NASUWT comments from April 2013 conference
CALL TO END DEPROFESSIONALISING SURVEILLANCE OF TEACHERS
Excessive surveillance and monitoring of teachers makes no contribution to raising standards, the Annual Conference of theNASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, has heard.
Representatives at the Conference in Bournemouth heard concerns about lesson observations being carried out by those with little or no recent classroom experience.
A recent NASUWT survey of teachers in Wales echoed the concerns raised at the Conference.
The survey found that:
• a third of teachers were being observed more frequently than ever before, with 5% reporting that they had been observed more than six times in the last year;
• nearly three quarters of teachers said observations were to monitor the quality of teaching, rather than to assist them in developing their skills;
• the majority of teachers said that they did not always receive feedback after an observation;
• two thirds of teachers said they did not find observations to be helpful and more than a fifth stated that they found their school’s monitoring to be intimidating; and
• almost half did not believe that observation was applied fairly across the school, believing that other teachers were often singled out for extra scrutiny because they had been off sick.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:
“Teachers welcome supportive and development classroom observation.
“What they object to is the excessive destructive and debilitating monitoring and surveillance carried out by those who don’t teach and whose sole purpose is to find fault rather than to support professional practice.
“Inspection is driving an obsession with the quantity of observations rather than the quality.
“No other profession is subjected to such deprofessionalising monitoring, and thanks to the NASUWT action short of strike action instructions, teachers are being empowered to resist.”
ENDS
NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Amanda Williamson 07741 246 202
Notes to editors
The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from 29 March to 1 April.
A copy of the survey referred to above is attached.
The full text of the motion is below:
LESSON OBSERVATIONS
Liz Brown to move,
Keith Page to second:
Conference is concerned that people with little or no recent classroom experience are making judgements on the teaching of individual teachers, both as part of the inspection process and as part of performance management, and that many line managers who conduct lesson observations have not received appropriate training.
Conference asserts that only a practising teacher should be permitted to make a judgement on the classroom practice of another teacher.
Conference further asserts that line managers should only engage in lesson observation if, as clearly stated in the NASUWT protocol on Classroom observation, they have received appropriate training.
Conference calls upon the national executive to work with the appropriate bodies to ensure that these requirements are put into effect and to review the action instructions in the light of progress made.
(Denbighshire, North Tyneside)
Lena Davies
Press and Media Officer
NASUWT
0121 457 6250 / 07867 392 746
lena.davies@mail.nasuwt.org.uk
INCREASE IN ABUSE OF CAPABILITY PROCEDURES
Abuse of capability procedures is creating a climate of fear in schools, driving some teachers out of the profession and affecting their health, representatives at the Annual Conference of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, will hear today.
Representatives at the Conference, which is being held in Bournemouth, will debate a motion highlighting the psychological pressures on teachers wrought by this abuse.
Research by the NASUWT has found that older teachers, black and minority ethnic teachers and teachers with disabilities are much more likely to be threatened with capability procedures initiated against them.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:
“The Coalition Government has created the conditions for workplace bullying to flourish with its punitive accountability measures and constant denigration of the workforce.
“There is a climate of fear in too many schools, with capability procedures being used to intimidate staff.
“NASUWT research shows that older teachers, BME and disabled teachers are frequently the victims of the abuse of capability procedures.
“In many of the cases the Union deals with, it’s not underperformance of teachers which is the issue, but ineffective leadership, lack of support and training, inappropriate deployment and, all too often, just because a teacher’s face doesn’t fit.”
ENDS
NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Amanda Williamson 07741 246 202
Notes to editors
The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from March 29th to April 1st.
A full copy of the research report referred to above is attached.
The full text of the motion is below:
APPRAISAL AND CAPABILITY
South Essex to move,
Colin Surrey to second:
Conference believes that the Secretary of State sees capability procedures as punitive and
judgemental rather than supportive and developmental.
Conference deplores the strategy of linking appraisal with capability and asserts that it provides nothing less than a bully’s charter that will be used to target teachers, particularly older teachers, with a view to forcing them out of their posts.
Conference congratulates the national executive for the stance on performance management taken in the instructions for action short of strike action and welcomes the clarity, consistency and equitability of the NASUWT/NUT joint policy and observation protocol that embrace continuing professional development as an entitlement and opportunity for all teachers.
