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NEWS stress among union debates


NASUWT – Lesson observations


The excessive use of lesson obser- vations by school leaders once again sparked an angry debate by teachers at the NASUWT. A debate at the union’s annu-


al conference, which took place in Glasgow from April 22 to 25, attacked the use of “drop-ins” and “learning walks” in schools, which see members of the leadership team coming in to classrooms to observe lessons without notice. Teachers are already subject


to three hours of observations a year as part of agreed performance management requirements, but the union says many of these drop-in observations take place in addition to this. The union has now agreed to


campaign for a limit on the total number of observations that a school can carry out on individual teachers. Moving a motion on the issue,


Claire Colling, a teacher from Birmingham, told delegates: “These observations are outside your per- formance management regulations and come in a number of insidious guises – learning walks, learning


NASUWT – Sickness


Schools and local authorities are using sickness absence policies as “punitive management tools” according to members of the NASUWT. A debate at its annual confer-


ence in Glasgow revealed that some teachers have been expect- ed to attend meetings while on sick leave, while raising concerns


NUT – Consultants


Education secretary Michael Gove has come under fire after the National Union of Teachers discov- ered that his department has paid £21 million to private consultants in the last year. The union’s general secretary


Christine Blower made reference to the figure in her speech to del- egates at their annual conference in Harrogate from April 22 to 26. She said the money was linked


to the free schools programme. Researchers from the union


analysed the Department for Education’s (DfE) spending, and say that the figures reveal five firms linked to free school projects that have received funding worth


NUT – The cuts


Teachers and education staff should “stand firmly” against all public sector cuts – even if that means industrial action. Delegates at the National


Union of Teacher’s conference in Harrogate were told that they should stand against the cuts on principle. A motion before the confer- ence read: “There is no need for


NAHT – Online bullying


One in five headteachers are bul- lied by parents or pupils on social networking sites it was claimed this week. The National Association of


Head Teachers (NAHT) released the results from a study at their annual conference, which took place in Brighton from April 29 to May 1. It claimed that schools now have


to waste hours every week to try and monitor social networking sites such as Facebook in an attempt to combat the problem. In one example, a group of parents campaigned to get rid of


SecEd • May 5 2011


detectives, drop-ins which can last anything up to an hour, official cor- ridor debriefing sessions. Excessive observations appear to be used increasingly as an excuse to insti- gate capability procedures.” Teacher Jane Setchfield from


Cardiff told the conference of one member who had been observed eight times since January, which included senior management and heads of department visiting them for both key stage 3 and 4 classes. Jane Allison, a teacher from


Worcester and Vale, said that one of her members had been observed 14 times during the autumn term, while Birmingham teacher Brendan O’Driscoll told delegates: “There have been times when being observed I have not done what my professional judgement has told me to do, I have done what I think the person watching me wants me to do.” The motion, which was passed


by members unanimously, calls for the union to campaign for a protocol that includes a limit on the total number of observations for an individual teacher, excluding NQTs, and teachers on capability procedures.


that many sickness absence poli- cies “disproportionately disadvan- tage teachers with disabilities”. The debate also raised concerns


that some managers are “harassing” teachers to go back to work before they are fit. NASUWT executive mem-


ber Suzanne Nantcurvis moved a motion on the issue. She told con- ference: “Some sickness policies


£21 million since February 2010. She added that other organisations, including legal firms, had also received funding to help oversee the creation of free schools. The union has written to Mr


Gove demanding answers as to why these payments are being made when schools are cutting costs and facing budget cuts. No more public money should


be invested into the “untried, untest- ed and unwanted experiment” of free schools, Ms Blower said. She continued: “Why, at a time


when the DfE is cutting staff, are almost 100 DfE staff are employed on free school policy? That’s the equivalent to four per cent of all junior posts in the DfE and is cost-


any cutbacks for job losses any- where in public services. In fact there should be an increased invest- ment in public services if we are to get out of this crisis. “Government debt is a notion


which belies the fact that all gov- ernments are always in debt. After the Second World War, the UK was in much more debt and yet this did not stop the creation of the welfare state, the NHS, pension rights and


a headteacher because they were angry that students had dissected a slaughtered pig in a biology class. The incident led to the headteach- er’s resignation, only for the parents to realise they had made a mistake and then ask the head to return to school. A motion was passed by con-


ference delegates calling for bet- ter advice on how to tackle the problem. It read: “Conference instructs


the National Executive to explore every avenue in developing robust guidelines for offering immediate advice, support and action, both personal and legal, to all members.


