Dear Members,
We hope you are well. As we come to the end of another difficult term and academic year, we wanted to provide you with an update. We appreciate how hard you have worked this year and we thank you for everything you have done and continue to do.
We have continued to support members with issues locally and engaging with employers. Nationally, the Union has continued to support members by engaging with government and other stakeholders, issuing guidance, providing support via the AdviceLine and hosting training, events and webinars.
COVID-19 advice and guidance
COVID-19 cases continue to rise regionally and nationally as a result of the BA.4/BA.5 variants of Omicron. To ensure schools can continue to operate safely until the summer holidays, the advice from the Local Authority and Public Health in Coventry has been to review working practices and COVID-19 measures.
Schools have been asked to consider whether it may be worthwhile implementing some preventative measures in line with risk assessments and outbreak management plans to help manage these higher rates. The Local Authority have produced these checklists for schools (Primary and Secondary) and early years settings to use. We will be reinforcing this guidance with employers before we return in September and will share any additional advice and guidance available.
Employers should continue to require that anyone who is symptomatic and/or has had a positive test does not attend school and remains in self-isolation for the recommended period. Where staff members are self-isolating, they should continue to receive full pay and the period of absence should not be counted towards sick-pay entitlements or absence-management review points. Where employers are indicating that the period of absence is being counted towards sick-pay entitlements and/or absence-management review points, we will be requesting that a flexible approach is adopted.
Our latest advice and guidance for members on Covid safety can be found at our Coronavirus Hub. Also, visit our Frequently Asked Questions section for answers to common work-related questions.
The NASUWT will continue to work with employers at local, regional, and national level to represent and protect the interests of our members.
Long COVID Disability
As part of the NASUWT’s Long COVID Campaign, the Union has been pressing for Long COVID to be classed as a disability. Whilst many employers have taken this approach, others have not, which has led to members not receiving the support they should and being treated unfairly.
In a potentially landmark decision, the Employment Tribunal has deemed the symptoms of Long COVID to amount to a disability where they are substantial and long term. This decision reinforces the NASUWT’s position that absence arising from Long COVID illness, in common with other disabilities, should be counted separately to other absences and disregarded for absence monitoring ‘triggers’. If employers fail to do this, they are potentially in breach of the Equality Act 2010.
This is also consistent with the Joint Union Long COVID Protocol which has been shared with you and has also been shared with employers locally and we are requesting they sign up to it.
If any member is suffering from Long COVID, and is subject to formal absence management processes, or fears that they may be about to become subject to them, they should obtain further advice from the NASUWT immediately. The NASUWT has produced this bulletin for information and this will be shared with employers including the Local Authority in Coventry.
Working hours and directed time
Do you know your rights about the days and working hours you can be contracted to teach and undertake professional duties?
Make sure you are informed of your entitlements on PPA time, breaks, meetings, parents evenings and more.
Read our guidance
As we approach the end of the school year, we hope that your School Leadership has shared the School Calendar, Directed Time Budget and individual timetables. It is important that you ask for these so you can review what is being proposed for next year.
A Better Deal for Teachers
Thousands of members marched through Central London to Demand Better at the TUC National March and Rally on Saturday 18th June 2022. Members came from all over the country to demand government action on pay and the cost of living. Together we were able to show that teachers deserve better on pay and working conditions.
The recent turmoil in Westminster only underlines our focus on securing a better deal for members on your pay, workload and wellbeing. The NASUWT wrote to the government in June to demand a better deal on pay for teachers.
The NASUWT has been clear that an immediate programme of pay restoration is needed, commencing with at least a 12% pay award this year for all teachers, recognising the 20% real terms reduction to the value of teachers’ pay since 2010.
The School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) has recommended a 5% pay increase in its 32nd report to teachers’ pay and allowance points in September 2022, which the Secretary of State for Education has accepted. A 5% pay award does not come close to what is needed and the NASUWT has made it clear to the Government that this is a completely inadequate pay award, given current levels of inflation.
Further information about the STRB’s Report to the Secretary of State and the STRB’s recommended pay tables are given in the pay scales extract and this bulletin.
