CONFERENCE RESOLUTIONS 2007
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE SECTION
False Allegations against teachers
Conference supports the right of students to be heard and taken seriously when they make allegations against teachers. Conference believes however that after thorough investigation, when allegations subsequently prove unfounded the reaction can be disproportionate and leaves a stain on a teacher’s career. Conference also notes that some students unfortunately do make false allegations against teachers.
Conference further notes that in January 2007 the Government brought in new guidelines (Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education) on the processing of allegations against teachers which were intended to ensure that allegations of abuse are dealt with ‘effectively, fairly and promptly.’
Conference regrets that the guidance also sets out that any allegations relating to the safety and welfare of children and young people should be disclosed during the recruitment process to a prospective employer whatever the outcome of investigations into such allegations.
Conference notes that the government has also promoted recruitment training which suggests interview questions aimed at identifying those who may pose a risk to pupils' welfare.
Conference recognises the damage that is often done to the career and well-being of those who face investigation of an allegation which is found to be false and believes that the effects will be aggravated by the retention and disclosure of records relating to such allegations.
Conference notes that in the current climate, teachers are often warned off any physical contact with students, including, for example, reassuring or comforting a distressed child. Conference believes that there are times when such physical contact is an essential part of a teacher’s role.
Conference reasserts the belief that a person is ‘innocent until proven guilty’. However, Conference is concerned that cases falling under Child Protection are often referred to and placed on a teacher’s Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check by the Police, even when the case has been dismissed, disproved, or dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). In many cases colleagues have been forced to give up teaching because of the way that the police have reported such investigations on CRB forms.
Conference supports the view expressed by the General Secretary that “without the opportunity to ensure that records of malicious false allegations are removed entirely from their records, teachers will be vulnerable to such allegations blighting their careers.”
Conference calls on the National Executive to campaign vigorously to protect teachers from having their careers blighted in this way by false allegations by:
1.seeking the introduction of provisions whereby teachers have the right to ensure that false allegations are removed from their personal records;
2.seeking an assurance that where false allegations, or allegations that were unproven or withdrawn, have been made against a teacher these will not appear on the CRB check for that teacher;
3.seeking an assurance that any additional information which does not appear on the CRB check provided by the police, is not sent to the employer without the applicant’s knowledge;
4seeking an expert assessment of the value of the suggested interview techniques and whether it meets good practice standards for fair and non-discriminatory recruitment practices;
5.updating and re-issuing guidance to members on the investigation process and teachers' rights in relation to these;
6.monitoring the cases of false allegations reported to the Union to assess the level of growth of such cases and the impact of such cases, including any disproportionate impact of particular groups;and
7.working with other relevant organisations to seek to redress the balance in order to provide fair protections for teachers.
Conference also calls on the National Executive to support members who have already had their careers blighted in this way by using the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) procedures to ensure that the police handle personal information properly in the future.
Upper Limit for Temperature in Schools
Conference notes that, while Government and the Union have recognised minimum temperatures below which lessons should not be expected to take place, there is no maximum temperature limit above which classrooms are recognised as unusable.
Conference notes that there is a deplorable lack of effective statutory protection or regulation on maximum temperatures and effective ventilation for school premises, notwithstanding the general provisions set out below.
1.The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 says “During working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable.” Also that “…all reasonable steps should be taken to achieve a reasonably comfortable temperature….”
2.The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend 24°C as a Maximum for comfortable working and anything above 26°C as definitely unacceptable.
3.Nowhere is a reasonable temperature defined, and that schools and local authorities use the lack of legislation to say there is no upper limit – in many cases effectively ignoring their obligation to take all reasonable steps to achieve a comfortable temperature.
Conference believes that this is unacceptable. Very high temperatures have a deleterious effect on the ability of teachers and pupils to concentrate and to work effectively, and can cause physical discomfort and illness. If people get too hot, they risk dizziness, fainting, or even heat cramps. Teachers who report health problems caused by working in excessive temperatures are most likely to be in specific curricular areas such as IT, Technology or Science, for example, due to inadequacies in building design.
