Schools

Police officers in schools are called “safer schools officers”. But as many students point out, these officers make schools less safe for them. A 15 year old girl, Child Q, was assaulted at her school by Metropolitan Police officers two years ago under the premise of a strip search after a (false) accusation that she had cannabis. A local safeguarding review noted that racism contributed to the decision to strip search Child Q, who is Black. Over 5,000 children have been strip searched in London schools in the last three years. That figure only includes strip searches that took place after...

The left has traditionally been opposed to relying only on “punishment” for anti-social behaviour and instead focuses on how to help people improve their behaviour and relations. There are not bad people, there is bad behaviour rooted in a society which is dysfunctional. In Solidarity 624, I discussed the importance of focussing on prevention and support rather than penalties to reduce incidences of abuse. But prevention cannot help where abuse has already happened. In that situation how can we tackle abusive behaviour without simply relying on punishment? In schools the answer is often...

On 6 December the indicative ballot of National Education Union (NEU) members who teach in the 23 “public” (i.e. private) schools run by the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) returned 93% yes for strikes on a 93% turnout. This sets us on course for a very significant strike. GDST is threatening to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), the standard pension scheme for state-school teachers. The TPS is significantly better than private pension schemes GDST would buy in to. Some members could lose more than £20,000. Ironically for a company that claims it is about empowering women...

Unison members in schools and local government will be receiving their ballot papers in the week starting 5 December. The union has started balloting 370,000 council and school staff for strike action over the “inadequate” pay offer. It is calling on its members to vote for strike action. Unison, GMB, and Unite have called for a 10% pay rise for council workers. Members in all three unions have voted to reject the offer. Unite are due to ballot soon, and the GMB has gone back to members for further consultation. Unison head of local government Mike Short said: “This inadequate pay offer shows...

Over the last ten years Workers’ Liberty school workers have been at the forefront of pushing the debate about testing in schools in the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and in its successor the National Education Union (NEU). In 2019 we wrote a motion passed at the NEU’s national conference which committed the union to an indicative ballot of members to boycott the statutory tests in primary schools. The ballot result was strong, but sadly not built upon. Last year, we wrote a motion, passed with amendments, that committed the union to call for the abolition of GCSEs. On 23 October Joint...

Last week, a youth worker in the UK named Hannah Wilkinson tweeted an image from a textbook used today in this country for A-Level history. Students were asked “To what extent do you believe the treatment of native Americans has been exaggerated?” Wilkinson asked “In what world is this is an acceptable question/exercise to ask students?” She added that she was “actually horrified.” The text came from a book called The Making of a Superpower: USA 1865-1975 , published by Hodder Education. The book has been in use for some six years, though the controversial passages have been highlighted only...

Universities who offer teacher training have reacted angrily to the Government’s "Initial teacher training (ITT) market review report" , published on 5 July. The review consolidates and intensifies the regressive direction of travel in teacher training that the Tories have pursued since 2010. Under the proposals, institutions offering teacher training would have to be reaccredited. There is to be a stronger focus for trainees on curriculum knowledge and assessment. There is an increase on in-school placements, with a new requirement for "intensive practical placements" where the trainee would...

The Tory-dominated Education select committee released a report, The Forgotten: How white working class pupils have been let down , on 22 June. The main conclusion of the report should have been: poor students are disadvantaged at school and New Labour and Tory education “reforms” coupled with cuts, austerity and increasing inequality in the UK have made matters worse. Labour members of the committee commented, “The evidence we received clearly indicated that the main determining factors of poor educational outcomes were class and regional inequalities caused by more than a decade of austerity...

The Department for Education has promised more support for schools to tackle sexual abuse and has strengthened safeguarding guidance. This was in response to a review by Ofsted that concluded that sexual harassment has become “normalised” for young people, in school. The report, published on 10 June, concluded that school inspections by Ofsted and the Independent Schools Inspectorate were “sometimes not robust enough” on sexual harassment and there was not always appropriate cooperation between schools and safeguarding teams. It found that teachers “consistently underestimate” the scale of the...

On 2 June the government announced a £1.4bn “Covid Catch-up” programme for pupils and students, to cover up to six million sets of 15-hour tutoring courses for disadvantaged pupils and expansion of an existing fund for helping 16- to 19-year-olds with subjects such as English and maths. Kevan Collins, the government’s “Catch-up tsar” resigned after the announcement. According to the Financial Times , he and education secretary Gavin Williamson wanted to pay teachers to extend the school day by 30 minutes, and that was vetoed by chancellor Rishi Sunak on grounds of cost. Sunak spent £0.84...