and after a long day Leo always helps me and my family de-stress. He is the best distraction from worries.”

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

synthetic phonics (SSP) in early years and key stage 1 (Educate, March/April, page 29).

Different children pick up different cues in helping them to read. I found that overdosing on SSP was not the way to inspire a love of reading. The children seem to over-rely on sounds to decode both known and unknown words. Children entering year 2 seem to need to constantly segment and blend. They are too busy mouthing out sounds to comprehend what they are reading. Consequently, their reading aloud is stilted and lacks flow and expression.

The enjoyment of reading has been lost through this phonics push. There is a lack of emphasis on reading high-quality texts, developing ideas and language alongside poetry, drama and art. I’d question how relevant phonics teaching is to developing vocabulary, imagination and an enthusiasm for finding out information. These factors are surely what we are trying to develop through the teaching of reading.

Ann Driscoll, London

Just one tool? Phonics

AS an early years/key stage 1 teacher and nursery nurse tutor from 1970 to 2012, I worked with young people from a wide range of ethnicities and backgrounds, some of whom were from non-English speaking families and some from non-literate ones. I also worked as an adult literacy volunteer.

Learners need a range of techniques to help them acquire reading and writing skills. However, if I had to choose just one basic tool that has helped the learners I’ve known confidently explore and enjoy the printed word, I would have to say phonics.

My oldest son loved all kinds of books being read to him, but became anti reading himself under the real book/whole-word approach of his school until the beginning of year 2 when his

Star letter

Health and wellbeing suffer as educators give so much

WE had our first day of strike action in Jersey on 5 June (pictured above). I was born and grew up on the island, and when I became a teacher I wanted to return here to give back to the system that educated me.

I am at the end of my second year as an early career teacher and I have seen the effects and disruption to learning over the last three years.

I have also seen the level of work that teachers put in every day, which is so often unseen and unappreciated. I have seen colleagues and friends give so much at the expense of their own health and wellbeing, in order to provide children with an education.

The time and patience we give to teaching, lesson planning, differentiating, homework, pastoral care, safeguarding, interventions, revision, parents’ evenings, welcome evenings, marking, assessments, progress tracking, admin, career advising, behaviour management, student support, school trips, activity weeks – the list goes on.

We are experiencing pay degradation as our expectations and workload increase. I implore people to spend some time in our shoes, and experience what we do day to day to understand the level of dedication that teachers, teaching assistants and support staff give to education.

We do not want to strike, it is a last resort, but we are in a position where we have to be heard. We are not a business, we do not operate for gain. Without the investment and support to recruit and retain specialists in education we will be at breaking point.

Ayesha Frederick, Jersey

teacher introduced some illicit letter sounds. I’ve come across parents taught by the wholeword approach who only became fully literate when their children helped them learn phonics.

For me, the best thing about phonics is the new enthusiasm

and confidence I’ve seen it give key stage 1 children as it helps them develop the ability to produce purposeful writing that other children and adults can read and enjoy without the writer having to tell them what it says.

Sue Lawson, Essex

Clarification

WE described Safiyya Patel as the Black organising forum member for Yorkshire and Humber (Educate, July/August, page 17). Safiyya is actually one of three people who share this role.

Sylvia resources for dance and theatre students

AWARD-winning dance company ZooNation has produced a free digital resource pack to accompany the acclaimed hip-hop musical Sylvia, based on the life of pioneering suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst.

Aimed at key stages 3, 4 and 5 and BTEC students, the resource includes interviews with actor Beverley Knight who plays Emmeline Pankhurst, lesson plans, workshop ideas and a history of the Pankhurst family. Original music clips and information about the lighting and music will inspire dance and theatre students.

n Visit zoonation.co.uk/resources

Iconic venue for children’s literacy conference

DISCUSS how to enhance children’s language and literacy at the Children’s language, literacy and literature conference on 16 November at the British Library, London.

Organised by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Pedagogy (HHCP), the conference will bring together speakers and delegates who are passionate about working towards positive changes in the curriculum.

Delegates will hear the latest research and education practice from internationally renowned speakers and workshop leaders, including author Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

n Visit tinyurl.com/57rx9yyb

Study teaching overseas

FUNDING is available for teachers interested in travelling abroad to study some of the teaching methods used in other countries.

The Iain Grant Charitable Trust is seeking applications from teachers with at least seven years’ experience who need financial assistance in order to meet the costs of a visit overseas.

Applications should be made in writing to Harrison Latham and Company, 97 Tulketh Street, PR8 1AW or email enquiries@harrisonlatham.co.uk

Gender equality resource

A FREE learning resource from domestic violence charity White Ribbon UK will help educators introduce the concepts of gender and inequality to children and young people.

Building Gender Equality For Young People discusses the behaviours and attitudes that perpetuate gender inequality. It discusses how to empower young people to challenge restrictive societal expectations, including negative masculine traits to dominate, which put the lives of women and girls at risk.

The resource is designed to complement the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum.

n Visit whiteribbon.org.uk/learning-resources

The conference will take place at the British Library in London

WIN!

Send us your photo to win a £20 book token

Vivienne says: “I visit West Ham park most weekends. It is a beautiful local park, with many things to do and see, and it is free.

“It was once known as the Kew Gardens of the east, and this photograph is of the ornamental gardens, which are rich

in history, splendour and delight. The ornamental gardens give visitors the opportunity to relax, explore and contemplate the wide variety of trees, flowers and plants, as well as learn about the park’s amazing botanical history.”

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.

Update your membership details – visit my.neu.org.uk

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

THIS summery photo was taken by Vivienne Eka, a geography teacher from east London.

NORTH DEVON

Eight spacious, self-contained, self-catering holiday cottages around a unique cobbled courtyard, suitable for groups from 4 to 48. In a superquiet, dark-sky location surrounded by open countryside. Cottages are centrally heated and well equipped: Colour TV, WiFi, Dishwasher, Fridgefreezer, Microwave Oven, conventional Oven and Hob, Toaster + +. Most have private gardens with patios.

Large outdoor pool, warmed May to October (may be available at other times of the year for therapeutic cold-water swimming).

