The NEU continues the vital fight for fair pay
Edition 3 April 27th. We have decided to issue more frequent but shorter blogs usually on one issue.
Pay Campaign
On a day of teacher strike action, Louise Regan, NEU Equalities Officer, provides an update from NEU Conference
Following the recent strike action by NEU members and the insulting offer by the government the National Executive met and agreed to consult members about the offer with a recommendation to reject. The consultative ballot closed on the Sunday as NEU annual conference was about to start. The results were announced at the opening session of conference and NEU members decisively rejected the government pay offer of £1,000 cash payment for 2022/23 and an average increase of 4.5% for 2023/24. The turnout in our online ballot was 66%, with a 98% rejection. This is an incredible result, achieved in just six days and our Reps are to be congratulated for their role in this.
In the same week that the NEU announced the result of our consultation, the three other teacher unions reported big rejections of the offer:
• ASCL: 87% rejection
• NAHT: 90% rejection
• NASUWT: 87% rejection
All four unions are united on this question and have called on the government to reopen talks on a fully-funded pay rise.
ASCL, NAHT and NASUWT have all said that they will be starting strike ballots in the summer term.
Following the result of our consultation with members, the NEU has announced two days of national strike action on-
• Thursday 27th April
• Tuesday 2nd May
These are just before the local government elections and the union will be using these to put more pressure on the government to settle our dispute.
There will be a range of regional and local activities planned for these days Parents have been very supportive of our action, particularly as we have focused on the funding crisis in our schools.
We aim to build on that support and we will be organising street stalls and other events aimed at getting our message across and asking parent to lobby their MPs and councillors.
Under current legislation trade union strike ballots are live for just six months, after which we must conduct another ballot. The NEU ballot expires on July 16th – so the Executive is drawing up plans for a new ballot to take place during the summer term, to finish in July.
In preparation for the new ballot, we will be asking Reps to conduct membership checks for their school and members will also be asked to confirm their workplace and home address.
The NEU has been at the forefront of the fightback against the government’s attacks on education not only about members pay but also the funding of our schools and settings. We know that any pay rise which is not funded will have a huge impact on the colleagues we work with and the children and young people we teach.
OFSTED:-NEU Leaders Write to Ruth Perry
Louise shares a heartfelt letter to Ruth
Following the tragic death of Ruth Perry and the callous and inhumane way in which Ofsted responded to it the NEU carried an Urgent Motion on the issue of Ofsted and its impact on our members. This is not a new situation, Ofsted has consistently had a negative impact on staff mental health and well-being but Ruth’s death has highlighted the toxic system that it is.
We are all too aware that the outcome of an inspection can often make or break the careers of those involved, in particular senior leaders who directly hold the responsibility of a school’s reputation. Too often, judgements are inconsistent, affected by the competence or opinions of team members and gradings are based on snap-decisions, with very little understanding of context and sometimes with a hidden agenda. This inconsistency and unreliability adds greatly to the detrimental impact of inspections on mental health and well-being of those being inspected.
NEU Conference unanimously called for:
· a freeze of all inspections in order that a full investigation of mental health impact on teachers and school leaders be established
· the abolition of Ofsted
· a recognition that alternative accountability is possible and more effective in promoting improved outcomes for young people
· joint working with NAHT/ASCL and a call on all NEU leadership members to refuse to participate as inspectors in any further inspections until a full review of health and safety hazard is conducted
· all work-related suicides data to be collected and collated, in order to assess the full extent of the risks to health created by toxic work and accountability pressures
· to look at measures such as section 44 to protect the health and well-being of our members
· for leaders to remove Ofsted banners and logos from their websites and school gates
A powerful letter from NEU leadership members says it all:
Dear Ruth,
We want you to know you were not alone. We want you to know that you were so much more than a cruel single word in a document written by fleeting visitors who knew nothing of your love and commitment. Individuals who knew nothing about the deep love and gratitude you inspired in thousands of people whose lives you touched – colleagues, parents, guardians and children.
