Reps

Thank you for taking on the role of NUT representative in your school. As I am sure you are aware the September term is very important for recruitment of new members. In your school you may have many newly appointed teachers. They may already be in the NUT or another teachers’ organisation but many may not. A personal approach from a representative has been proved to be the best way of recruiting members.

The NUT is a campaigning union which would not sign the workforce agreement because of clauses which allow non teachers to carry out work which we believe to be teaching.  The NUT is still the largest teachers’ union and is still the best.

If there are issues causing concern do not hesitate to contact the Local Association Secretary.

Dealing with the Headteacher

Be confident! You can do it!

• Remember that you are not seeing the headteacher or principal as you, but as the representative of the more than 240,000-member strong NUT.
• Wear your NUT representative's hat! This idea came from a young teacher who became an NUT representative. When meeting the head, she would say, "I'm putting on my NUT representative's hat now" and mime the action. After the meeting, she would say, "I'm taking off my school representative's hat now" and mime that action too. It is a very useful way of clarifying to the head and to yourself that your relationship with the head in your NUT representative's role is separate from that in your teacher's role.

Some tips

• Remember that some members will want you to take on issues on their behalf which are not Union issues. Don't take on things which aren't your problem!
• Don't assume you know what's what simply from one source - check facts.
• Don't assume the head knows how to apply the right procedure in the right way.
• The school representative only needs to be involved in the initial stages.
• Explain the difference between the informal and formal stages. In general, the school representative only needs to be involved in the informal stage.
• Encourage your member to get the facts down on paper.
• Do take advice from your local secretary or the regional or, in Wales, NUT Cymru.
• Don't try and do everything at once - a clear head and clear process helps everyone.

If the headteacher is an NUT member
The NUT is a union for all teachers. This means that some headteachers, deputy headteachers and others in the Leadership Group will be NUT members.

The NUT encourages the recruitment of school managers and leaders into membership.

NUT representatives and members can expect the headteacher to be supportive of NUT policies and campaigns.

Below are some documents which may be useful.

Planning Support

Workforce Agreement Checklist from Cambridgeshire NUT