Tennis court, basketball, games room with table tennis and a Pool table. Childrens play area. Meeting room for group activities, talks, games, social gatherings. BHS certified riding centre with large Arena for riding lessons on a range of friendly horses.

Registered with Changing Lives Through Horses programme. Horse-box café. Well-behaved dogs welcome.

Centrally located for access to beaches, and a host of activities:(swimming, surfing, sailing, sub-aqua), Tarka trail (long-distance level track for walking and cycling) and beautiful Exmoor for walks and picnics.

City of Exeter 53 mins away near historic Dartmoor.

Enquiries/Bookings to Tamsin:

T: 01769 574662 E: hello@collacott.co.uk

Quick crossword

Across

1 Bruce ___ : US singersongwriter (11)

9 Famous American battle featuring Davy Crockett (5)

10 Solid state of water (3)

11 ___ Bolt: fastest man on the planet (5)

12 Tailless amphibians (5)

13 Addis Ababa is the capital of this country (8)

16 Japan’s second-largest city (8)

18 Mother-of-pearl (5)

21 Timothy ___ : English actor (5)

22 Extinct flightless bird from New Zealand (3)

23 The tribe to which Boudicca belonged (5)

24 Spanish tennis star (6,5)

Sudoku

Down

2 Predatory South American fish (7)

3 Novel by Sir Walter Scott (7)

4 ___ Versace: Italian fashion designer (6)

5 Jonathan ___ : former England Test cricketer (5)

6 Plant of the genus that includes heather (5)

7 Fifth book of the Bible (11)

8 Sin City and Fantastic

Four actress (7,4)

14 Island where French is spoken (7)

15 Kingston is the capital of this country (7)

17 George ___ : Animal Farm author (6)

19 ___ Khan: US funk and soul singer (5)

20 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (5)

Across

1 - Bruce ___ : US singer-songwriter (11)

9 - Famous American battle featuring Davy Crockett (5)

10 - Solid state of water (3)

11 - ___ Bolt: fastest man on the planet (5)

12 - Tailless amphibians (5)

13 - Addis Ababa is the capital of this country (8)

16 - Japan's second-largest city (8)

18 - Mother-of-pearl (5)

21 - Timothy ___ : English actor (5)

22 - Extinct flightless bird from New Zealand (3)

23 - The tribe to which Boudicca belonged (5)

24 - Spanish tennis star (6,5)

Easy Medium

Last issue’s (July/August 2023)

Easy,

Down

2 - Predatory South American fish (7)

3 - Novel by Sir Walter Scott (7)

Sudoku solutions will feature on this page next issue.

4 - ___ Versace: Italian fashion designer (6)

5 - Jonathan ___ : former England Test cricketer

6 - Plant of the genus that includes heather (5)

7 - Fifth book of the Bible (11)

8 - Sin City and Fantastic Four actress (7,4)

14 - Island where French is spoken (7)

15 - Kingston is the capital of this country (7)

17 - George ___ : Animal Farm author (6)

19 - ___ Khan: US funk and soul singer (5)

20 - Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (5)

Difficult

Prize crossword

WIN!

£50 Marks & Spencer voucher

Across

1 Ancient Greeks: dramatist arranges school’s PE… (9)

6 …while poet composes metaphor, though not apt (5)

9 Some bacteriologists returning to French river (5)

10 Pre-school drama society? (9)

11 Faculty head provides a bit of a snide answer (4)

12 Criminals not right as chefs? (5)

13 Heartlessly vile and rowdy? Extremely! (4)

16 These exams could be valueless without us (1,6)

17 Computer-generated beer making comeback, with Royal emblems? (7)

19 See 27 down

21 Crossed out, although allowed in legal document (7)

22 He gets hold of outsize tights (4)

24 In overturning basin or pan it might provide protection (5)

25 Blockage on opening of pipe causes wetness (4)

29 Article carries wild praise for specialist treatments (9)

30 Large new composition – by him? (5)

31 Fresh scope for group of trees (5)

32 I use dance moves for the groups watching the show (9)

Down

1 Leader of Senate takes a boy – Caesar, for example (5)

2 New TV connected with iPlayer, but not in public (9)

3 Follow instructions and get award before end of university (4)

4 Please turn over inside circuits for computers (7)

5 Is one who avoids work less stretched? (7)

6 Very big embrace from Head of English (4)

7 Large deer sounds like a cow on Ecstasy! (5)

8 Rewriting daily prep means postage isn’t required when you answer (5-4)

14 Author Daniel crops up in College of Education (5)

The winner and solution of this prize crossword will feature on this page next issue.

15 Nimble, but poor goalies, so lost (5)

16 Teaches it differently, being concerned with the appreciation of beauty (9)

18 Lacking in energy, so light care organised (9)

20 Copy? Ear gets clip, unfortunately! (7)

21 Ed’s word puzzle: ‘Dozed intermittently’ (7)

23 In lessons he epitomises those that are easily led (5)

26 Unusual pastries set out in European capital (5)

27 & 19 across Henry’s third username ‘Joy’, perhaps (4,7)

28 Old historian some dubbed England’s first (4)

Last issue’s (July/August 2023) prize crossword solution

Across 9 ODDFELLOW 10 RARER 11 MIRACLE 12 DWINDLE 13 TUBE 14 REINSTATED 17 USELESS 18 SECULAR

21 MORALE 22 RANKLE 24 ON TAP 25 PAIR 27 TERM

Congratulations to last issue’s winner – Elizabeth Wood from Scarborough

This issue’s quick crossword solution (p48)

Wrong grades with no right of appeal

Fact file

Dennis Sherwood is an independent consultant, a campaigner for the delivery of reliable and trustworthy exam grades, and author of Missing the Mark – why so many exam grades are wrong, and how to get results we can trust (Canbury Press, 2022).

NOT all teenagers jumped for joy when this year’s exam results came out; some were surely disappointed. For example, many of the 150,000-or-so students in England awarded grade 3, which is classed as a fail, for GCSE English.

Suppose, though, that some of those 150,000 ‘failures’ weren’t failures at all, but should have passed with a grade 4. You’re possibly thinking: “Mistakes can happen. But they’re pretty rare and you can always appeal.”

