NUT Annual Conference 2007
Harrogate 2007 6-10 April
The first session on Friday was mainly procedural with the installation of our first
black President, Ms. Baljeet Ghale and reception of the guests of the Union. The
most interesting speech was by the secretary of the PCS Union about joint action
or support in defence of members of each Union. The NUS guest talked about
the activists of today becoming the NUT activists of tomorrow. We also watched
a short video on the send my friend to school campaign, urging us to make a
chain and send this to Angela Merkel by June 6th. (www.sendmyfriend.org)
Saturday began with the Presidential Address under this year’s slogan
“Advancing Equality”. Baljeet Ghale talked about her Kenyan background. She
was proud to be the first black President after being a member of the NUT for
thirty years. The main part of her speech was a review of the last ten years under
Labour. She outlined problems in her borough with PFI (Private Finance
Initiative) and talked about PISA (An International Student Assessment
Organisation) to back up her argument that we should follow Finland with a fully
comprehensive system with no vocational choice until 16 and much smaller class
sizes. She used a withering quote from Philip Pulham to talk about the corrosive
effect of SAT’s. In a fairly political speech she said that the government should
be judged as having “significant weaknesses” and felt that inspectors should
support and TEACH in the schools they inspect, after a recent Ofsted something
I readily agreed with! She received a standing ovation.
Saturday: In order to take a Priority Motion on Salaries, business was
rearranged. We moved to the membership section, where we were told we had
265,000 and under any definitions NAS/UWT had 203,000 members. Next we
had a debate on Professional Unity. This asked for a conference, research and
moves towards unity. It was amended to add regret at the partnership by other
unions with the government but to urge a programme around which teachers of
all unions can take joint collective action. This was carried as amended, with
some votes against. The next motion on Young Teachers and pay included
reduced subscriptions for up to five years, a survey and a campaign for
competitive salaries. This was passed with two friendly amendments
unanimously. Next was a closed session on accounts and Stoke Rochford,
riveting stuff which I decided (like others) to give a miss.
The afternoon started with a motion on lesson observation and teacher
monitoring. The mover accepted two amendments. The main proposal was that
observations should be limited to two a year except for NQT’s and staff in formal
monitoring procedures. Fun was made of the impossible targets with a school
motto of ”excellence is not good enough” and “learning walks” by head teachers
which even John Cleese couldn’t come up with! The motion was passed
unanimously. We then had a long debate on BSF, “the Trojan horse for two key
elements of Labour’s education agenda- privatisation and vocationalism.“ As we
move toward BSF (Building Schools for the Future) in Suffolk we do need to
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watch out for a Local Education Partnership with 80% controlled by a private
company. We heard of various schemes across the country. One speaker said
the sponsor should be called sponger because they were getting schools we
had paid for. Two amendments were passed, (see Tuesday) then we moved to
the priority motion on pay. Both the amendment and motion were carried
unanimously. Conference reaffirmed its opposition to regional pay. Written by
Steve Sinnott it instructs the Executive to take all possible steps to build a joint
campaign of opposition to the Government’s unfair public sector pay limit
supported, if necessary, by joint industrial action.
To end the day we embarked on a motion on Performance Pay. All three
amendments, both to strengthen and weaken the main motion, were lost,
although they were all close. The President decided the main motion was lost,
but over 200 stood up and so we had a division. Although I felt many would be
worried by the forthcoming threat towards pupil results linked to salary
progression, I was persuaded by the Executive’s argument that we had already
voted for a day of strike action and that a further call for another day of action
without a clear strategy would lead to fragmentation and a lack of support,
already evident in the workload ballot where only 19% of teachers voted and
13% would not support strike action with NO loss of pay, let alone the loss of a
day’s pay just voted on. After the division Conference closed. The result: For
81,237 Against !38,587.
Sunday started with Motion 34 on 14-19 Education. Concerns include admission
arrangements, early specialisation, modern foreign languages, resources,
professional development and Trust Schools. One amendment was about
whether to withdraw the Union from the TUC to save £500,000 to spend on
defending teachers’ jobs and status. It was surprisingly ruled in order. The main
speaker pointed out ,” The TUC said it did nothing when,…“ and listed many of
the recent issues like TLR’s and the workforce agreement. It was lost. Judy
Moorhouse (GTC) informed us that she had written to Alan Johnson asking for
two days training this term for secondary teachers. The motion was passed
unanimously.
Steve Sinnott then opened a new initiative of half an hour of questions from the
floor. He answered 13 questions. He felt that trust schools threaten democratic
systems. He would say to Gordon Brown on restraint of pay that he is “simply
wrong” but applaud him for his work on global education. Most of the questions
were from delegates the Secretary knew, and he refused to take a question from
one delegate. It turned out she had wanted to ask about the TLR campaign.
Nevertheless the concept is good and I hope it will continue.
