the Teacher – March 2016

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Sixth form college strike!

15 March 2016

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Ask the Contents Union

Welcome

A better way As this edition of the Teacher goes to press our members in sixth form colleges are preparing for a strike and demonstration on 15 March. See pages 4 -5 for the latest on our dispute, plus how all members can get involved in the campaign to save our colleges.

We know, as the cover of our Baseline Assessment research says, that children are not machines or robots.

They learn in different ways and at different rates and cannot be reduced to a number.

We know, therefore, that there’s a better way for children and for education than the Government’s current obsession with data, with high-stakes tests and with punishment waiting for those who fail. There must be a better way than this, one that values children and allows teachers to use their professional expertise. See pages 28-31 for our response to the current primary assessment fiasco in England.

Elsewhere in the magazine we provide tips on finding that all important first job (pages 22-23) and an exposé of the effects of welfare reforms (page 50) on the children in our classrooms.

Christine Blower – General Secretary

22 First job jitters We’ve put together a handy guide for members who are searching for their first teaching post.

Features

24 Salad days Despite the UK being one of the richest economies, child poverty is on the rise. Find out more about the thousands of children who arrive at school too hungry to learn.

04 Saving our sixth form colleges With colleges facing reduced funding, NUT members are taking action against the growing impact of funding cuts on teachers’ terms and conditions.

07 A terrible waste Nic Dakin MP, Shadow Schools Minister weighs in on the sixth form college debate as he offers support to the NUT’s campaign to save our colleges.

28 There must be a better way High-stakes tests, shifting goalposts and a narrow curriculum are all features of the Government’s assessment regime. Here the Teacher brings together members’ view and looks at how the NUT is responding.

15 Learn English somewhere Poet in residence Michael Rosen highlights the paradox of politicians expecting immigrants to assimilate to British culture, while cutting resources that would facilitate English language learning.

50 Backbeat Professor Ruth Lupton provides guest commentary on the issues of child poverty, welfare reforms and the battle schools are facing to bridge the gap.

20 Trade Union Bill The Government’s Trade Union Bill is endangering our right to strike. It’s time to fight back.

President Philipa Harvey General Secretary Christine Blower Deputy General Secretary Kevin Courtney Editor Daniel Humphry Journalists Emily Jenkins, Monica Roland Administration Maryam Hulme Cover Jess Hurd/reportdigital Newsdesk 020 7380 4708 teacher@nut.org.uk

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March / April 16 I the Teacher

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r u o g n i v Sa m r o f h t x i s s e g e l l o c Tuesday 15 March will see NUT members in sixth form colleges taking strike action. They will be defending their sector against the growing impact of funding cuts on teachers’ terms and conditions, which also impact on the young people they teach. With schools now facing the prospect of cuts as well, these are the opening stages of a campaign in which the whole Union will soon be involved.

Over 150,000 young people are enrolled at sixth form colleges, a third of them from the most disadvantaged parts of the country. But their colleges saw their funding cut by 14% in real terms under the Coalition. Over 70% have dropped courses and over 80% have increased class sizes. One third of principals say their colleges may soon be financially unviable. Funding for 16-19 pupils was similarly cut in schools with sixth forms – but the effects have been much more stark in colleges.

The Chancellor’s “funding per pupil protection” for schools and colleges for the next four years means that inflation will further cut funding for both sectors, by around 8% in real terms.

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March / April 16 I the Teacher

These cuts are going to bite very hard in schools – but the situation is already dire in sixth form colleges and NUT members have decided it’s time to do something about it. They’ve voted to take strike action on 15 March, in order to support a national demonstration in London on the day before the budget, to put maximum pressure on the Chancellor.

The NUT’s funding campaign in sixth form colleges is leading the way for a necessary whole union campaign against the cuts in schools and early years. There’s no better way to start that campaign than for NUT members in schools to show their support for their sixth form college colleagues.

Even more galling is the Government’s willingness to oversee a distorted allocation of post-16 spending.

According to the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association, the 93 sixth form colleges have lost £100 million of annual funding since 2010. In contrast, the Government agreed to allocate £45 million to establish just one 16-19 free school in Westminster at a cost of about £90,000 for each student.

The threat posed by this lack of funding is exacerbated by the Government’s area reviews of post-16 provision.

That programme, which covers all FE and sixth form colleges, aims to establish “fewer and often larger, more resilient and efficient providers” and threatens many sixth form colleges with closure or merger.

The NUT has been campaigning for the cost of VAT on goods and services to be lifted from sixth form colleges, since schools and academies are not subject to these costs. That would save each college around £300,000 a year. The Government has now offered colleges a route to escape VAT… by becoming academies.

A teacher from one sixth form college said: “Principals are looking towards academisation as an escape route – but that will only serve to prop up a failing Government policy. The Tory government is asset-stripping the best performing sector in education. Invest in sixth form colleges, don’t asset strip us.”

The NUT is organising a national response on 15 March, pressing for restoration of funding in defence of sixth form colleges. Our campaign has already had an impact. The sixth form college presence at our lobby of Parliament in November clearly had an effect on the Chancellor’s funding announcements. But his funding freeze will still hugely damage sixth form colleges and schools alike.

“Osborne announced an 8% real terms cut for this Parliament. I don’t see how this can translate into sighs

Saving our sixth form colleges

An NUT representative in Leicester commented: “Sixth form colleges represent a second chance at education for thousands of 16-19 year olds. The Government has already cut them to the point where they can barely function. The ultimate goal, as things stand, is the destruction of this sector altogether.”

6fc Save Our Colle ges

of relief. An 8% cut is definitely enough to tip many colleges over the edge,” said one sixth form college teacher from Yorkshire.

For sixth form colleges, the NUT is seeking a restoration of 16-19 funding to pre-coalition levels; exemption from VAT, without needing academy status; and removal of the threats of closure or merger. For schools, we are seeking a similar restoration of funding and, should the Government press ahead with its plans for a new national funding formula, extra funding to protect schools in “losing” areas against cuts, while allowing the funding increases needed elsewhere.

STOP PRESS The Government is clearly rattled that our campaign is exposing the catastrophic impact of its funding cuts. It has threatened legal action to seek to block our strike, arguing that it is “political”, not about terms and conditions. The UK already has incredibly restrictive anti-strike laws – and this Government is taking things further by demanding minimum turnouts in strike ballots and placing even bigger restrictions on action in “essential public services”. The NUT hasn’t been intimidated by this threat of legal action. We have strong legal advice and have responded to the Secretary of State saying that we will see her in court if necessary but that all plans for the strike and demonstration are going ahead. So sixth form college members should get ready to take action on 15 March – we can win our campaign!

How to get involved • If you’re a sixth form college teacher, join the strike – attend the national demonstration in London or, if you can’t do that, join in local activities like leafleting and street stalls • If you’re teaching in a school or elsewhere, wear one of our stickers to support sixth form college members – and start discussing how you and your colleagues can join the wider campaign on education funding • If you’re retired, join the demonstration in London or contact your regional office for information about what else you can do locally • Show your support on Facebook and Twitter – look out for #SaveOurColleges

teachers.org.uk

March / April 16 I the Teacher

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A terrible waste

A terrible waste

By Nic Dakin MP, Shadow Schools Minister and Labour Member of Parliament for Scunthorpe Let me start by declaring my interests as a lifelong NUT member and former Principal of a beacon sixth form college. I know from my own experience the cracking job sixth form colleges have done for nearly 50 years.

They’ve worked with their partner schools to give students an outstanding deal. Yet they now face some of the biggest challenges ever as Conservative Government policy threatens their very existence. With 11-16 funding per student in schools at £5,553 and in academies at £5,969, why are sixth form college students funded at just £4,560 per student?

campaign is successful in engaging with parents and students to get Government to think again about its accidental attack on sixth form colleges.

The area review process should involve all institutions directly and tackle the real areas of under-delivery. Sixth form colleges should enjoy the same exemptions to VAT that schools and academies do. Action should be taken to equalise the funding for 16-18 year olds to end the nonsense of these crucial years being so dreadfully underfunded compared to pre-16 and higher education – which just doesn’t make sense.

Whilst the Chancellor’s last minute decision not to further cut the core post-16 funding was welcome, sixth form colleges still receive 20% less funding than schools and academies. Despite the promise of no further cuts in cash terms for four years, there’ll still be an 8% cut in real terms over that period. So I’m pleased to support the NUT’s excellent Save Our Colleges campaign. It was good to see so many sixth form college teachers lobbying their MPs at Westminster last November.

MPs from across the parties have consistently championed their own sixth form colleges because they know from personal experience that sixth form colleges do a great job for the local community. We need students, parents and staff to contact their local MPs and remind them of what’s at risk – sixth form education that matches anything else in the state or private sector and delivers the very best value for money. The Sixth Form Colleges Association says that 72% of sixth form colleges have already dropped courses and 81% have increased class sizes because of reduced funding.

Yet the Conservative Government continues to waste public money on its own pet education projects with free schools here and UTCs there, whether or not the extra places are needed. The solution to the chaos it has created are area reviews that don’t look at the whole area. How can the post-16 education in an area be improved and give better value for money if provision in schools and academies is excluded from the review? It’s a nonsense!

Meanwhile, the area review process risks the future of sixth form colleges as mergers loom. The result for learners will be a narrower curriculum choice and less enrichment activities, with the likelihood of longer journeys to access learning. Politicians and civil servants sat in Whitehall just don’t understand how having to travel large distances in areas where transport is not always well connected can imperil access to learning. So I hope that the NUT’s

I the Teacher 7

LOCAL AUTHORITIES WILL SOON BE FINALISING 2016-17 SCHOOL BUDGETS We’d like to hear how the new budgets will affect your school, pupils and working life.

