Teachers’ Workload

NASUWT is proud that unremitting pressure from the Association’s ‘Time for a Limit’ and ‘Cover to Contract’ campaigns delivered contractual change to improve every teachers’ working conditions. On 15 January 2003 an historic national agreement, ‘Raising Standards and Tackling Workload’, was signed by NASUWT, the Government, the national employers’ organisation and other unions representing teachers, headteachers and support staff in schools. The national agreement for England and Wales provides:

• Guaranteed time for planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) — A contractual entitlement for all teachers to guaranteed time for planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) which cannot be eroded by cover;
  
  
• Time for leadership and management responsibilities — A contractual entitlement to a reasonable allocation of time during the normal working day in addition to guaranteed PPA time;
  
  
• A contractual limit on cover for absent colleagues — This will initially be set at a maximum of 38 hours with the object of phasing out the obligation to cover altogether;
  
  
• Transfer of clerical and administrative tasks to appropriate support staff — The teacher’s contract has been amended so that teachers should not routinely undertake any administrative or clerical tasks;
  
  
• Work/life balance — The open-ended clause in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document that allowed extra work to be piled on teachers has been rewritten to introduce a proper work/life balance;
  
  
• Reduction in overall working hours — All parties that are signatories to the national agreement are committed to significantly reducing the overall working hours of teachers by 2006;
  
  

Support staff reform — A range of support staff will be introduced to support schools in raising educational standards and reducing the workload of teachers – including relieving teachers of tasks such as administration, supervision, invigilation and behaviour management.

NASUWT has maintained consistently in the discussions with Government and other signatory bodies that the pedagogic role of the teacher and the standards of qualified teacher status must be protected and enhanced.
For the first time ever, statutory regulations and guidance have been agreed which define in legislation the role of the qualified teacher and ensure that classroom support staff cannot be employed in schools as cheap substitutes for qualified teachers.

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Pupil Violence and Indiscipline

There are few matters which attract more professional, public and political concern amongst those interested in education than the issue of violence, abuse and harassment in schools and colleges. NASUWT has long recognised this problem, and has consistently sought to highlight its effects on teacher recruitment, retention and morale. Increasingly, and following the work NASUWT has undertaken to highlight these problems, politicians and the public have come to recognise the extent of the problem of violence, abuse and harassment of teachers as a major issue that seriously affects the quality of children’s learning and the future recruitment and retention of teachers.

NASUWT has produced an extensive catalogue of materials and resources to assist teachers, headteachers, governing bodies and their schools to tackle the problems associated with violence and indiscipline in schools. NASUWT research, advice, information and training programmes are designed to give support to teachers and their schools/colleges in creating a positive learning environment, free from fear, bullying and intimidation.

Teachers are often faced with the well-nigh impossible job of trying to instil and maintain reasonable standards of pupil behaviour. However, all too often they have been criticised for their efforts by Government, or confronted by aggressive parents unwilling or unable to accept responsibility for the actions of their children.

NASUWT has witnessed a consistent attempt to challenge the authority of schools by a minority of pupils and parents. NASUWT stands firmly alongside its members in defending their right to work in an environment where they and their pupils are not at risk of being attacked, abused or threatened. Indeed, in 2003, and in the face of considerable criticism and opposition, NASUWT successfully defended in the High Court and the House of Lords the right of teacher trade unions to ballot their members to refuse to teach violent and disruptive pupils.

All teachers are entitled to work in an environment free from violence and disruption. NASUWT believes that the Government and employers must tackle with urgency the problems of violence, abuse and harassment in schools and colleges, afford staff and pupils the protection to which they are entitled, and enable them to work in an environment free from fear.

NASUWT has adopted a ten-point plan in pursuit of its campaign to end violence, abuse and harassment in schools and colleges.

NASUWT will:

1. Continue to take action to make schools and colleges safe places to work and learn by building on our landmark victory in the House of Lords in supporting members refusing to teach violent and disruptive pupils.
   
   
2. Work to create an environment in all schools and colleges where teachers are valued and respected.
   
   
3. Campaign for zero tolerance by employers of all forms of violence, abuse and harassment in schools and colleges.
   
   
4. Support members experiencing violence, abuse and harassment, from whatever source, during the course of their work.
   
   
5. Defend members who are subject to malicious and false allegations and continue to press for a change to the law to protect teachers who are victims of such allegations.
   
