STEM 6 free school renege on commitment to recognise teachers’ union. Strike action back on this week.

Following a meeting last night where STEM 6 Principal, John O’Shea reneged on written commitments to recognise the NUT – to which most teachers at the newly opened free school belong – and to enter in to “meaningful negotiations” about staff terms and conditions, strike action previously called for tomorrow and Thursday this week is to go ahead.

Last Wednesday, the day before teachers were to begin strike action in support of union recognition, John O’Shea wrote to the NUT:

Just to confirm that we are willing to recognise the NUT and a commitment to enter into meaningful negotiations about the terms and conditions about the contract and to install a local and national representative within the Academy.
We would be willing to sign a formal recognition agreement

Please let me know some dates/times when you are free so we could meet next week

John O’Shea

Principal

STEM Academy Tech City

After receiving this firm written commitment, the NUT and its members at STEM 6 suspended last Thursday’s action to allow the agreed negotiations to take place.

We were hopeful, especially after Tony Sewell, Chair of STEM 6 governors, had apologised to teachers on Thursday for failing to listen to their concerns and removing some of the most objectionable  terms in the contracts they had been forced to sign under duress – such as a zero hours clause – that a line could be drawn under STEM 6’s previously dismissive and intimidating attitude to its teachers and that, once a recognition agreement had been signed, constructive negotiations could begin that would bring the terms and conditions in to line with those enjoyed by teachers in maintained schools.

So we were shocked yesterday afternoon first to receive a message from John O’Shea that he had decided to “postpone” the meeting which had been agreed for 5pm last night because “The NUT has not sought recognition rights with the CAC [Central Arbitration] so I cannot negotiate with you”.

This blatant demonstration of bad faith was either completely disingenuous, badly informed – or both. The NUT has never sought “statutory recognition,” both because we think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary (recognition which has to be enforced by law is unlikely to be genuine) and, as John O’Shea had previously stressed to us in writing before his commitments last week, as a pretext for refusing to recognise us at all, statutory recognition can only apply to 21 or more employees, a stipulation which the NUT is, of course, fully aware.

John O’Shea’s game-playing last night has made it even more difficult to resolve this dispute –and the real losers are going to be the STEM 6 students, many of who have made it manifestly clear that they support their teachers’ right to have their trade union recognised and to be treated in a civilised way.

The strike action (two days this week, to be followed by another three days next week) will now go ahead because STEM 6 teachers have lost all trust in their Principal and governors to keep their promises.

This morning we learned that John O’Shea has told his staff that the school will be closed tomorrow “because of the tube strike”.

Ken Muller, Assistant Secretary of Islington NUT commented:

This game playing must stop if we are going to return to where we were after STEM 6 agreed last week to recognise the NUT and enter in to meaningful negotiations with us about teachers’ terms and conditions.

Closing STEM 6 “because of the tube strike” is yet another act of dishonesty aimed at denying the demonstrably obvious reality that teachers at the school are angry at the disgraceful way in which they are being treated and are prepared to take the action necessary to rectify the situation.

Other schools in Islington, such as the Islington Sixth Form College just up the road from STEM 6, are open, despite the strike.

The sooner John O’Shea and the STEM 6 governors honour their promises, respect their teachers and sign a standard TUC drafted union recognition agreement the sooner we can enter in to constructive negotiations about staff terms and conditions of employment and the sooner the school can focus on what it is meant to be doing: providing students with  the high quality of education to which they are entitled.

Unfortunately, because they have not been able to do this, teachers at STEM 6 will be striking tomorrow and Thursday and picketing from 7.30 am onwards.

 For further information, call Ken Muller on 07950075088

Briefing: National Autistic Society Schools on Strike

There are 5 N.A.S. schools currently taking industrial action due to the attempted imposition of new contracts. All 5 schools have so far taken 6 days of strike action. The N.A.S. recently cancelled a planned meeting with the NUT & NASUWT about the new imposed contracts at very short notice. Teachers have been repeatedly threatened with dismissal if they do not sign. The N.A.S. refuse to recognise trade unions.

The N.A.S. claim they do not have any money and yet their Trustee’s Annual Report for March 2013 reports reserves of £27.9 million and an ongoing operating surplus of over £1 million.

Teachers rarely strike in special schools due to their special commitment to the students. These teachers risk, on a daily basis, being spat, pinched, punched and worse due to the challenging and complex needs of the students. The teachers are highly skilled and dedicated.

The N.A.S. want to:

• Reduce paid holiday leave by 5 days.
• Reduce industrial injury from 200 to 66 working days – remember these teachers are far more often injured at work.
• New contracts that allow management to further worsen their pay & conditions by simply giving 30 days’ notice. 

Teachers in N.A.S. schools already have worse pay and conditions compared to maintained schools.

The N.A.S. have tried to bully, lie and emotional blackmail members into not striking. They put their profits before the students and teachers alike. Parents support the teachers.