Email your experiences to: funding@nut.org.uk

.uk er@nut.org h c a te t a k wsdes mail our ne E ? y r to s a Got

t u o b a d n a Out New NUT website now launched!

Check teachers.org.uk to see for yourself!

Eastern Region Women’s Network event The Eastern Region Women’s weekend took place in Cambridge. The theme of the event was A Woman’s Place is in her Union, and it began on Friday night with fun social activities. On Saturday morning the General Secretary, Christine Blower, opened the day of

workshops by talking about her own role and that of other women in the union movement. The next session on Finding Your Voice, led by author and behaviour expert Sue Cowley, was stimulating and engaging and left everyone with some excellent strategies to take back to their classrooms. The afternoon included a discussion on barriers preventing women from becoming more active in the Union.

Participants heard about two local NUT women’s networks that have been set up in Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire and were encouraged to consider doing the same in their associations.

Education and Adoption Bill The Education and Adoption Bill has completed its final Parliamentary stages.

The Bill was subjected to vigorous debate in the House of Lords with a series of amendments tabled by Labour, Lib Dem and cross-bench peers. These were the result of coordinated lobbying by a broad coalition of unions – the NUT, ATL, NAHT and Unison – along with the National Governors’ Association and the Catholic Education Service and with the support of PTA-UK. These amendments sought to insert some democratic safeguards to address some of the worst elements of the Bill.

Although the Government’s Parliamentary majority meant these were unsuccessful, an amendment rescinding the “duty” on the Secretary 10

I the Teacher

of State to make an academy order for a school rated inadequate by Ofsted resulted in a tied vote, while another seeking to secure consultation rights for parents, school staff and governors failed by just 20 votes.

The Government also tabled its own amendments meaning that an inadequate or coasting academy could have its funding agreement terminated where improvement cannot be demonstrated, and academy sponsors will be required to inform parents of their improvement plans when taking over a school.

See Ask the Union on page 36 for how this will impact on schools with an inadequate Ofsted judgement.

Regional Early Career Teachers’ weekend In January, the firmly established and highly successful Regional Early Career Teachers’ (RECT) event took place and was attended by around 60 participants.

There was a blend of interactive sessions, plenaries, seminars and workshops on a range of topics, such as social media, stress, supply teaching and applying for jobs. In conjunction with the event was a Getting Active in the NUT session, which saw 15 participants plan, devise and deliver a project on ways to increase involvement in the NUT.

heartunions Week of Action From 8-14 February the NUT supported a week of action against the Trade Union Bill through meetings, Twitterstorms and stalls. Spearheaded by the TUC, the aim of heartunions Week was to encourage members to get involved in the campaign against the Bill, share positive union stories and recruit new members.

Out and about

Election of General Secretary Following Christine Blower's announcement that she will stand down at the end of May 2016, the Executive has agreed a timetable to elect her replacement until the end of the term in 2019, and that Electoral Reform Services, The Election Centre, 33 Clarendon Road, London N8 0NW will be the Independent Scrutineer.

Constituent associations can submit nominations to NUT HQ up to the closing date of 1 June 2016. Candidates require at least 10 nominations to stand. Ballot papers will

NUT hosts European Trade Union conference on workplace stress

be despatched on 24 June 2016, and the deadline for return to ERS is midday on 15 July 2016. The successful candidate will immediately take up the role. If you wish to find out more about the nomination process, contact your local secretary.

Further information about the General Secretary election and the Executive elections can be found at: teachers.org.uk/members-reps/elections

Women’s event in Devon

In January, the NUT hosted a conference organised by the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE). The conference was attended by trade union and education professionals from across Europe.

General Secretary Christine Blower, who is also president of the ETUCE, opened the conference.

NUT member Dave Thomas, head teacher of Ashmount School in Leicestershire, was a guest speaker. Dave talked about the importance of a supportive culture which values all staff, a physical environment that is conducive to teaching and learning, and a positive ethos.

Greg Jones, NUT Health and Safety Adviser, commented that Dave’s “enthusiasm and motivation was very refreshing to witness and shows that schools with the right ethos and culture can make a real difference.

Stress on staff can be reduced significantly if they feel valued and have control of their working environment.”

Music for Youth

Participants from a number of South West divisions attended a very successful event hosted by Devon NUT entitled Women in Discussion – Teaching Controversial Issues. Susannah Billeter, Devon NUT Equalities Officer, assembled a varied programme where delegates looked at issues such as part-time work, work/life balance, workload and stress, ways in which to discuss controversial issues in schools, and education in Palestine and the work of the charity Edukid. Positive feedback from delegates has led to consideration of future informal social events to assist with networking as well as formal events on various topics.

Positive result in pension decision NUT member Patrick Allen, the first winner of the NUT Teacher Award as part of the Music for Youth National Partnership Awards, has been busy as he continues working with the Chagossian community in Crawley. Patrick spent two weeks in Mauritius where he attended a three-day conference on the Mauritian Diaspora, delivered presentations, visited a school and university, and met with a local drumming group. Back in the UK he has established links with the Young Vic and is developing a musical play involving drummers and student actors. Patrick plans to use the cash prize from the NUT Teacher Award to buy drums for ongoing music projects.

There was a successful outcome to a case pertaining to a decision by Teachers’ Pensions not to pay the widow’s pension to an NUT member following the untimely death of her husband, also an NUT member. Teachers’ Pensions stated that they could not pay the widow’s pension because the Islamic marriage or nikah ceremony that joined the members in matrimony is not considered sufficient for marriage in English law and people who marry via a nikah ceremony are recommended also to have a civil ceremony.

The members were not properly informed about this so did not have a civil ceremony. The NUT appealed for Teachers’ Pensions to reconsider their decision, which was accepted and the member will receive her widow’s pension for the rest of her life.

I the Teacher 11

Anne Swift, new NUT President

Anne Swift, new NUT President

Photo: Justin Tallis

On the eve of her signing in as new NUT President, the Teacher catches up with Anne Swift to discuss her hopes for the year ahead.

What is your history with the Union?

What are your hopes for your time as President?

I’ve been a member of the NUT since I started teaching in 1982. I started off as a school rep, then became active in my local association in Scarborough and – back when Conference was regularly held there in the 80s – I got involved in looking after the guests of the Union. Conference got me interested in the international work of the NUT and how we work with other trade unions across the world.

Being part of the leadership of the Union through this time of big change will be a privilege. For a long time we’ve discussed Professional Unity – one union for all teachers – so if we start to make bigger inroads and make that a reality then I’d be really proud to be a part of it.

Do you have a philosophy when it comes to education?

I feel that the learning process is a creative process and I’m all for learning through experience – play, creativity, helping people to find what their talents are. Children shouldn’t be pigeon-holed into a certain set of criteria by policymakers who don’t know anything about child development. They don’t take any notice of the research on how people learn and what it really takes to embed learning.

Why did you stand to become President?

Well I was asked, which helps – it gives you confidence.

But I felt that I would try and go beyond what I am capable of. I believe children should be pushed to what they are truly capable of, out of their comfort zone, and so I thought I should apply that to my own life.

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I the Teacher

One of the key parts of your role as President is the opening speech at Conference. Do you have a key message for it?

I know what I am going to say, at least the framework is in place. It’s centred around what I think education is for… what it’s about. Teachers should be trusted to use their professional expertise to meet the needs of all children.

I’ll also make references to my time on a Finland trip two years ago. That was such an eye opener. We can learn a lot from the way other places do things.

It sounds like you are going to be a very active President…

I feel the key role of the President is to be the public face of the Union. I want to promote Union policy and listen to the concerns of members and feed that back into our forward planning for campaigns that resonate with them.

Success stories

Success stories The winter months might be biting, but that hasn’t stopped NUT members fighting for their rights in schools and colleges across England and Wales.

Here are just some of the successes that teachers have been enjoying in their schools and colleges.

And don’t forget, if you’ve had a victory in your area then let us know via: success@nut.org.uk Lincolnshire members win pay dispute Members in Lincolnshire recently demonstrated how teachers can win a protracted dispute with a difficult employer by organising collectively in the workplace.

The teachers at Spalding Grammar School were refused a 1% pay increase last September, as recommended by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).

Members expressed their dissatisfaction at the withholding of the pay increase, but were told that the school could not afford to give its teachers the cost of living pay rise.

After negotiations failed the members were balloted for strike action. The result was that the overwhelming majority of members at this Linconshire school voted in favour of taking action.

“Teachers at Spalding Grammar School cannot understand why they have been treated so differently to other Lincolnshire teachers and those across the country, who have received the recommended pay rise,” said division secretary Ken Rustidge at the time.

But just days before the strike was due to go ahead in February, the school’s governors decided to reverse their decision. Teachers will now receive the 1% salary increase, backdated to September 2015.

Nick Raine, NUT regional officer for the Yorkshire/ Midland Region, said: “It’s a great victory for the NUT members at the school, who stood together to ensure they were treated fairly.”

UCAT success Teachers at a chain of schools in the North West and Midlands recently took action after a pay proposal featuring performance related pay and just a 1% rise on M6 was announced. Reps rallied members and held an indicative ballot for action, with a 93% turnout and 100% yes vote coming back on the ballot.

Following a meeting at the school, UCAT agreed to pay 2% at M6 and confirmed pay portability for inclusion in next year’s policy. The concession is a great success for our members in UCAT and one that could not have been realised without organised action.

