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NEWS • VIEWS • INFORMATION • ADVICE
BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID
Worrying indications are continuing to emerge that the nationally agreed three-hour limit on classroom observation is under threat as part of a wider Coalition Government shake-up of the performance management system.
The Importance of Teaching, a White Paper on education launched late last year, contained strong hints that the Coalition Government plans to remove the national framework of pay and conditions and make radical alterations to the way teachers’ performance is evaluated.
The White Paper set out plans to remove the distinction between performance management and capability, laying the groundwork for the introduction of crude performancerelated pay and effectively meaning that teachers are permanently on a capability procedure.
It appears the Coalition Government is planning to:
scrap the current three-hour limit on lesson observation;
slim down the performance management system, removing many of the regulatory protections;
scrap the requirement for schools to follow the agreed model policy on performance management, freeing schools to do as they please.
The NASUWT expects that a consultation is imminent. The plan is to introduce changes from the start of the next school year in September 2011.
The NASUWT has lobbied Ministers, arguing that the current system of performance management, which the Union was instrumental in developing, offers teachers a fair and transparent framework for improving their performance and gaining career progression.
The Union has warned that scrapping the three-hour observation limit and giving headteachers powers to vary individual teacher’s pay could lead to legal challenges against schools and will lead to a growing sense of disillusionment within the profession and legitimatise excessive monitoring.
In some schools teachers are already being monitored to destruction and the NASUWT will not sanction any changes to regulations that could increase the level of such observation.
Members are reminded that no changes to legislation have yet been made, so no changes to pay and conditions or performance management should be taking place at school level.
Go online:
www.nasuwt.org.uk/PerformanceManagement
Sixth-form pay parity fight continues
The NASUWT is to continue to fight for pay parity for sixth-form college members after rejecting a pay offer that would have left salaries trailing behind those of school teachers.
The Union, with other teacher unions, submitted a pay claim in June for a pay increase from September 2010 that would at the very least maintain parity with school-based teachers.
The Employers made a pay offer of an increase of 0.75% on all salary points, effective from September 2010.
The NASUWT conveyed its disappointment at the offer, which was significantly lower than the 2.3% received by school teachers for 2010/11. With inflation currently running at 4.6% the pay offer represents a significant pay cut in real terms.
The Union agreed to consult members before responding to the pay offer and undertook a survey to gauge the attitude of sixth-form members before Christmas 2010. A clear majority were against accepting the Employers’ offer.
As a result, the NASUWT has formally rejected the pay offer and is seeking to enter into further negotiations with the Employers. The Union is now ascertaining the willingness of members in sixth-form colleges to take action in support of the Union’s campaign for an improved pay deal.
The NASUWT believes that sixthform college teachers deserve equal pay and parity of esteem with their school teacher colleagues and urges all sixth-form members to support the Union in achieving this aim.
Go online:
www.nasuwt.org.uk/SixthForm
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