Conference endorses further work by the national executive to:
(i) examine and expose the negative impact of capability procedures on teachers’ mental health;
(ii) promote policies that support teachers throughout their careers;
(iii) establish a contractual entitlement to access certified training annually;
(iv) provide teachers with an entitlement to secondment every five years and
(v) secure a funding system which can more effectively target additional support for teachers working in disadvantaged schools and those in special measures.
(South Essex, Hertfordshire, Devon, Hampshire West, Sheffield)
Lena Davies
Press and Media Officer
NASUWT
0121 457 6250 / 07867 392 746
lena.davies@mail.nasuwt.org.uk
WIDESPREAD CONCERN OVER PUPIL BEHAVIOUR
Reforms and cuts to education systems across the UK are seriously undermining schools’ ability to maintain discipline and promote positive pupil behaviour, the Annual Conference of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, has heard.
The reform of the curriculum to focus on a narrow band of academic subjects, the hiving off of schools to private providers and cuts to local authority behaviour support services are all culminating to hamper schools’ efforts to ensure schools are places of order and safety, representatives at the Conference in Bournemouth have stated.
A survey of NASUWT members has reinforced the concerns of teachers on pupil behaviour. It found that:
• 85% of teachers say they have experienced verbal abuse from a pupil in the last year. Over a third (36%) have experienced abuse from a parent or carer;
• more than one in five teachers (22%) have had threats of physical violence made by pupils and 15% have been physically assaulted by students;
• nearly half (47%) of teachers say they rarely or never have access to high-quality external specialist support to deal with pupil behaviour;
• over two thirds of teachers (69%) believe there is a widespread problem of poor pupil behaviour in schools and nearly four in ten (38%) believe behaviour is a serious problem in their own school;
• teachers believe that a lack of parental support, pupils not coming to school ready to learn and the low aspirations of families and students are the biggest causes of pupil indiscipline;
• the survey highlights the continuing problem of low-level disruption on education, with teachers citing chatter in class, the failure to complete work and the inability of pupils to follow rules as the biggest behaviour problems they face on a day-to day basis;
• almost half of teachers feel they are not supported by senior managers to deal with pupil indiscipline.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:
“This survey shows that teachers are working hard to maintain high standards of behaviour, but in too many cases are not being supported appropriately.
“It is a sad indictment that almost half of teachers feel they are not supported in maintaining discipline by school management.
“Teachers need to be backed by school management but regrettably, too many school leaders have not taught for years and have lost touch with the realities of the classroom.
“When the NASUWT is called in to support teachers, all too often we find that there is more monitoring and surveillance of the behaviour of teachers than of the pupils.
“This year the Union has had to deal with far more cases of general pupil indiscipline.
“There is no doubt from talking to teachers that government policy is a major contributory factor to this growing problem.
“Schools are losing specialist behaviour support because of cuts to local authority budgets. Narrowing of the curriculum offer is leading to disaffection among young people. Schools are using increasing numbers of unqualified staff to replace teachers and essential guidance and support which used to exist for schools has been axed from the DfE website.
“So much for government claims that they are backing teachers.”
ENDS
NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Amanda Williamson 07741 246 202
Notes to editors
The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from 29 March to 1 April.
Full details of the survey referred to above are attached.
The full text of the motion is below:
SUPPORTING POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
Executive to move,
Executive to second:
Conference notes with concern the findings of the NASUWT’s 2012 Big Question survey which confirmed the belief of the clear majority of teachers that pupil indiscipline remains a significant problem across each of the education systems in the UK.
Conference believes that teachers cannot teach and pupils cannot learn if effective and appropriately resourced arrangements are not in place to tackle pupil indiscipline and promote positive behaviour.
Conference asserts that alternative provision is critical to supporting the educational progress and wider wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable pupils in the education system and deplores the attack on such provision through privatisation, fragmentation and the introduction of payment by results.
Conference further asserts that schools’ abilities to maintain high standards of pupil behaviour will be seriously compromised unless government policies:
(i) ensure that all pupils are taught by professionally qualified teachers supported by appropriately trained support staff;
(ii) respect the professionalism of teachers;
(iii) provide access to a broad and balanced curriculum entitlement for pupils;
(iv) enable schools to access and participate in school-to-school and interagency collaborative structures for the management of pupil behaviour;
(v) make appropriate financial provision for high-quality behaviour support services and
(vi) reject the privatisation and marketisation of schools, specialist support services and alternative provision.