Anger: Christine Blower


ing the taxpayer almost £4 million. Why has he changed the application process to become a free school to make it highly unlikely that small groups working in their free time,


many of the services that we take for granted in a civilised society. In fact expenditure on public services helped in a time of crisis.” The conference heard of author-


ities such as Birmingham and Bury that are sacking all of their cen- trally employed staff and hiring them again on “much worsened” contracts. Delegates also slammed the banks for “corrupt” behaviour and expressed anger over continued


“National Executive should


then lobby vigorously with the Department for Education for the adoption of national guidelines.” Sue Street, director of e-learning


at Harrow High School in north London, said schools were also wasting time checking Wikipedia to ensure entries had not been edited and were correct. She added: “Schools now need


someone to check new media and the amount of time this takes is disproportionate. We are having to have long conversations (with peo- ple) in the US (where many sites are hosted) to have things taken down.” The conference heard that teach-


better training for school leaders and governors to ensure the effec- tive management of health, safety and wellbeing, executive mem- ber Mike Grant said that in 2009, 37,000 teachers were absent at some stage in the year due to stress. Teacher Sarah Chen from Rugby


told delegates: “School leaders and governors need to be made aware of the damaging and often long-term effect of their actions by taking part in training in this area.” Executive member Suzanne


Nantcurvis added: “I feel some despair and frustration not least because the pace of change on this issue is frightfully slow, but also because I see more ruthlessness in the school environment. “The motion will hopefully raise


NASUWT – Mental health


Education employers could save £32 billion a year through better management and protection of teachers’ mental health, NASUWT has said. A motion at the union’s annual


conference discussed the findings of an NASUWT study last year exploring the experiences of teach-


actually state that teachers should set work and attend meetings while on sick leave.” She also said that “back-to-work interviews” were invasive and often caused staff to feel threatened. She added: “We are all being


subject to policies designed to catch the very few bad apples in the sys- tem. Many of us struggle to school even though we are unwell.”


ers with work-related stress and mental health problems. It contends that the money could


be saved in sickness absence and medical costs as well as compen- sation by preventing people from becoming ill or injured through work. Moving the motion, NASUWT executive member Graham Cluer said that two-thirds of teachers are reporting work-related stress.


Fellow executive member Tim


Cox seconded the motion and criti- cised the use of “trigger-points” in many sickness absence policies which result in an automatic warn- ing for teachers. He described one policy in


which the trigger points were two absences in six months, four in a year or six in 15 months – point- ing out that taking two separate


without support from experienced project managers, would be able to complete successfully the initial application stage?” A DfE spokesman said: “Spend


on consultants has been slashed under the coalition government. In 2009/10 it was over £74 million but when final figures for the last financial year are published spend is expected to be significantly reduced. “Even then, much of the spend


will be leftover commitments from the last administration that are being wound up. This has been done by introducing strict rules on spending ensuring value for money for the taxpayer. We are sure that Christine Blower will be pleased with this huge reduction.”


bonuses at a time of public sec- tor cuts. Phillip Clarke, a member from


Lewes, Eastbourne and Wealden, said the profession should “stand firmly against all the cuts”. He said: “No matter how deep


they are, we should stand against them on principle. These are unprecedented attacks. A 24-hour public sector industrial strike could be a real possibility.”


ers and heads also have to carefully monitor social networks, even if they do not have accounts. A teaching assistant told del-


egates how he discovered that stu- dents or parents had created a fake profile of him with abusive com- ments written on it. It took him two months to get


the web page taken down after it had been discovered. Russell Hobby, general secre-


tary of the NAHT said often teach- ers do not realise that things they write online are “real”, and said the situation was not helped as online bullies can often remain anony- mous.