Success in Bristol NUT members at the John Cabot Academy (JCA) were due to take up to six days of joint strike action with NASUWT members in January 2016, until last minute talks resulted in significant successes on appraisal, cover, drop-ins and class sizes.

Members had voted overwhelmingly to take action after repeated attempts to discuss issues had not resulted in action. Following intensive negotiations involving local and regional officers, the outcome was put to members who voted to suspend the action.

NUT Rep at JCA, Tom Heath, played an important role throughout, ensuring members were involved every step of the way and took part in negotiations. Tom said: “The process has been a long one, but members are happy with the eventual outcome.”

South West NUT regional secretary, Andy Woolley, said: “This was an important result, not just for our members at this academy but also for those across the whole Cabot Learning Federation. We are now looking to ensure that the good practice we have established here is replicated throughout all the schools run by the chain.”

I the Teacher 13

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And I know this doesn’t come under the heading “migration” but when some of our banks went into administration hadn’t they “migrated” billions out of here?

But hey, that was another time, another year, and while we’re on the subject of the “other” our leaders have discovered the “Muslim Mother” who, they say, “is forced into segregation by husbands opposed to integration, what they need’s a dose of education: learn English or face deportation talking foreign is causing a crisis: they’re packing their bags and joining Isis.”

Why let facts get in the way of a good story?

Talking like this may win election glory, you’re telling people to learn English somewhere but it’s your fault that the classes aren’t there.

And apart from the job of whipping up hysteria the truth about women who’ve gone to Syria who have sadly chosen to go into this hell is they seem to speak English extremely well.

On a related matter – it’s a bit of a mystery.

I’ll have to include some personal history: I can speak English, as you might have guessed I’ve even passed the odd exam and test but amazing to say, I have several great-grandmothers who, along with most of their sisters and brothers. came to England hardly speaking a word of English, I know this is absurd but here’s me reading and writing the stuff.

I get by...as you can see, I’m good enough.

Learn English somewhere

We do our best to understand what politicians say; we try to follow their thinking from day to day.

For some years now they’ve explained why and how English lessons had to be cut teachers fired, colleges shut; migrants learning English have been shown the door, politicians explain there isn’t the money anymore, though some of us have stopped in our tracks when we hear them say they can’t collect tax I mean to say, aren’t you seriously bamboozled our leaders can’t get more tax out of Google?

How come my family learned English in a generation?

How did this happen without threat of deportation?

Though you won’t be surprised to know at the time some people had “evidence” to show that deep in east London, there was something alarming many Jewish mothers were seriously harming the nation’s gene pool, by not knowing how to speak English! Seems like then as now.

We do our best to understand what politicians say; we try to follow their thinking from day to day.

Poem by Michael Rosen Illustration by Dan Berry

March / April 16 I the Teacher

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l a n o i t a n r Inte

International solidarity International solidarity has always been an integral part of the trade union movement. People around the world are struggling to achieve decent education, employment, freedom from persecution and discrimination, and the right to have a say in how they are governed.

The NUT is committed to standing with teachers’ unions around the world to work for teachers’ and all children’s rights to free, high quality, public education.

Here we look at just three of the many organisations that the NUT supports.

Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group Unemployment in Nicaragua is high at around 800,000 out of an economically active population of 3.2 million and wages are low, with only 10% of the population earning more than US$10,000 per annum.

The NUT has joined up with the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group and Computer Aid to provide an education project that will ensure that trade union members have the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills to enable them to improve their access to employment, increase their income and be effective trade unionists.

The project, specifically aimed at women and young Nicaraguans, is taking place over the next three years.

Work has already started, enabling the Nicaraguan National Workers’ Front (FNT) to establish and maintain a computer laboratory at their training centre. The computer laboratory is available to all of the FNT’s affiliated unions, including the teachers’ union ANDEN, which is affiliated to Education International. Training on the computers will be carried out by teachers in the FNT’s training arm which was established to meet the needs of poor and vulnerable communities.

International Steve Sinnott Foundation Why not become an International Solidarity Officer (ISO)?

There are currently over 40 divisions/associations with registered International Solidarity Officers (ISOs). This is a role which strengthens the impact of the NUT in support of teachers’ and children’s rights worldwide. If you are interested in the role, either individually or working with a colleague, please tell your NUT local secretary that you would like to be considered for the role or possibly go to a local NUT meeting.

“We are delighted to support this project,” says Christine Blower, NUT General Secretary. “Developing ICT skills has huge benefits and can lead to better and more efficient unions and also help in better employment opportunities for Nicaraguans. We hope that the project will be highly successful.”

Sierra Leone Teachers’ Union: Gender and media advocacy training for women Although women in Sierra Leone account for more than 50% of the population, their participation in policy, governance and decision-making positions remains extremely low at 5%.

Supported by the NUT, the Sierra Leone Teachers’ Union (SLTU) has launched a new project aimed at giving a voice to women in decision-making, and to encourage more women to take a greater part in union activities at all levels.

The project aims to spread awareness of the SLTU’s new gender policy and to provide training to female union members on Advocacy through Media. One arm of this project includes broadcasting radio discussions in local districts on the advantages of having women teachers in leadership positions. Individual union meetings are also held throughout the country encouraging the discussion of gender and the empowerment of women.

“Sadly, true gender equality is yet to be achieved anywhere in the world. The initiatives taken by SLTU demonstrate their desire to achieve this goal and I am proud to continue our long-standing relationship with SLTU, and delighted that the NUT is supporting this project,” said Samidha Garg, International Relations Officer.

Last year, money collected at NUT annual conference went directly to supporting the scoping of a Learning Resource Centre in Haiti. This project is now in the early stages of development and will allow teachers to connect with each other and to provide mentoring support and the development of teaching methods.

There are further learning Resource Centres planned in Sierra Leone, Nepal and Uganda.

“We do not want aid, we just want to be able to access other teachers. I want to be able to look outside of my village and outside of Uganda. I know what problems I have to solve, be they teaching or social issues and I know how to research the solutions; I just need access. We have one computer in this school and it is for the head teacher’s use,” said a Ugandan teacher.

The Foundation, supported by the NUT, has an exciting and ambitious programme for 2016, which started with twelve teachers and educators from Sierra Leone attending a development programme in the UK for two weeks this February.

Education for All (EFA) is a global commitment to help secure access to quality education for the 57 million primary age children around the world still without schooling and the millions more without secondary education. Part of this campaign is Education for All Awareness Day, which sees young people in UK schools taking part in a range of activities across the curriculum and raising awareness and understanding in their local communities.

By promoting and campaigning for their peers overseas, young people are able to take ownership of their global citizenship. This year’s Education for All Awareness Day is Thursday 30 June 2016.

Please go to stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk for more information.

Cuba There are provisional plans for an NUT delegation to Cuba from 22-29 October 2016.

This is an interesting time for Cuba. The Miami 5 have been released and now there are plans for a visit to Cuba by President Obama.

On the cultural front there is a final opportunity to see the Buena Vista Social Club at the O2 in April.

See buenavistasocialclub.com for details.

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Trade Union Bill The Trade Union Bill has been touted by Government as a way to reform industrial action and trade unions. The reality is that it is an attack on every worker’s democratic right to strike.

Now being debated in the House of Lords, the Bill contains a range of measures that are designed to stop trade unionists from protecting their interests effectively at work and penalising those who have to resort to industrial action. These include the introduction of higher turnout and voting requirement on ballots, red tape burdens for picket lines with the threat of criminal sanctions, and a threatened cap on facility time for public sector employees.

Perhaps the most shocking way in which the Bill will seek to undermine workers’ right to strike is by allowing

employers to replace staff with agency workers during industrial action, weakening the position of those withdrawing their labour. If the Bill passes, the UK will be the only country in the EU to make these strike-busting activities lawful. Unfortunately, it is becoming ever clearer that the UK government’s anti-trade union policies go further than those of other countries.

Amongst other EU member states, 20 enshrine the right to strike in their national constitutions – including Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Sweden. Further afield, Canada and Japan have the right to strike enshrined in their constitutions, whether it is implicitly recognised or expressly stated.

Alongside allowing for strike breaking through bringing in temporary workers, the Bill will dramatically change the role of the Government’s regulator of trade unions, the Certification Officer. Currently the regulator considers complaints from members of a trade union. If the Bill passes, any member of the public will be able to ask the Certification Officer to investigate a trade union, potentially subcontracting the investigation to a city law firm, tying a union up in a lengthy, bureaucratic and expensive process. To add insult to injury the Certification Officer has also been given the power to pass on those costs to unions through a levy.

Fighting back Trade unions, workers and civil rights groups have been busy campaigning on these issues and there have been positive developments as a result of rallies, lobbying and public meetings up and down the country. The Government has already backtracked on certain aspects of the new rules, including a previous attempt to make trade unions report the contents of any social media and campaigning materials prior to taking strike action.

To those who oppose it, the Trade Union Bill is just one more assault on working people by this Government.

The Government is squeezing working people from both sides, slowly removing their collective rights, while introducing tribunal fees and charges to make it more difficult to enforce individual rights. In direct opposition to laws enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights and ILO Conventions, workers’ freedom of protest and assembly are being breached.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) and the UN’s International Labour Organisation have been critical of the Bill and raised specific concerns regarding the more stringent balloting requirements that will be applied to teachers and some other groups of workers. If the Government do not pull back from this proposal they will be standing against a body of international jurisprudence.