Conference supports the National Executive in continuing to campaign against government policies which compromise the maintenance of high standards of pupil behaviour, using all appropriate means up to and including industrial action.
(Executive)
Lena Davies
Press and Media Officer
NASUWT
0121 457 6250 / 07867 392 746
lena.davies@mail.nasuwt.org.uk
THE TIME HAS COME TO OPEN UP THE SECRET GARDEN
OF HEADTEACHERS’ PAY
Increased autonomy for schools and weak governance is failing to provide appropriate regulation and scrutiny of headteachers’ pay, the Annual Conference of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, has heard.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:
“School leaders have highly responsible and important jobs and their salary should reflect this.
“However, the combination of increased autonomy for schools and weak governance is failing to provide the appropriate regulation and scrutiny to ensure that headteachers’ salaries are determined in an open, fair and transparent manner.
“The opportunity and potential for abuse is significant.
“The increasing number of stories emerging of six-figure salaries, bonus and benefit packages are deeply concerning.
“Schools are spending taxpayers’ money and decisions should be open for public scrutiny.
“I have no doubt that the majority of headteachers are not and would not exploit the situation. However, while headteachers remain the only senior public servants whose salary is not published, then the dark cloud of doubt will linger over the whole service.
“The NASUWT believes that the exclusion of headteachers from the requirement to publish their salary annually must end.
“There is no justifiable rationale for excluding headteachers from the requirement for salary publication which applies to all other senior postholders in local government, the civil service, health and other public services.
“It is in everyone’s interest, including headteachers themselves, for this secret garden to be opened up.”
ENDS
NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Amanda Williamson 07741 246 202
Notes to editors
The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from 29 March to 1 April.
The full text of the motion is below:
LEADERSHIP PAY
Executive to move,
Executive to second:
Conference condemns the increased flexibility that has been introduced for determining the pay of headteachers whilst, at the same time, increasing the restrictions applied to the pay progression of classroom teachers.
Conference further condemns the abuse of flexibility by some employers to pay headteachers vastly inflated salaries, bonuses and other hidden benefits.
Conference believes that the remuneration of all teachers, including school leaders, should be governed by the principles of openness, fairness, transparency, consistency and objectivity.
Conference reiterates its call for headteachers’ salaries, bonuses and other benefits to be published annually by government.
Conference supports the national executive in:
(i) exposing and opposing the abuse of the system of remuneration of headteachers and
(ii) conducting research on the remuneration of headteachers in state-funded schools.
(Executive)
Ben Padley,
Press and Media Officer,
Campaigns and Communications,
NASUWT
Hillscourt Education Centre
Rednal
Birmingham
B45 8RS
0121 457 6269
07785 463 119
www.twitter.com/nasuwt
www.twitter.com/Chris_K_NASUWT
www.facebook.com/nasuwt
CALL FOR AN END TO THE EXPLOITATION OF SUPPLY TEACHERS
Representatives at the Annual Conference of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, have called for an end to the exploitation of supply teachers by unregulated, unscrupulous agencies.
Reports are increasing of dubious employment and tax avoidance practices, denying supply teachers appropriate pay, conditions of service and access to professional development.
Participants in an NASUWT supply teachers seminar last month reported being asked to sign contracts with tax-avoiding umbrella companies or face the prospect of being denied access to work.
In addition, a recent NASUWT survey of 900 supply teachers found that:
• a significant minority are not paid according to their levels of experience;
• many have been asked to carry out roles that do not accord with their skills and experience as teachers;
• almost half are not able to access their employment rights or afforded the protections of the EU Agency Workers’ Directive;
• most are not supported in their roles and do not have access to continuing professional development (CPD) or to mentoring or support arrangements; and
• most are often asked to cover the lessons of more difficult pupils and are often not given appropriate access to behaviour support systems.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:
“It’s apparent that supply teachers are the victims of grossly unacceptable employment practices.
“They are being denied their basic entitlements and rights.
