24 January 2018

UCAC calls for increased training for the education workforce

In response to the publication of Estyn’s Annual Report today, UCAC teaching union has called for an increase in the number of training days for teachers, headteachers and teaching assistants.

Elaine Edwards, UCAC’s General Secretary said “One of the key themes throughout Estyn’s annual report is the need for thorough, high quality training for the whole workforce.

“The Chief Inspector has made it absolutely clear in his report that lack of training and appropriate support are largely responsible for inconsistencies across the system, including in the Foundation Phase, and in relation to literacy, numeracy and ICT.

“If we are to achieve a consistently high standard of education across Wales, and since we are the in process of introducing fundamental changes to the curriculum, we must ensure that we train our teachers, teaching assistants and school leaders to ensure the requisite levels of expertise and confidence.

“UCAC is calling on the Welsh Government to increase the number of annual INSET days from the current 5, during the period leading up to the introduction of the new curriculum and assessment arrangements. This is the only way to ensure the levels of professional development required for successful implementation of the Government’s ambitious vision.”

Notes

• UCAC is Wales’s own education union. It represents teachers, headteachers and lecturers in all education sectors across Wales.

For further information please contact:

• Rebecca Williams: 07787 572180 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

17 January 2018

Teaching unions call for urgent review of teachers and school leaders’ pay

Teacher unions representing the majority of education staff in England and Wales have submitted a joint statement calling for a significant pay increase for teachers and school leaders, and setting out their views on the most pressing issues facing the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).

ASCL, NAHT, NEU, UCAC and Voice believe that the STRB needs to set a benchmark for teacher and school leaders’ pay which will make teaching competitive with other graduate professions and aid both recruitment and retention.

The evidence from our organisations of a growing crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers and school leaders means that the STRB must take this opportunity to fully exercise its functions as the independent pay review body for the profession. We believe that this must lead the STRB to recommend a significant increase in pay for all teachers and school leaders, irrespective of their career stage, setting or geographical location.

We believe it is a matter of ‘justice and fairness’ that all teachers and school leaders should receive an annual cost of living increase to prevent them from being worse off year-on-year. The current policy of differentiated pay awards is not working and is demoralising the profession.

We are calling for a significant pay increase for all teachers and school leaders to begin to address the decline in teachers’ real pay over the last seven years.

It is also vital that any pay increases arising from the recommendations of the STRB are fully funded by the government. School budgets are at breaking point. Without additional funding, paying staff fairly whilst fully funding the curriculum will be impossible.

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said:“After seven years of government-imposed austerity, teachers need and deserve a decent pay rise, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it is essential in tackling the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis. And the government must fund any pay award rather than expecting schools to foot the bill from budgets which have already been cut to the bone.”

Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, (NAHT) said: “Teaching is a demanding and important profession and teachers’ pay should reflect this. At the moment, it doesn’t. The recruitment crisis continues unabated and the teacher supply pipeline is leaking at both ends. At present the government is failing to recruit enough new teachers, and doing nowhere near enough whilst too many experienced teachers leave prematurely. A pay rise for school staff is long overdue.”

Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU),said: “Children’s education is at risk – insufficient recruitment and retention of high quality teachers is a very real problem. To begin to address this, it is essential that teacher workload is reduced and that the government now commits to reducing a restorative pay rise, starting with a significant real terms increase in 2018, which is fully funded. Ministers are right when they say an education system is only as good as its teachers and leaders. The public is demanding government values these hardworking professionals who can make such a positive impact on young people’s futures.”

Elaine Edwards, General Secretary of UCAC, said: “For years teachers have not been properly valued or remunerated for their crucial contribution to the education and social development of our children and young people which has led to serious recruitment and retention problems in Wales and England. The UK Government must now address the issue of teachers’ pay and provide a fully funded restorative pay award as a matter of urgency for the next academic year.”

Deborah Lawson, General Secretaryof Voice said: “After years of austerity measures, it is time for the pay of teachers and school leaders to reflect the value of their work, and the importance of the teaching profession to both our children’s education and the future of the country. Without substantial pay increases, the current recruitment and retention crisis will continue. However, the pay rises required must be fully funded so that schools can afford to recruit and retain the teachers and headteachers they need.”

Unions will be submitting detailed evidence separately from each other on 25 January 2018.

ENDS

Press contacts

• ASCL: Richard Bettsworth, 07885 467344 / 0116 299 1122 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
   
• NAHT: Steven George, 01444 472 886 / 07970907730 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
   
• NEU: Julie Gillespie, 0207 782 1556 / 07918 617466 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Caroline Cowie, 0207 380 4706/ 07922 576 869 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
   
• UCAC: Rebecca Williams, 01970 639950 / 07787 572180 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
   
• VOICE: Richard Fraser, 01332 372337 / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

10 January 2018

Disappointment about WJEC non-Welsh-speaking appointment

In response to the WJEC's announcement today that it had appointed a new Chief Executive, Elaine Edwards, UCAC General Secretary said "Whilst acknowledging the relevance of much of Roderic Gillespie's experience, UCAC restates its disappointment that the ability to communicate in Welsh was not a requirement for this appointment.

"We now face a situation where the Chief Executive of one of the most important organisations that has direct contact with schools and colleges in Wales is unable to communicate with them in Welsh. This is also likely to affect the internal linguistic dynamics of the organisation, as well as the relationship with other external partners.

"Without any apparent experience of the education system in Wales, one wonders about his level of awareness in relation to bilingualism in Wales and our bilingual education and qualifications system."

2 October 2017

UCAC shows support for the people of Catalonia

UCAC joined scores of people in Sgwâr Glyndwr, Aberystwyth on the evening of Monday 2 October to show solidarity with the people of Catalonia.

26 September 2017

UCAC welcomes ‘Our National Mission’ education action plan

UCAC teachers’ union has welcomed Education in Wales: Our national mission, the Education action plan that has been launched today.

The document sets out the priorities for Wales’s education system from 2017 until 2021, within the context of the Welsh Government’s recently launched ‘Prosperity for All: the national strategy’.