Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association

Category: Information for Members

  • Flexible Working – School Rep Bulletin

    Printable Version

    Flexible working is not an ad-hoc arrangement. It is not directed by the local authority and cannot be imposed.  It is not normally a solution to short term cover difficulties. Reps are reminded that:

    • Any arrangement must be agreed prior to the beginning of the academic year and the request can be declined.
    • A school may operate flexible class contact time, preparation and correction time and remaining time over a longer period, normally 2 weeks, but not exceeding 4 weeks.
    • Maximum class contact time in any single week is restricted to 25 hours, subject to an average of 22.5 hours over the agreed period of variation.
    • Any reconfiguration of class contact time would be subject to discussion and agreement between the Headteacher and the relevant teaching staff.
    • Preparation, correction and collegiate activities are key elements of the work of teaching professionals and Headteachers must allow appropriate time for such core activities.
    • The working week must average 35 hours over the agreed period of variation. Preparation and correction remains, as a minimum, one third of the class contact time delivered each week.
    • The remaining time is for collegiate activities, as per the school’s Working Time Agreement. Where class contact time is varied from 22.5 hours per week the agreement must show how this will be averaged out over the period of variation, including staffing arrangements; time for preparation and correction will be guaranteed within that period.
    • When attempting to cover short term supply difficulties SSTA advises that ‘flexible working requests’ should be declined except in the most extreme circumstances.

    The national criteria can be found in Appendix 2.17 of the SNCT handbook at www.snct.org.uk

    School WTA Negotiating Groups are encouraged to engage with SSTA District Secretaries or a Professional Officer if advice is required on formulating an approach to flexible working.

    Please see the SSTA website www.ssta.org.uk for more advice on Working Time Agreement negotiations and the composition of School Negotiating Groups.

     

    LATEST NEWS: Teacher Side 5% Pay Claim for 2015-16

    The negotiation on 5% Pay Claim for 2015-16 is on-going. SSTA will update members in early March of the progress of the claim.

  • Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

    The Scottish Government has launch a Consultation on the draft Statutory Guidance for Parts 4, 5 and 18 (Section 96) and related draft orders of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and the Association would welcome the views of members.  The consultation is open until 1 May 2015.   Please send any comments you have on the Consultation to info@ssta.org.uk with the subject header of “Children and Young Person Consultation” by 20 April 2015.

    The document relating to the Consultation can be downloaded using the links below.

    Consultation on the draft Statutory Guidance for Parts 4, 5 and 18 (Section 96) and related draft orders of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014

    Executive Summary

    Children and Young People(Scotland) Act 2014 – Draft Statutory Guidance for Parts 4, 5 and 18 (Section 96)

    Children and Young Persons – The Child’s Plan (Scotland) Order [2016]

    The Named Persons (Training, Qualifications, Experience and Position) (Scotland) Order [2016 ]

  • SSTA challenges Angela Constance to defer CfE Advanced Higher in 2015/16

    Seamus Searson, SSTA General Secretary said “we continue to be alarmed by the lack of respect for teachers’ professional judgement shown by the Cabinet Secretary Angela Constance in refusing to sanction a dual running of the Advanced Highers in 2015/2016. The overriding concern of SSTA members is this will adversely impact on our young people”.

    Angela Constance said, on 3 February, that she had not yet heard a “compelling case” for new Advanced Highers to be run in tandem with the existing qualifications for an extra year. This is in spite of the SSTA writing to the new Cabinet Minister with detailed concerns on the dangers of pushing ahead on 15 January.

    The SSTA used evidence brought forward from members in an Edinburgh Secondary School which echoed the views and experiences of SSTA members across Scotland.

    The SSTA members in the school had embraced Curriculum for Excellence from its inception but felt that the manageability of the changes was overwhelming and it would be to the detriment of the young people in their school if flexibility was blocked.

    It appears that

    • the race to implement is more important than the needs of the students
    • the difference in the examinations has been under-estimated
    • the continuous expectation that teachers will deliver improvements regardless of the extra planning and increased assessment despite the lack of materials and the time to study and prepare materials

    In addition to these concerns, the teachers pointed out the following:

    • We are still trying to evaluate, amend and develop National 4/5 courses.
    • We are trying to meet the needs of all learners by developing National 3 courses, which we did not have time to offer last year.
    • We need to adapt National 4/5 courses to meet the needs of mixed level classes.
    • We have to maintain the learning and teaching experience for all year groups, who have come to expect engaging lessons. Currently we have too little time for daily planning of lessons for pupils in S1-S3 and our ‘new’ broad general education courses have still not been evaluated and amended, due to lack of time.

    Robert Macmillan, SSTA Acting President said

    “We hope that the Cabinet Secretary will reconsider her decision in the light of these comments and present circumstances, and allow schools to delay implementation of the new CfE Advanced Higher by one year if they wish, as many opted to for the new Higher. This practical measure would demonstrate to secondary teachers that the Government is genuinely listening to their concerns and will show the public that the educational needs of young people are put first”.