“This is particularly worrying when a high proportion of supply teachers are newly qualified teachers who have been unable to secure a permanent post.
“Supply teaching can be a lonely job and these practices leave these teachers who provide a vital service for schools even more isolated.
"Supply teachers are often disempowered and unable to complain because of threats that if they do so, no more work will be put their way and they will be ‘blacklisted’.
“This is compounded by the increasing number of agencies requiring supply teachers to sign gagging clauses.
“Supply teachers are yet another group of ordinary working people who are the victims of this Government’s failure to enforce decent employment practices and support employers in putting profit before people.”
ENDS
NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Amanda Williamson 07741 246 202
Notes to editors
The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from 29 March to 1 April.
A copy of the survey referred to above is attached.
The full text of the motion is below:
SUPPORT FOR SUPPLY TEACHERS
Executive to move,
Phil Kemp to second:
Conference welcomes the valuable contribution made to the education service by supply teachers.
Conference condemns the increasing exploitation of supply teachers, particularly newly qualified and overseas trained teachers, by some private agencies which:
(i) engage in dubious employment and tax avoidance practices;
(ii) fail to provide access to meaningful professional development and
(iii) fail to ensure appropriate pay, pensions and conditions of service.
Conference restates its demand for the robust regulation and quality kite marking of all supply
teacher agencies.
Conference welcomes the initiatives taken by the national executive to support the union’s supply teacher members and endorses its continued efforts to secure fair employment practices for all supply teachers.
(Executive, North Tyneside, Sheffield)
Lena Davies
Press and Media Officer
NASUWT
0121 457 6250 / 07867 392 746
lena.davies@mail.nasuwt.org.uk
ABUSE OF EMAILS AS A PUNITIVE MANAGEMENT TOOL
ON THE INCREASE
Teachers are being swamped by a deluge of work-related emails sent in holidays, evenings and weekends, which is adding to their workload and causing stress and distress, representatives at the Annual Conference of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, have argued.
A recent survey conducted by the NASUWT revealed that nearly one in five teachers had received a stream of bullying and demanding emails from senior colleagues.
An instruction to NASUWT members only to send and respond to work-related emails during directed time forms part of the Union’s ongoing campaign of action short of strike action.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:
“The reports from teachers painted an unacceptable picture of harassment and intrusion into their personal time, which was causing them stress and distress.
“Read receipts are frequently being used as a mechanism to check up on teachers. In some schools, any unopened email, regardless of what time it was sent, is followed by a classroom visit from a senior manager questioning why the email has not been answered.
“We even had an example of all teachers at one school receiving an email from a Deputy Head at midnight on New Year’s Eve reminding them that they had data to produce for their return to work.
“This practice is just another example of the growing incidence of management bullying in schools.
“So extensive was the abuse of emails that the NASUWT action short of strike action instructions make specific reference to teachers refusing to answer emails outside working hours.”
ENDS
NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Amanda Williamson 07741 246 202
Notes to editors
The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from 29 March to 1 April.
A copy of the survey referred to above is attached.
The full text of the motion is below:
E-MAIL INTRUSION
Andrew Cook to move,
Devon to second:
Conference deplores the increasing use of electronic means of communication in schools with the expectation that teachers should respond at very short notice or outside directed time.
Conference views such expectations as a threat to a teacher’s reasonable work/life balance and tantamount to bullying and harassment.
Conference calls upon the national executive to compile and evaluate evidence of e-mail intrusion and develop a strategy and guidance to counter the threat to the work/life balance of teachers.
(Sheffield, Devon)
AMENDMENT
Executive to move,
Executive to second:
Between the second and third paragraphs:
insert ‘Conference welcomes the National Executive’s recognition of these concerns by the inclusion of a specific instruction on the use of e-mails in the action short of strike action instructions for England and Wales.
Conference asserts that all teachers throughout the UK should have working conditions which prevent them from being abused by the misuse of electronic communications.’
(Executive)
Lena Davies
Press and Media Officer
NASUWT
0121 457 6250 / 07867 392 746
lena.davies@mail.nasuwt.org.uk
HEALTH AND SAFETY CUTS PUT LIVES AT RISK
The Coalition Government’s attacks on health and safety protections threaten to put the lives of children and adults in schools and colleges at risk, representatives at the Annual Conference of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, have argued today.