Bruce Carr QC, who was originally appointed by the Government to review the current laws, has come out publically stating that the new provisions will make industrial relations worse. For example, limiting the mandate for strike action to four months will mean employers may try to ‘run down the clock’ during negotiations. This cannot be good for trying to resolve workplace disputes.

The Government is now worried that the Bill will be amended in the House of Lords. In a letter leaked to the press, Minister Nick Boles MP urged his colleagues to agree a number of concessions such as allowing for electronic balloting and disapplying parts of the Bill in Scotland and Wales.

Photo: Andrew Wiard

There is no doubt the Trade Union Bill betrays an authoritarian approach to union activity as it undermines the freedom of protest and assembly as enshrined by the Convention on Human Rights. It appears that the Government’s preference for limitations to state regulation does not apply in the case of trade unionists. The provisions are designed to make it costly, administratively burdensome and risky for trade union members to exercise their right to strike, which has always been the cornerstone of collective bargaining and only used as a last resort. It is imperative that the Trade Union Bill is opposed and exposed as an attack on democratic liberties.

For the latest news on the Bill and to support the campaign to protect the right to strike go to: teachers.org.uk/tubill

Trade Union Bill

The Government is squeezing working people from both sides, slowly removing their collective rights, while introducing tribunal fees and charges to make it more difficult to enforce individual rights.

First job jitters Being a new teacher is an exciting time as you embark on your career path, but it can also be nerve-racking if you’re unsure of how to put your best foot forward. Here are a few simple tips that should help you land the job you’ve always wanted.

Finding a job

Application tips

In order to find your dream job you’ll need to know the best places to look. Teaching roles are widely advertised across several national publications such as the Times Educational Supplement (TES) and the Guardian, and local authority and school websites are also good places to search.

Once you’ve pinpointed vacancies you like, the next step is submitting an application. The supporting statement is your time to shine. Show potential employers your strengths and illustrate how you would be an asset to their team. Make sure you only include relevant information and relate your skills and experience to the person specification.

You can look for a job any time but the majority of jobs are advertised in May and June. Try not to worry if you haven’t found anything by the summer – posts can still be advertised well into the autumn term.

The interview

If you’re unsuccessful

Job offers

Interview time! You’ve passed the first hurdle and made it to the interview stage.

Preparation is the key and on the day try to remain relaxed. Stay positive and enthusiastic, and take time to answer the questions presented to you. Don’t forget to breathe!

Sometimes things don’t turn out as expected but you can learn from every interview. If feedback is offered, take it, and if it isn’t then ask for guidance on your performance and interview techniques from your tutors and experienced teachers.

The most important thing is not to let the decision get you down and to keep trying until you’re successful.

You did it! You’ve received the coveted offer of employment! But before accepting, make sure you ask these key questions:

Illustration: Anna Dunn

You may have to deliver a trial lesson as part of the interview process so make sure you understand what is expected and plan thoroughly, but also be flexible and adapt your lesson if surprises pop up.

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Most importantly, don’t forget to proofread! An application full of spelling mistakes and poor grammar is likely to end up in the bin and will hurt your chances of being shortlisted for an interview. Which brings us to the next point…

March / April 16 | the Teacher

What is the pay rate?

Does the school follow the national pay and working time arrangements?

Is the job permanent or temporary?

For detailed information on what to look out for when reviewing the terms and conditions of a job offer please go to: teachers.org.uk/ members-reps/new-teachers

Cyber caution We all like to share (and sometimes overshare!) on social media but some things are best left out of public view. Prospective employers may search for you online so make sure there isn’t any content that would be embarrassing, compromising or grounds for dismissal.

Once in post, keep your personal phone number and email address private, don’t reveal any passwords to pupils and avoid befriending students or parents on social networking sites.

Advice from fellow teachers on finding their first job Finding my first teaching post was a very arduous task. I got the job on my 7th interview. During this process, I came across the NUT publication Finding your first post, which gave me some insight on preparing for interviews. The success key for me was rolling out as many applications as possible, I made sure I had a very compelling personal statement and I kept a positive attitude throughout the process. I got the job I wanted in the end.

Festus – teacher at a London academy

School Direct If you’ve trained via the School Direct programme, finding your first post will be slightly different as the assumption will be that you will stay on at the school you’ve trained at. However, this expectation of employment does not equate to a legal entitlement and a school may decide not to take you on permanently after you have qualified. If this is the case or you want to change schools, please see our guide at: teachers.org.uk/ members-reps/new-teachers under the heading Guide for School Direct teachers.

The ins and outs of contracts Sometimes the only posts available are temporary or fixed term. If you find yourself in this position, be aware that you should be treated the same as your permanent colleagues in terms of pay, conditions of service, pensions, and training opportunities.

I found the hardest part about getting a job was the worry and the stress of it. If I could tell younger me anything it would be to relax, there is a school out there for everyone. And don’t be put off by that other trainee who has a job before Christmas and asks you if you have one yet every couple of days!

Tom – primary school teacher in Norfolk

For further details and information on your employment rights go to: teachers.org.uk/ members-reps/new-teachers

Finding my first post was a whirlwind!

I was in the minority of my friends as I decided to move home to work, so I was applying in a totally different area from most of my university colleagues. I went through the process of observation and interview and was finally offered the job. After that, I spent most of my time helping to write application letters and lesson plans for my friends!

Amy – primary school in Stoke-on-Trent

Upgrade to full membership You can upgrade to full membership of the NUT even before you qualify and get full membership until 2018 for just £1. Pay nothing in 2016 and just £1 in 2017.

Your next subscription will not be due until February 2018 when you will pay only half the full subscription rate. Visit: teachers.org.uk/join or phone our membership hotline on 020 7380 6369. Every new member amplifies the voice of teachers so be sure to encourage colleagues to join the NUT too.

member

March / April 16 | the Teacher

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Illustrations: Neasden Control Centre

Salad days

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March / April 16 I the Teacher

Salad days

Despite being one of the richest economies in the world, there are currently almost four million children in the UK growing up in poverty, with thousands arriving at school every morning too hungry to learn.

As budget cuts deepen and welfare reform continues, teachers across the UK are reporting a significant rise in the number of children coming to school without having had breakfast. Worse, some tell of pupils who’ve only enjoyed a packet of crisps or cereal for dinner the evening before…and of pupils complaining of stomach aches, hunger pangs and even fainting at their desks.

“I’ve seen a child slip under his desk, faint with hunger.

I’ve taken him out, given him a drink and a bagel and he sprang back into life,” said one breakfast club coordinator. “He’d probably not eaten anything since school dinner the day before.”

As every teacher will know, a hungry child is more likely to be restless, unhappy, lethargic or disruptive in lessons. What makes the crisis all the more shocking for teachers is that a bowl of cereal or a piece of toast in the morning, just a few pennies in cost, could make all the difference.

A new study from education experts at the University of Manchester shows to startling effect the impact of the controversial bedroom tax – alongside other cuts in benefits – on children and their education. Researchers found that the Government’s welfare policy is having an adverse effect on pupils’ ability to learn and concentrate, with the emotional distress caused by poverty taking its toll on school work.

“Families experienced the bedroom tax as one of several benefit changes affecting income,” reads the report. “It was probably the most significant, reducing Housing Benefit payments by an average of £11 a week for those deemed to have one spare bedroom, and more for those with two.”

In May 2015, the Campaign to End Child Poverty concluded that: “One in five families – the equivalent of one and a half million across the UK, with two and a half million children – said that they had to cut back on food, and a similar proportion had to cut back on heating their home as a result of benefits being increased below inflation.”

However, it is no longer just ‘workless’ families who are suffering. Over the last 15 years, the number of people in poverty in a working family has risen dramatically.

Now some 64% of children growing up in poverty live in a family where at least one member works, and at present children from Year 3 and upwards are only entitled to free shool meals if their family is in receipt of certain benefits. The result is that more and more

March / April 16 I the Teacher

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Salad days

children not only go to school hungry, but also are unable to claim a free school meal due to having one working parent.

Child poverty stats

Fighting back

• There were 3.7 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2013-14. That’s 28% of children, or 9 in a classroom of 30.

As so often is the case, it is teachers who are on the frontline in this battle against child hunger. A recent survey by YouGov on behalf of Kelloggs, found that around 20% of teachers said they had taken food in to school within the last 12 months to give to children who had not eaten breakfast. Almost 10% said they had also given pupils money for food.

In response to the child hunger crisis, teachers have begun setting up school breakfast clubs funded from their own pockets. Last year the Teacher spoke to one school in Portsmouth where teachers pay £6-£10 a month from their salaries to fund a breakfast club.

At another school in the north east, one teacher has been funding a breakfast club singlehandedly for five years. While one primary school in Norfolk now provides toast each morning for their pupils, to ensure they are able to concentrate in lessons.

“We had a breakfast club but the uptake on that was very weak because there was a charge. Although it was minimal, people couldn’t afford to pay it. So the teachers in Year 3 brought in a toaster and started making toast,” said one teacher at the school. “We have a lot of deprived children in the area,” she continues. “Because we do it across the whole school and it’s every child, there’s no stigma.”

After reading an article in the Teacher last year about the number of children in poverty, one member of the public contacted his local school to see how he could

• Work does not provide a guaranteed route out of poverty in the UK. Two thirds (64%) of children growing up in poverty live in a family where at least one member works.

• In 2014-15 foodbanks fed 1,084,604 people nationwide.

• Of those helped, 396,997 were children.

• The Institute for Fiscal Studies has projected that, as a direct result of tax and benefit decisions made since 2010, the number of children in relative poverty will rise to 4.3 million by 2020.

