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Upfront
Save school sports!
Protests and petitions have forced the Government to rethink its plan to abolish funding for school sports.
Chancellor George Osborne announced the withdrawal of £162m, currently administered through school sports partnerships (SSPs), in the Comprehensive Spending Review. Debbie Foote, a 17-year-old young sport ambassador, led the campaign against the cuts, gathering over half a million signatures and the support of over 75 sports stars, including heptathlete Denise Lewis and diver Tom Daley. Around 700 pupils, teachers and parents lobbied Parliament and delivered a petition to 10 Downing Street on 7 December.
The outcry forced the Government to reconsider the plans. On 20 December Schools Secretary Michael Gove announced that £47m would be allocated to protect SSPs until summer 2011, with a further £65m to support PE from 2011 to 2013.
"The temporary reprieve is better than nothing but it is not the solution," said NUT General Secretary Christine Blower. "The 'further' £65 million will be spread over three years and falls far short of the £162 million annual ring-fenced funding needed to continue SSPs at current levels."
Unions united on assessment reform
Three of the country's biggest education unions are calling for reform of SATs and league tables.
The NUT, teachers' association ATL and head teachers' union NAHT launched a joint publication in December setting out a way forward for assessment, school improvement and inspection. Common Ground on Assessment and Accountability in Primary Schools advocates scrapping SATs in favour of teacher assessment that is subject to external scrutiny.
The unions believe national sampling, already established in other countries, could replace SATs in England as the main measure of national education standards. Such tests would be anonymous, and not published in league tables, drastically reducing the stress on Year 6 pupils, teachers and school leaders.
Launching the publication, NUT Deputy General Secretary Kevin Courtney said: "We need intelligent accountability - government must trust the professionals." Mary Bousted, ATL General Secretary, added: "Individual pupil level tests are unreliable - 16 per cent of pupils will get the wrong level."
The Government is reviewing primary school assessment and accountability. We need you to respond to the consultation by 17 February. Have your say at
www.education.gov.uk/consultations.
Read Common Ground and find out more about the NUT's campaign for assessment reform at
www.teachers.org.uk/assessment.
Common Ground advocates scrapping SATs in favour of teacher assessment that is subject to external scrutiny.
Join the march on 26 March
Many thousands will take to the streets of London on 26 March, in protest at the Governmen's swingeing public spending cuts.
The NUT is calling on all members to join the TUC-organised demonstration, which will begin on Victoria Embankment at 11am and culminate with a rally in Hyde Park. This is your chance to show your opposition to unfair pensions reform, higher university tuition fees, the abolition of the education maintenance allowance, cuts to council budgets and central education services, the scrapping of Building Schools for the Future, and all the other reforms that are having a negative impact on you, your pupils, your family and your community. We look forward to seeing you there!
Find out more at
www.tuc.org.uk and
www.teachers.org.uk/notocuts.
No fear
NUT members and staff were among thousands of women who walked through the freezing streets of London on 27 November in the Reclaim the Night march. The annual event aims to raise awareness of rape and violence against women.
www.reclaimthenight.org
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