There will now be a period of consultation on the Secretary of State’s response to the STRB Report, which closes on 23rd September 2022. Following that date, the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), including the 2022/23 teachers’ pay points, will be published by the Department for Education (DfE).
In the event that this year’s teachers’ pay award does not, as a minimum, address our concerns, the NASUWT will have no alternative than to ballot our members for industrial action this autumn. We will provide further details on this once available.
In preparation for any ballot, it is crucial that we hold the correct membership details for you particularly your home address, personal email address (not workplace email) Phone Number and workplace. If you need to update your details, you can do this by logging in to e-membership on the NASUWT website or by emailing membership@mail.nasuwt.org.uk.
Teachers’ Pay 2021 and Teachers’ Pension Scheme Indexation
Further to our previous emails and the recent email over the weekend on the TPS indexation issue, it is crucial that if you think you may be impacted and you have not been contacted, that you raise this with your Senior Leaders as soon as possible. Once it has been confirmed, please keep an eye out for this payment on your payslips and raise any concerns with School Leaders as soon as possible.
We remind you that the deadline for the remedial action is 31st August 2022 which is fast approaching and that there will be no retrospective fix as has been confirmed by the DfE. It is also crucial that any payment is backdated to 1st September 2021, so the correct level of indexation is applied across the year, so action on this issue is critical.
More Information
Your Experience of the Cost-of-Living Crisis – We Need Your Help
As the cost-of-living crisis worsens and increasingly affects teachers, pupils and parents we would really like to hear about your experiences. To help us better understand the impacts of rising prices of food, fuel and energy and their impacts we would ask you to complete this short survey.
Your answers are really important and will help inform our work with the media and our policy responses to this crisis affecting millions of people. Please do take the time to complete this survey and encourage your colleagues to do so too. Please see the email for the link to the survey.
Equalities
Join us at UK Pride
We’re offering a limited number of sponsored places for members to attend UK Pride in Newcastle between 22-24 July as part of the NASUWT delegation.
To apply please email equality.training@mail.nasuwt.org.uk outlining the LGBTI/Pride activities you have undertaken with or on behalf of the NASUWT.
Black* Teachers’ Meeting – West Midlands Regional Centre – Saturday 1st October 2022
It has been another busy year for NASUWT West Midlands, and we are particularly proud of the work that our Black* members undertook in launching the NASUWT West Midlands Black* Teachers’ Network (WMBTN). Please save the above date of our next meeting which will take place at the start of Black History Month 2022 and will be held at the West Midlands Regional Centre, 57 Water Street, Birmingham, B3 1EP. A full agenda will be distributed with further information in the new academic year.
The academic year concludes just as South Asian Heritage Month 2022 has commenced which is now in its third year and runs from mid-July until mid-August which 75 years ago saw the end of British colonialism in South Asia after much struggle.
Further information on the initiative can be found here.
*The NASUWT uses the term Black in a political and inclusive sense to describe those who self-identify as African, Caribbean and Asian identities and those with a common and direct history of racism, racist oppression and diminished opportunities in today’s society.
Health and Safety
Excessive Temperatures
This week saw the UK’s first ever Red Warning from the UK Met Office warning us of excessive temperatures and heat on Monday and Tuesday and this resulted in a national emergency being declared.
We shared our guidance with members and employers including the local authority over the weekend to ensure that the school leaders undertook risk assessments and put in place appropriate mitigations which may have included full or partial closures. As part of lessons learned for employers and the local authority, we will be asking members to complete a survey in the autumn.
The Union has released some updates on excessive classroom temperatures, ventilation and post-pandemic health and safety measures, which you may find useful.
Mapping school counselling
Does your school or college have counselling provision for pupils? Let us know and support our campaign for increased access to counselling for pupils.
Training and CPD
Preventing pupil bullying – Thursday 11th August 2022 – 10am-12.30pm (for supply teachers)
Limited places are still available to supply teacher members in England for the second of our online training webinars with Anti Bullying Alliance on understanding and addressing bullying amongst pupils.
