Meeting of Council: Saturday 4 December 2010 - CANCELLED

Due to the recent bad weather the meeting of Council due to take place on Saturday 4 December has been cancelled.   The meeting is being rescheduled to take place at St Colm's Church Hall, Dalry Road, Edinburgh on Saturday 15 January 2011 at 10.30am. The General Secretary will e-mail Council members over the coming weekend with news of any updates or urgent business.

Press speculation about changes to conditions

Dear Colleagues You may have noted speculation in TESS about the creation of new posts for current probationers. I have sought assurances that teachers currently seeking employment will not be penalised and am somewhat reassured by the promise that posts will be advertised and the selection process will be that normally used by local authorities. We have been informed that the only relevance the phrase ‘current probationers' has is numerical, and will dictate the number of posts to be appointed.…

Speculation about changes to teachers' conditions of service

Dear Colleagues Speculation about changes to teachers' conditions of service Many of you will be aware of recent speculation in the press and elsewhere about attempts by COSLA to change those parts of the McCrone deal they dislike. Shortly after the budget announcement on Wednesday 17 November John Swinney wrote to the leaders of all Scottish local authorities confirming the following arrangements. COSLA agreed to protect the number of teacher posts as far as possible in order to secure: •…

Press reports and rumours regarding possible changes to teachers conditions of service

Dear Colleagues You will be aware of press reports and rumours regarding possible changes to our conditions of service, and the renegotiation of the McCrone deal. As yet there have no proposals put to any teaching union by COSLA so any information is at best speculation. We have a meeting with COSLA on 8 December to discuss their proposals.   Presumably these proposals will be known shortly before then. As soon as we know what COSLA are demanding the information…

URGENT - Claims in relation to accrued maternity leave

16 November 2010 TO:       SSTA MEMBERS Dear Colleagues URGENT - Claims in relation to accrued maternity leave Further to the information provided on the poster sent to schools at the start of the session, the Association now additionally advises as follows. In order to protect the position of members who were on maternity leave during leave year 1/9/09 to 31/8/10 with regard to the accrual of leave during maternity leave, such members are advised to contact the…

Bulletin No 419/10 October 2010

The October 2010 edition of the SSTA Bulletin can be downloaded here. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to open the Bulletin. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader it can be downloaded from http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/.

Teachers: Russell: I'm sorry but don't blame me young teachers can't find jobs

The Scotsman (By FIONA MACLEOD) – 28/10/10 01:02 THE high number of teachers unable to find jobs has been blamed on "cavalier" councils and over-recruitment to teacher training universities by education secretary Michael Russell. After being grilled at the education committee yesterday,   Mr Russell was accused of giving a "grudging" apology to the hundreds of teachers unable to find work. Full story available from The Scotsman

Minister in call to revisit McCrone deal for teachers

Herald Scotland (Andrew Denholm, Education Correspondent) – 28/10/10 06:03 A historic agreement governing the pay and conditions of Scottish teachers should be re-opened as council budget cuts loom, the Education Secretary said yesterday. Michael Russell told the Scottish Parliament's education committee it was time for the 2001 McCrone deal to be “revisited”. The comment came as the committee discussed suggestions from some councils that increasing the hours teachers spend in the classroom would allow them to cut staff and save…

There is a Better Way March and Rally

The Association is attending the STUC There is a Better Way the March and Rally taking place in Edinburgh 23rd October 2010. Any members wishing to attend the march can join the Association's official delegation. Details of the meeting place and timings of the march are detailed below. 10.45 am: Meet in Princes Street Garderns by the Scott Monument. 11.00 am: Make our way to the march assembley point on East Market Street. 11.30 am: March off. 12.30 pm: Rally…

Hutton Report and Our Pensions

The Hutton interim report suggests a number of 'money saving' improvements to public service pensions. It would appear that the solutions are known before the problem is identified.   The scheme revaluation, currently underway, won't be reported until 2012. In the meantime proposals, possibly to include: • raising the retirement age • increasing employee contributions • move to average salary pensions will decimate the contractual benefit we enjoy and deprive teachers of the retirement they have so hard worked for.…