ATL

ATL Conference 2007

Thursday 5 April - session six

Sixth session of conference

During the sixth session of conference, Conference heard from Zabier Hernandez, leader of the Colombian trade union, Simana.

FE curriculum - CARRIED

56. COMPOSITE from resolutions submitted by Avon and Wiltshire branches

THAT Conference requests that the Executive Committee urgently takes steps to persuade the government and the Learning and Skills Council to provide and maintain a level of funding in post 16 education, so that:

(i) all FE colleges have adequate funding to make available Skills for Life and Foundation Studies courses for all who need them;

(ii) students who require additional support in order to succeed can embark on programmes of study with their need funded, and in the knowledge that that funding will not be withdrawn before their programme is complete;

(iii) staff teaching and supporting students in further education are not engaged on "pretend" contracts of employment, which enable hours reduced without redundancy payments, when funding is cut or re - allocated.

Proposer: Martin Gibbs, City of Bristol College, Avon; Seconder: Stella Jales, Wiltshire College, Wiltshire

FE professional qualifications - CARRIED

57. CAMBRIDGESHIRE AND PETERBOROUGH BRANCH

THAT Conference, noting the movement towards pay parity between school teachers and FE lecturers, calls upon the Executive Committee to campaign for the replacement of QLS standards with a new nationally recognised qualification for all teaching professionals in the FE sector, including teaching assistants.

Proposer: Val Ross, Cambridge Regional College, Cambridgeshire; Seconder: Niamh Sweeney, Cambridge Regional College, Cambridgeshire

Emergency resolution 2 - foreign language skills

THAT Conference expresses concern at the decline in teaching and learning of modern foreign languages in maintained secondary schools, and:

i) Regrets the government's decision to make learning a modern language beyond KS3 optional - LOST
ii) Welcomes the government's decision to provide an entitlement for primary school pupils to study a foreign language - CARRIED
iii) Is concerned that primary teachers should not be compelled tech a foreign language without adequate appropriate training.' - CARRIED

Proposer: Michael Catty, Hertfordshire, Seconder: Eric Stroud, Executive Committee, Hertfordshire

National College for School Leadership - CARRIED

58. WIRRAL BRANCH

THAT Conference, in the current spirit of raising standards and achievement, urges the Executive Committee to ensure that a suitable inspection framework is applied to the National College for School Leadership.

Proposer: Anthony Collins, Wirral Hospital School, Wirral; Seconder: John Williamson, Wirral Education Centre, Wirral

SEN - CARRIED

59. COMPOSITE from resolutions submitted by Brent and Wirral branches

THAT Conference, in recognising that LA budgets for SEN, School Action and School Action Plus are over spent with additional pressure placed upon school budgets as a consequence, notes the move of provision from special schools to the mainstream and requests that the Executive Committee:

(i) reminds government of the sentiments expressed as long ago as the Half our Future report of 1963, which stated that for these pupils their potentialities are no less real and of no less importance because they do not lend themselves to measurement by the conventional criteria of academic achievement, and also its own recognition in its response to the Parliamentary Select Committee report on SEN that improvement in the provision of services for children with SEN is an important challenge;

(ii) challenges 'inclusion on the cheap';

(iii) lobbies government to improve funding for SEN so that every child does indeed matter.

Proposer: Jeffrey Bevan, Wallasey School, Wirral; Seconder: Azra Haque, Unattached member, Brent

New schools and inadequate environments for teaching and learning - CARRIED

60. BRADFORD BRANCH

THAT Conference, noting that the 'interpretation' of the DfES templates results in inadequate environments for teaching and learning with consequent detrimental impact on staff and pupils, urges that the Executive Committee ascertains the extent to which all new schools, are 'fit for purpose'.

Proposer: Ann Nash, Unattached member, Bradford; Seconder: Kelly Riley, Challenge College, Bradford

Disciplined learning - CARRIED

61. NORFOLK BRANCH

THAT Conference, encouraging all those engaged in education to reinforce the important principles of disciplined learning, requests that the Executive Committee takes the lead in promoting the development of the necessary core attributes at all age levels of education.

Proposer: Peter Walker, Hethersett Old Hall School, Norfolk; Seconder: Shirley Buxton, Wellesley First School, Norfolk

VOTE OF THANKS