The answer to exactly how rare lies in a piece of research, Marking consistency metrics, published in 2017 by exams regulator Ofqual. This shows that about six out of every ten English scripts, as marked by an ‘ordinary’ examiner, are given the same grade as would have happened had those scripts been marked by a senior examiner, while four in every ten are awarded a different grade.

That grades can differ as a result of marking by different examiners is no surprise. For example, one examiner could legitimately award an answer five marks out of a possible 12; while another could give the same answer six out of 12. Neither examiner has made any marking errors; both marks are fully compliant with the mark scheme. So when

the marks for all questions are aggregated, the totals might be, say, 69/160 or 71/160.

If grade 4 corresponds to all marks between 65/160 and 74/160, then both marks result in grade 4. But if the grade boundary is set at 69/70, then 69/160 is grade 3 and 71/160 is grade 4.

60,000 erroneous grade 3s

Back to this year’s results. Ofqual’s research implies that about six out of ten of the 150,000 students (nearly 90,000) who took GCSE English and were awarded grade 3 would have been awarded grade 3 had their scripts been marked by a senior examiner. Meanwhile, the remaining 60,000 students would have been awarded a different grade. That ‘different grade’ could be grade 2, or maybe grade 4. Both are equally likely, which leads to the startling conclusion that, of the approximately 150,000 students awarded grade 3 – a fail – about 90,000 merited that grade, but about 30,000 merited grade 2, and about 30,000 merited grade 4.

This means 30,000 students have been consigned to what fellow education union ASCL calls the ‘forgotten third’ – students who do not achieve at least a grade 4 in

GCSE English and maths at the end of 12 years of schooling – not because they do not know their fronted adverbials, but because Ofqual can’t deliver reliable grades.

On 24 August, this happened to about one in every five students awarded grade 3. So if your school has five students who were awarded grade 3, one of them has been damaged. But you don’t know which student that is. Nor does the student.

Nor can you, or the student, ever find out, because a review of marking will discover no marking errors – for there aren’t any. The grade discrepancy is totally attributable to the consequences of a legitimate difference in academic opinion – but a difference that, since Ofqual changed the rules in 2016, is disallowed as grounds for appeal. A review of marking will therefore confirm the erroneous grade 3.

My example has been GCSE English. The problem, however, is across the board. In August, about 1.2 million students in England were awarded about six million grades. Of which about 1.5 million were “wrong”, in the sense I have described. That’s an average of about one wrong grade for every student in the land – without right of appeal.

n Read Ofqual’s report at tinyurl.com/ywe3d5e4

PHOTO by Drazen Zigic

Gwisgoedd ysgol fforddiadwy

Canllawiau llymach gan

Lywodraeth Cymru.

Antur yn yr Ariannin Cyfle i addysgu’r Gymraeg ym Mhatagonia.

addysgu

Bore da Meddalwedd i ganfod hwyliau disgyblion.

nghymru yng

Rhifyn 74 Tymor yr Hydref 2023

90% yn dweud bod llwyth gwaith yn effeithio ar iechyd meddwl

MAE naw ym mhob deg o weithwyr addysg proffesiynol Cymru yn dweud bod eu llwyth gwaith wedi effeithio ar eu hiechyd a’u lles emosiynol. Mae bron i dri chwarter y gweithwyr (73 y cant) yn dweud bod eu llwyth gwaith wedi cynyddu dros y 12 mis diwethaf.

Dyma rai o ganfyddiadau arolwg

ynghylch iechyd a lles meddyliol a gynhaliwyd

gan NEU Cymru fis Gorffennaf, a hwnnw

wedi denu dros 2,100 o ymatebion. Dywedodd

bron i 77 y cant o’r rheini a ymatebodd eu bod

nhw’n gweithio rhwng chwech ac 20 awr yn

ychwanegol bob wythnos, a dywedodd 43 y

cant nad oedd modd iddyn nhw ymdopi â’u

llwyth gwaith ar hyn o bryd. Dywedodd dros

hanner yr ymatebwyr (56 y cant) eu bod nhw’n

bwriadu neu’n ystyried gadael y proffesiwn.

Dywedodd David Evans, ysgrifennydd

NEU Cymru: “Rydyn ni wedi bod yn gweithio

gyda Llywodraeth Cymru i ganfod y meysydd

sy’n gysylltiedig â llwyth gwaith y mae angen

eu newid neu gael gwared arnyn nhw, ond mae

llawer iawn o waith o hyd i’w wneud.”

Dyma rai o ganfyddiadau eraill yr arolwg: n mae 87 y cant o weithwyr addysg yn

gweithio mwy na’r oriau sydd yn eu contractau

n mae 64 y cant wedi colli diwrnod o waith

oherwydd gorbryder, straen neu iselder yn

ystod y flwyddyn ddiwethaf, gyda 34 y cant i ffwrdd o’r gwaith oherwydd materion sy’n

gysylltiedig â gwaith

n dim ond 28 y cant sydd â pholisi iechyd a lles meddyliol yn eu gweithle

n roedd 85 y cant o’r ymatebwyr yn teimlo pwysau i weithio oriau hwy neu oriau ychwanegol.

Mae NEU Cymru yn galw am greu tîm lles ym mhob gweithle. Mae pecyn cymorth yr undeb am les yn rhoi canllaw ymarferol ar gyfer datblygu tîm o’r fath – anfonwch e-bost i wulf@neu.org.uk

n Bydd canlyniadau llawn yr arolwg yn cael eu cyhoeddi yn ystod tymor yr hydref. I gael rhagor o wybodaeth, anfonwch e-bost at stuart.williams@neu.org.uk

Camu i strydoedd Caerdydd gyda Pride

Dyfarniad cyflog Medi 2023 i athrawon

DYLAI aelodau sy’n athrawon weld pump y cant yn ychwanegol ar eu slipiau cyflog o fis Medi eleni, ar ôl y bleidlais i dderbyn cynnig cyflogau Llywodraeth Cymru fis Mawrth. Roedd y cynnydd eleni – sydd wedi’i ariannu’n llawn – yn rhan o gytundeb dwy flynedd. Roedd hefyd yn cynnwys dyfarniad cyflog gwerth 6.5 y cant a chyfandaliad gwerth 1.5 y cant ar gyfer 2022/23, wedi’i ôl-ddyddio i fis Medi 2022. Cafodd hwnnw’i dalu fis Ebrill eleni.

