My 2nd Supply Teachers Conference soon followed the LGBT Conference in February & it helps, I feel, that the Special Interest Conferences all fall on the same time (roughly)every year, it gives a certain structure to the Union calendar knowing:

• LGBTi Conference – is in February
• Supply Conference – is in March
• Disabled Conference – is in June

As such on the Friday after work I headed over to the NEC & the Hilton Metropole, where once again, like last year  I was met with a range of dogs in various costumes and state of pampering due to Crufts being on that weekend and many Crufts delegates were using this hotel.

It is quite something, to see pets, pooch’s and hounds dressed in matching outfits with their owners!

I arrived quite late in the evening, so I missed the evening meal, but was able to catch something to eat at the hotel.

However I was disappointed that unlike other special interest conference such as BME & more recently LGBTi there was no Guest Speaker, so it was simply a chance to catch up with colleagues which is always enjoyable aspect of any event.

The main topic of conversation was who was/wasn’t  going to National Conference later in the month, there was a lot of discussion on the new process for getting to Conference & how this had impacted on many divisions going only with Observer status, meaning they couldn’t contribute to debates/votes etc.

The following morning after a hearty breakfast that soaked up any residual alcohol in my system I made my way to the Main hall for the Conference, if you have read previous blogs the Conferences follow a similar theme,  this being:

• Key Note Speech – (On this occasion given by Patrick Roache)
• Q&A following this speech.
• interactive voting session.
• Morning workshops.
• Afternoon workshops.

Patrick Roaches’ key note speech was a discussion and reflection of the never ending deregulation of the Teaching profession and worsening standards of workers (including educational professionals) within the UK. It was very well received by the audience, who have been at the sharp end of this privatization of the education system.

Following this was the interactive session, whereby a range of questions are asked of any Special Interest Group to allow the Union to access current issues affecting that cohort.

Sadly I had to raise a question that the questions being polled were too generic and not relevant to Supply Teachers, for example the first question was:

‘How easy is it for you to get work?’

You had to answer the question on a rating system being 1 through 5 and from this the Union could assess the access to work for the delegates.

The problem with this question & others was that it did not understand the concept of Supply Teaching.

Supply differs from one person to the next I/e day to day supply, part time, weekly, monthly through to term bookings and does not consider the seasonal nature of Supply Work. This being  for all types of Supply there are differing rates of work available from Oct – May, but during the months of July, August & parts of September, this is no work available!

Continue reading “The Supply Teachers Conference March 2016” →

Has it been a year since the last ‘Special Interest Conference’ for LGBT members? Wow that has gone quick….

And I hope you notice the slight adjustment to this Special Interest Conference title. Gone is the LGBT title to be replaced with LGBTi – so why the I? and why the change?

Well hopefully I will answer that question and give an insight into my second LGBTi Conference within this blog.

Continue reading “‘ Whats in an i? – My 2nd LGBTi Conference – Feb 12th/13th” →

The power of social media & my application of ‘The Kevin Bacon’ test….

 Back in the 1980’s a cool game to kill a few hours was to play the Kevin Bacon game, whereby you linked yourself to another person, or linked two seemingly unconnected famous people together, usually one of the two people was Kevin Bacon.

 

Continue reading “How connected is my classroom to the World?” →

So 2016 has rolled around & after a Christmas break (which by the way I find is the least relaxing holiday of the various half termly breaks) I find myself back at school.

No-one is happy to be back after the seasonal holiday, the nights draw in early, its cold & everyone is flat/miserable. Many children find themselves with coughs & colds and schools become incubators for germs.

Added to which the Year 11’s start to panic and so more revision sessions/catch up sessions etc are requested by the School’s leadership team, which add to an ever increasing workload.

By early January parents are keen for their children to get back into some normality & routine that school life brings (which I agree with as a parent myself) but it feels like all the ground rules &  behavior policies I have tried to consistently employ within my classroom have been forgotten and so this term is a hard slog reestablishing myself & my expectations.

This term for me anyway has been even made more fun by the school I work in has found themselves a new Principal, who is very keen to make his mark!

( I am sure I will write more of my new Principal during the year.)