He said: “Stress and workload,


along with government initiatives form the top three reasons for teach- ers leaving work early. “Despite the National


Agreement, some teachers are working longer than 50 hours a week. Another cause of stress is unacceptable pupil behaviour.” Seconding the motion, which called on the union to campaign for


days sick in six months would be sufficient to trigger a warning and that the average absence rate in the authority in question was 7.4 days a year. He added: “Being disciplined for being sick is not acceptable.” Speaking from the conference


floor, teacher Teri-Leigh White described one member who had suffered a slipped disc in his back and was off work.


NUT – Stress


The stress of Ofsted inspections and hitting targets are driving some school staff to drink excessively and to even consider suicide. Speaking at the National Union


of Teachers’ annual conference in Harrogate, Sue McMahon, a member from Calderdale in West Yorkshire, said there had been a “meteoric” rise in work-related stress. She said she had supported more than one member after suicide attempts. The conference heard that it is


routine for members of staff to be expected to work at least 50 hours per week with an increasing workload of marking and filling in forms. A motion before delegates said


industrial action could take place if support was not available for staff suffering from stress which could lead to further physical and mental health problems. The conference noted that


physical hazards are treated with “controlled measures” for example asbestos or legionella, but that work stress is often ignored. The motion added: “Conference is aware that stress is the primary cause of teach- ers leaving the profession and is probably the most significant cause


NAHT – School funding


Any national funding formula must be “fair” and delivered to all schools equally alongside the Pupil Premium, school leaders said this week.


The National Association of


Head Teachers (NAHT) passed a motion at its annual conference with a majority of 82.7 per cent urging the union to press the gov- ernment for “fair” funding to all schools. The motion said: “Conference


reiterates the policy that funding should be delivered to all schools through a national funding formula. “This must work in conjunc-


some awareness of the problem teachers face and move the cam- paign forward. The resolve is there from NASUWT, but it also needs to be there from headteachers and employers. The pressure needs to continue.” The motion, which was passed by


members, also calls for the union to campaign for compliance in schools with existing contractual provisions, including on health and safety.


“He was expected to phone in


every single day of the absence and write cover for all classes, including activities for tutor time.” The NASUWT has produced


its own model sickness absence policy and the motion, which was passed unanimously by members, called for its regional representatives to push for its introduction in schools.


of teacher absence from work. Stress at work is known to lead to both mental and physical illness. Teaching is identified by the HSE as the most stressful occupation but, in spite of this, little is done by many teacher employers to tackle stress.”


Furthermore, the union said the


move to provide teachers with half- a-day each week of non-teaching time had not worked in cutting their working hours. General secretary Christine


Blower pressed for England to fol- low Scotland in setting a maximum working week to put an end to the long-hours culture in the profes- sion.


She said: “Despite measures to


reduce teachers’ workload, we still have the unacceptable situation of many classroom teachers, heads and deputies working in excess of 50 hours a week. With no limit to the working week, the long hours continue to take their toll on teach- ers’ health and their lives outside work. “Much of this time is spent


on tasks which have little to do with teaching and learning, but are instead generated by unnecessary bureaucratic procedures which have become the bane of teachers’ lives.”


tion with the Pupil Premium to deliver fair funding to all schools, regardless of their location, phase, or specialism.” The government is considering


a funding formula as part of its Education White Paper proposals. Jack Hatch, proposer of the


motion, said: “Similar schools with similar numbers (of pupils) should receive similar amounts of funding. The level of unfairness in schools funding is staggering. “For schools in neighbour-


ing boroughs, funding is different despite similar numbers and similar schools. This tyranny has to end,” he added.


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