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Teachers’ strike looms in Scotland

Scottish teachers are considering a one-day strike in protest against budget cuts. The Glasgow branch of the

Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the country’s largest teach- ing union, is proposing the motion for its June conference and is con- fident of broad support after an estimated 10,000 people turned out for a rally in the city in March. Hugh Donnelly, secretary of

the EIS Glasgow association, said: “We are facing cuts the like of which we have not seen in our lifetimes. In Glasgow, some sources have indicated we could be facing cuts of 15 per cent to 20 per cent over the next five years. “That is worse than the

Thatcher cuts of the 1980s and the Callaghan cuts of the 1970s.” Scotland’s last teachers’ strike

was in 1986. “Ten thousand people is a

significant number for a dem- onstration,” Mr Donnelly said of the earlier EIS action. “The situation is becoming quite clear – budgets are being squeezed. And this is also in the context of the Curriculum for Excellence – it is difficult to know how that will be delivered in the context of cuts.” Before the rally, a survey of

EIS members reported a lack of stationery and textbooks, staff cuts and closure of special lan- guage services for pupils whose native tongue is not English. Foreign languages, teacher

training, special-needs provision and musical tuition are also being cut back across Scotland, with some local authorities charging extra for the latter. In February, councils were

told to take radical action to prepare for budget cuts of up to 13 per cent. Audit Scotland, the financial watchdog, said the £30 billion national budget was likely to be cut between seven and 13 per cent before 2013/14. However, the Scottish gov-

ernment said it had raised educa- tion funding. “Expenditure on education in

2008/09 was £4.9 billion – a 2.6 per cent increase from 2007/08,” a spokeswoman said. “Meanwhile, figures for

budget estimates show that local authorities planned to increase net spending on education in 2009/10 by 4.1 per cent, com- pared with 2008/09 estimates.” It was up to local authorities

to spend their budgets as they saw fit, she added. Local authorities are under

pressure to maintain a council tax freeze but this has forced several to cut their education spending.

Mental health comes under the spotlight

by Chris Parr

Schools and local authorities need to be more sophisticated in recognising and supporting teachers with mental health problems, it has been claimed. It comes as a science teacher

who had suffered stress and depres- sion was cleared of attempted mur- der after striking a child with a dumbbell. Peter Harvey, who taught at

All Saints Catholic High School in Mansfield, admitted a charge of causing grievous bodily harm, but a jury at Nottingham Crown Court found him not guilty of attempted

murder, and causing grievous bod- ily harm with intent. Mr Harvey’s union, the

NASUWT, said the incident arose out of an “explosive combination of events, a teacher who was in a fragile state of health, and a group of pupils who recognised this, and decided to exploit it”. Chris Keates, general secretary

of the union, said: “Any teacher who has had to deal with chal- lenging and disruptive pupils will recognise, given the combination of factors that applied in this case, how such a situation can easily spiral out of control. There are clearly lessons to be learned from this case. “Employers need to be far more

sophisticated in recognising and supporting teachers with mental health problems. We will be press- ing the government to look at the whole issue of sickness absence policies and the quality of support teachers are receiving.” Areas that need to be reviewed

include how school behaviour poli- cies and procedures deal with per- sistently disruptive pupils, and the inappropriate use of mobile tech- nology, the union says. “Pupils were clearly playing to

the camera in this case,” Ms Keates said. Julian Stanley, chief executive of

the Teacher Support Network, said it was important to remember that

although incidents were rare, teach- ers were at a greater risk than other professions of developing common mental health problems “because of the uniquely challenging, but rewarding job that they do”. He told SecEd: “It is important

that we learn from this incident, and that senior leaders in schools sit down and discuss the plans they have in place. We want to create a culture where there is less stigma attached to mental health conditions. “Teachers can sometimes feel a

need to put on a professional mask because they want to appear com- petent. Also, they may not want to speak out, but it is important that they do.”

NEWS

In brief

Voice online

Voice, the education union, has launched an online interactive blog site. The union will be posting informative articles, comments and opinions about the world of education, and will also welcome posts from visitors to the site. Visit: www.blog. voicetheunion.org.uk

Scrabble Fest

UK schools are being invited to submit a team for the UK’s first Youth Scrabble Fest. The two-day event, which runs from June 4 to 5 at Idsall School in Shropshire, will see students aged 5 to 17- years-old take part in a series of tournaments in a bid to win the accolade of UK Youth Scrabble Champion. The winner will also get the chance to represent their country in the 2010 World Youth Championships, held later this year in The Philippines. Visit: www.youthscrabble.org

In bloom

Schools across the UK are joining thousands of schools around Europe in bringing a floral flavour to their playgrounds this week, to celebrate their links with schools across the continent. Pupils have planted European Union-themed blue and yellow flowers in their school gardens to mark the fifth anniversary of the eTwinning programme, which enables schools across Europe to work together on creative classroom projects using online technology. There are more than 70,000 schools registered on the scheme, around 7,000 of them from the UK. Visit: www. britishcouncil.org/etwinning

