06

20
ER
N
IN
W
D
R
A
W
A
IP
SH
ER
B
EM
M
L
A
N
O
TI
A
N

THE 61st EDITION FOR ALL PLYMOUTH TEACHERS JULY 2006

A GOOD LOCAL
SCHOOL FOR EVERY CHILD

Back row from left: Judith Pugh, John Pugh, David Smale
Lobby of MPs (Plymouth), Dave Clinch and Susannah Billeter (Devon)

The Case
Against
Privatisation
WHO IS THIS?
27th June 2006 IS YOUR UNION REPRESENTED HERE ?
The government’s policies of privatisation and marketisation are widening inequalities and have the
potential to produce a fragmented education system. Five hundred schools across the country have PFI schemes
attached to them and now local authorities are beginning to find they are poor value for money; the private
contractors are failing to meet their obligations. Profits are made from outsourcing reduced education services
through “efficiency gains”. This outsourcing to companies, that have little experience of education, has failed to
raise standards. Further profits can be made from selling on the PFI contract to other companies within a year or so,
completely beyond the control of the school itself and the local authority.
Steve Sinnott, our General Secretary said, “All the evidence points to an education service that will have
increased education and social segregation if the Education & Inspections Bill becomes law and competition
between schools increases.”

Endorsed by classroom teachers everywhere

Call the Joining Hotline 0845 300 1669
 Can we have our torch back please?
News that the Tory torch is being
replaced with a
blue square or a
waving hand
prompts
thoughts of “What’s that
rebranding Sooty?
Plymouth NUT
Do you want the right to says
search your pupils Kill the Bill?!!”
for knives and other A naked Sooty gives
Education Secretary
weapons? Will this be a Alan Johnson MP
power or a duty? some good advice
At a meeting in Exeter Christine Blower, the
Deputy General Secretary of the NUT and Melian
Mansfield, the Chair of the Campaign for State
Education (CASE), highlighted the imminent danger to
schools in both the primary and the secondary sectors
as the Education and Inspections Bill makes its progress
through Parliament.
Christine Blower attacked the so-called ‘choice
agenda’. She said that when Ruth Kelly was the
Education Minister her constant reference to the “poor
and underprivileged” would have put Mother Teresa to
shame! The reality, of course, is that most parents/
guardians send their children to local schools and don’t From left, Christine, Chair Mike Gurney and Melian Mansfield
seek ‘choice’, but instead want a well-funded and
resourced school. Diversity within schools should be defended, not the segregation of students into
faith schools, for example. Christine argued that schools should be at the hub of their community.
The Government is creating a two-tier education system based on academic and vocational routes,
she said. Tony Blair talks of a ‘world class’ education system and encourages the development of an
Academies programme which have not been evaluated and remain untested. Christine cited the recent
report by Matthew Taylor and Rebecca Smithers which reveals that Academies show little sign of
improving results whilst at the same time excluding an “inordinate number of students.”
Academies are being built at extraordinary cost.
Christine spoke of the government’s failure to reduce class-size and spending below the recommended
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) levels on education. Schools are
places of innovation, she said, unlike Tony Blair’s claim that comprehensives created a system of
“deadening uniformity”. It is this government which has continued to impose the deadening
uniformity of the national curriculum and the obsession with targeting and testing vigorously pursued
by OfSTED.
Melian reiterated the importance of maintaining a fully comprehensive and locally accountable
education system which is part of the community and free at the point of delivery. If the Bill is passed
the very foundation of comprehensives will be shattered by private interests taking over schools. She
warned of the pressure which will be exerted on governors to agree to become Trust schools, thereby
handing over their powers to unelected and unaccountable Trusts backed by private business
sponsors.
School meetings will be for parents only and no one else will be able to speak. The decision will be
irreversible; there are no complaints procedures. Local Authority schools will have the pupils unable to
go to Trust schools, thus a two-tier system will emerge. She added that so-called ‘failing’ or ‘coasting’
schools will have to be turned around within a year or face closure, and reopening as a Trust school.
Melian brought to our attention the CASE campaign pledge whereby governors would be asked to
pledge that they would not seek to become a Trust school. They would also consult staff, parents and
the local community should any attempt be made to pressurise them into handing over their school to
unelected, unaccountable Trusts. The pressure must remain on this government from the NUT, CASE,
