News Digest

Free meals for all

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:26:00 +0000

All primary school children in two local authorities are to get free school meals in a government experiment to see what effect it has on behaviour and obesity.

The pilot scheme will last two years, and two local authorities in deprived areas will be chosen. In a third authority the eligibility rules for free meals will be changed.

Hull council introduced free meals for all primary children, but Labour lost power in the local elections and the Liberal Democrats scrapped the scheme.

Under the present rules, about 16% of primary children are entitled to free school meals but child welfare charities say many don't take them because of the stigma attached, and fear of bullying.

Chair appointed to new support staff pay body

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:01:00 +0000

The government has appointed an independent chair to set up the new body which will oversee school support staff pay and conditions.

The Schools Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB)will be underpinned by new legislation. The new law will also compel schools to abide by the national workforce agreement, designed to free up teachers from other responsibilities.

Under the agreement, teachers were supposed to have 10% of their time for Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA), and not to have to cover for absent colleagues for more than 38 hours a year. But the government says some teachers are still being expected to cover for absent colleagues during their own PPA time.

The SSNB would give a bigger voice to more than 300,000 school support staff, and will establish a separate negotiating formum for support staff pay and conditions "where the specific role they play is recognised and reflected fairly and openly accross all schools", said a government statement.

"The national framework will facilitate a much greater degree of clarity and consistency in the terms and conditions of support staff nationwide than is possible under the current arrangements, while still allowing employers sufficient flexibility to meet their local needs."

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said, "This is a very important development. Professional and support staff in schools deserve fair pay and the hard work starts now to make sure the new negotiating body can deliver this."

The chair of the new body is Philip Ashmore, currently a member the NHS Pay Review Body, responsible for making pay recommendations for 1.2 million NHS staff.

Unpaid overtime by TAs must stop, schools told

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:13:00 +0000

Schools have been told by an official committee to change the way they employ teaching assistants.

The Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group (WAMG) – made up of government, employers’ and union representatives – has issued new guidelines in response to worries about the way support staff are being used in some schools.

TAs are being required to take on responsibilities they are not appropriately trained or skilled for in some schools, it says. In primary schools, support staff who have not been trained to HLTA level (including in behaviour management) should not be used to cover planned or unplanned teacher absences even in the short term, says the guidance.

They are also being expected to do unpaid “overtime” which is unacceptable says the WAMG. If a TA’s working arrangements do not fully cover the work required of the post there should be “a proper discussion” to resolve the issue. This could include paying overtime, extended their contractual hours and pay, or getting another member of staff to do the extra work, says the guidance.

The new guidance also says that too many HLTAs are being hired on “split” contracts – in which they are paid as HLTAs for some of their time and at a lower rate as basic teaching assistants for the rest.

Schools are taking too a narrow view of the HLTA role – seeing it only in connection with teachers’ PPA time. This means the skills of teaching assistants with HLTA status are not being fully used to raise standards, as intended.

Casual arrangements in which TAs who have achieved HLTA status are given extra pay only for the hours they work with whole classes “are not in line with the aims of workforce reform and the principles of the National Agreement”, says the guidance.

“The National Agreement explicitly recognises that support staff should receive remuneration that reflects their level of training, skills and responsibilities – and this is particularly important as higher level roles develop.”

The guidance also says schools should review the use of term-time only contracts. These now cover the majority of permanent support staff, but they are sometimes issued “inconsistently, without transparency, and can be applied disproportionately to part-time staff.” The new national negotiating body for support staff in England, due to start work this year, will be looking at the issue of term time only contracts.

The Appropriate Deployment of Support Staff in Schools. Department for Children, Schools and Families July 2008. www.dcsf.gov.uk

Multi-ethnic schools "better for children"

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:08:00 +0000

Children in multi-ethnic schools have higher self esteem and experience less bullying than children in schools where everyone or nearly everyone is from the same ethnic group, say researchers.

A study by Sussex and Kent university researchers led by Professor Rupert Brown found that minority ethnic children did better in schools with children from different ethnic backgrounds, and children from the ethnic majority had more friendships with children from other ethnic groups and were less prejudiced.

The results cast doubt on policies which lead to a reduction in school diversity, such as promoting single faith schools.

Call for child mental health training

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:06:00 +0000

People working with children need better training in child mental health, says the children’s mental health charity Young Minds.

All professions working with children should be trained so they have a the expertise to pick up problems as they arise, says the charity. “It’s key that young people have someone they can turn to who they can trust and knows how to support them”, said Young Minds’ Julia Mason.