   
6. Raise awareness of the extent and impact of violence, abuse and harassment in schools and colleges. This will include establishing a national statistical database on violence, abuse and harassment in schools and colleges.
   
   
7. Identify, develop and promote effective strategies to tackle violence, abuse and harassment in educational settings, including through the provision of information, guidance and training for members.
   
   
8. Campaign for increased provision of off-site specialist facilities for violent and disruptive pupils and those permanently excluded from schools.
   
   
9. Campaign for the abolition of the exclusion appeals panels which still too frequently reinstate pupils permanently excluded by schools.
   
   
10. Work to secure strengthened legislation to tackle violence, abuse and harassment, including measures to hold employers vicariously liable for harassment and abuse of employees by third parties, including parents.
    

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Teachers’ Pay

On the crucial issue of pay, NASUWT has long campaigned for high levels of pay for those who remain committed to classroom teaching. NASUWT advocates the introduction of a simple, transparent and collegiate pay structure, which has no unnecessary barriers and complications and enables the vast majority of classroom teachers to access higher salaries.

With the publication of the Government’s Green Paper – Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change - NASUWT supported the introduction of the threshold process on the understanding that it would open the way for the great majority of teachers to receive higher salaries for their work in the classroom. The Government in 1998, when the concept of the threshold was first mooted, supported their belated recognition of the importance of the teacher in the classroom and NASUWT fully intends to hold the Government to its original promise.

The NASUWT campaign on upper pay spine progression was designed to ensure the vast majority of teachers achieve higher salaries. It has delivered a landmark agreement between NASUWT, the Government, the national employers organisation and unions representing teachers and headteachers. All teachers can now aspire to progress along an upper pay spine, protected from the iniquities of ranking and grading of their performance and without the obstacle of unnecessary performance criteria.

NASUWT is committed to ensuring that:

• Classroom teaching is rewarded highly.
  
  
• That the Government and the employers recognise that good classroom teachers should be able to aspire to a salary which reflects their important contribution to raising educational standards.
  
  
• All good classroom teachers are able to access higher pay levels for teaching in the classroom.
  
  
• The pay system operates in a transparent, fair and non-discriminatory way.
  
  
• An independent appeal process is established to resolve disputes over pay decisions.
  
  
• No additional obstacles are introduced which would limit teachers’ access to high annual incremental salary progression.
  
  
• National pay rates apply to all teachers. NASUWT is implacably opposed to local and regional pay and is campaigning to ensure pay parity across the United Kingdom.
  
  
• Those making pay decisions are trained to work in a consistent, transparent and fair manner.
  
  
• The arrangements for performance management and pay review are non-bureaucratic and workload friendly.

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Anonymity: The campaign against false, exaggerated and malicious allegations

NASUWT is campaigning to secure a change in the law which would afford anonymity up to a court decision for teachers facing allegations of physical, verbal or sexual abuse.

The extent of the problem

Recently there have been a number of high profile cases involving teachers who have been found completely innocent of the criminal charges made against them, but who have been subject to intolerable press coverage up to and even after the court decision. However, these cases are only the tip of the iceberg.

In recent years, of 1,782 cases involving NASUWT members, only 69 have led to a conviction. The true extent of the problem nationally is far greater. In the overwhelming majority of cases that have come to the attention of the NASUWT, the allegations made have proven to be false, unfounded, exaggerated or malicious. In all the cases teachers will have been suspended from work, sometimes for months, even years, at a high cost to their career as well as the taxpayer.
The effects

Unfortunately, there is a widely held public view that an allegation in itself is proof of guilt. Cases under investigation are often leaked to the press leading to local and even national media coverage. Once publicity has occurred, even after the teacher has been cleared, inability to return to work is frequently the outcome. The teacher’s health is damaged. Breakdown is not unusual. In extreme cases suicide or attempted suicide has been the result.

The publicity adversely affects not only individual teachers but also their families. Their children face problems in their own schools and their partners in the workplace and community.

There is no doubt that the vulnerability of the teaching profession to false, unfounded, exaggerated and malicious accusations has a significant effect on teacher recruitment and retention whilst also undermining educational standards in the longer term.