A motion condemning moves by the Coalition to remove vital health and safety protections in the workplace was debated at the Conference in Bournemouth today.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:
“Nothing exemplifies the contempt of this government for ordinary working people more than the weakening of health and safety legislation.
“But the real concern for teachers is the deregulation of important provisions designed to safeguard children.
“By trivialising and trashing health and safety provisions, the Coalition is gambling with people’s lives.
“This is reckless and unacceptable and the NASUWT will continue to expose the risks and campaign against these changes.”
ENDS
NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Amanda Williamson 07741 246 202
Notes to editors
The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from March 29th to April 1st.
As an illustration of the extent of health and safety issues in schools, during 2012 a total of 193 members were referred to the NASUWT’s solicitors with new potential personal injury claims. As at 31 December 2012, there were a total of 263 cases ongoing.
These included a 39 year old technology teacher in the Eastern Region who developed rhinitis, sinusitis and occupational asthma due to working in an inadequately ventilated workshop environment for ten years. His condition was diagnosed in 2007 and the Union’s solicitors lodged a claim against the member’s employer in 2008. In 2009 the insurers acting for the Defendant admitted primary liability for the member’s injuries but alleged contributory negligence and denied the extent of his injuries. As a result, court proceedings were commenced. The matter was eventually settled in June 2012 prior to trial in the sum of £240,000.
Another member in the Eastern Region developed pleural thickening, a disabling but not malignant lung condition, due to exposure to asbestos during the course of his employment as a Technology teacher at a school where he had worked since 1977. The Union’s solicitors submitted a claim against the member’s employer but initially the insurers refused to negotiate a settlement. Court proceedings were commenced and engineering evidence obtained. However, shortly before the trial, the claim was concluded by way of provisional damages in the sum of £35,000. This settlement keeps open the member’s right to bring a further claim in the event that he should suffer a serious deterioration of his condition at any time in the future, as a result of progression of pleural thickening, lung cancer or mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure.
The full text of the motion is below:
RESISTING ATTACKS ON HEALTH AND SAFETY RIGHTS
Executive to move,
Executive to second:
Conference is appalled by evidence from the European Trade Union Institute and other bodies which confirms that the UK is in the vanguard of the global assault on health and safety rights at work.
Conference condemns government-led attacks on the health and safety rights of the school
workforce in order to prime schools for privatisation.
Conference believes that children will die as a result of the cumulative impact of cuts to finances, the reduction of inspection capacity, the removal and dilution of statutory guidance, the neutering of enforcement bodies, and the weakening of other arrangements designed to ensure compliance with statutory health and safety rules.
Conference asserts that the trivialisation of, and attacks on, health and safety provisions demonstrate contempt for teachers and other ordinary working people.
Conference endorses the continuing work of the national executive to:
(i) work with the wider trade union movement to co-ordinate resistance to attacks on health and safety rights at work;
(ii) publicise the damaging impact on children, young people, teachers and the wider school
workforce of the wrecking of the framework of health and safety provisions;
(iii) undertake research into the relationship between health and safety regulations and the quality of pupils’ learning experiences and outcomes and
(iv) take all appropriate action, including industrial action, to protect the health and wellbeing of members.
(Executive)
Lena Davies
Press and Media Officer
NASUWT
0121 457 6250 / 07867 392 746
lena.davies@mail.nasuwt.org.uk
YEARS OF PROGRESS ON WOMEN’S EQUALITY BEING UNRAVELLED
A motion condemning the disproportionate impact of the Government’s policies on women’s wellbeing, safety and security was debated today at the Annual Conference of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said.
“Women make up the majority of the workforce in public services.
“Public services are bearing the brunt of the Government’s savage economic measures.
“The cuts to public services, attacks on employment rights and the demolition of equality laws are all disproportionately hitting women.
“Cuts to local authority budgets are removing or reducing many services upon which women rely for help and support.
“Yet despite the evidence, the Government continues to display a callous disregard, and fails to take responsibility, for the adverse impact on women’s health and wellbeing and the consequent effects on their work and families.
“Years of important, hard-fought-for progress on women’s equality is being unravelled.”
ENDS
NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Amanda Williamson 07741 246 202
Notes to editors
The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from 29 March to 1 April.