“We are not calling for everyone to become a therapist but simply to understand the role they can play in spotting mental health problems at an early stage. Training for professionals who provide support in the first years of a child’s life is particularly important.”

SATS firm sacked

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:02:00 +0000

The private company responsible for marking this year’s SATS papers has been sacked.

The American company ETS was stripped of its contract by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which appointed them in the first place. The announcement came after thousands of complaints from schools about delayed results and inadequate marking.

Results were so late that by the end of July some children still hadn’t received their marks. Some heads said SATS papers had been returned unmarked, with pupils marked as absent.

Heads reported problems with the system from early on. At one point, according to the BBC, ETS had 10,000 unopened emails from schools.

Striking TAs "determined"

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:07:00 +0000

Just before the summer holidays is not a good time to lose two days pay. But thousands of teaching assistants have decided to do it anyway by taking part in the local government pay strike.
On the second day of the strike, hundreds of schools have been forced to close again because of the industrial action by support staff.
Pictured here are TAs on the picket line at Jubilee School in the London Borough of Hackney. Twenty eight teaching assistants at the school have joined the strike, closing the school along with eleven others in the borough, according to Unison.
Unison says, "Many UNISON members are low-paid, part-time women workers, struggling to pay the bills - losing two days pay for strike action is not something we do lightly. We are striking because the employers won't even consider talking to us about a better offer.
"We know that the services we provide are essential to our community, and that shutting them down for two days will cause disruption and we're genuinely sorry if you are inconvenienced. We just can't afford another pay cut.
And unless we get a fair settlement on pay, local communities will suffer too. Services will simply get worse as councils continue to lose committed staff and struggle to find new employees prepared to work for such low pay."

TA strike set to close one school in three

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:33:00 +0000

Up to a third of primary schools are expected to close today and tomorrow as teaching assistants take strike action over pay.
Altogether 600,000 local government workers will join the strike over a bel0w-inflation pay offer.
Most teaching assistants are paid for term time only, on an hourly rate. The average full time TA gets the equivalent of about £58 a day for each day they work.
Local government employers have offered a 2.45% increase, claiming they can't afford more.
But unions say they have £11 billion in reserve which they could use to fund a fairer increase.
Schools too have reserves of about £6 billion which the unions say could be used to improve pay for their support staff.

Unions plead for new pay talks

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:26:00 +0000

Unions have made a last minute appeal to local government employers to re-open pay talks and head off next week’s strike.

Teaching assistants are among 600,000 employees set to take industrial action on July 16^th and 17^th in protest at a below-inflation pay offer.

Giant billboards were delivered to the Local Government Association (LGA) saying “2.45% - it’s a shame”.

Heather Wakefield, the union’s head of local government, said Ms Wakefield added: "Our members have families and the employers must realise that they cannot ride out another winter of choosing between basics such as putting food on their tables or paying their energy bills."

LGA chief Simon Milton told local government leaders earlier this month, “I am sure we all regret that our unions have decided to take industrial action. But as there is no additional government grant, we cannot offer more than we already have as to do so would mean cuts in services or unacceptable council tax rises. I therefore call on the unions to end their dispute swiftly.”

Big leap in primary school language teaching

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:04:00 +0000

More than four out five primary schools are now teaching children a foreign language.
A study by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that the overwhelming majority were teaching French, Spanish or German. But a few are offering Italian, Chinese, Japanese or Urdu.
The government wants all primary school children to have a chance to learn another language by 2010.
Language Learning Provision at Key Stage 2

Minister blames teachers for children's SATS stress

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:03:00 +0000

Schools minister Ed Balls has accused primary schools of causing children unnecessary stress over SATS.

In an interview with the New Statesman magazine he said some teachers worry children by giving them advance warning of exams.

“It is totally the wrong way of doing things. No seven year old should ever know they are doing SATS.”

Headteachers, who have repeatedly called for SATS to be scrapped, said Balls was guilty of hypocrisy.

Action called for to regulate use of teaching assistants

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:06:00 +0000

Tighter regulation is needed to stop schools asking teaching assistants to take on too many teaching responsibilities, according to Unison.

Speaking at the union’s annual conference last week, Unison national secretary Christina McAnea said TAs were often being asked to take whole classes.

Many have not received the right training or support for the duties they are being asked to perform, and they are also not paid for them.