We then moved on to the Conditions of Service Section with motion 35 on False
Allegations against teachers. It asked for false allegations to be removed from
personal records and from CRB records. The two amendments sought to clarify
wording over whether to include, “ removal of allegations on a CRB check unless
this is specifically requested by the Child Protection Team.” It was interrupted by
a fire alarm, caused by dust on a sensor. The first amendment was passed which
sought to take this addition out of the main motion. Amended, it was passed
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unanimously. We then passed a motion on an upper limit for temperatures in
schools, with action urged on temperatures above 27°C and a change in the law
for this.
Many voted for a 15 minute extension as we moved on to a contentious workload
motion, as the first two amendments called for a national strike. The first
amendment was lost, not being accepted by the original movers, and thus the
part on a strike in amendment 2 was ruled out of order. After the two movers we
ran out of time.
Easter Monday, 9:15 we return to the workload debate. Amendment 2 was lost.
Amendment 3 added a paragraph to support members who wish to refuse to
submit short term planning for inspection, and this was passed unanimously, as
was the main motion as amended.
Motion 38 was about Teacher Mental Health, moved by John Illingworth who was
retired as a head teacher last year on medical grounds. It asked for a working
party with specific policy recommendations for Conference in 2009, and using
ongoing reports to press Government, Local Authorities, school governors and
other employees to take urgent steps to improve the mental wellbeing of
teachers. The seconder said, “If every child matters, then so does the wellbeing
of every teacher.” Another teacher ended her speech with,” I don’t live to work, I
work to live.” John Illingworth ended with a quote from a letter with a head
teacher who took his own life after a breakdown. The motion was passed
unanimously.
Next up was a motion on supply teachers, with five amendments. Issues over
agencies, PPA by HLTA’s and even TA’s, training and threshold issues were
covered. The first two amendments were passed and then we moved to the main
question. One speaker came to speak against, in order to make her point about
pension schemes. It was then passed unanimously.
On cue, Education Early Years Section. The first motion asked for the
Government to take part in the first independent enquiry by Cambridge University
since the Plowden Report in 1967. The first amendment was concerned about
ISP (Intensifying Support Pilot), “a highly structured and prescriptive target driven
regime which focuses on a few very narrow curriculum objectives. Passed!
Motion 43 was about a review of class size for Foundation classes and asked for
a well researched policy document on a common class size for Foundation Stage
and present proposals to Conference 2008. (The suggested limit was 20) We
moved swiftly on to a motion that the introduction of Early Years Professional
Status (EYP) by the Government could lead to an erosion of high quality
educational provision in the Early Years. It had two speeches for and was then
passed unanimously, just in time.
The next section was SEN, a motion sponsored by the Executive, welcoming the
inquiry by the House of Commons,” believing the report accurately describes the
pressures under which head teachers and classroom teachers carry out their
professional duties.” It asked for an independent review of Government policy to
address the constraints and anomalies which impede effective practice in
meeting the needs of pupils with SEN. A long amendment was accepted and
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passed, and then the motion as amended (without amendment 2 wanted by
some activists) was largely carried.
The afternoon session started with the Co-ordination and Finance Section. The
main motion, amended by the Executive, was about setting up a Political Fund,
in order to comply with the law and to allow the NUT, like the NASUWT, to
campaign against the BNP and the NF. It will go out to members to vote on, so I
voted for this, which was largely supported and passed.
A Cuban delegate opened the debate on the International Section. This included
many political statements in Motion 48 with 6 amendments based on Stop the
War, Anti Trident, and support for Palestine. The first amendment asked for a
day of action on a working day. I know many teachers feel we shouldn’t be in
Iraq, but I feel uneasy about motions that are not on Education. Michael and I
both voted against but the amendment was largely carried. The next amendment
was provided by the Executive, which sought to clarify and add points to the
original motion, which includes affiliating to Stop War Coalition and the
Palestinian Solidarity Campaign. A delegate from Devon pointed out a problem in
the main motion which just said,“ Continuing war in Afghanistan.” He felt it was a
democratically elected government with a UN mandate, and the Taliban had a
disgraceful record against women and girls education. The main mover did not
accept this. The motion was largely carried as amended by 48.1 and 48.2,
although I felt I couldn’t support this. I believe that teachers should make their
own mind up about this and don’t need the Union to do this for them by delegates
who do not have a mandate from their Association or Division for this. Any polite
comments on this position would be gratefully accepted!
The Equal Opportunities Section was about launching “ Born to be Great: A
Charter on Promoting the Achievement of Black Caribbean Boys,” which will be
on the Suffolk and National NUT Web Site. The main motion was titled “ Racism”
and attracted five amendments. The first two were carried, and as amended the
motion was largely carried. Two speakers talked about their part in the making of
the charter, and it ended up with a standing ovation.
