We have many challenges facing us in the coming months with radical changes to pay progression now linked to the professional standards for teachers, our continuing battle to ensure full implementation of the workforce reform legislation to ensure our members have their entitlement to a reasonable work-life balance, implementation of the new ‘rarely cover’ rules with no detriment to existing levels of non-contact time and now the SATS campaign to rid ourselves of the KS1 and KS2 tests.
The duties of the Divisional Secretary include responsibility for conducting negotiations with the Local Authority and giving feedback on educational issues and local initiatives. An important aspect of this is working with the Workforce Agreement Monitoring Group to protect member’s interests. I intend to give this a high priority as we continue our campaign for full implementation of the workforce reform regulations and seek to reduce unnecessary and stressful levels of workload.
As a fully accredited and trained casework officer for over 5 years, I understand the importance of using the latest technology to support our members in times of difficulty and will be modernising our services to give a faster response and service when required. From September, both Andy Johnson and myself will be available to assist members in need.
I also intend to reinforce our position as the largest teacher union in Gloucestershire and Europe by making recruitment and communication a key element of our work in the coming year.
I have invited some of the NUT’s leading speakers to address our General meetings over the coming months and look forward to seeing you there. If you can’t make the meeting please feel free to e-mail me with your views.
John Pemberthy
Divisional Secretary
Gloucestershire
Association Divisional Secretary, John Pemberthy writes:
"The NUT is the largest teachers' union in Gloucestershire
representing teachers in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary establishments,
as well as supply teachers and Soulbury-paid members across
the county."
The
National Union of Teachers is the
only union which takes into membership qualified teachers
(and those on courses training to become teachers) exclusively.
All the other classroom teacher unions include non teachers,
which affects their focus. The Gloucestershire Association
of the National Union of Teachers serves its members in many
ways.
 It
represents their collective views, as well as the policies
of the Union nationally, to the LEA, School Governing Bodies,
the press and the media;
it
is the only teaching union which allows into membership teachers
from all sectors of education from newly qualified teachers
to head teachers, supply teachers to advisers and therefore
speaks for the whole profession and not just one section of
it;
it
is the only union which employs its own team of solicitors,
in all regions of the country, who specialise in the law as
it affects education, teachers and their pupils;
it
acts as a source of information and expertise for members
to call upon other issues such as salary scales, threshold,
sick leave, maternity leave, part-time contracts, job sharing,
pensions - in fact, the whole range of education and employment
law so important to teachers in their daily working lives;
it
provides advice and training for professional development;
it
supports and represents individual members facing professional
difficulties;
it provides the opportunity to meet socially with fellow teachers
from other schools and settings;
it
campaigns for a better deal for teachers and their pupils. |