“We are pushing the government and the employers to provide much tighter regulations and for these to be more closely monitored,” said McAnea.

Unison members vote to strike

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:55:00 +0000

Schools could close as teaching assistants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland take strike action over pay

Public sector union Unison – which represents 200,000 school support staff across the UK – has called a two day strike of its local government members - including TAs - on July 16^th and 17^th.

According to the union, 55% of its local government members voted in a ballot for strike action over the government’s 2.45% pay offer.

Almost 250,000 of those balloted earn less than £6.50 an hour, and three quarters of those are women, says the union.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said they were “fed up and angry that they are expected to accept pay cut after pay cut, while bread and butter prices go through the roof.

“Most of them are low paid workers who are hit hardest by food and fuel price hikes, and they see the unfairness of boardroom bonanzas.”

In Scotland Unison members are to be balloted for industrial action after rejecting a three year offer worth 2.5% a year.

Deaf pupils "left behind"

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:55:00 +0000

Deaf children are needlessly falling behind their hearing peers at school, says a children’s charity.

The National Deaf Children’s Society says the education system is failing deaf children and is calling on the government to make sure local authorities provide parents and schools with the resources they need to support deaf children.

Currently there is an attainment gap between deaf and hearing children, with deaf children less likely to achieve the benchmark of five GCSEs at grades A to C.

NDCS chief executive Susan Daniels said, “Deafness is not a learning disability. There is absolutely no reason why deaf children without additional needs should not be achieving on a par with their hearing peers.

A comprehensive strategy is needed to meet the needs of deaf children says NDCS, and governments should give leadership, set standards and provide funding to make sure no deaf child is left behind.

Heads urged to invest in support staff

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:40:00 +0000

Heads are being encouraged to do more to develop their support staff.

The Training and Development Agency for Schools has launched a programme to help school leaders improve support staff training and development.

It includes guidance on how to use the national occupational standards for support staff, and new induction materials for support staff.

The programme for heads should complement the Skills4Schools web site, which is aimed at support staff themselves.

Support Staff Development for School Leaders

Skills4Schools

New pay body to define TA roles

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:37:00 +0000

Work is to start in September on defining TA roles and responsibilities.

Schools minister Jim Knight said a new negotiating body for school support staff will provide “national consistency” to the way school support staff are deployed and paid.

“Support staff are having an increasing role in supporting teachers – both inside the classroom and out. However it is important to ensure that tasks are properly allocated and that staff are fairly rewarded for the work they do” said the minister.

“Roles need to be clearly defined and there must be real consistency between the different roles, and across the national picture.”

The DCSF says that by September the new pay body will have an independent chair, and a framework.

Success for one-to-one reading programme

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Struggling readers who get support through the Reading Recovery programme do much better than children on other catch-up programmes, say researchers.

Under the programme, children at the end of their first year at primary school who are struggling to learn to read get a daily one-to-one tutoring session with a specially trained teacher for up to 20 weeks.

According to a study in 42 London schools, children in Reading Recovery programmes had caught up with their classmates within a year, whereas other children who started off at the same reading level were 15 months behind.

In the year after the intervention, the Reading Recovery children continued to make better progress. By the end of the second year – a year after the intervention - they were equal or ahead of their classmates in their reading ability, and still a year ahead of struggling readers who had not been in the Reading Recovery programme in Year One.

Find out more at the Reading Recovery web site

Single sex classes help boys with English, but not maths

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:08:00 +0000

Boys may perform significantly better at primary school if they are taught in single sex classes.

A study at Bristol University found that in Key Stage 1 and 2 boys did less well as the number of girls in the class rose.

But the effect was only noted in English classes and disappeared after the age of 11.

In science and maths classes it was discovered that having a largely female class improved the performances of both girls and boys.

Researcher Steven Proud said that the differences could be down to boys ‘hiding in the background’ and not trying as hard because girls generally outperform boys in English.

He concluded that it could possibly be due to female teachers – in the majority in primary schools – unconsciously targeting their teaching more towards girls.

One in twelve labelled "gifted and talented"

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:52:00 +0000

The number of children singled out as gifted or talented in primary schools has risen.

Government figures show that in 8.1 per cent of children were identified as “gifted and talented” this year compared to 6.9 per cent last year. There were big ethnic differences. More than one in five Chinese children were "gifted and talented”, compared to less than one in sixty Irish traveller.

The figures are based on information gathered in the January 2008 school census.