The full text of the motion is below:
WOMEN’S HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Executive to move,
Executive to second:
Conference notes the evidence from the NASUWT’s 2012 Big Question which confirms that women teachers are more likely to be concerned about:
(i) excessive workload;
(ii) workplace bullying;
(iii) work-related stress and
(iv) the job impacting negatively on their wellbeing.
Conference is appalled by the damning evidence from a range of bodies, including the Fawcett Society, demonstrating that government policies are having a disproportionately negative impact on the lives and wellbeing of women.
Conference asserts that government policies attacking conditions of service and the political vilification and denigration of teachers impact adversely on women teachers’ health and wellbeing.
Conference congratulates the national executive on its work to highlight issues relating to women’s health and wellbeing and to provide support to women teachers through advice, guidance, training and collective and individual casework representation.
Conference endorses the continuation of action by the national executive to:
(a) campaign vigorously against government cuts and austerity programmes;
(b) monitor trends in relation to the health and wellbeing of women teachers;
(c) publicise the impact of government education reforms on the health and wellbeing of women teachers and
(d) provide training and advice for members and representatives on promoting women’s health and wellbeing at work.
(Executive)
Ben Padley,
Press and Media Officer,
Campaigns and Communications,
NASUWT
Hillscourt Education Centre
Rednal
Birmingham
B45 8RS
0121 457 6269
07785 463 119
www.twitter.com/nasuwt
www.twitter.com/Chris_K_NASUWT
www.facebook.com/nasuwt
PUPIL ASSESSMENT AND SUPPORT PROCESSES CORRUPTED TO BECOME CHECK-UPS ON TEACHERS
Book sampling and other processes designed to assess and support pupil progress are increasingly being corrupted by schools to become a mechanism to check up on teachers, representatives at the Annual Conference of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, have argued.
A recent survey of NASUWT members found that over nine out of ten teachers (91%) reported that their schools made use of scrutiny of pupils’ work, but well over half of teachers reported that this scrutiny was for the purpose of monitoring teachers rather than supporting pupil progress.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:
“Increasingly, more and more professional processes for assessing and supporting pupils’ progress are being corrupted into vehicles to scrutinise teacher performance.
“In too many schools, senior managers are now spending more time checking up on teachers than they are on monitoring pupil progress.
“Constant surveillance and monitoring with the sole aim of fault-finding is debilitating and undermining the confidence of teachers. This is not only poor management practice, it is poor professional practice.
“There is a widening gulf between school managers and classroom teachers that will undermine school improvement and affect teacher recruitment and retention.”
ENDS
NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Amanda Williamson 07741 246 202
Notes to editors
The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from 29 March to 1 April.
A copy of the survey referred to above is attached.
The full text of the motion is below:
ABUSE OF SCRUTINISING PUPILS’ WORK
Susan Edwards to move,
Nathalie Thomas to second:
Conference asserts that the scrutiny of pupils’ work:
(i) has little validity in examining pupil progress;
(ii) generates a significant increase in workload and
(iii) is used as a tool by unscrupulous managers to develop a culture of fear and hold teachers to account.
Conference calls upon the national executive to continue to campaign against this practice which promotes low staff morale and does little to support school improvement, using all means necessary.
(Denbighshire)
AMENDMENT
Executive to move,
Executive to second:
in the first paragraph: replace ‘the scrutiny of pupils’ work:’ with ‘in too many schools the professional process of monitoring pupils’ work is increasingly being corrupted into a mechanism for scrutinising the work of teachers.
Conference further asserts that such practices:’
in (i): replace all with ‘have little value in the evaluation of pupil progress;’
in (ii): replace ‘generates’ with ‘generate’ and between ‘in’ and ‘workload’ insert ‘teachers’’
in (iii): replace ‘is used as a tool’ with ‘are used’ and replace ‘and hold teachers to account’ with ‘intended to disempower teachers’
in the last paragraph: between ‘to’ and ‘continue’ insert ‘use all appropriate means to’
replace ‘promotes’ with ‘creates’
delete ‘, using all means necessary.’
(Executive)
Lena Davies
Press and Media Officer
NASUWT
0121 457 6250 / 07867 392 746
lena.davies@mail.nasuwt.org.uk
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