ATL

Key to success

Following a successful 2008 for ATL in representing members, Mary Bousted looks ahead to the union's plans for the coming year

Sometimes it is OK to show off a little, to blow your own trumpet, to pat yourself on the back. I write this at the start of the year, looking back on a very successful 2008. ATL has grown in all education roles and sectors, and now has the highest working membership for six years. How has this been achieved?

I think there are many reasons, but key to our successful growth is ATL's aspirations for its members. We want as many of you as possible to join ATL, join in ATL's campaigns, its policy development and its learning activities, and to get on in your career. You have responded with enthusiasm. More than a thousand ATL members are now registered with Edge Hill University on award-bearing courses - leading to foundation or masters degrees - at a hugely reduced cost.

We have continued to publish resources, free to ATL members, which support your practice. When it comes to developing your knowledge of pedagogy, assessment, behaviour, curriculum and so much more, ATL is there to help with clear, informative advice and guidance.

And when it comes to learning delivered locally, in response to your identified needs, ATL leads the way with its hugely successful and growing union learning programme. Last year our union learning reps brokered local learning for more than 1,500 members through events ranging from managing challenging behaviour to voice care, and from stress and well-being to personal finance. We have set ourselves the target that every branch will have a union learning rep to broker similar local CPD for all ATL members.

Our new website allows members to access information, advice and support much more readily. Report magazine has been revamped and our reporters are in line for international awards for the quality of their research and writing.

You have responded in droves to our requests for information and feedback. More than 11,500 members completed email surveys on a wide range of issues, from teachers' pay and workload to race equality in schools, education maintenance allowances and surveillance in classrooms.

These responses are important to us because they keep us in touch with you and your experiences. Our national campaign on lesson planning and assessment, fighting for teachers' professional judgement to be respected, and for the abolition of unnecessary bureaucracy, was developed directly from member experience. This is an issue that I raise repeatedly with civil servants, ministers and strategy directors. We are not there yet, but we will keep plugging away.

As we develop the union, we look for ways in which to support members as they progress in their careers. Through AMiE (the Association of Managers in Education, our partnership with the Association of College Managers), we have developed dedicated support for ATL's leadership group members.

We have done this because we want ATL members to stay in the union throughout their careers, so they do not feel they have to lose the support and expertise that a large union such as ATL can give them on every aspect of their roles.

ATL's Welsh president, David Healey, illustrated our commitment to members well when he wrote in ATL Cymru news: "Our union has something to offer anyone engaged in education. If you're support staff, we're there for you; and if you're in the maintained sector, ATL is there for you. If you're a student just starting off in teaching, then make sure you know what's on offer through ATL Future.

"This year I had a new 'first day' experience. I became a deputy head at my school. It's proved challenging but also highly rewarding, and again ATL, via the new support it offers through AMiE, has been there for me. AMiE's presence, advice and guidance has boosted my confidence in this new role."

David goes on to write: "ATL is the only union that has a coherent vision for the whole of education and the only union that offers dedicated services to all sectors and professionals. And, what's more, it's your union."

I agree wholeheartedly. The strength of ATL is in its members, working across all sectors and phases.

So, what are we planning to do in 2009? Well, we are going to keep on working with you to advance your interests and concerns. We will continue to fight for a fair deal for further education, both in terms of funding and closing the pay gap between lecturers and teachers.

We will continue to campaign against the over-policing of professionals working in schools and colleges. We want your professional expertise and knowledge to be valued and rewarded, rather than corralled into the latest fad emanating from government strategies or from Ofsted. And as the credit crunch bites, especially in independent schools, we will work hard to protect members' jobs.

So, what can you do for your union? Again, David Healey has the answer. He exhorts you to "make your voice heard by letting us know what issues concern you and what you would like to see the union doing for you.

"And remember, the union is all its members; that's where our strength lies. What can you do in your school, college or branch to make sure that the reasonable, sensible (and I would add, influential) voice of ATL is better heard and known?"