Making waves

Open house: Eton College has been running Saturday classes for pupils from six nearby state-maintained schools

Eton opens its doors to state schools

Schools in close proximity to Eton College have been making the most of their esteemed neighbour’s facil- ities by sending select groups of students to attend Saturday sesions at the public school. As part of a two-year-old

Independent State Schools Partnership (ISSP), six state schools in the Eton and Slough area have been sending year 9 and 10 students to spend part of their weekends learning about quan- tum mechanics, theoretical phys- ics, behavioural psychology, and neuro-aesthetics. However, far from being academ-

ic whizzkids – as the subject matter being taught might suggest – the stu- dents chosen to attend the Saturday morning workshops are identified

as bright children who have failed to apply themselves at school. Speaking to the Company of

Educators in the City of London last week, Eton headmaster, Tony Little, said: “When the students from our partner schools physically came on to our school site, you can see that it had a very clear resonance with them. They felt they were in a special place. Therefore, the idea of hosting a Saturday school was very attractive. “We now run it with a group

of 36 year 9 and 10 students, half a dozen from each of the six part- ner schools, that are receiving free school meals, have attendance below 90 per cent, whose parents have not been to university, but who have been identified by their school as having untapped potential.”

Mr Little said that the attendance

rate for the Saturday school was 96 per cent, and that the sessions allowed staff to be “freed from the shackles of exam syllabuses”. Paul McAteer is head at Slough

and Eton Church of England Business and Enterprise College, one of the six schools engaging with the scheme. In stark contrast to Eton, which

is a selective boarding school where around 71 per cent of GCSEs receive an A or A*, a third of the students at Mr McAteer’s school are on free school meals, and 95 per cent come from ethnic minority backgrounds. He told attendees: “The Saturday

school makes the students feel spe- cial, and also gives me a conver- sation to have with them about

how they are getting on. We have seen clear changes in their attitude towards learning, and towards the school in general.” Among the other projects initi-

ated by the partnership are a week- long residential course, held at Eton, for youngsters with aspirations of university, a gospel choir featuring pupils from all seven schools, and a tuition programme that sees Eton scholars offering one-to-one tuition. Although the schools are work-

ing well together, the two heads are well aware of their differences – and are able to maintain a sense of humour about them. Mr McAteer said: “I know Tony

has said to me that no matter how bad a day he’s having, he knows I’m having a worse one.”

Young people have their say on election

Young people in the UK believe that the Liberal Democrats will do more to help the world’s poorest children than the other main political parties, according to a children’s charity survey. Plan UK, which helps children in

48 of the worlds’ poorest countries, spoke to around 200 under-18s to find out which party leader they felt would do most to help young people in the developing world. It found that Nick Clegg was the most trusted, claiming 43 per cent

SecEd • May 6 2010

of the vote, with Gordon Brown and David Cameron coming in sec- ond and third, with 30 and 27 per cent of the vote respectively. Miriam Kybird, the charity’s

development education manager, said the poll gave those too young to vote the chance to voice their opinions. “Let’s not forget, the decision

made today (Thursday, May 6) on who leads the country affects these young people as much as it does us adults,” she said.

The survey also found that

education is the most important issue for under 18s, with around a third placing it top of their priority list. The UK economy and health occupied second and third place. Two thirds of the young respond-

ents displayed a strong conscience for global issues, saying that the UK government should do more to alleviate world poverty. For more information, visit

www.plan-uk.org

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Pupils from Bristol Metropolitan Academy have won a competition that challenged youngsters to create a film suggesting a new law they think should be enforced in the UK. The proposed law, entitled “Young children copy – ban smoking in public places”, impressed the judging panel, which was chaired by film producer Lord Puttnam. He said: “Not only was it a good law, and well explained, but the students’ film was also very imaginative.” The competetion was run by the Parliament’s Education Service and the social networking site, Radiowaves. Visit: www. radiowaves.co.uk

Autism conference

The 6th national Autism Today conference, run in association with SecEd, will take place in London on July 12 and 13. The two-day event will bring together leading professionals from the fields of both healthcare and education to discuss the latest developments in diagnosis and clinical management of autism. Topics covered include managing challenging behaviour, and sensory issues in autism. Visit: www.mahealthcareevents. co.uk

Model behaviour

Jonathan Hoey, a year 9 student at Heathcote School and Science College in Chingford, has been named as the top designer in a London-wide contest to design a sporting venue. Jonathan’s design, The Eye Arena, earned his school a £1,000 prize, and a 3D scale model of his design. The competition was run by Arup, the global design, engineering and planning firm. Visit: http:// Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16