Conference resolves that:
(i) teachers should not and cannot be expected to work in any classroom or other internal teaching space where the temperature exceeds 26°C for anything other than very short periods;
(ii) the Union should amend its current advice on high temperatures to:
(a)recommend a maximum working temperature of 26°C;
(b)include practical advice on measures which can be taken to lower the temperature and make the working environment acceptable during heat waves, including, where appropriate, advice and support for arrangements whereby classrooms and other teaching rooms should be vacated where temperatures exceed 26°C for other than very short periods; and
(iii) the Union should press the Government to draw up new regulations which require schools, subject to a limited transitional period, to ensure that temperatures do not exceed the WHO maximum in classroom and interior learning environments.
Workload
Conference recognises that the legislative changes introduced through the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document have failed to create the “reasonable work-life balance” that teachers are supposedly entitled to expect.
Conference therefore welcomes the steps taken by the Union to establish a new set of guidelines designed to offer real protection to members from excessive workload.
Conference encourages all members to seek the strongest application of these guidelines in their schools and workplaces and, further, to request a ballot for industrial action where the Union’s guidelines are being breached.
Conference also recognises, however, that members are more likely to have the confidence to apply our guidelines, and to seek support for action when required, if they consider that they are part of a co-ordinated campaign.
Conference therefore instructs the Executive to:
1)call a meeting of Divisional Secretaries to exchange reports of the strengths and weaknesses of the workload campaign so far and to discuss what further steps can be taken to ensure the Union’s guidelines are applied as widely as possible;
2)organise regional or divisional meetings of school representatives to reinforce the Union’s campaign and to publicise successes that we have achieved; and
3)seek to co-ordinate ballots as widely as possible to unite members across different schools.
Conference recognises that one of the main causes of workload and
stress for teachers, and a frequent symptom of a culture of bullying in a
school, is the excessive requirement to submit planning for lessons.
Conference instructs the Executive to make limits on the submission of
planning a major part of the continuing workload campaign, and to
support members who wish to refuse to submit short term planning for
inspection by headteachers and other managers unless there are
exceptional reasons for doing so.
Teacher Mental Health
Conference notes:
1.The accumulated evidence suggesting that the number of teachers suffering from mental illness has increased to the point where 1 in 3 will experience mental health problems at some point in their career.
2.For many the severity of illness will shatter their lives and/or those of their families. It is often the cause of teachers leaving the profession. Most teachers experiencing mental illness find it difficult or impossible to talk about with even the closest of friends or families. As a result the size of the problem has remained partially hidden. Some teachers remain unaware that they are suffering from mental illness.
3.The types and causes of mental illness are complex, but depression and acute anxiety are common amongst teachers. It is a major cause of teacher absence and many teachers are only able to continue working because of long-term medication. Drug addiction, eating disorders and obsessive behaviours are also common. Causes of mental illness are not restricted to work factors, but the much higher, and growing, incidence of mental illness amongst teachers, in comparison with other professions, must point to the impact of work related stress.
4.Treatments provided by skilled mental health practitioners, like Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, can help teachers manage and improve their mental health. Other initiatives like training and counselling can also help, but little or nothing has been done to keep work stress within manageable levels for all teachers. Employers regularly fail in their duty of care, aided and abetted by the ill-considered demands of successive Governments.
5.Not enough is known about the scale and causes of mental illness amongst teachers or of the most effective way of improving mental health. However this has now become an issue deserving of much greater priority.
Conference therefore instructs the Executive to:
(i) Establish a working party of both Executive and lay members to investigate and advise on promoting improved teacher mental health. The remit of the working party to be determined by the Executive but should include:
a.The collection of evidence and information on the scale, causes and impact of mental illness amongst teachers.
b.The power to invite representatives of other organisations to contribute to the working party. (e.g. Teacher Support Network, other teacher organisations, and organisations representing mental health practitioners).
c.Providing ongoing reports for the Executive to use in promoting improved mental health amongst teachers.
d.The preparation of a memorandum for Annual Conference 2009 with relevant policy recommendations.
(ii) Use the ongoing reports prepared by the Working Party to press Government, local authorities, school governors and other employees to take urgent steps to improve the mental well-being of teachers.
(iii) Provide information for members and public information highlighting the issue of mental illness amongst teachers, including advice on strategies to reduce the risks of mental illness.
(iv) Ensure that the Union’s existing policies, including action guidelines, are fully implemented when it is necessary to protect teachers from excessive stress likely to lead to mental illness.
Supply Teachers
Conference recognises the value of qualified supply teachers as an important and essential resource, enabling continuity for children and staff in schools.