If these dispute is lost teachers and support staff alike will simply and with regret leave. The students will take 9 to 12 months readjusting to new less qualified staff. The students will suffer badly.

If the N.A.S. still refuse to negotiate with the NUT & NASUWT more strikes are planned.

This briefing is reproduced with permission of Ealing NUT

Can Tribal Inspections be Trusted?

Did you know that Ofsted, like many other public services, have been privatised? Did you know that companies like Serco - who run prisons and who are currently being investigated for fraud - have contracts to run Ofsted inspections? So when 'Ofsted' go into a school it's often a private, profit-making company that performs the inspection.

One of the private companies with a contract to run Ofsted inspections is Tribal who have come to our attention several times over the past few months.

In May this year Tribal carried out an inspection of the London Nautical School, giving it a 'requires improvement' grading. In a clear conflict of interests one of the inspectors was Daniel Moynihan the CEO of Harris Academies. Harris Academies are a London-based academy chain that would be in a position to take over the London Nautical School were academisation to be considered. Private Eye picked up on this story in August and it is reproduced on the Anti-Academies Alliance website here.

"When the Eye asked in 2011 how independent “additional” inspectors working for private firms would be, given the involvement of firms like Tribal in opening new free schools themselves, Ofsted said it would regard any situation where inspectors and their employers were “involved in an organisation in competition” with the school under inspection as a conflict of interests to be avoided (Eye 1286)."

Then, in November, Private Eye covered the story of the inspection of Wanstead High School (here) where one of the inspection team was head of a neighbouring school - another conflict of interests. Like London Nautical, Wanstead High was also given a requires improvement grade. The inspection was carried out by Tribal.

Within the past month we noticed that Battersea Park School had complained about their inspection by Tribal which happened back in June. The complaint is on the schools website here, runs to 11 pages, and contains some very serious allegations about the conduct of the inspectors including a suggestion that they made up evidence. We suggest you read the full complaint for yourself as it is pretty damning. The school received an inadequate grading and is now due to be handed over to the Harris Academy chain.

Finally Longhill School near Brighton was inspected by Tribal in October. The school have complained about the report which rates the school as requiring improvement, a judgement they say "contradicts the views shared with us by the Inspection Team during the course of their visit." The school's letter to parents can be seen here and a report in the local paper is here. 

As a footnote we noticed that Andrew Barker, former head of Bishopsford Arts College, which was failed by Ofsted in 2012 and placed in special measures, is listed as an additional inspector on Tribal's website here. That school has now been reopened as a Harris Academy.

Edited to add: 

Our attention was just drawn to this article about Westlands School in Torquay who are appealing against their inspection in June by Tribal which downgraded them from a previous grading of good to inadequate.

We've also been alerted to the fact that the disputed inspection of Kings' Stanley Primary School in Gloucestershire, which took place in May, was also by Tribal. Read this local news report which says "Parents and governors of the school near Stonehouse say the inspection conducted by Tribal on behalf of Ofsted was unfair and feel they are being driven towards applying for academy status. Tribal used to help schools convert to academy status." This report says the school is appealing the decision to demote it from outstanding to inadequate.

This Guardian article examines in more detail what the motives for private companies giving schools poor Ofsted reports could be. 

#loveTAs Twitter Storm TONIGHT

Tomorrow, Friday 29 November, UNISON has announced ‘Speaking Up for Teaching Assistants’, a day in which the valuable work of teaching assistants will be highlighted and celebrated. This is a particularly important message at the moment as it’s been reported that some in government want to cut teaching assistants’ jobs.

We are intending to support this by creating a Twitter Storm tonight to create awareness, and we have chosen to do this between 2235 and 2335 when BBC Question Time is on. 

If you use Twitter then we need you to be online when BBC Question Time starts at 2235. The minute the programme starts we need you to start tweeting. All messages should have two hashtags in them: #loveTAs & #BBCQT

Each tweet should contain a brief message that should highlight or celebrate the work of teaching assistants. We should also be looking to educate the Question Time/Twitter audience about just how valuable teaching assistants are to teachers, head teachers, parents and students, to counteract the negative press they have received in recent months. E.g.

• Without a TA, my son/daughter would not be able to X/Y/Z #loveTAs #BBCQT
• The work that teaching assistants do is vital. We must speak up for them! #loveTAs #BBCQT
• I’m a teacher and I value the work of teaching assistants. They are completely invaluable! #loveTAs #BBCQT
• As a parent I know the difference teaching assistants make. We must make sure they are valued! #loveTAs #BBCQT
• Teaching assistants are edu-heroes! We will continue to promote the positive impact they have! #loveTAs #BBCQT
• Teaching assistants enable children to thrive at school. Give them medals, don’t undermine them! #loveTAs #BBCQT
• Did you know it’s been reported that some in government want to cut teaching assistant jobs? What a false economy #loveTAs #BBCQT

You get the general idea right? Make up your own or use the examples above. It's worth preparing a few tweets and saving them as drafts on your phone or computer so you can whack them out one after the other. Retweets don't count. But this is an occasion where it's perfectly acceptable to cut and paste others' tweets without crediting them. It's the number of original tweets that counts towards creating a Twitter storm and getting #loveTAs trending.