To end the day we had the Organisation and Administration Section. The first
part was a report of the Annual Conference Working Party. It was largely carried,
continuing the usual practice of Conference over the Easter weekend, but
allowing for exceptional circumstances caused by advice by the LGA (Local
Government Association) on term dates. Two delegates said the report was
flawed in its process. I certainly had some sympathy with the idea that it is a
strange way to celebrate Easter, and this will almost certainly be the last
Conference that I am willing to attend in my Easter holidays. Finally we had a
motion calling for much more support for Local Officers and Representatives and
the need to increase staff in Regional Offices as there had been a considerable
increase in members, but no corresponding increase in staff. Two amendments
strengthened the motion and called for a fundamental review and tangible
support for local officers and representatives in their own schools. From the
delegates who decided to stay for this debate, the motion was carried, as
amended, unanimously, with no speeches against by the Executive. The session
ended with a band from Birmingham treating us to some rhythmic drumming,
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which nobody could sleep through!
Tuesday, the final day. Back to motion24 on Building Schools for the Future
(BSF). 24.2 by the Executive, updating, was largely carried, as was 24.3 which
asked the Union to work against Academies and for Comprehensive Schools.
We were warned that the government wanted to extend the BSF model to
Primary schools. The motion, as amended, was carried unanimously.
Kelly Holmes, sorry, Dame Kelly, was introduced in her role on promoting sport in
schools. We had a clip of her historic double gold winning performance, which
she felt may well have never happened if her P.E. teacher, Debbie Page, hadn’t
rung her mum when she was twelve to say she could be really good. Inspired we
then produced plenty of hot air in a very contentious debate on Climate change
(motion 25). The left felt amendment 25.1 weakened the main motion by putting
in specific measures, and after a fairly close vote was lost. The question was put
but lost. We then looked at 25.2 which asked for a reduction on the reliance on
aviation, reverse commissioning of nuclear power generation facilities and
affiliate to the Campaign against Climate Change. This was lost, with the motion,
unamended, being largely carried.
Time to think about Behaviour, Motion 26. This asked for more immediate and
effective procedures to protect our members from inappropriate behaviour. 25.1,
in the name of Hackney, sought to change the emphasis because they felt
children were being demonised. Two members of the Executive opposed this
vigorously. The Oldham secretary used his right of reply to say the Executive
usually spoke against his motions and he hoped that they hadn’t lost it for him!
Because I feel delegates recognised the need for a duty of care by the Union, it
was lost. The next amendment by the Executive which sought to strengthen and
publicise the latest advice by the Union. This was largely carried, as was the
motion amended by 26.2. Getting back to solidarity, we all supported the Salary
Policy seeking an increase of £3,000 or 10% whichever is greater, with only one
abstention. You have to have a starting point after all in negotiations! Finally,
Conference surpassed itself to pass a motion on Worklife Balance, with an
amendment, in six minutes. It called for proposals for Conference 2008, and
talked about equality of opportunity e.g. through flexible working.
Steve Sinnott finished Conference with a wide ranging speech which earned him
a standing ovation at the end (almost the norm for this Conference!). He
reminded us what a great profession we are part of and that we can create
dreams like Kelly’s, and support children through their nightmares. He talked
about Anthony Walker who was killed in Huyton in Liverpool because he was
black. There will now be an annual Memorial in his memory, beginning with a
speech by his mother at Hamilton House. She had shown great dignity and had
agreed to this annual memorial. He reminded us he had campaigned as “working
together, winning together.” He then told us he had initiated legal proceedings
against the Secretary of State because of our exclusion from DfES. In 1991
commitments for the STRB was that it would be independent of government and
would include all “interested parties”. There was simply no authority to operate
WAMG (Workforce and Remodelling Group) or RIG (Rewards and Incentive
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Group) as it does, without the NUT. He understood some people’s reservations
about setting up a political fund but hoped the reassurances about its use would
convince members that it was the right thing to do. He also mentioned how we
wanted a qualified teacher in front of every class, supported by well trained and
valued teaching assistants.
People remarked how little animosity there was at this Conference. As you will
have noted there was a lot of unanimity about the motions. It will now be down to
members how they react to the campaigns. Unless we work together both as a
Union and with other unions, especially teacher unions, any Government will
continue to be able to pursue their own agenda and ignore the voice of the
professionals, us!
Last year I wrote about the lack of support for the Association and how the Union
is existing because of people who have retired. I was pleased to see a few new
faces this year, but at our AGM I was the only serving teacher there. Our
Secretary has been retired for several years and our President has been retired
for over a year. This is just not sustainable. PLEASE contact us about how we
can move forward, not just when you want our help. I have written to Steve
Sinnott about this and will let you know when he contacts me.
I have given up five and a half days of my Easter holidays on your behalf. I hope
you can find ten minutes to contact us.
Andrew Guite 01473 625559 Mike Sharman 01394 213071
School01473 623790
e-mail Andy.Guite@reps.suffolkcc.gov.uk
S.E.S. NUT Meeting
Wednesday 20th June
Time: 5.00-6.45 p.m.
Where: Mrs Simpsons Café, Felixstowe.
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