Conference recognises that the deterioration in pay and conditions of supply teachers is a threat to all the teaching profession as well as the quality of education in schools.
Conference acknowledges that supply teachers are professional and responsible people who are able to teach in a flexible and creative manner, in order to fulfil a number of requirements in a variety of schools, often at short notice.
Conference believes that supply teachers are losing opportunities to work due to the introduction of Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) time in September 2005 and the subsequent employment of staff without QTS (e.g., HLTAs) where supply teachers would have otherwise been employed. Although PPA time has existed in secondary schools for many years, standards have not fallen and those without QTS do not teach pupils.
Conference notes that local authorities are relinquishing their supply teacher lists and administration, leaving many supply teachers no choice but to use agencies.
Conference condemns the exploitation by some supply teacher agencies where Teachers’ Pay and Conditions are not adhered to, resulting in the supply teacher being paid less salary and having no pension contributions paid or other entitlements fulfilled. Host agencies also require their own CRB checks to be made, often at the supply teacher’s expense, resulting in supply teachers unnecessarily having to pay for multiple copies of the same certificate.
Conference further condemns the exploitation of supply teachers by some head teachers who make verbal contracts with supply teachers, only to break them at their own discretion and at the ‘last minute’, taking no account of the supply teachers’ rights and concerns.
Conference acknowledges the insecure nature of supply teaching and the non-entitlement to sickness benefit should a supply teacher be unable to work due to illness.
Conference believes that being a supply teacher does not mean that the teacher is not career minded and that the teacher does not deserve respect.
Conference recognises that supply teachers, in general, experience feelings of isolation, resulting in complaints not being made and advice for concerns not sought for fear of appearing to be ‘trouble makers’ and consequently forfeiting opportunities to work.
Conference acknowledges that, although not impossible to do, supply teachers tend not to apply to go beyond the Threshold, due to fears of becoming ‘too expensive’ and, therefore, forfeiting opportunities to work.
Conference acknowledges that supply teachers find it difficult to claim refunds of their GTC fees, often resulting in them paying the full fee themselves, while teachers who are employed by contract in one school have their fees automatically refunded.
Conference calls on the Executive to:
1.Endeavour to raise the profile, status and morale of supply teachers within the professionby organising a conference/meeting of supply teachers to involve them in any campaign.
2.Encourage the use of supply teachers on contract to cover PPA time in schoolsand use our network of head teacher members to ensure that they at least will only employ properly remunerated supply teachers.
3.Review the nature and regulation of agencies and the impact of diminishing local authority supply teacher lists.
4.Encourage NUT School Representatives to welcome new supply teachers into their schools, ensuring that they are treated with respect and dignity whenever they are working in school.
5.Encourage all, but especially NUT headteachers, to use supply teachers without agency intervention.
6.Campaign with action up to and including strike action to ensure that all supply teachers doing comparable work to permanent teachers – albeit on a part time or short term contract basis – have an entitlement to relevant INSET and are paid on a daily rate of 1/195th of the annual salary they would receive if they were on permanent contracts with nationally agreed terms and conditions or better. Similarly, campaign to ensure that casual supply teachers are remunerated at a daily rate of 1/195th of an agreed national rate.
7.Campaign to require agencies to refund the GTC fees of all supply teachers who work in maintained schools.
8.Enter into negotiations nationally with the major agencies with regard to a concrete agreement securing entry into the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
9.Enter into negotiations with regard to a concrete agreement on the payment of the Blue Book rates of pay.
10.Relaunch the campaign that every child be taught by a qualified teacher, supported by a trained and properly remunerated classroom assistant.
Work-life Balance
Conference views with alarm that workforce reforms have resulted in no significant reduction in workload for teachers. With continued changes impacting on teachers and schools, the prognosis for manageable workload for teachers looks bleak.
Conference also notes that the pay and career progression of women with family responsibilities is detrimentally affected by this excessive workload and that public authorities and schools are now required to take positive action (Gender Equality Duty, 2007) to remove barriers to gender equality by providing, for example, flexible working, convenient access to child care facilities and appropriate INSET.
With the continuing excessive levels of stress amongst teachers, showing no signs of reduction, it is crucial that urgent action is taken in schools to ensure that all teachers are enabled to have a work-life balance.