Book here
Supply Teachers Seminar – Saturday 10th September 2022 – Stratford-Upon-Avon
Supply teacher members can get tailored advice, training, information and support to help you deal with the specific challenges you face as a supply teacher at this one-day event.
Book here
New teacher events
We’re helping new teachers to get set for your first job in teaching at our free events this summer.
Get advice on everything you need to know including pupil behaviour management, your rights on pay and working conditions and much more.
We’re visiting London, Birmingham, Leeds and Cardiff and also holding webinars.
Register now
Summer webinar programme
Get advice and your questions answered at our programme of free member, Reps and Caseworker webinars.
During July and August, we have events running on Behaviour Management, Working Assertively, Anti-Bullying, Social Media and Managing Stress in Workplace.
Visit our events calendar to book
Annual Conference 2023 – Your Union, Your Voice
Represent your Local Association at the NASUWT Annual Conference 2023
Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow – Friday 7th April to Monday 10th April 2023
The Union’s Annual Conference makes the NASUWT’s policy and sets the Union’s priorities for the forthcoming year. Policy is made by serving teachers attending the Conference.
Every Local Association has the opportunity to elect members to attend Conference to debate and vote on those motions which are chosen for debate by a ballot of all members. Every full member of the Union is entitled to seek election.
If you would like to represent the Coventry Local Association at Annual Conference the process is simple: just obtain the support of two other members of your Local Association to nominate and second you using the nomination form. These can be members of NASUWT who work with you. Please see the email for details on how to nominate yourself
Local Association Meetings
We wanted to share advance notice of dates for the Coventry Local Association General Members Meetings for the next academic year. We hope you will be able to attend:
- Tuesday 4th October 2022 at 5.00pm – 6.30pm (Venue to be confirmed)
- Tuesday 7th March 2023 – AGM – at 5.00pm – 7.00pm (Venue to confirmed)
- Tuesday 20th June 2023 at 5.00pm – 6.30pm (Venue to be confirmed)
Empower yourself with the NASUWT
Members working together to increase the influence of the NASUWT in your school or college is the best way to resolve problems and create a happier, healthier working environment. There are lots of ways to be involved and it doesn’t require a lot of your time. By appointing workplace reps and holding union meetings, you have the power to achieve positive change.
We would like to encourage more members to become Workplace Representatives, Workplace Contacts, Health & Safety Reps and Union Learning Representatives. All Reps are entitled to reasonable time off to carry out their duties and the NASUWT offers full training. Our Reps play an invaluable role in supporting members in workplaces, working with our employers and will play a key role in any upcoming ballots.
If you would like to become a Rep or Contact, please contact Nigel Buckler, Local Officer at office@nasuwtcoventry.org for further details. If you are no longer a Rep or Contact or are newly elected, could you email us at the Office email address above so we can update our contact lists.
Working together, with our support, could make a huge difference for you and your colleagues.
The NASUWT will continue to work with employers at local, regional, and national level to represent and protect the interests of members. We will be away from the office over the Summer Break until we return in September, but we wanted to assure you that NASUWT is still operational through Headquarters and the Regional Centre throughout the holidays and the following information should help you:
- In order to ensure you continue to have the most up to date information, we would ask that look at the website in the first instance. If a general query relating to schools is not answered on the website then please contact the Members Support Team at advice@mail.nasuwt.org.uk and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
- If you require urgent support we would ask that you email rc-westmids@mail.nasuwt.org.uk with the necessary details.
- Criminal Support – Throughout the holiday period NASUWT members requiring urgent legal assistance because of a criminal allegation being made against them which is related to their teaching employment should contact Thompsons Solicitors on the following freephone number 0800 587 7530.
The Union will continue to keep you informed of developments and you are requested to please continue to monitor your emails and the NASUWT website for updates. Our local website at www.nasuwtcoventry.org will also have the latest updates for Coventry members.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for help, advice, and support by emailing
advice@mail.nasuwt.org.uk.
We hope you have a safe and restful summer break.
Stay Safe.
NASUWT Coventry 