Stand Up for Education (Wheatley Park)

NUT members from Wheatley Park were joined by colleagues from John Watson School to discuss the upcoming Strike Action on 26^th March. Many teachers were still teaching or unable to attend due to the demands of paperwork – a vivid illustration of pressure teachers are under and of the hours they are working. Colleagues discussed the background of the action and celebrated the recent successes – the findings of the STRB and the publication of the Working time survey – both in direct response to union action.

Members went on to discuss our action next month, not only is it justified but it is also very well timed – now is a very good time to be applying pressure on a weakened secretary of state – it was stressed that strike action will only be effective if it is accompanied by lobbying of politicians and backed up by support form parents and communities. Members were urged to write to their MPs, to talk to parents and carers and to urge them to sign the petition to ‘Stand Up for Education’.

Ed

Stand Up for Education (Henley)

Really good meeting tonight in the Henley cluster. We discussed how we can build in our individual workplaces for the strike as well as the importance of keeping the pressure on after Michael Gove suffered the set back of the STRB report. We also discussed the support we have in the public and how we can get parents and communities involved. To do this, we are going to be leafleting in Henley on the 15^th of March, meeting at the Town Hall at 11am.  All local teachers are welcome to join us.

Dave

Stand Up for Education (St John's, Banbury)

NUT members from several Banbury schools met at St John's RC Primary on Thursday February 27th.

Those present discussed the proposed changes to teachers' pay and conditions and their likely effect on teachers' workload and professional relationships.

We also talked about effective communication with parents and others as to the consequences if the changes go through.

Discussion then moved on to the importance of organisation and representation at school level, building informal local support networks and using these to exchange experience and ideas.

The meeting lasted about an hour. Thanks are due to St John's Headteacher Kevin Griffiths and his staff for their warm and generous hospitality.

Ian

Stand Up for Education (Cheney)

Great meeting this afternoon at Cheney School.  Strong support for the campaign from the 25-30 teachers present.  In particular, a number of younger teachers commented on the importance of making the campaign about education, not just pay, pensions and workload.  It is not that teachers don't care about these issues - many at the meeting said the workload was almost unbearable - but that they care even more deeply about the quality of education their students receive.

The parent leaflets were very well received, as was the focus on engaging parents, pressuring politicians and strike action on 26th March.  A number of teachers have signed up for local leafleting and lobbying meetings with their MP.

All in all, a good start to the campaign.  This is the first of a number of meetings (nearly 20 now - 16 below, more to be announced).

Looking forward to getting to more schools over the coming weeks and meeting more NUT members.

Gawain

Stand Up for Education: Your nearest meeting

Over the next few weeks, we will be attempting the biggest series of NUT meetings in Oxfordshire for some time.

So far, we have 16 meetings set up and more in the pipeline.

I hope that you can join us at your nearest meeting.  If there is not one near you, get in touch and lets set one up at your school or in your local area.

Developing Strategies

And an article for Education for Tomorrow and the STA journal Education for Liberation earlier this year on similar themes:

Education faces the most sustained political attack since the formation of a state education system in the 1870s.  That much is plain.  The academy and 'free' schools privatisation programme, attacks on education workers' pensions, regressive curriculum and qualification changes, and the dismantling of national pay are all part of a broad 'reform' programme which seeks to dismantle the state education system and replace it with a fully-privatised education market, driven by profit.

NUT at the Crossroads

My guest piece for the CDFU bulletin (internal NUT publication):

The NUT is at a crossroads.

Never before have we faced a government so determined to dismantle the state education system.  Even the Thatcher government, with all its commitment to the free-market economics of Milton Fiedman, was limited in how far it could go down the road of education privatisation.  Ultimately, their experiment failed as unions, heads and LA officers worked together to ensure that Local Management of Schools, per-pupil funding and the introduction of a quasi-market through parent choice was not enough to undermine the local authority family of schools.

Organising for the Future

A busy week this week. On Thursday, our local committee met for the first time since the AGM. Great to welcome new members on board and to set out some of our plans for the coming year.

In particular, we welcomed the initial success of the organising project in Didcot and Wallingford, and are looking to extend this to other areas.

The War on Teachers Affects Us All

Sunday 03 February 2013
by Gawain Little

This year began with the worrying news of a significant decline in teacher morale. A survey conducted by YouGov reported that 55 per cent of teachers described their morale as "low" or "very low."

The number giving a positive response has almost halved since April last year to 15 per cent.

The reasons for this are not difficult to understand. More than seven in 10 teachers reported that they did not feel trusted by ministers and over three-quarters felt that government policies were having a negative impact on education.

More worryingly for ministers, only 13 per cent of teachers in academies and "free" schools, the coalition's blueprint for the future of education, believe that this government is taking education in the right direction.

And it's no wonder they are sceptical.

The privatisation of the education system through the academy and "free" school initiatives is already causing huge problems.

Read more...