22 May 2013

Commenting on the announcement of 102 new free school applications approved for 2014 onwards by the Department for Education, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“It is extraordinary that at a time when the shortage of primary school places amounts to nothing short of a national crisis that the Government is persisting with the folly of its free school policy. Less than a third of the approved free schools are primary schools; and the overwhelming majority – 45 per cent of the new schools – will be located in London, which by common agreement already boasts the best schools in the country.

21 May 2013

Commenting on the report Talent Matters – Why England Needs a New Approach to Skills, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“It is the Union’s view that a coherent and integrated education system that places equal value on vocational and educational routes must be in place and the sooner the better.

20 May 2013

Evaluation of the Phonics Screening Check: First Interim Report

Commenting on the report commissioned by the Department for Education and undertaken by the National Foundation for Educational Research, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“This report will make for very uncomfortable reading by Michael Gove as it has very little to say that is positive about the Phonics Check. The NUT agrees with many of the findings, in particular the key conclusions that schools believe the check provides no new information on pupils’ ability and that phonics should be used alongside other methods in the teaching of reading. This is indeed what happens now.

17 May 2013

Parents, teachers, head teachers, governors and other members of the public will this Saturday 18 May be taking part in the third of a series of Rallies for Education across England and Wales as part of a campaign to defend the education of children and young people.

The Rallies for Education are jointly organised by the NASUWT and NUT teachers’ trade unions, which together represent nine out of ten classroom teachers across the country.

Saturday’s rallies are being held in Newcastle and Cardiff and will be addressed by NUT General Secretary Christine Blower and NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates, as well as parents, teachers and others.

Recent rallies in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham proved immensely popular and more than 2,000 teachers, parents and other concerned members of the community have attended.

The rallies come as both unions embark on the next phase of their campaign of industrial action which will include a one-day strike in the North West on June 27 with further regional strikes in other parts of England and Wales planned for the Autumn term, culminating in a one day national strike.

Chris Keates, NASUWT General Secretary said:

“Parents, teachers and the public care deeply about the education of our children and young people. That is why there is widespread opposition to the education policies of the Coalition Government.

“These Rallies for Education are being held in defence of our world class public education system which the Coalition Government is determined to wreck.”

Christine Blower, NUT General Secretary said:

“We know that neither teachers nor parents are happy with education policy under Michael Gove. He is hell bent on riding roughshod over the wishes of parents, local communities and the teaching profession.

“Even the Public Accounts Committee has now publicly criticised him.

“These rallies give an opportunity for the voices of opposition to be raised. We know there are alternatives. Michael Gove must now stop, listen and reflect.”

15 May 2013

Commenting on the letter sent to schools questioning the NUT/NASUWT joint pay policy checklist Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

 “Michael Gove again demonstrates that whilst saying he wants to give schools more freedom, in reality he wants to impose his own ideas which have repeatedly been demonstrated as having no basis in evidence and as undermining, not enhancing, standards. 

13 May 2013

Commenting on the SPAG test, conducted for the first time tomorrow (14 May), Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“The culture of high-stakes testing has worsened under this Government, with the introduction of both the Phonics Check in Year 1 and the SPAG test in Year 6. Both are unnecessary and harmful because they test children’s skills out of context. Indeed, the Government’s own advisors have said there is no evidence that the tests will improve children’s English and could give a false impression of their level of literacy. (1)

“This is yet another example of Michael Gove failing to understand teaching or to engage in professional dialogue with teachers. Schools would have benefited from a full picture of the style of test questions at the beginning of the academic year, so as to inform learning, but the framework documents only surfaced in December 2012.

9 May 2013

As part of a campaign to defend the education of children and young people, parents, teachers, headteachers, governors and other members of the public will be taking part on Saturday (11 May) in the next series of Rallies for Education following the hugely successful events in the North West on 27 April.

The Rallies for Education are jointly organised by the NASUWT and NUT teachers’ trade unions, which together represent nine out of ten classroom teachers across the country.

Saturday’s rallies are being held in Leeds and Birmingham and will be addressed by NUT General Secretary Christine Blower and NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates, as well as parents, teachers and others.

The rallies come as both unions embark on the next phase of their campaign of industrial action which will include a one-day strike in the North West on June 27.

