ATL

Small ways to get involved

ATL is one of the strongest and fastest growing education unions in the UK and much of our success is due to our enthusiastic, dedicated and hard-working members. Getting involved with your union is the best way to achieve effective change, both in working conditions and in education.

There are many benefits to being involved in ATL: you'll be well informed about education issues and get to influence them. You'll build up a strong network of contacts and it could even open up career opportunities you hadn't considered. With the promise of first-class support from our professional staff and training courses, you don't need to worry about being on your own.

There's a diverse and varied range of roles and tasks you could take on, and this only needs to take up as much time as you're willing to give.

Tell us what you think

Getting involved in your union could be as simple as telling us what you think by filling in a survey (for a list of the latest surveys go to our 'Join the debate' section, accessible from the home page), or adding your name to a petition (see how 'Policy and campaigns' section, accessible from the home page). Recent campaigns include a petition to get sprinkler systems fitted in all schools and a survey of members' workload issues.

If there is an issue you feel passionately about and you would like to help ATL change education policy, you may be interested in joining one of ATL's task groups, which focus on specific topics.

Take advantage of ATL's services

Your union isn't just there for the bad times. ATL can offer you a whole host of services from training and professional development opportunities, discounts for members and publications and other resources (browse using the link on the home page). And if you've found a particular training course useful, or you find yourself referring to an ATL publication, tell others about it.

Tell other members about ATL

One of the best ways to make sure your union is strong enough to take collective action is to tell colleagues about ATL and encourage them to join. Even something as straightforward as putting up an ATL poster in your staff room helps to raise ATL's profile. (See the publications and resources section, accessible from the home page, to browse posters and recruitment materials.)

There are many other ways you can get involved, from becoming an ATL contact or rep, attending a branch meeting or coming to ATL's Conference. See the other pages in this section for more.

The following short film explaining the benefits of joining and getting involved with your union is available via YouTube.