Please alert others on Twitter who might want to join in.

How can you help if you don't have Twitter?

1. If you have Facebook you can post your messages about why you're striking, or why you support the teachers on the BBC Question Time Facebook page here
2. Don't have a smartphone? You can still use your mobile to text Question Time. Details on how to are here

Secondary English teacher Miss M has "nothing but admiration and respect" for teaching assistants

As a Teacher of English in a UK Secondary School, I would struggle to do my job as effectively, without the help of teaching assistants. 

They provide vital support in a number of ways: mixed ability classes which have children with a variety of Special Education Needs can be difficult to manage, without the support of a TA. Lower level students, who have the help of the TA, know that they can rely on them. This has a beneficial effect on their behaviour which helps to foster a more positive learning environment for the rest of the students. When they have TA support, students are calmer and display fewer behavioural issues – the TA forms strong bonds with the student that helps the pupil feel secure. Often school is the only place that some students can feel safe and are encouraged to adhere to a routine - TAs play an important role in this.  

The TAs at my school get heavily involved in raising achievement. Two of them co-ordinate the Nessie Reading programme and they have also piloted the Paired Reading Programme where KS3 students, whose reading age is below the national average, are paired with KS4 reading mentors, twice a week, to engage and improve their reading skills. Both of these programmes are very successful. The TAs undertake all the pre-testing and copious administration that is required before the reading schemes can commence. 

I have nothing but admiration and respect for teaching assistants and the crucial role that they play in today’s education system.

Teacher Emma explains hows a reduction in teaching assistants has affected her school

Back one May evening last year an email went out to all staff announcing an 'emergency briefing' the following morning. Rumours were rife: was the head retiring, had an ex pupil committed some heinous crime, were Ofsted descending?

None of the above proved to be true. In fact, we were told that due to national budget cuts all TAs would have to reapply for their jobs and three would be unsuccessful. In addition to this, the remaining TAs would have their hours cut and so they would now only be paid to work from 9.10 (when lessons begin) to 3.15 (when lessons end).

We have been working under this new system since September, and it is not pretty. The reduction in hours has left one of my form members, who is physically disabled, to lug her heavy equipment from the  form room to lessons on her own, as nobody is in to help her with it until she should already be in her first lesson. It also means the invaluable discussions I could have with this girl's TA during form time no longer happen, and so I am somewhat out of the loop with regards to the issues she faces.

Worse though, is the effect the loss of four TAs has had on the support available to statemented pupils. It is now quite common for a TA to be assigned to three or four pupils during a one hour slot. "Well that could be worse" I initially thought to myself "a TA helping four pupils in a class is hardly a problem." What I hadn't realised was that the TAs were scheduled to be with four different pupils in different classes during that one hour.

What this means, then, is that a TA will arrive for a 15 minute slot at any given time in your lesson. I never know when this slot will be, and so planning to use them effectively is nigh-on impossible. It's also hardly helpful for those pupils with difficulties that mean they desire routine, as I'm sure you can imagine.

The TAs feel terrible about it. Three months into this new system and they still apologise to me for arriving late or leaving early. The overriding sense I get from them is that they desperately want to be able to do their jobs and help the pupils they're employed to help. But they can't.

I suppose if one positive thing has come out of this, it's renewed appreciation for the job a TA does across our school. Unfortunately though, I fear this appreciation is too little, too late and that these are only signs of worse things to come for SEN provision.

Teacher Stephen says teaching assistants "complete small miracles every day"

Teaching assistants. I've known many. 

There wass the Liverpudlian woman who came in especially to coach students in the accent for Blood Brothers. This was in her own time. 

The one who identified the difficulties one boy in my English class was having, difficulties I hadn't noticed because he was so articulate and lovely and would never have told me out of shyness. 

Most recently the wonderful TA who coached an 18 year-old with Aspergers through his A levels ( including Drama ) and is still in contact with his family now he's at university living independently in ways we'd never expected could happen. 

Some children at secondary level relate so much better to a TA, perhaps because they get the consistency of a "parental figure" which it is hard to replicate when as a 11,12,13 year-old you are going from lesson to lesson, struggling with the tasks but also with your peers and simply growing up. 

I see students every day engaging with TAs in a much more meaningful way because they are getting one-to-one attention, attention that cannot be given so easily by the teacher when there are 32 in a class. 

I have welcomed at least three ex students back as TAs who have gone onto train to be teachers. In fact it has seemed that the only way to get on some PGCE courses is to have had experience as a TA. Where does that leave future teachers in terms of recruitment onto courses if they have been denied that opportunity? 

Every day I watch in wonder as TAs do a low paid job with the same commitment as teachers. Fair enough they don't have to plan lessons, write reports, mark work or be accountable for exam results, but they do complete small miracles every day with some students who would be lost without them - as would many teaching staff.