ATL

ATL Conference 2010

Wednesday 31 March - morning session

Sixth session of Conference: 9.00 - 12.00

During this session there was an address by Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

Resolutions

44 Academies - carried
44 Amendment to resolution 44 - Academies - carried
45 Total place - carried in all parts
46 Assessment - carried
47 Observation by students - carried
48 Child protection - carried in all parts
49 ISA - carried
50 Licence to teach - carried
51 Imbalance between training and vacancies - carried
52 One-to-one teaching - carried in part
53 Restoration of normal salary progression - carried
54 Disadvantage and attainment - not taken
55 Early Years Single Funding formula - carried

44 Academies - carried

DEVON BRANCH

THAT Conference calls upon the Executive Committee to:
(i) press the government not to approve anymore academies until they clearly demonstrate that academies can give good value for money and significantly improve standards;
(ii) continue to campaign against the gifting of schools to unreliable sponsors and to oppose privatisation and deregulation with vigour;
(iii) ask the government to ensure that existing academies follow national pay and conditions regulations and fully recognise the right of employees to be represented by recognised trade unions within them.

Proposer: Julia Neal, Torquay Girls' Grammar School, Devon
Seconder: Phil Smith, Unattached member, Devon

44 Amendment to resolution 44 - Academies - carried

BRENT

Amendment: delete Roman numeral (i) and replace with new Roman numeral (i):

Ensure that ATL undertakes a publicity campaign to show that there is no statistically reliable evidence that demonstrates that academies improve standards or provide better value for money than state run schools and call on the Government to halt the academies programme.

Proposer: Hank Roberts, Brent Branch
Seconder: Jean Roberts, Inner London Branch

45 Total place - carried in all parts

COVENTRY BRANCH

THAT Conference believes that the government's Total place initiative will result in a diminution in the provision of back-office support to schools, the reduction in local expertise in important areas such as human resources and the loss of democratic control over spending in local authorities. This will adversely affect all members of the school workforce, with the potential of removing much needed support to headteachers. Conference therefore calls upon the Executive Committee to:
(i) investigate the scope of Total place nationally and the impact it will have locally;
(ii) oppose any attempt to reduce the provision of back-office support to schools;
(iii) campaign for the democratic oversight of spending within local authorities and schools, with the full involvement of trades unions as an important stakeholder and partner in service delivery.

Proposer: David Kinnen, President Kennedy School, Coventry
Seconder: Mary Burns, Coventry Branch

46 Assessment - carried

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE BRANCH

THAT Conference instructs the Executive Committee to highlight and campaign to reduce the stressful effects of the assessment regime, which categorises the nation's children and young people and sees them as mere numbers.

Proposer: Ian Jowett, Beeston Fields Primary School, Nottingham
Seconder: Ralph Surman, Cantrell Primary School, Nottingham

47 Observation by students - carried

ESSEX, SOUTHEND AND THURROCK BRANCH

THAT Conference asks the Executive Committee to issue clear guidelines on how lesson observations by students should be conducted and reported.

Proposer: Mike Everett, Honywood Community Science School, Coggeshall
Seconder: Pat Kyrou, HMC Supply, Essex

48 Child protection - carried in all parts

COMPOSITE from resolutions submitted by Essex, Southend and Thurrock, Wiltshire and Wirral branches.

THAT Conference notes with concern schools' mounting anxiety over how far they have to go to satisfy the pervasive effects of the government's child protection agenda, which profoundly limits the education of young people, and is more damaging to children than exposing them to the unfortunate but limited risks of adventurous activity and contemporary society. Conference calls on the Executive Committee to:
(i) press the government to provide the statistical evidence that justifies the significant increase in vetting and safeguarding measures, which particularly target school staff and the professionals and volunteers who provide formal organised activities for children;
(ii) initiate and sustain a high profile campaign for the lifelong welfare of our children.