Rhoddodd Llywodraeth Cymru sicrwydd hefyd y byddai trafodaethau ystyrlon yn cael eu cynnal am ariannu ysgolion, llwyth gwaith, a’r pwysau sy’n cael ei achosi gan arolygiadau Estyn, ynghyd ag am ofynion atebolrwydd y consortia gwella ysgolion rhanbarthol. Cynhaliwyd trafodaethau rheolaidd am y materion hyn gyda Llywodraeth Cymru drwy fis Mai, mis Mehefin a mis Gorffennaf, a bydd yr undeb yn adrodd yn ôl i’r aelodau am ganlyniadau’r cyfarfodydd hynny maes o law.

Addysgwyr a chefnogwyr LHDT+ yn NEU Cymru yn dathlu ledled y wlad. Ewch i dudalen 3

Addysgu’r Gymraeg dramor

MAE cyfle i dri o athrawon addysgu’r Gymraeg 8,000 o filltiroedd i ffwrdd yn Ne America y flwyddyn nesaf. Drwy’r prosiect sydd ganddo ar gyfer y Gymraeg, mae’r British Council yn gwahodd ceisiadau i addysgu ym Mhatagonia yn yr Ariannin, lle cyrhaeddodd yr ymsefydlwyr cyntaf o Gymru yn 1865.

Bob blwyddyn, mae’r prosiect yn cynnig lleoliadau gyda thâl i dri o athrawon yn y Wladfa, lle byddan nhw’n addysgu’r iaith ac yn helpu i drefnu gweithgareddau cymdeithasol sy’n annog pobl i siarad Cymraeg. Bydd y lleoliadau’n para rhwng mis Mawrth a mis Rhagfyr. Mae angen i’r ymgeiswyr fod â statws athro cymwysedig a phrofiad o weithio gyda phlant neu oedolion. Y cyflog yw £750 y mis, tra bo’r llety, y teithio a’r yswiriant iechyd yn cael eu darparu’n rhad ac am ddim. n Gwnewch gais yn wales.britishcouncil.org/ rhaglenni/addysg/prosiect-yr-iaith-gymraeg erbyn 9 Hydref.

Cynhadledd Cymru 2023

BYDD pumed cynhadledd flynyddol NEU

Cymru yn cael ei chynnal yng Ngwesty’r Marriott yn Abertawe ar 21 a 22 Hydref.

Bydd swyddogion a chynrychiolwyr

o holl ganghennau ac ardaloedd Cymru yn bresennol yn y gynhadledd sy’n cael

ei chynnal dros benwythnos. Yno, bydd cynigion am faterion fel llwyth gwaith, cyflogau, a’r posibilrwydd o ddiwygio’r flwyddyn ysgol yn cael eu trafod.

Ffilmiau am iechyd meddwl

MAE myfyrwyr mewn ysgol arbennig yn y gogledd wrthi’n creu cyfres o ffilmiau byrion am iechyd meddwl.

Yn gynharach eleni, cafodd tri o animeiddiadau prosiect The Right

Door eu lansio gan ddisgyblion Ysgol y Gogarth yn Llandudno, Conwy.

Mae’r ffilmiau’n trafod bwyta’n iach a chamddefnyddio sylweddau. Mae’r bobl ifanc bellach yn gweithio ar ragor

o benodau am ffitrwydd, anhwylderau bwyta, materion LHDT+ a phrofedigaeth.

Cynllun yw hwn ar y cyd â’r sefydliad celfyddydol lleol, TAPE

Community Music and Film, sy’n datblygu canolfan gynhyrchu ar safle’r ysgol ar gyfer cynnal prosiectau yn y dyfodol. Mae’r animeiddiadau i’w gweld yn youtube.com/@ TheRightDoorAnimations

Costau gwisg ysgol – y Llywodraeth yn ymateb

NI ddylai cost gwisg ysgol fod yn rhwystr i blant rhag mynd i’r ysgol, a rhaid i gyrff llywodraethu sicrhau eu bod nhw’n fforddiadwy i deuluoedd. Dyna neges glir NEU Cymru.

Meddai David: “A hithau’n argyfwng costau byw, ni ddylai teuluoedd orfod gwario arian prin ar wisgoedd ysgol arbennig. Dylai gwisg ysgol fod ar gael yn rhwydd i bobl.

“Bydd yr aelodau wedi’u calonogi wrth weld bod Llywodraeth Cymru wedi gwrando arnon ni. Roedd ein maniffesto cyn etholiadau diwethaf y Senedd yn galw am wneud gwisgoedd ysgol yn fforddiadwy. Mae ein haelodau’n pryderu am gostau mynd i’r ysgol.”

Dywedodd y byddai’r undeb wedi hoffi gweld Llywodraeth Cymru yn cefnogi’r cynlluniau sydd gan lawer o ysgolion i ddarparu gwisgoedd ysgol ail law.

“Fel y gwyddon ni, mae adnoddau ysgolion yn brin. Gan hynny, mewn rhai ardaloedd, mae’n anodd gofyn iddyn nhw wneud rhagor heb gyllid ychwanegol, a dylid mynd i’r afael â hynny,” meddai.

Gan alw ar gyrff llywodraethu i adolygu eu polisïau gwisg ysgol cyn diwedd tymor yr haf 2023, dywedodd Jeremy Miles, Gweinidog Addysg Cymru: “Mae’r rhan fwyaf o ysgolion yn gwneud popeth o fewn eu gallu i gwtogi costau i deuluoedd, ond rydyn ni’n dal i weld gormod o achosion lle mae’n rhaid i deuluoedd brynu gwisgoedd ysgol drud. Bydd y canllawiau’n helpu ysgolion i gwtogi’r costau hyn.”

Dywedodd y byddai nifer o deuluoedd ar incwm isel yn gymwys i gael y grant hanfodion ysgol, sy’n cynnig hyd at £200 i bobl brynu gwisg ysgol ac offer. Rhaid gwneud ceisiadau drwy’r cynghorau lleol erbyn mis Mai 2024.