• In 2015, only 36.7% of disadvantaged pupils received five or more CGSEs at A*-C including English and maths, compared with 64.7% of all other pupils. help. “I donated funds which the school then used to purchase equipment and items that could be donated to children who didn’t have enough for such essentials as school uniform and PE kit.”

True effects Unfortunately it is not just hunger that children in poverty have to live with. For many, the pressure and social stigma is too much to bear. Recently, one primary school boy from Gloucester stopped attending school altogether because he could not face the embarrassment of having no money for lunch. On visiting his home to deliver a foodbank parcel, the school’s liaison officer discovered there wasn’t any food in the house besides oats and milk. “The mother’s purse was empty,” the officer said.

Though teachers will always go the extra mile to ensure their students are fed and well cared for, subsidising breakfast from their own pockets year-in year-out is neither an acceptable nor sustainable option.

Many charities are fighting an impossible battle against child hunger, including Magic Breakfast and Kellogg’s Breakfast Club, and doing what they can to take the burden off teachers.

The only solution can come from a change in Government policy and a true safety net for our country’s youngest. But until reforms start lifting families out of poverty, rather than pushing them deeper into debt, it will be the children of the most disadvantaged members of our society who will continue to pay the price.

Read more about this pressing issue on page 50.

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March / April 16 I the Teacher

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E H T “

S U M E R

A E TB

” Y A W R E T T BE

Photo: JessHurd/reportdigital

There must be a better way

Teachers, pupils and parents in England now know what the Government really meant when it promised to bring a new rigour to primary schools. In classrooms, a narrow and inappropriate curriculum. For schools, high-stakes tests, with punishment waiting for those who fail. Yet for Government itself, the principle of rigour does not apply: tests are badly designed, whole groups of pupils find their needs neglected, guidance is late appearing, goalposts shift unexpectedly and promises about workload have been set aside.

Teachers have much to say on the developing chaos afflicting primary education. Here the Teacher brings together their views, and sets out how the Union is responding.

Primary mismanaged Primary teachers are accustomed to haste and muddle on the part of the Government. But in early February, when the DfE’s exemplifications for the assessment of pupils’ writing arrived in schools, their anger reached new levels.

“Too little, too late!” commented one English teacher at a large primary school on the south coast. “Assessment materials, sample papers and exemplification materials have been released too late. TA and SATs to be completed within a couple of months and teachers are only just receiving information now. Moderations will take place in a few months yet exemplification materials for reading have still not been released.”

“We have just been sent the exemplification materials,” said another primary teacher, this time from London. “There is no way we have time to assess the writing we have using this format for 30 children in our class.”

Schools minister Nick Gibb claims that these materials are just a guide, but his briefing documents suggest

otherwise. “Schools must use the interim Teacher Assessment frameworks and exemplification materials,” they say, “to ensure that their… judgments are accurate.” Teachers have looked at the exemplifications and done the arithmetic. At Key Stage 1, in relation to each single piece of work, a teacher is now required to make 28 judgements, using six pieces of evidence for each pupil: 168 judgements per pupil equating to thousands per classroom. What has happened to Nicky Morgan’s warm words about workload, just 18 months ago, at her party’s conference?

“And when I hear of teachers working late into the night,” Morgan claimed, “marking books, planning lessons, preparing for inspections that may or may not come, I do two things: I marvel at their dedication.

But I also think, there must be a better way.”

Clearly there is some disconnect from reality at the DfE. Yet workload is not the only concern that teachers have about assessment. They are worried for the quality of education and the well-being of their pupils.

The expected standard that pupils should attain has now been set to such a high level that, as education blogger Michael Tidd writes, “a child who used to meet the expected standard in 2015 would now be lucky to reach ‘working towards’ even.“ Schools know that, in the short time they still have available to teach their pupils, they have to somehow

I the Teacher 29

reach a standard that is far higher than previously specified. This timetable aggravates problems about which teachers are already incensed. “As our school has a high number of special educational needs (SEN) pupils,” explained one teacher, “it is highly unlikely we could ever reach the expected standard across Years 2 and 6.”

Another teacher, who has taught for over twenty years and currently teaches a class of Year 6 pupils, tells us that she is shocked at how pupils have been dropped into a new curriculum with an “unfinished and badly thought out” assessment system.

“My colleagues and I now face having to say that dyslexic pupils are working below Key Stage 2, that they have made no progress in four years because they cannot spell most of the words on the Years 3 and 4 statutory word list,” she explains. “This is despite the incredible creative writing they produce using laptops, scribes and independently. The damage to pupils’ self esteem by telling them they have ‘failed’ at primary school beggars belief.”

Of course it is not just SEN pupils who are affected.

“My concern for the limited educational experience of my Year 2 class grows daily,” said one primary school teacher who had spent the week before half term teaching verb tenses and would be spending the week after explaining co-ordinating and subordinating conjunctions. “I can try and make it fun and sugar-coat the mundane nature of this latest curriculum, but the fact remains that such subject matter is taking time that could be spent far more creatively and, in my opinion, far more valuably.”

Teachers can see the system for what it is: badly planned and chaotically managed. They see that the Government intends to hold them to account for results obtained on the basis of data they are forced to collect hastily and from test results for which children cannot possibly have been prepared. They note the small concessions that Government has made, pushing back the date for teacher assessment, and saying vaguely that Ofsted will take “contextual factors” into account when interpreting test data. But many have concluded that is not enough. By 26 February, over 37,000 people had signed a petition calling for this year’s Key Stage 2 tests to be cancelled.

The NUT also believes that there is no case for continuing with these arrangements for primary assessment in 2015/16. To quote Nicky Morgan, “there is a better way”. That way dictates that the tests, like the requirements for teacher assessment, should not go ahead.

A new baseline In June 2013, Sir Michael Wilshaw brooded upon the problems of early years education. It was suffering under an assessment system that was too concerned with the individual child and provided only a “weak basis for accountability”. What could be done?

Sir Michael took his concerns to the DfE, and out of their discussions came Baseline Assessment, where all reception-age children would be formally assessed within their first few weeks of school. From the assessment a baseline score would be given, against which their future progress would be measured.

Schools would be judged according to the progress that children had made.

The proposal was put out to consultation and the world of education rejected it. No matter, said the DfE; accountability was too important an issue to be determined by what educators thought. Baseline Assessment was duly introduced to the majority of English primary schools in September 2015. Job done, Nicky Morgan must have concluded.

But the arguments around Baseline Assessment have not died away. In fact, they have grown stronger since its launch, as the full meaning of the initiative has hit home. New research published jointly by the NUT and ATL reveals the full extent of the problems.

Baseline Assessment is not mandatory In 2015, more than 2,000 schools decided not to sign up for Baseline Assessment. The NUT is committed to increasing that number, and will be campaigning in 2016 to urge schools not to participate in Baseline Assessment.

There must be a better way

“It should go without saying that good teaching is the key to raising standards, not box-ticking,” Nick Gibb, schools minister.

Photo: akindo

great faith in numbers. They are supposed to be the truth of education. The Baseline Assessment process showed teachers just how flawed this supposedly truthful data can be.

Researchers Alice Bradbury and Guy Roberts-Holmes from the UCL Institute of Education conducted a survey of more than 1,100 heads and early years teachers, backed up by case studies in five schools.

The research was squarely focused on teachers’ experience of Baseline Assessment – and teachers are in no doubt what kind of experience they, and their pupils, have had.

Unlike SATs, Baseline Assessment tests were offered by three different organisations, with schools choosing among them. But no matter which provider they had used, teachers were clear that baseline came with many problems attached.

Only 8% of teachers surveyed believed Baseline Assessment to be a fair and accurate way of assessing children. The comments tumbled out from interviews and written responses: the data was “skewed” and “unreliable”. The assessment process was “ridiculous”.

“It’s not a fair representation of children,” wrote one teacher. “Many young children are not yet confident enough to show their new teacher what they can do when put on the spot.”

Children cannot be relied upon to produce the same response at all times of day. Ask a child early in the day and you will get one answer, try again in the afternoon and it will be different. Asking teachers to produce binary yes or no answers to such criteria as “shows curiosity” is to ask teachers to partake in an ill-informed guessing game. How could a snapshot assessment, early in a child’s school career, assess such qualities?

Yet Baseline Assessment, for all these flaws, is designed to produce a score, a single number that would sum up a child’s learning development. Government places

This search for data is not a harmless one. Teachers thought it had damaging effects on their young pupils.

Teachers were forced into “madly trying to collect evidence” rather than concentrating on the welfare of the child. They spoke of children “bursting into tears” with their frustration at the process. In one case a child looked at their teacher and responded “I can’t read” when asked to read parts of the assessment. Michael Wilshaw, when declaring his enthusiasm for Baseline Assessment, claimed that it would benefit children by holding their schools to account. He overlooked the real effects of the tests on the children who have experienced them.

It is not just children who have been affected. More than 80% of teachers indicated that Baseline Assessment had increased their workload, inside and outside the classroom. The process of data gathering was often burdensome and entering the data sometimes a nightmare. Some schools have hired supply cover to take over from reception teachers fully engaged on baseline – hardly a good start to the term.

In virtually all cases, baseline served as an extra assessment system, not a replacement one. Because of baseline’s inadequacies as a way of assessing children’s development, schools continued to work with the assessment system embedded in the tried and trusted Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) – educationally necessary, but another straw on the teacher’s back.