Proposer: Jeffrey Bevan, Wallasey High School, Wirral
Seconder: Phil Whalley, Wiltshire Branch

49 ISA - carried

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

THAT Conference supports efforts to prevent unsuitable people having access to children or vulnerable adults, but asserts that there is a danger that in its recently amended format the ISA will cause difficulties for many education employees, and prevent others from having the right to natural justice. Conference, noting that registration with the ISA begins in July 2010 and yet a number of concerns raised by ATL and other trade unions have not been resolved, urges the Executive Committee to:
(i) maintain and reinforce its position that the cost of registration (currently £64 in England and Wales and £58 in Northern Ireland) must be met by employers and not employees, volunteers and students;
(ii) lobby the government to ensure that complaints about individuals should be heard by their employers or organisations that already have responsibility for that individual and who already have in place formal procedures for assessing and deciding on complaints, and when complaints come directly to the ISA they are automatically referred on to the appropriate employers;
(iii) lobby the government to state that the system of making decisions on barring must be made giving individuals the right to defend themselves in person and cannot be done in line with natural justice by using a paper exercise only;
(iv) ask the government to give an assurance that the computer systems used to manage a database of 11 million people will not result in errors and mistakes which could infringe individuals' rights under the Data Protection Act and Human Rights Act;
(v) continue to work with the TUC to highlight such issues and take appropriate joint action with other unions accordingly.

Proposer: David Ambler, Executive Committee member
Seconder: Peter Walker, Executive Committee member

50 Licence to teach - carried

COMPOSITE from resolutions submitted by Brent and Bradford branches.

THAT Conference rejects the five-year Licence to teach for teachers and urges the Executive Committee to lobby the government and launch a major national campaign against the policy, in conjunction with the other education unions if possible.

Proposer: Kevin Alderton, Copland: A Specialist Science College, Brent
Seconder: Stuart Herdson, Unattached member, Bradford

51 Imbalance between training and vacancies - carried

COMPOSITE from resolutions submitted by Humberside branch and the Executive Committee.

THAT Conference requests the Executive Committee to investigate the apparent imbalance between student recruitment on teacher training courses and the available vacancies for teachers, by region, sector, and subject, and to address the findings appropriately.

Proposer: Tina Stevens, Archbishop Sentamu Academy, Hull
Seconder: Colin Cranmer, Humberside branch

52 One-to-one teaching - carried in part

HERTFORDSHIRE BRANCH

THAT Conference, while recognising the potential benefits that additional personalised teaching could have on raising standards, believes that the government's one-to-one tuition scheme in the Making Good Progress programme is confused, potentially unfair and possibly unsafe. Consequently, Conference urges the Executive Committee to:
(i) investigate its implementation nationally and in particular the practice of arbitrary selection that enables schools to set their own criteria, so as to ensure that the principles of equal opportunity apply; CARRIED
(ii) carry out analysis of available data to gauge the effectiveness of additional one-to-one tuition on improving levels of attainment; LOST
(iii) investigate whether one-to-one tuition is implemented following good safeguarding procedures; CARRIED
(iv) raise any resulting concerns with the DCSF. CARRIED

Proposer: Jackie Harvey, Millmead Primary School, Hertford
Seconder: Aneurin Hathway, The Heathcote School, Stevenage

53 Restoration of normal salary progression - carried

NORFOLK BRANCH

THAT Conference, as a matter of principle, opposes pay freezes and cuts in any sector of education, only accepting that such severe measures should be considered by employers after they have conducted meaningful consultations with their employees, and the measures are accompanied by distinct and reasonable pathways, with timelines, detailing how restoration of previous pay levels and cost of living increases will be achieved at the earliest practical opportunity. Further, Conference urges the Executive Committee to determine effective ways to support and
guide members in any sector of education who find themselves in these circumstances.

Proposer: Peter Walker, Unattached member, Norfolk
Seconder: Bob Peaker, Unattached member, Norfolk

54 Disadvantage and attainment - not taken

INNER LONDON BRANCH

THAT Conference supports ATL in its consistent campaign for the government to take a systematic approach to breaking the link between disadvantage and educational attainment. To this end Conference requests the Executive Committee to call on the government to facilitate a proper debate regarding the aims of education to ensure that every child receives an education that promotes their wellbeing and also social justice.

Proposer: Jean Roberts, Old Oak Primary, Hammersmith and Fulham
Seconder: Pat Bennett, Crown Lane Primary, Lambeth

55 Early Years Single Funding formula - carried

KIRKLEES BRANCH

THAT Conference, increasingly concerned with discussions on the effects of the Early Years Single Funding Formula, welcomes the postponement of its introduction and urges the Executive Committee to call upon the Secretary of State to rethink its implementation across all settings in England. Furthermore, Conference requests that the Executive Committee seeks to ensure:
(i) that the viability of existing high quality provision is not lost;
(ii) that support is given to local authorities to facilitate quality maintenance and improvement of provision;
(iii) that transparency of provision is genuinely achieved across all sectors.

Proposer: Allison Whiteley, Knowles Hill Infant and Nursery School, Kirklees
Seconder: Gill Collins, branch secretary, Kirklees