Dyddiadau dysgu i’ch dyddiadur

MAE cyrsiau sylfaen ac uwch i gynrychiolwyr ar gael unwaith eto ar ffurf cyrsiau tridiau llawn, lle bydd y cynrychiolwyr yn mynychu am dri diwrnod mewn un bloc.

Mae’r cyrsiau wedi’u trefnu, yn amodol ar y niferoedd, ar y dyddiadau canlynol:

Cyrsiau sylfaen

11-13 Hydref – Casnewydd

NEUCymru-reps-training-Foundation11-13oct23.eventbrite.co.uk

22-24 Tachwedd – Caerfyrddin

NEUCymru-reps-training-Foundation22-24nov23.eventbrite.co.uk

Cyrsiau uwch

8-10 Tachwedd – Bangor NEUCymrureps-training-Advanced-8-10nov23. eventbrite.co.uk

13-15 Tachwedd – Abertawe

NEUCymru-reps-training-Advanced13-15nov23.eventbrite.co.uk

Cyfraith cyflogaeth

27 Tachwedd – Cardiff NEUCymrureps-training-Employment-Law27nov23.eventbrite.co.uk

Mynd i’r afael â materion cyflog

22 Medi – Cyffordd Llandudno NEUCymru-reps-training-tacklingpay-22sep23.eventbrite.co.uk

Trafod telerau (dileu swyddi)

29 Tachwedd – Swyddfa NEU Cymru NEUCymru-reps-trainingNegotiation-29nov23.eventbrite. co.uk

Os oes gennych chi ddiddordeb mewn dod yn gynrychiolydd yn y gweithle a mynd ar un o’r cyrsiau, anfonwch e-bost i cymru.wales@ neu.org.uk – mae gan gynrychiolwyr hawl gyfreithiol i gael hyfforddiant a bydd yr NEU yn cefnogi unrhyw gynrychiolydd sy’n ei chael hi’n anodd cael amser i ffwrdd o’r gwaith i fod yn bresennol.

RHAGOR O GYRSIAU

DRWY WULF

Mae cyrsiau hefyd ar gael drwy brosiect Cronfa Ddysgu Undebau Cymru (WULF) ac mae rhestr wedi’i diweddaru o’r pynciau i’w gweld yn tinyurl.com/Cymru-training

Hoffwch ni ar Facebook yn facebook.com/neucymrutraining, dilynwch ni ar Twitter drwy @neucymrutrain ac ewch i neu.org.uk/learning-and-events

Blas o Gymru ym mhen draw’r byd

Ym Mhatagonia y cafodd yr ysgolion cynradd ac uwchradd Cymraeg cyntaf yn y byd eu sefydlu.

MAE addysgwyr a chefnogwyr LHDT+ yn NEU Cymru wedi bod yn gwneud gwaith trefnu yn eu digwyddiadau Pride lleol eleni. Yn ogystal â bod yn bresennol yn Pride yn Abertawe, Bae Colwyn (ar y dde), Llanelli a Sir Benfro am y tro cyntaf, gorymdeithiodd y grŵp mwyaf eto yn Pride Cymru yng Nghaerdydd fis Mehefin. Mae cynlluniau ar y gweill hefyd i fod yn rhan o Pride Casnewydd fis Medi.

Mae ein neges ni’n glir – mae gwneud gwaith trefnu i gynnwys pobl LHDT+ yn ein hysgolion, colegau a chymunedau lleol yn fater o bwys i’r NEU. Ein thema ar gyfer Pride eleni oedd Dathlu, Addysgu, Gwarchod: Gyda’n Gilydd, yn unol â phenderfyniad fforwm drefnu LHDT+ yr NEU. Mae’r thema’n cydnabod bod Pride yn ddathliad, gan roi sylw i’n gwaith i gynnwys pobl LHDT+ mewn ysgolion a cholegau ac i warchod dysgwyr a staff rhag ffobia a rhagfarn yn hyn o beth. Mae’r thema hefyd yn amlygu ein hegwyddorion sylfaenol, sef undod a chydberthynas. n Os ydych chi’n aelod LHDT+, ewch i bit.ly/LGBTplus2023 i wneud cais i fod yn rhan o gynhadledd addysgwyr LHDT+ gyntaf Cymru yn Abertawe ar benwythnos 30 Medi-1 Hydref.

Canfod hwyliau a theimladau disgyblion bob bore

MAE athro blwyddyn 5 a ffrind iddo sy’n creu meddalwedd wedi lansio gwefan sy’n helpu addysgwyr i ganfod sut mae’r disgyblion yn teimlo ar ddechrau bob diwrnod ysgol.

Mae Morgan Rees a Gareth Williams wedi dyfeisio Moodly, sef system y gall plant ei defnyddio i dicio blwch bob bore sy’n dangos eu hwyliau. Mewn dosbarthiadau hyn, gallan nhw ddweud beth a allai fod wedi creu’r teimladau hynny hefyd.

Dywedodd Morgan, sy’n addysgu yn Ysgol Gynradd Gatholig St Therese ym

Mhort Talbot: “Doedd yr hen system o lynu enw ar fwrdd ddim yn breifat iawn i’r plant. Drwy ddefnyddio’r system newydd, y cyfan sy’n rhaid ei wneud yw ticio blwch ar liniadur yng nghornel yr ystafell, a bydd y wybodaeth yn ymddangos ar fy nghyfrifiadur i.”

Os bydd yr adborth yn dangos nad yw disgyblion yn hapus y diwrnod hwnnw, gall yr athro gynnig sgwrsio â nhw. “Weithiau byddan nhw’n dymuno cael sgwrs sydyn, ond weithiau fyddan nhw ddim, a fydda’ i ddim yn eu gorfodi,” meddai Morgan, sy’n aelod o’r NEU ers 2015. “Mae’r plant yn barod iawn i ddefnyddio’r system, ac mae’n creu cofnod hefyd, er mwyn i ni allu edrych

ar eu hwyliau nhw dros gyfnod o amser.”