The NUT/ATL research puts the baseline ball in the DfE’s court. Will it persist with a system that is inaccurate, damaging and time-consuming? Or will it revert to an established system, the EYFS, in which teachers have faith? As we go to press, there is growing evidence that the DfE may accept defeat and step back from baseline. Along with its allies in the Better without Baseline campaign, the Union will keep up the pressure to secure the best outcome for children, parents and teachers: no Baseline Assessment in 2016-17.

The full report: They are children, not robots, not machines: the Introduction of Reception Baseline Assessment is available at: teachers.org.uk/baseline

I the Teacher 31

WANTED TEACHERS

in India 20-31 October 2016

BER O T

M 20 ER

LF T A H

• 16 OC

Hike the Himalayas on this amazing Indian adventure and raise funds for the children’s charity of your choice For more information and to register online:

www.actionforcharity.co.uk 01590 646410 | events@dreamchallenges.co.uk

n o i n U Your There are lots of exciting, engaging and educational events to look forward to in 2016! Our handy calendar sets out the key dates you should have in your monthly planner. Here are just a few of the activities…

May is the beginning of Pride festival season with rallies, parades and marches taking place around the country. The International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia is on 17 May and provides the opportunity for teachers to organise class-based activities on these issues.

A full brief for teachers along with other resources can be found at: dayagainsthomophobia.org/teacherstake-action. The NUT’s leaflet Why Trans Teachers Matter is at: teachers.org.uk/equality/lgbt World Refugee Day on 20 June sparks off a week acknowledging the plight of refugees and celebrating their contributions to society with activities going on from 20-26 June. Look out for events happening in your local area or get involved by volunteering or organising your own event. For more details go to: refugeeweek.org.uk and visit teachers.org.uk/ equality/equality-matters for the NUT’s refugee teaching materials and guide to welcoming refugee children to your school. Also this month is the annual NUT Supply Teacher Conference, happening on 25 June at NUT headquarters. NUT supply teacher members will be contacted shortly with details, including how to register. The conference will be free to attend.

July has loads on offer from the NUT with the National Education Conference, the Disabled Teachers’ Conference and the LGBT+ Conference all happening this month. The NEC 2016 will be held at Stoke

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I the Teacher

Rochford from 1-3 July and the theme this year will be Beyond the Exam Factory. Both the Disabled Teachers’ Conference and the LGBT+ Teachers’ Conference will be taking place on 16 July in Manchester. Information about all these events can be found at: teachers.org.uk/events October is Black History Month with a wealth of events recognising and valuing inspirational individuals from Black communities. A full list of activities and ways to get involved can be found at: blackhistorymonth.org.uk The NUT Black Teachers’ Conference takes place on the weekend of 11-13 November at Stoke Rochford Hall and will provide a chance for members to discuss issues around race, equality, and education. AntiBullying Week runs from 14-18 November with workshops, teacher training, films and competitions available. Details and resources can be found at: antibullyingweek.co.uk UK Disability History Month is from 22 November to 22 December, with 3 December marking the International Day of Disabled People. Schools are encouraged to hold awareness-raising activities about disability during this period. More information and inspiration for classroom activities can be found at: ukdhm.org Make sure these dates are in your diary – you don’t want to miss out!

JULY

27 January Holocaust Memorial Day

Pride Festivals 2 July Women Chainmakers’ Festival – Cradley Heath 16 July NUT Disabled Teachers’ Conference – Manchester

FEBRUARY LGBT+ History Month

MARCH 8 March International Women’s Day 21 March International Day for the Elimination of Racism 31 March International Transgender Day of Visibility

APRIL 2 April World Autism Awareness Day

Y T I L A U EQ

6 1 20

, e t a d a e Mak ues g a e l l o c r u o y l tel

Your Union

JANUARY

16 July NUT LGBT+ Conference – Manchester

AUGUST Pride Festivals

OCTOBER UK Black History Month 3-9 October Dyslexia Awareness Week 10 October World Mental Health Day tbc Anthony Walker Memorial Event

NOVEMBER 10 November Equal Pay Day

MAY Pride Festivals 17 May International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBiT)

JUNE

For Pride festivals and events in your area go to: teachers.org.uk/events and get involved!

20 June World Refugee Day 20-26 June Refugee Week

follow us on facebook.com/nut.campaigns

twitter.com/NUTonline

11-13 November NUT Black Teachers’ Conference 14-18 November Anti-Bullying Week 25 November International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

DECEMBER UK Disability History Month 3 December International Day of Disabled People 10 December I The Teacher 35 UN Human Rights Day

Photo: EdStock

n o i n U e h t k As

Flood risks With so many schools at risk of flooding, we wish to be prepared. Does the NUT have any guidance on this area?

Q

Information on possible flooding situations can be obtained from the Environment Agency’s Flooding Updates on their website and from Floodline on 0345 988 1188.

A

Giving parents advanced warning about possible evacuations and closures is essential. If flooding is likely, take precautions like unplugging electrical items and, where possible, removing them to a safe place such as an upper story or a high shelf.

Under no circumstances should anyone’s personal safety be jeopardised. Staff and pupils alike need to be aware of basic safety rules, for example:

supply of fresh water, sanitary facilities or properly working heating. In such circumstances schools must remain closed to pupils and staff.

• do not attempt to walk or drive through floodwater. It is easy to be swept away and even in shallow water there may be hidden hazards

Affected areas must be dried out and thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. Dampness can promote mould growth, which can cause allergies and breathing problems if inhaled. Electrical and gas connections must be checked by a competent person and verified safe prior to resumption of use. Checks should be made to ensure school security has not been compromised. Damaged items and equipment should be removed and either stored securely away from any building or safely disposed of.

• avoid all contact with floodwater, it may be contaminated by sewage • if trapped by flooding, stay by a window and try to attract attention.

The aftermath of a flood can be devastating. A risk assessment must be carried out before the school reopens. No one should be expected to work in a building without a

For full NUT guidance on flooding, please visit: bit.ly/1QL75vF

Contact the NUT AdviceLine on 020 3006 6266 or email nutadviceline@nut.org.uk. Members in Wales should contact NUT Cymru on 029 2049 1818 or email cymru.wales@nut.org.uk

Ask the Union

Forced academisation My school has been rated inadequate by Ofsted. I’ve heard that new legislation means it could be forced to become a sponsored academy. Is that correct?

Q

The Education and Adoption Bill is due to pass into law. Under its provisions, the Secretary of State for Education is under a duty to issue an academy order to a school rated inadequate. In practice her powers will be exercised by Regional Schools Commissioners. The Union fought the Bill in Parliament and sought to amend this clause in particular, but the Government was able to use its majority to vote down the amendments.

A

The Union rejects labels such as failing, coasting and underperforming for schools.

These are based on a narrow, data-driven view of education despite the fact that schools are about far more than pupils’ outcomes in high-stakes tests and examinations. Measuring and judging schools in this way fails to give a rounded picture of the real work that goes on.

Schools serving disadvantaged communities are more likely to receive these insulting labels.

The Union’s Academies Toolkit: Organising to Win: Protecting

Members in Academies is being revised to reflect anticipated changes to the education landscape. The Toolkit sets out how school representatives can work together with members to preserve trade union recognition, protect negotiating machinery, maintain facility time arrangements and safeguard terms and conditions of employment for members. The Toolkit applies to members in schools that are transferring to academy status or to a different academy sponsor. It can be accessed at: teachers.org.uk You are encouraged to contact your school rep or your division secretary to discuss how your school group can use the NUT Toolkit to safeguard your employment rights and promote your Union’s influence in the governance of your school.

Teachers’ pensions

The new system has a single pension and replaces the current two-part system of a basic state pension and the additional state pension, known as the state second pension (S2P).

The maximum pension under the new system will be £155.65 a week, compared to £119.30 a week for the basic state pension.

The maximum pension is earned after 35 years of contributions or credits.

At the transition date in April 2016, people will start off with the higher of their pension rights under the old and new systems (with some technical adjustments).

Teachers can then build their pension up to the new maximum.

Teachers are currently contracted out of S2P, which means they don’t build up this pension, but currently pay a lower National Insurance (NI) rate. This will end, so teachers will pay an extra 1.4% from April. Most teachers are expected to be net gainers overall.

I know there’s a new state pension system coming in from April.

What’s happening and how does it affect teachers?

Q

Yes, there’s a new state pension system starting from April 2016, which will affect men born on or after 6 April 1951 and women born on or after 6 April 1953.

A

Send your questions to: Ask the Union, the Teacher, NUT, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD or email: teacher@nut.org.uk

37

Reviews

s w e i Rev For pupils World War II Tales: The Apple Spy Terry Deary brings World War II to life through his latest historical series which supports Key Stage 2 readers. Deary has created exciting, funny stories covering German spies infiltrating a Scottish town and how the black market flourished during rationing, which can be read at school or at home.

Impeccable research and fantastic illustrations by James de la Rue combine to create a fantastic book. A must read!

Aliss Langridge World War II Tales: The Apple Spy by Terry Deary.

Bloomsbury. Paperback. £4.99.

The Case of the Missing Cat Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Lewis is a watcher. She snoops, spies, eavesdrops and makes sure it all goes down in her notebook.

When the school cat goes missing, she takes it upon herself with her small group of friends to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Her plan involves a sleepover in the school, with all the usual sleepover rituals: hot chocolate, popcorn and ghost stories. The following morning everyone awakes to a lovely surprise and an answer to the question, “What has happened to Lady Lovelypaws?”

Sian Collinson The Case of the Missing Cat by Lauren Pearson.

