Thursday 17 May 2012

A Pain in the Proverbials!

A reminder to all teachers about Assessing Pupils Progress (APP). APP is a tool to help teachers develop skills levelling children's work and informing them of the next steps in their learning. The suggestion is that teachers use this process on 3-6 children for Reading, Writing and Maths - Science and ICT are optional - as Reading Writing and Maths are!

If you are experiencing a heavy workload and APP is adding to this discuss it with your line manager/Headteacher. If you need further advice contact your union!

For full article click on the NEWS tab above and look in the ARTCLES FROM CURRENT NEWSLETTER.

Pension Loss Calculator

A simple excel file calculator can be found on the National website. Enter your details and discover how much proposed pension changes will cost you, both between now and your retirement and after you retire. WARNING! It might be a bit of a shock!

http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/12872

Redundancy Questions??

Alongside cuts go teachers losing the jobs, posts not being replaced and larger class sizes. If this is happening then speed is of the essense. Please get in touch with the Union.

First, you may be able to answer some of your questions with the downloadable pamphlet on redundancy. This can be found in the INFO tab above.

School Reps. Training in Norfolk

Dates for the Level 1 Regional school reps’ training courses for this academic year, are as follows: Summer Term: 8 and 9 June 2011 – Norwich (venue tbc)

Click on the TRAINING tab above to find out more.

March for the Alternative!

Join the NUT on Saturday March 26th in London as we march to protest against public cuts!

Norfolk NUT will at Victoria Embankment between Temple Place and Blackfriars at 11am to march to Hyde Park. To get us there the NUT has a coach picking up members, from various spots listed below. Those interested in joining us in London, tickets on the coach are free to NUT and £10 to others.

Sheringham Station Approach outside the TIC at 6.40am

Norwich, outside Theatre Royal at 7.30am

Wymondham Market Sq at 7.45am

Attleborough Queens Sq at 8.00am

Thetford bus station at 8.20am

Departing from Hyde Park at 16.30hrs!

To reserve seats ring Helen McGuiness 01603 468240 leaving name and contact details.

Travelling from West Norfolk & Downham?

Click on the ASSOCIATIONS tab and on the WEST NORFOLK drop down, to find out about West Norfolk's travel arrangements.

Pensions Roadshow

Are you worried about your pension?

Do have any questions regarding proposed pension changes?

Join us at the PDC Centre, Woodside, Norwich on 1st March at 7PM. There will be a Presentation, Q &A, FREE refreshments, information leaflets and freebies!

Please download a flyer and display at your school.

Click Here

Making your MP work for their living!

With the scale of the Cuts to Children's services looming, the NUT are encouraging members to challenge their MPs by mail, phone or perhaps at their surgery. To find out who your MP is go to http://www.writetothem.com/

We have some suggestions for questions:

1. What are your views on the proposed redundancies for classroom staff?

2. What are your views on the centrally employed teachers' redundancies?

3. Do you think children in Norfolk schools deserve a fully qualified teacher for 100% of their education?

4. Should children and youth services rely on volunteers or do they deserve a fully professional service?

5. Is it fair to spend scarce resources on free schools and academies whilst the majority of schools crumble and make do?

Find out more by clicking on CAMPAIGNS and seeing when your MP is available for questioning or contact the NUT slyonsnut@gmail.com for more answers.

Countdown to 26 March

On 26 March, Britain's trade unions and communities will unite to oppose cuts. Government policies will come under scrutiny as never before and it is an opportunity for you to take part in a weekend London demonstration to make your own views known.

Better still, it is an opportunity for your school community and those in your area to come together to support alternative proposals to cuts, closures and job loss.

The NUT asks for you to take this opportunity to support Education, support schools and campaign to keep open the doors to learning, for all our children. The counter above tells you how many days you have to gather support and plan your day in London. Join us on the day. Bring your own banners and placards. Speak up. Speak out!

Keep informed at http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/11519

West Norfolk & Downham District West Norfolk and Downham are officially amalgamated as from now!

See the ASSOCIATIONS tab for more details.

Money Matters

Questions about pay? Pensions? or just managing your money? The NUT supports the excellent financial advice that can be found at www.teachersassurance.co.uk

Or for local financial assistance contact afenn@teachersassurance.co.uk

Work/Life Balance

Did you know that, ‘ according to the latest official figures, at least 272 teachers have died from asbestos-related cancer caused by exposure to the substance which is still contained in 90% of Britain’ s 25,000schools.’

(Daily Express 17/10/10)

Advice and a questionnaire to be carried out in each school can be found in the HEALTH AND SAFETY tab above.

Don't Just Sit there!

Find out more how to restore your work/life balance with a visit to Dunston Hall. Find out more in the LINKS tab above

“Teacher morale is fading because teachers are tiring through over-assessment, misguided and poorly designed definitions of accountability. . . excessive and ultimately purposeless paperwork”

Teacher morale: More complex than we think? Noella Mackenzie, Charles Stuart University

If this seems familiar to you than find out what you can do about it with NUT advice found in the POLICIES tab above.

There are TWO EXCEL files to download, upon which you can work out your hours for full time and part-time directed time.

Michael Gove's Speech

Commenting on the speech by the Secretary of State for Education at Conservative Party Conference, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said;

“I am pleased that Michael Gove recognises the hard work and commitment of teachers. However, I disagree with the picture he paints of our education system. Children are being failed not through a lack of classical education, but through the testing and assessment regime in our schools which leads to a narrowing of the curriculum and teaching to the test.

