Recent meetings

On Thursday 3 November, at The Hewett School, Norwich, Rocky Deans from London presented a lecture on Black History Month and challenging racism. He used a very good powerpoint presentation to describe what contribution Black people throughout history have made to British Society and what challenges they encountered during their daily lives and in their professions. He also explained what part racism and racial stereotyping played in making it very difficult for Black people to be recognised for their achievements alongside their White counterparts, e. g., Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale. We have all heard of Florence Nightingale, but not of Mary Seacole, who was a Black nurse during the Crimean War, and just as brave and as dedicated as Florence Nightingale was.

Unfortunately, the meeting was poorly attended, even though it had been very well advertised well before the meeting. However, this did not detract from what was an excellent, very informative, and very interesting presentation. I am sure that anyone who attended the meeting would have felt the same. Thank you to those who attended such an inspirational evening.

There was quite a lot of discussion about Education meetings at the last Division meeting, which followed the disappointing turnout for the Black History Month lecture. We think that the format and content of the meetings should be changed. What subject/theme could we have at a meeting to attract as many members as possible to it? Would it be a Forum/question and answer type meeting where members concerns are addressed? This could be about workload, stress and mental health issues, conditions of service, assessment, performance management, etc., where the discussions could influence where the Union goes next within the County. Members could meet each other and share common concerns, and this could be a catalyst for renewed interest in the Union, and could take the Union forward and gain extra activists in the County.

Another suggestion was to hold informal social events where there would be food and drink available, and where there would be a fairly loose agenda for any discussions that people would want to have, whether it be campaign issues or perhaps something lighter and more cheerful for a change!! Would a meeting about the new OFSTED changes be of use, where the ‘truth’ can be told from the Union’s point of view? Someone suggested having bowling or a similar sports event as part of one of these meetings. One suggestion was to have follow-up meetings to the initial NQT welcome meeting, targeted towards NQTs and younger members, where they can receive advice from Heads and Deputies about matters that concern their career progression, e.g., how to become a co-ordinator or how to secure their first and subsequent teaching posts (interview technique and how to produce a good CV/ Application Form, etc.)

Also, times, dates, frequency and venue of such meetings needs to be decided. Travelling distances in the County has always been an issue, so do we want somewhere central all the time, or alternate between the East and West of the County, to make it more fair for driving to meetings?

Your comments about how these meetings should run in the future are important to us, so if you have any ideas or suggestions, please do forward them by email to either Scott Lyons or Steve Smith. (addresses on back page of this newsletter).

Thank you for your time and support.

Steve Smith     dfnuts@aol.com

Scott Lyons      slyonsnut@gmail.com