Scholastic Press. Paperback. £4.99.

Beetle Boy Legendary absentee fathers, snivelling orphaned children and heroes and villains with onomatopoeic surnames are the stock characters of children’s literature.

Leonard mines the same milieu and does so with magical aplomb. It is a world of sewers, black-and-white checked linoleum floors, threadbare aprons and dingy kitchenettes, where our hero Darkus battles with squadrons of intelligent beetles.

At the centre of this tale is a beautiful relationship between nephew and uncle.

Uncle Max is an aged Indiana Jones-type who listens intently, growls often but who always seems to know what to do. Readers will devour the pages, eager to see where Leonard takes us.

Nick Soar Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard. Chicken House Ltd. Paperback. £6.99.

s For teacher

Teacher Toolkit Ross Morrison McGill is a deputy head teacher who recognises the importance of retaining teachers in school. Teacher Toolkit is a valuable resource that offers practical suggestions and advice to help readers remain in the profession and work towards becoming a Vitruvian teacher: one that is resilient, intelligent, innovative, collaborative and aspirational. He offers examples of classroom scenarios, checklists, useful websites and lesson plan formats. With bullet points and quirky illustrations it is an easy book to dip into for busy teachers and is entertaining to read.

Aimed at secondary teachers, the principles can be adapted to primary education.

Cindy Shanks Teacher Toolkit by Ross Morrison McGill. Bloomsbury Education. Paperback. £18.99.

38

I the Teacher

Famous Discoveries and their Discoverers

Creativity Through Language Book 2: How to Teach

Did you know that paper money was first used between 140 and 87 BC and that plastic (lacquer) was discovered in 13 BC in China? Science meets history in this myth-busting, well-researched and wellpresented detailed work. Fascinating facts and life stories are presented alphabetically from absolute zero (Baron Kelvin and Sir William Thomson) to zone refining (William Gardner Pfann). A rich bibliography and a very interesting section on Chinese inventions complete this outstanding work that celebrates the discoveries and inventions of both women and men.

Ideal for newly qualified teachers and non-specialist teachers of English, this useful resource offers plenty of inspiration on how to teach a range of non-fiction writing types.

Written by former teacher Patricia Sumner, the book covers writing formats such as diaries, invitations, letters, advertisements and newspaper reports. Each chapter contains a straightforward lesson plan with accompanying worksheets. There are also real life examples of non-fiction writing plus self-assessment sheets. This book would be ideally suited to Key Stage 2 with the more complex lessons useful for Key Stage 3.

Dr Len Parkyn Famous Discoveries and their Discoverers by Ian Taylor. Mereo Books. Paperback. £9.99.

Beth Goddard Creativity Through Language Book 2: How to Teach Informative/Non-Fictional Writing by Patricia Sumner.

Graham Lawler Media & Publishing.

Paperback. £19.99.

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Noticeboard

d r a o b e c i t o N March for health, homes, jobs and education The NUT is supporting this demonstration in London on 16 April. Organised by the People’s Assembly against Austerity, the march will assemble from 1pm at Gower Street/Euston Road, NW1. Further details will be posted nearer the time at: thepeoplesassembly.org.uk

Events

ns Competitio STOP PRESS: Big Bang Theory The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK. It takes place from 16-19 March 2016 at the NEC Birmingham, and will celebrate and raise the profile of young people’s achievements in science and engineering and encourage more young people to take part in STEM initiatives with support from their parents and teachers.

Free tickets to The Big Bang Fair are available now at: thebigbangfair.co.uk

UK Robotics Week As part of the first ever UK Robotics Week from 25 June-1 July 2016, schools are invited to enter the School Robot Challenge. Children can submit robotics-inspired essays or artwork and design their own 3D printed robotic bug. Every school will be provided with lesson plans for all age ranges. More information can be found at: roboticsweek.uk

Resources Apprenticeship advice Schools can benefit from free information, advice and guidance sessions on apprenticeships from Interserve Learning and Employment, who are delivering a range of services to increase the awareness of apprenticeships and traineeships.

Workshops, one-to-one advice and assembly presentations are available to schools and young people in the North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humber, South West and London. Services are fully funded, so there are no costs or fees, and are fully tailored to individual needs. For more information go to: apprenticeshipadvice.co.uk CHIVA Guide on HIV for Schools The NUT has endorsed the excellent Children’s HIV Association’s good

practice guide to supporting children living with and affected by HIV. The guidance can be downloaded at: teachers.org.uk/equality/ disabled-teachers There are over 1,000 children living with HIV in the UK and over 25,000 who live in a family with HIV. Schools need to ensure that they are welcoming all children and young people to their school, including those with HIV. The Guidance provides a useful checklist for Developing an HIV Friendly School and includes case studies of good practice examples.

Wishes for our World The Climate Coalition has produced an exciting, free learning tool to encourage students aged 9-11 to discuss the issue

of climate change in a new way. The Wishes for our World project builds upon a letter from former Children’s Laureate and War Horse author Michael Morpurgo and is accompanied by a film starring Jeremy Irons that inspires learners to protect the people, places and life they love from climate change for generations to come.

There is also a letter writing competition that closes in April 2016 where the winning child will receive a trip to see Michael Morpurgo’s latest play, their letter will be published in First News and they will receive a set of books signed by Michael Morpurgo.

For more information go to: fortheloveof.org.uk/schools or call 020 7802 9989.

March / April 15 I the Teacher

41

DO WE NEED TO SPELL IT OUT? Saving a life can be as easy as ABC. You can make sure your pupils know what to do in a crisis.

Sign up now to keep first aid on the national curriculum at redcross.org.uk/pupilcitizenlifesaver

Learning with the NUT

CONFLICT

resolution “Peace is not absence of conflict; it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.” (Ronald Reagan… surprisingly!)

One of the key factors that sets the NUT apart from other unions is that, besides sustained protection of its members’ interests, it consistently campaigns for a progressive education system.

Although these two elements can be mutually inclusive, there is also a tension between them. This is perhaps most obvious when it comes to the issue of conflict, whether that be inappropriate pupil behaviour or problematic relationships between staff, pupils or parents.

When a pupil does one of those myriad of things that teachers can find challenging in the classroom, they can be said to be creating conflict conditions or re-engaging existing conflict. For its part, the Department for Education seems unable to see beyond sanctions as a response to the conflicts that are generated by inappropriate or, in official parlance, poor behaviour.

The DfE’s 2014 guidance on behaviour and discipline reads as a litany of punishments, including some that mirror prison systems. Loss of privileges, menial community service tasks, even – much to the horror of PE teachers – the use of physical activity as a punishment! (Though this was later withdrawn after complaints.) While many teachers may take reassurance from sanctions, that reassurance is likely to be superficial, as punishment-focused responses tend to fuel the fires of conflict.

Unlike conflicts between staff and pupils, most of which are played out as overt drama, adult-to-adult conflicts

within school communities often remain in the wings – as informal staffroom grumbling or unvented emotions.

As a trade union, the NUT is often involved in conflicts between adults, both individually and collectively.

Frequently the aversion to conflict with other adults precludes professional dialogue over concerns and a search for solution-focused discussion.

Through its programme of Continuing Professional Development, the Union encourages and supports a more reflective approach, in which human behaviour is recognised as complex, and off-the-peg solutions that require no thought on the part of the parties in conflict are understood to be largely ineffective.

Building on its CPD programme of behaviour courses, including those with a focus on relationships, restorative practice and mediation, the Union has organised a Conflict Resolution seminar at Hamilton House on Monday 11 April 2016. This will be an opportunity to share existing good practice, explore innovative approaches and contribute to further development that builds a common understanding of conflict management.

For further details and to apply for the NUT CPD Conflict Resolution seminar visit: teachers.org.uk/courses

March / April 16 I the Teacher

43

Staffroom confidential

m o o r f f l a i t n e d Sta i f n o c Reader’s rant: s p i t ’ s r e h c a Te Last time we asked you for tips to keep pupils enthusiastic in class – here are some of the best Set a challenge for your hardest workers to take part in a competitive game such as a Countdown Conundrum or the Numbers game depending on their ability. happysoft.org.uk/countdown/ conundrum.php Ask one student in your form to bring a motivational quote (their own or something someone else has said) of their choice.

Write this at the top of the white board.

It stays there until the end of the day.

The next day another pupil brings and writes one.

Involve parents. There’s nothing nicer than getting a lovely email, letter, or postcard full of praise for your child.

Give pupils red, green and orange cards.

During the lesson pupils can put to the front of the desk the colour card which represents how they are feeling about the lesson. Red for “It’s difficult”. Orange for “It’s OK”. Green for “It’s easy”.

We are looking for your tips to keep your pupils relaxed and focused during revision and exams.

Send your advice by 4 April 2016 to: teacher@nut.org.uk

It’s a long story The ship is sinking…fast. Never was this brought home to me more vividly than a recent incident involving one of my pupils, Michael.

He’d spent a couple of lessons creating a science fiction tale and, once finished, he handed it to me expectantly. I thought the story had flair and a gift for the original in language and structure.

It just so happened that this particular day coincided with a parents’ consultation evening and Michael’s father, upon reading his son’s story, felt there was a real issue with neatness.

Shortly after, the literacy coordinator was carrying out her half-termly work scrutiny. She pulled me aside and remonstrated with me for not having an immediate follow-up activity where Michael could practise using the capital letters he failed to implement in his story.

The book’s journey continued to the governing body who now carry out regular checks of pupils’ work. I was informed that they had concerns that his writing wasn’t joined up and needed to be.