Dywedodd mai’r nod gyda Moodly oedd bod yn rhagweithiol yn hytrach nag yn ymatebol. “A finnau’n athro dosbarth amser llawn, roedd hi’n bwysig nad oedd hyn yn ychwanegu at lwyth gwaith yr athro dosbarth. Ar ôl gosod y system mewn dosbarth, mae’n golygu llai o waith na gwneud y gofrestr.”

Mae pedair ysgol ar ddeg yn Abertawe

a Chastell-nedd Port Talbot eisoes yn defnyddio’r system, ar ôl iddi gael ei chyflwyno ar ddechrau’r flwyddyn. Gobaith Morgan yw y bydd mwy o ysgolion yn awyddus i’w defnyddio. Mae hefyd yn gobeithio creu fersiwn ar gyfer ysgolion uwchradd.

(Chwith) Gwefan lles disgyblion Moodly

(Chwith isaf) Morgan, yr athro

(Dde isaf) Gareth, y crëwr meddalwedd

n Mae’r feddalwedd ar gael yn rhad ac am ddim i ysgolion ei defnyddio, gyda fersiwn bremiwm ar gael am ffi. I gael rhagor o wybodaeth ewch i moodly.education neu anfonwch e-bost at morgan@moodly.educate

Yma i helpu

FEL yr undeb addysg mwyaf, gall NEU Cymru roi gwasanaeth heb ei ail i’w aelodau. Mae ein tîm proffesiynol yma i ddefnyddio’u harbenigedd er mwyn helpu ein rhwydwaith o gynrychiolwyr gweithle ac ysgrifenyddion rhanbarthau a changhennau.

Os oes gennych chi broblem yn y gwaith neu i gael rhagor o wybodaeth am ein gwasanaethau i aelodau, cysylltwch â’r canlynol: n cynrychiolydd eich gweithle

n ysgrifennydd eich cangen

n AdviceLine

n Swyddfa NEU Cymru.

NEU Cymru

Ty Sinnott, 18 Neptune Court, Vanguard Way, Caerdydd CF24 5PJ

Ffôn: 029 2049 1818

E-bost: cymru.wales@neu.org.uk

Ysgrifennydd Cymru: David Evans

Uwch Swyddogion Cymru:

Debbie Scott, Daniel Maney

Uwch Swyddog Polisi Cymru: Mary van den Heuvel

Trefnydd y Gogledd: Cai Jones

Trefnydd y De: Robert Goddard

Cyfreithiwr Cymru: Angharad Booker

Aelodau Gweithredol: Máiréad

Canavan, Elizabeth McLean, Hannah O’Neill

Prif Swyddfa

Yr Undeb Addysg Cenedlaethol, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, Llundain WC1H 9BD

Ffôn: 020 7388 6191

Gwefan: neu.org.uk

Llywydd: Emma Rose

Ysgrifennydd Cyffredinol: Daniel Kebede

Cyfieithiad gan Rhys Iorwerth Cyf rhysiorwerth@hotmail.com

Aelodau gweithrediaeth yr NEU yng Nghymru

MAE’R tri aelod sydd gan Gymru ar weithrediaeth genedlaethol yr NEU –Máiréad Canavan, Hannah O’Neill ac Elizabeth McLean – i gyd wedi’u hailethol tan fis Awst 2025.

Mae Máiréad wedi bod yn aelod o’r weithrediaeth ers iddi gael ei hethol am y tro cyntaf yn 2019, ac ar hyn o bryd hi yw ysgrifennydd cangen Bro Morgannwg. Hannah, a gafodd ei

hethol i’r weithrediaeth ym mis Hydref 2020, yw ysgrifennydd presennol cangen Blaenau Gwent, ac

Elizabeth, a gafodd ei ethol gyntaf ym mis Ebrill 2021, yw ysgrifennydd presennol cangen Sir Ddinbych.

Gwenyn lliwgar yn Eisteddfod yr Urdd

DYCHWELODD NEU Cymru i Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr Urdd ddechrau’r haf, a honno’n cael ei chynnal eleni yn Llanymddyfri, Sir Gâr.

Y digwyddiad hwn, sy’n para wythnos ac yn cael ei drefnu gan Urdd Gobaith Cymru, yw’r wyl ieuenctid fwyaf yn Ewrop, ac mae’n denu miloedd o ymwelwyr.

Roedd stondin NEU Cymru – a ninnau’n ei rhannu â Dangos y Cerdyn Coch i Hiliaeth – yn rhoi cyfle i swyddogion sôn wrth ymwelwyr am yr ymgyrch gyflogau lwyddiannus a’r gwaith mae’r undeb yn ei wneud i ysgafnhau llwyth gwaith athrawon. Roedd gwybodaeth ar gael hefyd am ymgyrch Gwerthfawrogi Addysg, Gwerthfawrogi Addysgwyr yr undeb, ynghyd â phrosiect

Cronfa Ddysgu Undebau Cymru (WULF). Serch hynny, y prif atyniad ar y stondin eleni oedd y gystadleuaeth lliwio gwenyn, a ddenodd dros 150 o gynigion. Roedd pawb a gymerodd ran yn cael pecyn o hadau blodau gwyllt i’w plannu gartref neu yn yr ysgol er mwyn denu gwenyn, a rhoddwyd gwesty gwenyn pren, ecogyfeillgar, yn wobrau i’r enillwyr bob dydd.

Meddai Stuart Williams, swyddog polisi NEU Cymru: “Gyda degau ar filoedd yn bresennol, a nifer ohonyn nhw’n aelodau o’r NEU, mae Eisteddfod yr Urdd yn gyfle da inni gwrdd â rhieni a phobl ifanc i drafod ein hymgyrchoedd. Roedd hyn yn arbennig o berthnasol eleni, gan fod modd i ni drafod ein hymgyrch gyflogau lwyddiannus, a hefyd y camau mae’r undeb yn eu cymryd i leihau llwyth gwaith.”

(O’r chwith) Máiréad, Elizabeth a Hannah

(Clocwedd o’r brig) Stondin yr NEU; un o ymdrechion llwyddiannus y gystadleuaeth lliwio gwenyn; Elen Haf Dodd, o Ysgol ID Hooson yn Wrecsam, un o’r enillwyr

Affordable uniforms Welsh Government tightens guidelines.

