Minutes of the General Meeting held on November 7th 2006 

Apologies : Liz Freeman, Ray Sutcliffe, Steve Boddy, Cath Williams, Kulwant Singh, Anwar Sheikh, Elvira Suess .

Minutes : Agreed as true record.

Matters arising :

At last meeting it was agreed to send a delegate to ‘Organising for Fighting Unions’. It was clarified that if anyone attends, expenses will be paid.

Correspondence :

Stuart Davies raised the following as of interest…Conference on 8th December – Getting Disability Right, Yorkshire & Humberside TUC Women’s Conference, Amnesty International Conference – Saturday 9th December. Donations to support Lebanese teachers affected by the fighting in Lebanon. It was unanimously agreed that Bradford NUT donate £500. The National Union has already donated £5,000 to support teachers who are not being paid at present due to the disruption to the infrastructure in the area.

Motions Received :

None were received in time for this meeting. However, an item on Islamophobia has been brought since.

Annual Conference Motions :

This branch is entitled to submit 6 motions. 6 Motions were presented to the meeting on Burma, Education Campaign 2007. Lesson Observations, Salary Policy, Teacher Mental Health and Support for Local Officers and Representatives.

It was agreed to pass all 6 motions.

Reports and Discussions :

Campaign on Workloads

Forthcoming ballot and campaign on workload. Ballot papers will be sent to members on 20th November.

In a recent survey it was found that although teachers teach less each week but that gain time has been surpassed by other duties. This indicates that the Workload Agreement has not achieved its intentions.

Changes to Performance Management

Government’s new regulations on PM claim to limit the number of observations to 3. However, other observations can take place including ‘drop in’ observations!

The above ballot will put forward 1 observation for PM and 1 other as a maximum.

It was also asked about the number of Observers recommended at any one time. This will be followed up by the local branch.

Trust Schools and Academies

Trust schools haven’t become law yet. Some West Yorkshire, not Bradford schools have shown interest. These schools would no longer be under local Authority Regulations and Guidelines, including admissions and conditions of service.

A feasibility study is continuing at Rhodesway to turn it into an Academy run by EduTrust.

The campaign group against this is very active. The Government target is between 5 & 7 Academies!

New Pension Regs

There are changes for existing teachers as well as new teachers. It is recommended that anyone considering retirement speak to the Union before making a decision.

Guidelines will be issued in the next Newsletter.

A.O.B.

James Dean proposed a local motion on Islamophobia.

It was agreed to discuss the above item in full at the next meeting.

Nominations

National Advisory Committee for Young Teachers – nominated James Dean.

National Appeals – nominated – Howard Roberts.

National Disciplinary Committee – nominated - John Howarth.

Officers

Next President – no volunteers as yet.

NQT Function: In competition with other Unions for new members, the meeting agreed to endorse Officers initiative of offering incentives in the form of vouchers, with a cost of £240.

Meeting closed at 6.40pm.