It was during the head’s learning walk that I saw him flicking through Michael’s book. He explained that Michael should be using speech marks for the conversation between the story’s aliens.

Next, the School Improvement Officer discovered that Michael’s class had made only average progress in the previous term.

Michael’s work was amongst the bunch she was given to examine and five minutes later she informed me that his writing lacked ambition and was too short.

Then Ofsted came knocking. With few adjectives and adverbs, Michael’s work was representative of the school’s low expectations and didn’t stretch children sufficiently, they informed me.

The final stage of this book’s odyssey was when it was finally passed back to Michael and I sat with him to discuss it.

“It were good,” stated Michael, “probably me best story.”

I had to put Michael straight. I pointed out that he needed to focus on capital letters, finish any follow up activity I set for him, make his handwriting neater and joined up. He should also make his work longer, use speech marks for dialogue, include a greater number of adjectives, adverbs and to be more ambitious in what he tries to do.

I’m not sure how much of this sunk in: Michael is seven years old.

Name supplied

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Teaching assistance

Star letter Joined-up thinking?

“There’s a course for Middle Managers,“ Said she, the deputy head “and I have really passed that stage So I’m sending you instead.”

What a lot of stuff we’ve covered To help us through the day And though I’m already doing the job I’ve been shown another way.

Now I know how to run good meetings How to mentor staff in my team I can do a lesson observation And say sensitively what I mean.

I’ve learned new abbreviations CAT scores and ECM I know how to deal with data And track pupils, all of them.

And if I ever get a budget I’ll know exactly what to do And those difficult situations Are no problem for me too.

I know all about inspections And the evidence I must get To complete that blessed SEF form And the targets I have to set.

I know that I’m accountable To pupils, parents, SLT And I’m happy being a leader To those accountable to me.

Standards, rewards, achievement Behaviour Policies and choice Are now words that we all recognise Not forgetting Pupil Voice.

So with mentoring and monitoring All those targets we must reach Can someone please explain to me How to find the time to teach??!!

Name supplied

I would like to contribute to the supply teacher debate by focusing on an area which I feel has been mainly ignored, which is the use of teaching assistants in the classroom.

I have been working as a supply teacher in the primary sector for several years, teaching in many schools in the London area. I have been aghast at how many heads, instead of using supply teachers, are throwing their untrained TAs in to the classroom; covering illnesses, courses, team meetings, etc.

Talking to colleagues, this practice is rapidly on the increase.

Heads, it seems, are ignoring this destruction of the teaching profession, this betrayal and deception of parents and their children, in order to save a few pennies. Not to mention the exploitation and stress that the TAs experience.

Heads are custodians of a sacred trust to nurture and develop the minds of our young people and work in harmony with others who have the same outlook.

I call on colleagues, if you see this malpractice occurring to stand up and do something.

Name supplied

Occupational health I write this on the eve of an occupational health meeting which I hope will draw to a close the most horrendous episode of my teaching career. Despite 15 years in which there has been no criticism of my conduct or professionalism, I feel I have been destroyed by the recent actions of my new head teacher.

And now what? I have to return to my job and try to explain what has been wrong with me for three months to my students. Saying that I have been too anxious, tearful, tired, paranoid, worthless, desperate and sad to come to work would not be appropriate for students, no matter how true.

Even in these more enlightened times, the issue of the mental ill health of teachers is not being openly discussed.

The feelings of shame and weakness are incredibly powerful and no number of physical symptoms that you suffer convince you that being off work is ok. Going through your mind is the perception that everyone else is coping yet you are not. No other illness brings with it this terrible sense of embarrassment.

Please let’s put this in the spotlight. How many teachers are on anti-depressants? How many see doctors and counsellors to get help? How many teachers feel that their schools actively try to minimise stress?

I never thought that I would feel this way, but I just want to walk away. Hopefully I will recover some of my previous fight, but right now I am dreading my meeting tomorrow and dreading the future. What should be done?

Kind regards to all those facing similar problems.

Name supplied

46

I the Teacher

High expectations I would like to share my thoughts and strong objections to this year’s SATs tests. The expectations for Year 6 are too high and too irrelevant. Children are becoming stressed and anxious about the tests and terrified of not passing and being branded a failure at the age of 11. As a teacher and head, I am deeply unhappy about the pressure we are putting children under. We are trying our best to protect them from it, but cannot ignore the tests as we know what a poor set of data could mean for us as school leaders.

We have parental support in this (unlike the strikes over pay and conditions); they too are desperately unhappy about the tests.

The unions have an opportunity to unite teachers and the general public to boycott these tests. Does the Union have any plans to do so?

Name supplied Read about the Union’s response to the primary assessment fiasco on pages 28-31 of this edition.

Ask not, “What can we do for charities?” but, “What can charities do for us?”

I want to share with my colleagues in the NUT our school’s experience of working with charities.

They are an incredible and underused resource in terms of education. Many have extensive specialist online resources, skilled expert speakers and research departments; and they are often eager to share all this with UK schools for free!

I teach in a comprehensive school in south Wales and we have had all manner of charities involved in visiting the school and enriching the education of our pupils. Volunteers from such groups as Population Matters, Animal Aid, and Alcoholics Anonymous have run workshops or given talks for us. They have fitted around our timetabling needs, left us with follow-on resources and put us in touch with the vast range of research tools available online. All at no cost to the school.

Tens of thousands of pounds is spent by charities every year in trying to reach us – but before we empty the unopened mail from our pigeon holes straight into the bin, or delete those unread e-mails, we should stop to consider: it’s not just the charity that’s losing out on a brilliant opportunity; it’s us and our pupils.

Name supplied

No NUT rep in your workplace?

Please elect one!

Once a rep has been elected, notify your division/association secretary, whose details are on your membership credential and at: teachers.org.uk/contactus

Find out what reps do at: teachers.org.uk/getinvolved

A change in your circumstances?

Please let us know if you: • change your home or school address • change your employment contract (to part-time, fixed-term or supply), where a range of reduced subscriptions apply • are about to retire, take maternity leave, or leave the profession, where differing subscription rates apply • are appointed to a new post such as deputy or head teacher or SENCO. Ring 0845 300 1666, visit: teachers.org.uk/update, or write to: Records and Subscription Services, NUT, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD. By providing your email address and mobile number you help the Union to keep you informed of important campaigns and to contact you about professional development courses and events.

Need help or advice?

If you have a problem at work, or want to know more about NUT services, you can contact: • your school representative • the NUT AdviceLine • NUT Cymru.

For advice and guidance in England contact:

NUT AdviceLine Tel: 020 3006 6266 Email: nutadviceline@nut.org.uk

Please write The editor welcomes your letters but reserves the right to edit them. Write to: Your letters, the Teacher, NUT, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD or email: teacher@nut.org.uk Letters for the May/June issue should reach us no later than 4 April 2016.

Please note we cannot print letters sent in without name and postal address (or NUT membership number), though we can withhold details from publication if you wish.

In Wales contact:

NUT Cymru Tel: 029 2049 1818 Email: cymru.wales@nut.org.uk Find full contact details at:

teachers.org.uk/contactus

I the Teacher 47

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49

Backbeat

Schools are increasingly at the front line of the battle against child poverty as welfare reforms begin to bite.

By Ruth Lupton, Professor of Education, University of Manchester networks. We also documented accounts from school staff indicating how easily pupil hunger could get misclassified as bad behaviour, and how such situations were increasing.

That was the finding of recent research I was involved in with colleagues at the Manchester Institute of Education, looking at the impact of the so-called bedroom tax on children and schools.

We interviewed representatives of 20 schools and community organisations in two areas of Manchester, and followed 14 parents of schoolaged children over a six-month period.

Most of the things that schools reported did not refer specifically to the bedroom tax, but to deepening family poverty generally. Families affected by the bedroom tax were also subject to other welfare changes including changes to disability benefits, tax credits and council tax.

Respondents emphasised that since April 2013, when these reforms were introduced, there were more families struggling financially, as witnessed by not being able to eat as well, buy or replace winter clothing, have the heating on or pay for school trips. There were also bedroom tax-specific issues, particularly inappropriate sharing – for example teenagers and toddlers having to share rooms, which was reported as impacting on homework, revision, alertness and there being no space to sleep when children visited non-resident parents.

A particularly striking find was that schools were reporting increasing numbers of children picking up on family worries about money, possible eviction or having to move away from family and community support

Of course schools in low-income neighbourhoods are used to having to deal with poverty. Many of the things they were doing in response to this new situation were familiar: running breakfast clubs, providing uniforms, putting families in touch with other agencies. Efforts had increased. One school had seen demand for its counselling service double in a year. One had switched resources from classroom TA support to family support.

Another had opened an account with a shoe shop. They were also moving into newer territory – such as lending small amounts of money to tide families over for short periods, offering breakfast for parents as well as children and conducting welfare checks in the school holidays.

It was evident that extra burdens were falling on teaching and support staff, who were increasingly dipping into their own pockets to support foodbanks in schools or adding essential items such as sanitary protection.

We conducted our research in 2014/15, when school budgets had been protected relative to other areas such as children’s services and voluntary sector grants. Even then respondents talked about needing to pick up an increasing volume of work because of cuts to other services. With school budgets now in real-terms decline and another wave of welfare reforms on their way, the capacity of schools to respond is set to decrease while demand increases. In these circumstances, surely we must ask loud and clear whether it is reasonable for schools to be expected to close the gap. Levelling up children’s outcomes cannot be left to schools alone.

For more details of the research please visit: bit.ly/1naDe83

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