Morning check-in Teacher develops mood software for pupils.

inwales

Issue 74

Autumn term 2023

90% say workload impacts mental health

NINE in every ten education professionals in Wales say their workload has impacted on their emotional health and wellbeing, with nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) saying their workload has increased over the last 12 months.

These are some of the findings of a mental health and wellbeing survey carried out by NEU Cymru in July which attracted more than 2,100 responses. Nearly 77 per cent of those who responded said they worked an extra six to 20-plus hours a week, and 43 per cent said that their current workload was not achievable. More than half (56 per cent) said they were planning to leave or were thinking about leaving the profession.

David Evans, NEU Cymru secretary, said: “This survey clearly shows that the education workforce is suffering, and that workload needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. We have been working with Welsh Government to identify workload areas that need to be changed or removed, but a lot more work needs to be done.”

Other findings from the survey include:

n 87 per cent of education workers work more than their contracted hours

n 64 per cent have missed a day at work due to anxiety, stress or depression in the last year, with 34 per cent off due to work-related issues

n only 28 per cent have a mental health and wellbeing policy in their workplace

n 85 per cent of respondents feel pressured to work longer or additional hours.

NEU Cymru is calling for a wellbeing team to be set up in every workplace. The union’s wellbeing toolkit provides a practical guide to developing a team – email wulf@neu.org.uk

n The full results of the survey will be rolled out this autumn term. To find out more, email stuart.williams@neu.org.uk

Taking to the streets of Cardiff with Pride

NEU Cymru LGBT+ educators and allies celebrate around Wales. See page 3

September 2023 pay award for teachers

TEACHER members should see an extra five per cent on their pay slips from this September following the vote to accept the Welsh Government (WG) pay offer in March.

This year’s increase – fully funded – was part of a two-year deal.

It also included a 6.5 per cent pay award and 1.5 per cent lump sum for 2022/23, which was backdated to September 2022 and paid to members in April this year.

The WG also guaranteed that meaningful discussion would take place around school funding, workload and the pressures generated by Estyn inspections, as well as the accountability requirements of the regional school improvement consortia. Regular talks on these issues were held with the WG throughout May, June and July, and the union will report back to members on the outcome of the meetings in due course.

Argentine adventure Opportunity to teach Welsh in Patagonia.

British Council offers chance to teach Welsh in Patagonia

THREE teachers are being offered the opportunity to teach Welsh 8,000 miles away in South America next year.

The British Council’s Welsh Language Project is inviting applications to teach in Patagonia, Argentina, where the first settlers arrived from Wales in 1865.

Each year, the project gives three teachers paid placements to work in Y Wladfa, a Welsh-speaking settlement, where they will teach the language and help organise social activities to encourage people to speak in Welsh.

Placements will run from March to December. Applicants need to have qualified teacher status and experience of working with children or adults. The salary is £750 a month and accommodation, travel and health insurance are free.

n Apply at wales.britishcouncil.org/ en/programmes/education/welshlanguage-project by 9 October.

Cymru conference 2023

THE fifth NEU Cymru annual conference will be held at the Marriott Hotel in Swansea on 21 and 22 October.

Officers and representatives from all the branches and districts in Wales will be attending the weekend conference where motions on issues such as workload, pay and the possible reform of the school year will be debated.

Mental health animated films

STUDENTS at a special school in north Wales are producing a series of short films about mental health.

Three of the Right Door project animations were launched by the teenagers at Ysgol y Gogarth in Llandudno, Conwy, earlier this year and covered healthy eating and substance misuse. They are now working on further episodes about fitness, eating disorders, LGBT+ and bereavement.

The students work with a local arts organisation, TAPE Community Music and Film, which is developing a production hub on the school site for future projects. The animations are available at youtube.com/@ TheRightDoorAnimations and more will be added as they are completed.

Government acts on uniform costs

THE cost of school uniforms should not be a barrier to children attending school, and governing bodies must ensure they are affordable for families, says NEU Cymru.

The union’s secretary, David Evans, was speaking after the Welsh Government announced it was tightening up guidance to schools to prioritise making uniforms cheaper – and to avoid compulsory logos that can add to the expense of clothing.

David said: “With the cost-of-living crisis as it is, families should not be having to spend precious money on special uniforms. School uniform should be widely available.

“Members will be heartened to see that the Welsh Government has been listening to us, as making school uniforms affordable was an ask in our manifesto, ahead of the last Senedd elections. Reducing the cost of going to school is important to our members.”

He said the union would have liked to see the Welsh Government offer support for the secondhand uniform schemes that many schools operate.

“As we know, schools have limited resources, so asking them to do extra, without additional funding, will be a challenge in some areas and should be addressed,” he said.

Calling on governing bodies to review their school uniform policies before the end of the 2023 summer term, Wales Education Minister Jeremy Miles said: “Most schools are doing everything they can to keep costs down for families, but we still see too many cases where families have to purchase expensive uniforms. This guidance will support schools in reducing these costs.”

He said many lower income families would be eligible for the school essentials grant, which offers up to £200 to purchase school uniform and equipment. Applications must be made through local councils by May 2024.

Learning dates for your diary

TRAINING FOR REPS

Foundation and advanced reps courses are once again available as a full three-day course, where reps will attend for all three days in one block. Courses have been arranged, subject to numbers, on the following dates:

Foundation courses

11-13 October – Newport NEUCymrureps-training-Foundation-11-13oct23. eventbrite.co.uk

22-24 November – Carmarthen

NEUCymru-reps-training-Foundation22-24nov23.eventbrite.co.uk

Advanced courses

8-10 November – Bangor NEUCymrureps-training-Advanced-8-10nov23. eventbrite.co.uk

13-15 November – Swansea

NEUCymru-reps-training-Advanced13-15nov23.eventbrite.co.uk

Employment law

27 November – Cardiff NEUCymru-

reps-training-Employment-Law27nov23.eventbrite.co.uk

Tackling pay issues

22 September – Llandudno Junction

NEUCymru-reps-training-tackling-pay22sep23.eventbrite.co.uk

Negotiation (redundancy)

29 November – NEU Cymru office

NEUCymru-reps-training-Negotiation29nov23.eventbrite.co.uk

If you’re interested in becoming a workplace rep, email cymru.wales@ neu.org.uk – reps are legally entitled to undertake training and the NEU will support any rep who has difficulty getting time off work to attend.