parents’ groups and other organisations to stop this Bill and to ensure that every student can go to a
good local school which is properly funded and resourced. Contact CASE at: www.casenet.org.uk
The government’s proposed introduction of Trust
schools represents further moves towards
marketisation and undermines the very principal
of comprehensive education. Trust schools will be
able to set their own admissions policies and will be
independent of the democratic accountability of local
authorities.
The government’s education policies fly in the face of
the evidence. A recent OECD survey revealed that
countries with the greatest educational successes had
more comprehensive education systems like Canada
and Finland as compared with more ‘choice’-driven
education systems like Austria and Germany.
Further & Higher Education
The government is increasingly opening Britain’s 388 Clockwise Photos by Dave Clinch, David Smale,
FE colleges to private profiteers. Next year, colleges from top left: Andy Woolley and John Illingworth
are expected to receive only 90-95% of their 2006 Tony Benn
funding. The rest will be put out to tender as part of a waits to
programme of ‘contestability’, allowing companies as speak at
well as colleges to bid for it. Methodist
Companies with dubious reputations are making Central Hall
profits out of education. Unions fear that the profitable Westminster,
parts of the sector will go to these companies who Steve Sinnott
have close business relationships with government speaking to
departments, leaving them with the same funding as lobbyists and
colleges but without the overheads. John & Judith
In the FE White Paper published in March 2006, the Pugh listening
government announced plans to allow private to speeches.
companies to take over underperforming FE colleges. The NUT
This is despite the fact that only 2% of colleges are parliamentary
currently judged inadequate by OfSTED, compared steward is
with 20% in 2001. Andy Woolley
The Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival It’s not April 1st but...a
celebrates the founding of the think-tank proposes that
trade union movement. NUT class size restrictions in
members and other trade primaries should be relaxed,
unionists from all over the world literacy hours extended
will arrive in Dorset on Sunday to 90 minutes,
16th July. Tony Benn will again
tests every 8 weeks
be one of the keynote speakers.
The affirming march through the and classes taught in ability
village with bands and banners is groups (streaming).
just one of the highlights. Remember you read
SEE YOU THERE ! it here first!
 An attempt to ration teachers'
pay through an individualised
performance pay system will be
in place by September. New
government plans on
Performance Management will affect the
incremental pay of teachers and will be
directly determined by their line-
manager!
Teachers’ contracts will include a new
directive to undergo three hours worth of
monitoring and observation per year, on top
of anything required by OfSTED or the Local
Authority. At the moment the Performance
Management maximum is one hour.
So it’s a double-whammy because as well as
increased workload, staff could lose
financially if meetings are missed or even
disagreement expressed—in a Kafkaesque
world where to simply ask questions is often
synonymous with dissent.
Hard working teachers condemn such divisive
proposals that will destroy teamwork and
further polarise schools as staff opt for
schools or classes where it is easier to get
their pay rise. Research already shows that
up to 37% of eligible teachers choose not to
fill in their Threshold forms – many due to
intimidation and “broad hints” that they could Tamarside’s head teacher,
be wasting their time. Keith Balance, is on the
Effectively, the managerial buck is being front page of this week’s
forced down on to staff at lower and lower
TES. Concerns are
levels whilst the climate of fear is increased.
Free market policies in the Education and
expressed about charging
Inspections Bill are to be enforced with auto- £13 for sick notes from
cratic industrial relations strategies. local GPs when students
Make no mistake, this is a bully’s charter that are ill and unable to sit
will, at the very least, crank up the levels of their exams. Keith is
work-related stress and sickness absence in quoted as saying, “It’s an
schools. absolute disgrace.”
You should also know that the DfES
has reduced the statutory consultation
period for the NUT and the NAHT as the A Message for Reps...are you
proposals have already been rubber-
stamped by the same social partners that leaving your school in July?
pushed through the “excellent and well Please ask another NUT
thought out” TLR debacle.
The NUT and NAHT together represent most member to take over
teaching staff in England and Wales, but they
were not invited to any talks. Working your postal
together they could yet influence how these distribution duties!
policies are dealt with in schools.
Tell John on 01752 707606
EXPECT MORE ON THIS
EARLY NEXT TERM...
so he can update your
address label today!