The sad truth is, Ruth, that you felt so alone because the cruel system that misjudged and mislabelled you instructed you to bear your grief in isolation and forbade you from seeking solace.
So many of us feel your pain because we have been there. Anybody who becomes a school or college leader - and commits to authentic, compassionate and ethical leadership - does so at great personal risk. As a school leader, you are part of a family that provides identity and love. You may be a parent to your own children but they, and everyone around you, knows you have another “child” – your school. It may sometimes be loud and unruly, sometimes brilliant and amazing, but it is always full of love and joy. When our families are threatened, parents do whatever they can to defend them. We forego sleep, do without to provide for their needs and stand bravely in their defence when they need us. This was never more needed than when OFSTED were due to call.
Those who have never led a school or college, cannot begin to understand this experience. For months you know they are due and do everything within your power to be ready. You try to not put too much pressure on those around you but are hyper-vigilant to every phone call before lunch time. You know if you do not get the balance right, everyone around you will suffer and for a lot longer than the duration of an OFSTED two-day visit. You know that a “poor” outcome will see you and your colleagues labelled and stigmatised, subjected to relentless pressure from school “support” systems. Such systems often present multiple and conflicting expectations of how you can improve and jump through the hoops of the next visit, which is due shortly, to check on your “progress”. You know you will face assertions that you have “taken your eye off the ball” or “been too soft on standards” or “cared too much about feeding or helping people”.
You also know that as the person most accountable, your reputation and all you have worked for will have been swept away in a ridiculously simplistic judgement - just a single word. You know that even if everyone around you tells you they have faith in you, that you will not believe them. How can you when this unassailable bloated monster of accountability has deemed your “child” to be inadequate. And so, you struggle to believe in yourself in the face of its hostility and power.
You may go through several inspections and some may be complimentary but they are always incredibly arduous. Following the same format the first day tests you to the limit dangling the threat of failure in front of you, before reassuring you that they can see all the positives and are seeking a way of making corporate OFSTED algorithms recognise the beauty and humanity of your work. When they leave, you are always left exhausted and relieved, never proud, just grateful you and your colleagues have survived.
Many of us have experienced what all the profession refers to as the “rogue” inspector. They arrive with their mind made up, telling you that you are too complex a school to deal with and making staff and children cry whilst you fight with everything you have for your school’s reputation. Even with an “acceptable” outcome on the way home you aren’t happy or relieved, just numb. How many leaders really feel they cannot go through such an experience again?
Ruth, what you went through was too awful, but is sadly completely relatable. One of the many social media messages of support shows this awful truth saying: “This exact thing happened to me. Outstanding to Inadequate. I felt totally destroyed with a 27-year career in tatters. I resigned to preserve my health and to save my life.” We all know, what happened to you has happened to others and will continue to do so, if we do nothing.
Ruth you weren’t alone, we have all walked that path of fear and despair that OFSTED creates. The outpouring across social media of support and revulsion for what was done to you is because we have all experienced something of your fear, pain and despair. We wish that you could see our messages, feel the strength of emotion. Now is surely our profession’s Spartacus moment, a time to say, “Never again”. The results of an OFSTED inspection should not be the reason a Headteacher dies. We must draw our line in the sand and demand statistics are collected about work-related suicide so the full scale of loss and suffering is highlighted. Many have been too scared to raise their head above the parapets, in case speaking out puts a target on their backs. But no more.
We believe that in your name Ruth, every school should tear down its OFSTED Outstanding banners because every time we celebrate an “acceptable” outcome we give credence to the judgements of a monster that is capricious, unreliable, and not worthy of the pain and anxiety we experience at its hands. We believe that every school leader trying to fix the system from within by working as an Inspector should reconsider. Their efforts have not worked - the monster is unfixable. If they all withdraw from their Inspector role the system will collapse. We believe it’s time to abolish OFSTED.
Ruth, it is time for us to stand up and flex our muscles of solidarity. There are more of us than them. It is time for us to stand beside you. We wish, we could have held your hand and helped you see the strength of our collegiate support. We’re holding your hand now… and using our voices in your name to ensure such a tragedy never happens again.