The number of pupils who spoke English as a second language also rose slightly – up by 0.9 per cent to 14.4 per cent.

Overall, primary school class sizes remained broadly stable.

Pupil characteristics and class sizes in maintained schools in England

Stammering help

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:00:00 +0000

Children who stammer are to receive more help in the classroom.

A programme designed by the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children, a world leading facility, will be rolled out to schools by 2010.

An additional £340,000 of government funding will allow for the Centre to distribute information, advice and training materials to support children who stammer and their families.

An estimated five per cent of children experience some difficulty with language fluency at some time.

Stammering can have a major impact on a child’s academic and social life, by resulting in them becoming withdraw or anxious, and can also lead to bullying.

Last chance to have a say on future curriculum

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:18:00 +0000

Time is running out to contribute your views to a major review of the primary curriculum.
The Rose review, set up by education secretary Ed Balls, will be advising the government on whether the primary curriculum is too narrow, and how it could better meet the needs of all children.
The consultation, which will also look at whether summer-born children should be able to start school later, ends tomorrow April 30.
Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum - call for evidence

Big jump in TA numbers.

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:43:00 +0000

The number of teaching assistants in English primary schools has jumped by 10,000 in the past year.
There were 115,000 full-time equivalent TAs in primary and nursery schools in England in January this year compared to 105,000 last year - the biggest yearly increase for five years.
And because many TAs are not full time, the actual number of people in the job is much higher.
Provisional government figures published today also show a small increase in the number of classroom teachers in primary schools.
Since 2000, the number of children to each teacher in primary schools has fallen from an average of 23.4 to 21.6, and the number of children per adult from 16.8 to 12. In nursery schools too, pupil-teacher and pupil-adult ratios have dropped.
School workforce in England, January 2008 (Provisional)

Support staff pay body gets go-ahead

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:36:00 +0000

The new pay body for support staff looks set to go ahead after a dispute between government departments was settled.

Work has now started on setting up the shadow body, including moves to recruit a consultant to prepare the new pay scales.

The schedule for setting up the new national body promised to school support staff was delayed because of a wrangle between the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Treasury, but it is understood that this has been resolved.

The school support staff pay body was announced by schools minister Jim Knight last autumn. It was due to come into operation in September 2008, and would set pay for all support staff in schools.

Unison national officer Christine Lewis welcomed the latest development. "There is still a long way to go before our members are asked whether they want to move from the old to the new arrangements, but at least this blockage has shifted."

In a statement on Sept 26, the schools department (DCFS) said work would begin immediately on recruiting a shadow chair for the new body, which is to provide a separate negotiating forum for support staff pay and conditions. A shadow group was to be in place by January 2008 to prepare for the body going live in September.

It is understood that the plan had not been ratified by the Treasury before it was announced, and objections were raised.

Schools minister Jim Knight has been talking up the importance of teaching assistants. He told the ATL teachers’ union conference last month that that teachers should not be “rewarded and relieved at the expense of teaching assistants”.

He went on: “I am absolutely determined to get the new support staff working group up and running this year to deliver more consistency and progression for this crucial group of professionals.”

He also gave an interview on BBC radio 5 Live in which he mentioned teaching assistants several times.

He said then that increasing the number of teaching assistants in classes is key to improving education, says schools minister Jim Knight.

"If we’re going to improve behaviour, and that’s the beginning of good learning with people feeling safe and confident to speak up in their classes, we’ve got to continue to improve the ratio of adults to children in class."

Teachers strike advice for TAs

noreply@blogger.com (Frankie) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:01:00 +0000

Teaching assistants could be disciplined and lose pay if they refuse to cross teachers' picket lines, unions have warned.

Unison has told its members that legally they cannot take strike action without a ballot of their own, and they should work as usual on Thursday if the teachers' strike goes ahead. But they should not do any work normally done by people on strike.

If TAs want to show their support for colleagues they can attend rallies and meetings outside working hours, said a Unison spokesperson.

Up to 6000 schools are expected to shut fully or partially on 24 April as teachers go on strike over better pay.

It will be the first time that the National Union of Teachers has organised industrial action over pay for 21 years.

A majority of three to one of teachers balloted voted in favour of the action, in protest at the government's pay offer of 2.45 per cent.

Only thirty local authorities in England are likely to be affected by the action - around a fifth of all local authorities.

Some authorities have published lists of the affected schools and others have made predications as to which schools will close.

NUT members are unhappy at pay increases being set at less than the rate of inflation since 2005.