Bulletin No 416/09 14 December 2009

1. REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT In an effort to reduce our Carbon Footprint the Association intends to use email for communication when practicable. If you are willing to participate in this Carbon Footprint reduction please email the office info@ssta.org.uk with your name and email address. 2. SUBSCRIPTIONS The Association is pleased to report that Subscriptions for 2010 will remain at the 2009 level of £163.90 for all members who pay this fee by 31 January 2010. This reduced tariff includes…

TEACHER UNION CRITICISES NEW EXAM ARRANGEMENTS AND LACK OF FUNDING

The Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association representing 8500 teachers in Scotland's secondary schools today attacked proposals for the arrangements for the new examinations to replace the current Standard Grades. In a message to members, Ann Ballinger, General Secretary of the SSTA criticised the current proposals for the assessment mechanisms. "Members of the SSTA at their recent Council meeting passed a motion demanding that action is taken to prevent the introduction of a two-tier system of assessment which will penalise the least…

TOO MANY ISSUES DEVOLVED TO HEADTEACHERS SAYS TEACHER UNION

The Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association today supported complaints made by secondary headteachers in relation to issues now being delegated to them. In a newsletter to members, SSTA General Secretary, Ann Ballinger, attacked local authorities in their approach to the issue. She noted in particular "There seems to be a myth circulating that delegation to "schools" is a good thing. Regrettably no Scottish school ever did anything in the cause of education: the headteachers and staff many do that. The "school"…

TEACHING UNION CRITICISES LOSS OF SUPPORT FOR SPECIAL NEEDS PUPILS

The Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, representing 8500 secondary teachers in Scotland, today criticised the withdrawal of education support from some pupils who are diagnosed as having special education needs and have identified support requirements. The SSTA General Secretary, Ann Ballinger, today criticised the loss of dedicated auxiliary support from such pupils. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE "It is only relatively recently that many of the young people involved lost their principal educational resource when their special school…

Teacher Workload Survey 2009

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New 2 Teaching (N2T) Group

The Association has created a new closed peer support network on Facebook which is open to all members who are in their first 10 years of their career. The New to Teaching Network is: open to all teachers (in the first 10 years of their career irrespective of age), NQTs and student members a peer to peer web based community on Facebook for new teachers sharing, advice and help. a social grouping that can meet in various activities outwith the…

Bulletin no 415/09 19 October 2009

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Code of Practice on the Role of the Chartered Teacher - SNCT-09-14

Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} The SNCT has reached agreement on a Code of Practice on the Role of the Chartered Teacher.   The Code of Practice is incorporated into the SNCT Handbook: Part 2, paragraph 9.22 and is provided in a…

Congress 2009 Newsletter

This newsletter contains an overview of events at the Assoications annual Congress held in Peebles on 15/16 May 2009.   The full text of the motions passed at Congress can be seen in the May 2009 Bulletin.

Restructuring of the GTC

The Consultation The most important consultation exercise the profession has been involved in within the last twenty years is to be undertaken this year. It does not relate to the curriculum, to conditions or to faculty arrangements: it relates to the structure and operation of the GTC (or GTCS as it has become). There must be no mistaking the intent: what is proposed is a radical change, intended to reduce the influence of teachers on the GTC. The Government did…