Please remember to vote for Jane Rendle in The Education Policy Partnership Election this week.
Ballot papers should have arrived in your pigeon holes in school last week, and they must be returned by this Thursday in the return envelope.
Jane is the official NUT candidate for the EPP. She has been doing the job successfully for the last few months, and is the candidate who will best protect the interests of teachers.
Don’t forget. Every vote counts.
(If you have not received a ballot paper, contact the union office immediately)
Please contact the NUT Office if your school is facing an Ofsted inspection in the near future. We have a booklet, Advice to Members Facing Ofsted Inspections, which we would like to send you.
The new shorter notice period from Ofsted means that we do not always find out in advance which schools are due for inspection, and we would like to get the Advice to you a few weeks before the event.
So as soon as you know, let us know.
The School Teachers' Review Body has told Estelle Morris that measures need to be taken to substantially reduce teachers' workload over the next 4 years, including a the introduction of guaranteed non-contact time during the pupils' school day for ALL teachers. The NUT will of course be pressing for her to act on this advice, but after 5 years of promises we don't hold our breath.
In the meantime, the NUT's action against bureaucracy remains in force.
Here are some highlights. For more information, contact the Office.
No more than one meeting a week, averaged out over a term, with a maximum of two meetings in any week. Meetings should last for no longer than 60 minutes.
If the meeting involves movement between venues or groups, the time needed for this should be included in the 60 minutes.
Whether these are part of the meeting pattern is up to members in each school to decide. Briefings must be part of the 1265 hours.
These cannot be restricted to 60 minutes duration but must be included in the average number of meetings over the term.
This must be of reasonable length. It is not part of directed time therefore teachers cannot be required to attend any meetings or carry out any other jobs during it.
These should be kept to the minimum number of words necessary, and members should be free to apply professional judgement in determining their length.
Only one report a year on each child. Reports include pro-formas and tick boxes.
Members should not be expected to update lesson plans more than once a year.
Members should not have to write school policies unless this is part of their job description (in which case a model policy would need to be provided).
The school should not opt for, or be subjected to, pre-Ofsred practice inspections.
See Bradford NUT’s Advice to Members Facing Ofsted Inspections.
Separate guidance has been issued. Teachers should not have more than three performance targets or more than one lesson observation a year, and must not be expected to cover classes or to accept extra children into their class in order to facilitate the performance management process.
There is also a long list of activities, such as collecting money and stocktaking, which are covered by the action.