Further Rallies for Education will be held in Cardiff and Newcastle in the coming weeks.

May 9 2013

Commenting on the Government’s plans to allow adults in early years settings in England to look after a higher number of children, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“The Governments plans to increase the ratio of children to carer in pre-school settings would be a seriously bad move for children and their parents. Looking after 6 two-year-olds or 4 under-ones would be beyond the wit of all most everyone and will certainly impact negatively on the individual care and attention children will receive.

‘With the Deputy Prime Minister himself now speaking out against this reform it is surely time that the Government put a stop to it. Child care costs are a real problem for most families but this is not issue which can be addressed in this way. Cutting the requirement for the number of staff an early years setting needs to employ will simply add to the problem of the quality of the child care on top of the cost.  

8 May 2013

Commenting on today’s Queen’s Speech, setting out the programme of Government legislation, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“The Government proposals on reforms to the National Curriculum, examinations and the deregulation of teachers’ pay are ill thought out and plain wrong. They will certainly not ensure a world class education system. 

‘Michael Gove now needs to stop and reflect on its plans for curriculum and examination reform. Many teachers are genuinely in despair about the curriculum proposals as they feel they are either age inappropriate or just plain dull. Many others outside of the classroom, including the business sector, have also expressed concerns with Michael Gove’s plans.

7 May 2013

Commenting on the IPPR report Vocational Education in English Schools, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“What is becoming increasingly clear is that Michael Gove’s reforms are plain wrong. The proposals for the National Curriculum and the present school accountability measures, which do not recognise vocational subjects, will continue to ensure that they are not given the status or space in the curriculum they deserve.

7 May 2013

Commenting on the Demos report Detoxifying School Accountability, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“The report is quite right when it states that Ofsted as a measure of accountability in schools is both ‘toxic’ and does not lead to an improvement in education. The NUT has long called for an inspection system which supports, not punishes, schools.

“Of course there has to be accountability in schools, but Ofsted clearly is not the answer. We need, as the report suggests, a rigorous system of school self-evaluation with light touch external moderation to ensure that schools are assessing their progress correctly. The evidence from other countries shows that where teachers ‘own’ assessment and evaluation, standards go up, not down.

3 May 2013

Commenting on Ofqual’s report Perceptions of A levels, GCSEs and Other Qualifications, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“Given that Ofqual’s report shows quite clearly that employers and the general public have confidence in both GCSEs and A-Levels, it really does beg the question as to why Michael Gove has continually tried to discredit GCSEs and called for a complete overhaul of the qualification system.

30 April 2013

Commenting on the latest Government teacher workforce figures, which show a fall in teachers’ pay, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“It is perfectly clear that the restrictions on teachers’ pay, alongside all the pressures that teachers face from Ofsted and unacceptable accountability measures, means that the prospect of recruiting the number of teachers we need to go forward is very bleak. It can’t be right that whilst teachers’ pay has been cut by 15% since the current Government took office, leadership pay in some academies has risen substantially.

“It is noteworthy that the figures show that leadership groups in academies are being paid more on average than in local authority state maintained schools, while classroom teachers are being paid less. It is quite obvious that despite what the Secretary of State says about his plans for the deregulation of pay, it is clearly not about paying a few teachers more but about paying the majority of teachers less. We urge Michael Gove to reconsider his plans to deregulate pay and to think about a proper increase in teacher salaries.

26 April 2013

Parents, teachers, headteachers, governors and other members of the public will tomorrow (Saturday) be taking part in the first of a series of Rallies for Education across England and Wales as part of a campaign to defend the education of children and young people.

The Rallies for Education are jointly organised by the NASUWT and NUT teachers’ trade unions, which together represent nine out of ten classroom teachers across the country.

Tomorrow’s rallies are being held in Manchester and Liverpool and will be addressed by NUT General Secretary Christine Blower and NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates, as well as parents, teachers and others.

25 April 2013

A survey of 450 NUT members in Sixth Form Colleges showed that an overwhelming 90% believed that funding cuts are impacting negatively on their students’ education. Cuts to staffing and courses, removal of the Education Maintenance Allowance and larger class sizes were all mentioned as contributing factors.

75% of those surveyed believed that funding cuts would narrow the range of subjects offered to students within the next two years.