Schools

Academies, religion & schools, class sizes, remodelling, testing and tables, ...

Link-up against school victimisations

A well-attended online organising meeting on 9 March discussed Tracy McGuire’s victimisation by Rydal Academy, Darlington, and since then there have been three days of strikes by NEU [National Education Union] members at Shrewsbury College in defence of NEU rep John Boken . Their strike action is to run for three days every week, over three weeks. The online meeting, hosted by Darlington Trades Council, heard from local and national trade unionists and Labour Party members about the current victimisation cases, and how they can be seen in the wider context of some school bosses clamping down...

Job cuts in schools

Financial cuts and local falling rolls in Lewisham, south-east London, are threatening school workers’ jobs. At Conisborough College, a secondary school, a proposed re-organisation is threatening to lose six teacher roles. It is thought that a second re-structure of support staff may follow. In Deptford Park, a primary school, over 20 jobs are threatened, in virtually all sections of the staff. In addition, the vast majority of support staff contracts are being altered to exactly school hours only, with a significant effect on income. NEU activists will be demanding that the schools open their...

Stop school victimisations!

Kirstie Paton, victimised NEU rep at The John Roan School in Greenwich Members of Shrewsbury Colleges Group NEU members are set to strike against the victimisation of John Boken , one of the union reps at the college. John is a NEU safety rep and it is clear that the disciplinary action faced by John is a result of his trade union activity before and during the pandemic. NEU members are due to strike on Wednesday 24 February, and have just announced an escalation to nine strike days in March: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for three weeks. John deserves our support, as do other NEU reps such...

Defend Tracy McGuire! Stop the victimisation!

Suggested wording for union branch motions. Please also see petition at: bit.ly/neu-p This branch/district notes: • Tracy McGuire, workplace rep and elected support staff representative on the NEU Executive Council, faces losing her job, as one of ten posts declared redundant at The Rydal Academy in Darlington. Tracy, who has been a strong and effective rep in the school for several years, was told about the redundancy on the same day that she submitted her Section 44 letter, informing her employer of her refusal to work in unsafe conditions. • Tracy is the Attendance Officer at her school...

Defend NEU activists, stop the victimisations!

When trying to keep your workplace safe during the pandemic, when what you do could save lives, how would you expect your boss to respond? Maybe with some appreciation or a grudging “thank you”? The reality in many cases is that union reps are facing bullying and harassment for trade union activity during the pandemic. Louise Lewis of Kirklees National Education Union, John Boken of Shropshire NEU, Tracy McGuire of Darlington NEU, and Kirstie Paton of Greenwich NEU are just four of the activists who are currently facing victimisation for supporting staff and for raising safety issues during...

GCSE chaos: abolish the grades!

Across the UK different regional governments have taken different approaches to the sitting and grading of school exams in the summer term of 2021.

In Scotland the National 5 (GCSE equivalent) exams have been cancelled and grades will be determined by “teacher judgement supported by assessment”...

Sywell strikes against academisation

Members of the National Education Union at Sywell Primary School in Northamptonshire are set to strike on Tuesday 26 and Thursday 28 January over a long-running dispute against the academisation of their school.

Workers' control and school safety

From 5 January all secondary and primary schools moved to being physically open only to vulnerable children and the children of key workers. Learning for other students is being offered online. There continue to be struggles over the specifics of this. Firstly, the government has tried to widen the definition of children who can come in to these schools, to the point where head teachers and school leaders’ unions have sounded the alarm. On Saturday 9 January the government was forced to clarify that key workers should send their children only if they cannot work from home. The numbers in...

Grades in 2021

The government has said GCSE and A level grades for 2021 will be done on teachers’ assessments. That may be better than the botched algorithm attempted in 2020. But every school will seek to report results a bit better than 2020 or 2019. A student’s grades will depend as much on their school management’s talents as chancers as on anything real. There’ll also be “grade inflation” (an A or a 9 in 2021 not the same as in 2019), but that, I think, is a lesser problem. For GCSE, the answer is just to scrap GCSE grades. Let 16 year olds go on to what they want, A levels, apprenticeships, whatever...

Workers' control and school safety

From 5 January all secondary and primary schools moved to being physically open only to vulnerable children and the children of key workers. Learning for other students is being offered online.

There continue to be struggles over the specifics of this. Firstly, the government has tried to widen the...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.