“Educational inequality will not be addressed by academies. Research shows that in fact the opposite is often true and it is the most disadvantaged pupils who benefit least.

“Pupils are already subject to disciplinary powers when outside of school grounds. Michael Gove’s sweeping pledge is presently without substance.

“Using disused office space as schools is an ill thought out and nonsensical idea, and is yet another example of how rushed legislation is nothing short of folly.

“This is the 21st century. Surely we can plan and provide for our country’s education in a coherent fashion. Michael Gove is right to be passionate about education. It can and does change lives but he must not be allowed, with reckless pace, to dismantle our state education system.”

Let you local MP know!

The TUC are organising a Lobby of Parliament on Tuesday 19th October - "Altogether for Public Services", on the eve of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

The lobby will focus on a carefully targeted list of 150 Government MPs of which 4 are in Norfolk. Norfolk NUT are encouraging members to lobby their MP.

To find out who your MP is go to http://www.writetothem.com/

Pensioners reponse to inaccurate report

Britain ’s biggest pensioner organisation, the National Pensioners Convention (NPC) has accused the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) of a vindictive attack on the country’s older population by suggesting that pensioners were getting “special treatment” in the spending cuts.

The IEA has called for the abolition of free bus travel, TV licences and the winter fuel allowance, alongside accelerating the retirement age and reducing increases in the state pension.

But the NPC claims it is factually incorrect to claim that pensioners are not being affected by the Government’s austerity measures. For example:

· Pensioners are up to £710 a year worse off than other households as a result of the rising cost of living and the increase in VAT
· Annual rises the basic and second state pensions are to be reduced by linking them to the Consumer Price Index rather than the Retail Price Index
· The Government intends to reduce the winter fuel allowance by £100 for the over 80s and £50 for the under 80s later this year, despite the fact that over 25,000 pensioners died of cold related illnesses last winter
· Pension Credit for the poorest pensioners is being frozen for four years from 2011 meaning that about 1.7m pensioner households will lose an average of £3.20 a week
· Cuts to local authority funding is going to have a devastating effect on adult social services: Sheltered housing schemes and managers, home care, the closure of day centres, luncheon clubs etc
· 20% cuts in grants to bus services will mean fewer routes and cuts in services, leading to greater isolation of older people
· Cuts in Housing Benefit will affect 25% of pensioner households who live in rented property

Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary said: “This report from the IEA is both vindictive and inaccurate. It tries to suggest that older people are benefiting at the expense of the young – when the truth is that everyone on low incomes – whether they are young or old – is under attack. The report is also economically flawed, because cutting free bus travel and winter fuel payments may save money in the short-term, but in time will actually lead to increased demand for costly social care and support.”

“What really underpins the IEA’s approach is that they have failed to recognise that older people make a valuable contribution to our society through caring, volunteering and economic activity – providing they can take part. If you start removing those levers of social inclusion you will create a poor, isolated and excluded underclass of older people.”

NUT joins the Norfolk Coalition against the Cuts

Norfolk NUT has joined a coalition of supporting organisations in campaigning against the proposed Public sector cuts. Others supporters include the GMB, Green Party and UNISON.

NCAC Dec poster

A campaign dairy and more information can be found at

http://www.norfolkcoalitionagainstcuts.org/

The case against the cuts can be found on this flyer below

Norwich against cuts

End of Single Level Tests Pilot

Commenting on the Government’s announcement to get rid of Single Level Tests and review the testing regime Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union said;

“I am pleased that Michael Gove has indicated he will conduct a review into Key Stage 2 tests; this is a long overdue step as they are clearly flawed. I urge him to take the bold step of announcing a moratorium on the Key Stage 2 SATs pending the review.

“We welcome the fact that Michael Gove has decided to end the single level test (SLT) pilot for those schools that had opted to continue with them. The NUT’s own survey* into the SLT tests showed that there was increasing evidence they were resulting in teaching to the test twice a year and generating a great deal of unwelcome bureaucracy and cost to the school.

“The survey also showed that the majority of teachers believed that teacher assessment was the best way for parents and schools to gain meaningful and accurate reports on children’s progress.

“Teachers have for years been coping with a testing regime in primary schools which impoverishes the learning experience of children, the Government must not squander this opportunity to review the system. We need assessment that benefits first and foremost our children but also ensures that the invaluable knowledge and understanding of teachers is put to good use”.

Defend State Education

The coalition government is rushing legislation through Parliament which removes the need for governing bodies to consult with parents, staff, the local authority or other local schools before applying to becoming an academy. The Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, has written to all schools about the Bill and separately to all schools with an 'outstanding' Ofsted judgement, inviting them to register an interest, with a view to becoming an Academy by September 2010.

The Union is campaigning alongside the ATL, NASUWT and UNISON in schools on the Academies Bill.

Find out more using the link below

http://www.teachers.org.uk/academies

Is your school talking about expressing an interest in becoming an Academy?

Let us know if your governors have put anything about academy status onto their agendas.

Contact

Scott Lyons slyonsnut@gmail.com

School Reorganisation

FUTURE OF SMALL SCHOOLS

For one school's story and campaign visit

Archive

Hardship Funds

A Pain in the Proverbials!

Keep informed at http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/11519

Defend State Education

School Reorganisation

FUTURE OF SMALL SCHOOLS