MORE COURSES THROUGH WULF

Courses are also available through the Wales Union Learning Fund (WULF) project and a regularly updated list of topics can be found at tinyurl.com/Cymru-training

Check your email inbox for information on the latest training opportunities. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/neucymrutraining, follow

on Twitter at @neucymrutrain and visit neu.org.uk/learning-and-events

A taste of Wales a long way from home

The first Welsh-language primary and secondary schools in the world were founded in Patagonia.

NEU Cymru LGBT+ educators and allies have been organising at their local Pride events this year. As well as attending Swansea, Colwyn Bay (right), Llanelli and Pembrokeshire Pride for the first time, the biggest group of members yet marched at Pride Cymru in Cardiff in June, and there were plans to be at Newport Pride in September. Our message is clear – organising for LGBT+ inclusion in our schools, colleges and local communities is NEU business. Our theme for Pride this year, decided by the NEU’s LGBT+ organising forum, was Celebrate, Educate, Protect: Together. It recognises that Pride is a celebration; as well as our work to educate for LGBT+ inclusion in schools and colleges and protect learners and staff from LGBT+ phobia and bigotry; and highlights our underlying principles of togetherness and solidarity.

n If you are an LGBT+ member, visit bit.ly/ LGBTplus2023 to apply to attend our inaugural Wales LGBT+ educators’ conference in Swansea on the weekend of 30 September-1 October.

Moodly checks in with pupils’ wellbeing at start of every day

A YEAR 5 teacher and his software architect friend have designed a website that helps educators gauge how pupils are feeling at the beginning of each school day.

Morgan Rees and Gareth Williams have devised Moodly, a system on which children can tick a box every morning to show their mood, and in older classes, what might have caused those feelings.

Morgan, who teaches at St Therese’s Catholic Primary School in Port Talbot, said: “The old system of sticking a name on a picture board wasn’t very discreet for the children. This way they can just tick a box on a laptop in the corner of the room and that information feeds back into my computer.”

If the feedback shows a pupil isn’t happy that day, the teacher can ask them if they want to talk about anything.

“Sometimes they do and we’ll have a quick chat, other times they don’t and I wouldn’t force them,” said Morgan, an NEU member since 2015.

“The children are really happy to use it and it gives a record as well so we can take a

look at their moods over a period of time.”

He said the idea behind Moodly was to try and be proactive rather than reactive.

“As a full-time class teacher it was important to me that it didn’t add any additional workload onto the class teacher. Once a class is set up it requires less input than taking the register.”

Fourteen primary schools in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot are already using the system, which was rolled out at the beginning of the year, and Morgan hopes more schools will be interested in using it. He also hopes to devise a version for secondary schools.

n The software is free for schools to use with a premium version available for a fee. For more information visit moodly.education or email morgan@moodly.educate

(Left) Moodly pupil wellbeing website

(Below left) Teacher Morgan (Below right) Software architect Gareth

Here to help

AS part of the largest education union in Europe, NEU Cymru can offer members an unrivalled service.

Our professional team is here to provide expertise to our network of workplace representatives and district and branch secretaries.

If you have a problem at work or want to know more about member services, contact:

n your workplace representative

n your branch secretary

n AdviceLine 0345 811 8111

n NEU Cymru office.

NEU Cymru

Ty Sinnott, 18 Neptune Court, Vanguard Way, Cardiff CF24 5PJ

Tel: 029 2049 1818

Email: cymru.wales@neu.org.uk

Wales secretary: David Evans

Senior Wales officers: Debbie Scott, Daniel Maney

Senior Wales policy officer: Mary van den Heuvel

North Wales organiser: Cai Jones

South Wales Organiser: Robert Goddard

Wales solicitor: Angharad Booker

Executive members:

Máiréad Canavan, Elizabeth McLean, Hannah O’Neill

Head office

National Education Union, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD

Tel: 020 7388 6191

Website: neu.org.uk

President: Emma Rose

General secretary: Daniel Kebede

Translation by Rhys Iorwerth Cyf rhysiorwerth@ hotmail.com

Your NEU executive members for Wales

WALES’ three members of the NEU national executive – Máiréad Canavan, Hannah O’Neill and Elizabeth McLean – have all been re-elected until August 2025.

Máiréad has been an executive member since she was first elected in 2019 and is the current Vale of Glamorgan branch secretary. Hannah, who was elected to the executive in

Busy bees at Urdd Eisteddfod

NEU Cymru returned to the Urdd National Eisteddfod in early summer, which this year was held in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire.

The annual week-long event, organised by the Welsh language youth organisation, Urdd Gobaith Cymru, is the largest youth festival in Europe and attracts thousands of visitors.

The NEU Cymru stall – shared with charity Show Racism the Red Card – gave officers the opportunity to tell visitors about its successful pay campaign and the work the union is doing around teacher workload. There was also information on the union’s Value Education, Value Educators campaign and the Wales Union Learning Fund (WULF) project.

However, the main attraction on the stall this year was the union’s bee-colouring competition, which had more than 150 entries. Each entrant received a pack of wildflower seeds to plant at home or at school to attract bees, and prizes of an eco-friendly wooden bee hotel were given to the winners each day.

NEU Cymru policy officer Stuart Williams said: “With tens of thousands of attendees, many of them NEU members, the Urdd Eisteddfod is a great opportunity for us to engage with parents and young people to discuss our current campaigns.

“This was especially important this year as we were able to discuss our successful pay campaign and also the steps the union is taking to reduce workload.”

October 2020, is the current Blaenau Gwent branch secretary, and Elizabeth, first

elected in April 2021, is the current Denbighshire branch secretary.

(From left) Máiréad, Elizabeth and Hannah

(Clockwise from above) The NEU stand; a winning entry from the bee-colouring competition; Elen Haf Dodd, from Ysgol ID Hooson in Wrexham, one of the winners