All of which mean that this half term & up until Easter is always the hardest and with many year group parents evenings added into the mix, I always try to keep my head down & plough on through the term.

The one silver lining is that during this long slog of a term, various ‘Special Interest group’ conferences begin, leading up to National Conference, and now for a quick recap:

A Special Interest Group:

‘Is a community within a larger organization with a shared interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to affect or to produce solutions within their particular field, and may communicate, meet, and organize conferences’.

NASUWT Special Interest Groups:

In no particular order, other than alphabetically these are:

• BME (Black, Minority & Ethnic Teachers)
• Disabled Teachers
• LGBT (Lesbian, Gay & Transgender) Teachers
• Supply Teachers
• Women Teachers
• Young Teachers (Teachers under the age of 30)

Each have their own specific conference or consultation seminar, where members who identify themselves come together to create a platform to share experiences, network, gain some much needed CPD & request the Union works on specific areas of interest to that specific special interest group.

At each of these conferences or consultation seminars (I have no idea the difference) the members elect a small group, usually 4 – 6 people to act as their ‘Advisory Committee’ who then take the points/issues raised at the conference to the Union & its Executive Body.

Special Interest Groups Conference Dates:

•  BME (Black, Minority & Ethnic Teachers) – 3rd Dec ’16
• Disabled Teachers – 25th June ’16
• LGBT (Lesbian, Gay & Transgender) Teachers – 13th Feb ’16
• Supply Teachers 12 March ’16
• Women Teachers 15th Oct ’16
• Young Teachers (Teachers under the age of 30) – 23rd Jan ’16

Attending these conferences is simple, simply ask your local division, or email:

conferencesandevents@mail.nasuwt.org.uk

Depending on what dates these conferences fall on, the issues discussed at these events feed into the wider National Conference which is held late March every year.

NASUWT National Conference 2016

Is from Friday 25th March until Monday 28th March & this year it is being held in Birmingham, the same process for attending the Special Interest Group conferences applies to attending National Conference.

So Busy, Busy, Busy…..

Over the last 10 months I have been the Equality Officer (see earlier blogs) for my Division, and so I have within this role attended most of the Special Interest Group conferences and National Conference. I hope to be doing similar this year.

I hope to see you there & please keep following the blog

Happy New Year..

One final point – for every blog I intend to add a video with some educational link (sometimes it might be quite tenuous)

‘No dark sarcasm in the classroom’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark Twain once stated that there are “Lies, damned lies, and statistics” which are used to bolster one’s argument.

Blog Statistics

However in a manner that Mark Twain himself would of approved of, I am publishing the statistics of my blog (see attachment at the end of this post.)

In the 9 months since I set this blog up (my first blog was on the 4th March ’15) there have been over 1,000 visitors to the site, many are repeat visitors which now actively follow the blog & use their smart phones to get updates, 63 people have contributed to discussions/debates & commented on various posts.

And pleasingly these contributions have come from members all over the country from Northern Ireland to Cornwall & from Scotland through to Norwich.

I am delighted that the blog has been so well received & reviewed by those who matter the most – the members who it is written for.

I wanted to offer colleagues an opportunity to get updates on what our union is doing through a light hearted ‘Social media platform’ & the feedback is that many members now follow the blog through their SMART Phones & enjoy the informal approach of posts, which sit along side more analytical posts, such as the recent post on the true cost of Supply Teaching.

My Oscar Speech

Setting this blog up would not of been possible without the support of many people, my Division Sec. was supportive from the first discussion we had back in March when I advised him I wanted to create a blog, as have the whole Telford & Wrekin Committee.

Don’t worry I am not going to cry…….

Getting the blog to a wider medium would of been impossible without the support of the Union’s Training Dept. who kindly shared the blog details at various Equality events throughout the year  & it was great to see the visitor number spike after every Equality event with people visiting & commenting on the topics posted.

And finally thanks to everyone who has visited the site, read the blogs, contributed and left comments.

But don’t worry there is more to come & big plans for the blog next year (teaser alert) and to quote Winston Churchill

‘This is not the end, its not even the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning’

All that’s left to say is have a great Christmas & see you next year!

Blog statistics, highlighting visitors to the various posts.

stats