"UNAFFORDABLE" TEACHERS' PENSIONS

£45 BILLION MORE PAID IN THAN PAID OUT

The NUT provides further support for the argument that public sector pensions are affordable and fair.

The NUT research shows that, during the lifetime of the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS), £46.4bn more has been paid into the scheme than has been paid out.

The NUT has calculated the total payments into and from the TPS over the period 1923 to date, using its official valuation reports and accounts.  Adjusting these figures in line with GDP growth shows that at least £46.4bn more in current prices has been paid into the TPS in contributions over the years than has been paid out in pensions.

This follows earlier reports by the National Audit Office and the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee which show that the long term costs of the TPS are already declining following earlier reforms.  The long term picture contrasts sharply with the Government's arguments that the current imbalance between contributions and payments makes teachers' pensions unsustainable.

Christine Blower, NUT General Secretary, said:

"The NUT's research proves two points.  First, funding public sector pensions is a complex area – we won't allow our opponents simply to ignore those parts of the story that don't suit them.  Second, it is a long term issue – policies shouldn't be driven by short term consideration.

There is no £46 billion to hand. The fact is, however, that the Government has accepted a long series of cheap loans from teachers' pension contributions before complaining about payingthe pesnions promised in return."

PUBLIC SECTOR STRIKE FOR PENSIONS - NOVEMBER 30th

As you will probably know there will now be a much larger strike in defence of public sector pensions on November 30.

Many more unions have balloted including the NAHT which returned a 72% Yes vote and the NASUWT, 82%.

Hopefully,you and your colleagues are following updates on Twitter-see@paulvernell- or South Glos NUT  Facebook. You can access these also through the South Glos NUT website.

Many schools have already had meetings and some have had joint meetings with other unions. It is important that we have a high profile on the day and we would ask members, as we did in June, to put picket lines on schools if the school is staying open at all.

Most importantly, we have worked hard with other unions in the Bristol area to coordinate a demonstration on the theme of Pensions Justice. This has been now formally sponsored by the South West TUC. We would hope that every member will be able to attend. It will be a family affair with stalls and music so we hope you will encourage everyone in your school to attend.

The demonstration will assemble at 11 am at College Green and the South Glos NUT banner will be there. The march will end at Castle Park to hear a few short speeches from a range of sectors.

If you need an officer to address your school meeting please contact us on 07590822900 (Paul Vernell) or 01179246866 (Richard Brown).

Look forward to seeing you on the 30^th.

Yours sincerely

Paul Vernell and Richard Brown

Joint South Gloucestershire NUT secretaries.

MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO A BRIEFING ON THE PENSIONS CAMPAIGN ON:

TUESDAY 22nd NOVEMBER
7.30pm
at
THE WATERSHED, HARBOURSIDE, BRISTOL

There will be a pre-meeting for School Representatives at 7.00pm.

NUT – Local Government Pension Scheme ballot

NUT members in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) have given a resounding endorsement for strike action to defend their pensions. 82.2% of NUT members working in local authority support and advisory services have voted in favour of strike action with a turnout of 40.6%. They join NUT members in schools and colleges who have already taken strike action on 30 June and are being called on to do so again on November 30th.
Andy Woolley, South West Regional Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“This ballot result is further confirmation that NUT members reject the Government’s attack on public sector pensions. These members are experienced and senior professionals who understand not only the impact the Government’s proposals will have on them but also on the ability to recruit and retain new teachers.   The NUT and the other teaching unions do not accept that our members should pay more, get less and work longer for pensions which we believe are already affordable and fair. The NUT will continue to negotiate with Government but we are also committed to supporting the TUC day of action on 30 November”.

FOLLOW SOUTH GLOS. NUT ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

Use the links on the right of this page to follow the latest news for South Gloucestershire NUT and the campaigns we support.

It would help us greatly is you could make yourself a "friend" of the South Glos NUT Facebook page so we get some idea of the people we are reaching.

South Gloucestershire NUT represented at LGBT TUC conference.

The fact that the LGBT TUC Conference was the day after the strike made it all the more lively and worthwhile. Representatives from each of the unions involved reported back on picket lines and demonstrations.  We spoke of the need for unified action in the autumn and were met with cheers and foot stomping!                     

One key issue was the impact of the cuts on LGBT service users.  Particularly worrying are cuts to services monitoring hate crime. Other issues discussed included the fate of gay asylum seekers particularly those from Uganda.

The education debates centred on the impact of academies and faith based free schools on equalities.  These institutions are not bound by the Equalities Act to monitor harassment or publish equalities’ objectives, unlike state schools.  The NUT motion called for this to be changed.  In at least one of these faith based free schools students have been given openly homophobic literature in the guise of sex education. Motions called for this to end and for Sex and Relationship Education to be made compulsory in these schools. The fear is that the interests of individual lesbian and gay pupils will come a poor second to the religious preferences of the schools’ sponsors.

If you want more information please contact South Gloucestershire Equalities Officer contact details on South Glos website.

Lord Bew’s final report on Key Stage 2 testing

Well, at last there seems to be an acceptance that there is currently far too much focus on attainment. This leads to a lack of recognition of the efforts that schools have made with individual pupils. Some genuine progress though is to be welcomed, such as the recognition that teacher assessment is an important and more accurate way of recording a pupil’s progress.

It is, however, disappointing that although teachers will be trusted with assessing writing, the Government feels the need for a separate test to be introduced for grammar and punctuation. How can you assess writing by taking out grammar and punctuation?

If we are trusting teachers to assess writing across a range of genres, that should also include pupils’ technical writing skills. Similarly, if teachers are assessing a part of the curriculum which is arguably a far more difficult area of judging children’s learning, why keep external testing for reading and maths? Nor does it make sense that the Government believes only a sample of children needs to be tested in science, but every child must be tested in English and mathematics. This is a convoluted approach to the issue of testing.

The positive steps in this review will be undermined by keeping in place school league tables, despite the fact that the majority of those who gave evidence called for their abolition.

While league tables exist, teaching to the test and a narrowing of the curriculum will remain. This will hinder some children’s learning as the incentives for schools to concentrate on “borderline” pupils will remain. Another missed opportunity.

SECRETARY'S NOTES

TWITTER, FACEBOOK ETC.

Members need to exercise great care when using sites like Facebook and Twitter.  You have to assume that anything put on these sites is fully accessible to the public and you need to use this test:

"Would I be 100% happy that my Head and least sympathetic line manager received this note in their email inbox?"

If the answer is "No", then the Union has to advise;  Don't post that particular piece. 

Members in  South Glos have had difficulties following entries on Facebook resulting in meetings with a Head and letters of apology.

Things the Union would suggest you can safely post are restricted to bland, factual matters, like "Its the end on term on 23 July, so I'll have some free time after that", an NOT "I can't wait for 23 July;  I'm exhausted and I'll never have to teach that class again!" 

SCHOOL GOVERNORS AND CLASSROOM VISITS.

Advice has gone out to all school that Governors might take "learning walks" around their schools.  The same advice note says protocols should be agreed with staff about the behaviour of Governors during these walks.  Its important these protocols, agreed by staff (probably after taking advice from your Union), are in place.  Do contact the Division if Governors begin to make "learning walks" without this agreed protocol being in place.

Richard Brown
Joint Division Secretary (Casework)