Protecting children and young people

NASUWT fully supports a rigorous and thorough system that protects children and young people. All allegations must be investigated properly and if the person accused is subsequently found to be culpable then the appropriate consequences should follow. The NASUWT campaign will not protect those who abuse children, nor will it defend abusive behaviour or hinder the proper investigation of cases of abuse. However, securing a change in the law would enable justice to be done in a civilised and fair manner, strengthening the principle of innocent until proven guilty and avoiding the damaging consequences of trial by media.

The law as it stands

Allegations against teachers are considered in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Children’s Act. The effect of the Act’s operation is to reverse normal criminal convention. Teachers accused of child abuse are almost always presumed guilty. There is a popular view that an allegation is in itself proof of guilt.

Allegations of abuse are often leaked to the press by a variety of people, including the parents of the child, other parents and pupils. However, there is nothing in law to prevent the media from publishing the allegations and clearly identifying the teacher.

Even when a teacher is found innocent and cleared of all charges, it is rare for even an apology to be given, and in any event too late to rectify the damage which has already been done.

Changing the law on anonymity

Anonymity was first introduced in 1976 for complainants in rape cases and subsequently extended to complainants in other sex cases. At present, the restriction on publication applies from the moment that an allegation has been made and it continues for the rest of the complainant’s lifetime. The protection, however, is not absolute as there are circumstances in which the court can lift the restriction, for example to induce other witnesses to come forward. In addition, the judge has a broad discretion to lift the restriction if satisfied that it would ‘impose a substantial and unreasonable restriction upon the reporting of the proceedings at trial and it is in the public interest to remove or relax the restriction’”

In June 2003, the House of Commons Select Committee on Home Affairs made a recommendation to extend anonymity to persons accused of sexual offences up until the point of charge. In its 5th Report of the year the Select Committee said:

“On balance we are persuaded by the arguments in favour of extending anonymity to the accused. Although there are valid concerns about the implications for the free reporting of criminal proceedings, we believe that sex crimes do fall ‘within an entirely different order’ to most other crimes. In our view, the stigma attached to sexual offences – particularly those involving children – is enormous and the accusation can alone can be devastating. If the accused is never charged, there is no possibility of the individual being publicly vindicated by an acquittal.

We therefore recommend that the reporting restriction, which currently preserves the anonymity of complainants of sexual offences, be extended to persons accused of those offences. We suggest, however, that the anonymity of the accused be protected only for a limited period between the allegation and charge. In our view, this strikes an appropriate balance between the need to protect potentially innocent suspects from damaging publicity and the wider public interest in retaining free and full reporting of criminal proceedings.”

In October 2003, the Government published its reply to the Select Committee’s 5th Report. In respect to the recommendation to extend anonymity and adverse media reporting, the Government said that it would be “actively pursuing the provision of informed and strengthened self-regulatory guidance issued by the police and the media, to prevent such reporting.”

NASUWT does not believe that self-regulatory guidance will be sufficient to satisfactorily address this growing and worsening problem. The only way forward is a change in the law to address the current injustice being perpetrated against innocent teachers and other professionals who work with children.

Other actions needed

Changes are also needed in respect of:

• The way in which the police investigate cases of alleged abuse by teachers. The practice of ‘trawling’ has been demonstrated to provide a highly flawed basis for investigating cases of alleged abuse.
  
  
• The work of education, social services, police and other bodies involved in dealing with cases of alleged abuse. There needs to be better coordination of these services.
  
  
• Reducing the time that it takes to investigate allegations of abuse. In cases known to NASUWT, teachers have remained under investigation for a number of years, to the detriment of their careers and at considerable expense to the public purse.
  
  
• Improving the arrangements regarding disclosure of information. NASUWT wants to ensure that only relevant information about individuals is held or disclosed to an employer. NASUWT continues to defend members who have been refused employment because of information of an irrelevant and misleading nature being held on file about them.
  

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Election Briefing Pack

NASUWT, the largest union representing teachers and headteachers throughout the United Kingdom, has launched its Election Briefing Pack.

Inside the pack you will find:

• A letter from the General Secretary setting the context in which the pack is issued and describing its purpose.
  
• Ideas for actions individual NASUWT members can take to raise issues during the campaign.
  
• Ideas for actions local officers and Associations can take to raise issues during the campaign.
  
• 'Getting the Message Across'.
  
• Sample questions to raise with candidates.
  
• A list of sources of further information.
  
• A set of NASUWT policy summaries which include views expressed by the main parties on important election issues.
  

» Download Election Pack (PDF)

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