    Seamus Searson added

    “Throughout the implementation of CfE the SSTA has attempted to signal real concerns about progress. We have been careful about appearing alarmist and at all times wished to contribute positively to its successful implementation. There is still time to achieve this and it is for that reason we insist that that the Cabinet Secretary listens to the voice of the professionals in our schools”.

    Further information from

    Seamus Searson
    General Secretary
    0131 313 7300

    Advanced Higher 2015-2016 11 feb 15

  • Programme Leader, SCEL

    The Scottish College for Educational Leadership is currently recruiting for a Programme Leader, with a closing date of Friday 27th February. The successful applicant will work with the growing team at SCEL to lead on a number of activities in relation to leadership development, including the development and maintenance of the Framework for Educational Leadership, and to contribute to the strategic and operational development of SCEL. The appointment will be for a fixed term contract of up to three years, and we are also willing to consider applications on a seconded basis.

    Full information about the post can be found on the SCEL website at http://www.scelscotland.org.uk/about/vacancies/programmeleader.asp

  • January 2015 Newsletter

    The latest edition of the SSTA Newsletter is now available for download using the link below.

    January 2015 Newsletter

  • General Secretary

    We are pleased to confirm that Seamus Searson, who was successful in being chosen as the “Preferred Candidate”, will be the new General Secretary of the SSTA.  A start date of 2nd February 2015 has been agreed.  We extend a warm welcome to Seamus and wish him every success in his new post.

  • Election of Office Bearers

    Nominations for Office Bearers were sought from Districts and Areas prior to December Council.

    The following valid nominations were received:

    President:            Robert Macmillan, Lochgelly High School

    Vice-President:   Euan Duncan, Kilwinning Academy

    Minutes Secretary:  Alan Taylor, North Lanarkshire Supply

    General Treasurer:  Elaine Henderson, Peterhead Academy

    The Scrutineers report for the above uncontested elections can be viewed here.

     

    Robert Macmillan will be President of the Association for the period 2015-2017

    Euan Duncan will be the Vice-President for the period 2015-2017

    Alan Taylor will be the Minutes Secretary for the period 2015-2019;

    Elaine Henderson will be General Treasurer for the period 2015-2019;

     

  • Cancelled – Senior Manager Seminar 2015

    Due to lack of interested the seminar has been cancelled.

     

    The Senior Managers Advisory Panel is holding a Senior Manager Seminar on 14 March 2015. The Seminar is an all day event, which will take place on Saturday 14 March at Stirling Court Hotel University of Stirling and is free to SSTA members.

    The theme of the seminar will be “Leadership” and the speaker will be Gillian Hamilton, Chief Executive of the Scottish College of Educational Leadership (SCEL).

    Should members wish to attend the seminar they can register for a place by completing the registration form below no later than Monday 2 March 2015. Alternatively you can contact the office for an application form.

  • Holiday Pay Accrual for Additional Work

    Due to a recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling (due to be finalised in December) it has been established that holiday pay should also have been accrued on any Additional Work, potentially going back to 1998.  Some teachers will be affected by this decision and the Additional Work could include:

    (i)    supported study, tutor groups, holiday revision groups at rates paid by the Local Authority
    (ii)   development work paid for on an hourly basis
    (iii)  additional Music, Drama or PE activities paid at an hourly rate, e.g. a Council wide event.

    The effect of the judgment is that there will be an additional 8.3% of the amount paid due to those who have carried out this work.  Some authorities have already started applying the 8.3% increase to these payment and some have backdated the payments to a variety of dates.

    COSLA are currently trying to negotiate a national settlement with non-teaching unions which proposes this 8.3% uplift on any payment which falls into the category of Additional Work backdated for an agreed period of time.  The negotiation is around how long the backdating is applied and what proportion of the sum due will be paid.  If an agreement is likely with these other unions, COSLA have indicated that they may wish to negotiate the same settlement with the teacher unions.  The advantage of such an agreement is that local authorities would not require any evidence to support the back payment of sums due, they will use their own payroll information, but they will only go back the nationally agreed period of time, possibly a few years.   This may suit some members who do not have the necessary evidence for a claim but not others who have retained relevant payslips.

    It would be very helpful if we could begin to establish how many of our members may be affected by this judgment, the potential value of each claim per year and confirmation that relevant evidence is available to substantiate any claim.  Could I ask that you locate your evidence and complete the information requested on our website, letting us know the amount of pay you have received on which the 8.3% uplift would be due.

    Please note that all work done within a teacher’s normal contract already attracts holiday pay as set out in the SNCT Handbook and the rates paid for the Additional Work are not negotiated under the terms of the SNCT Handbook.  These are additional voluntary duties.

  • Political Affiliations

    Following a number of recent enquiries we would like to clarify the Association’s position regarding donations to political parties and political affiliations.

    • The SSTA is not affiliated with any political party.
    • No part of the subscription fee paid by members goes towards any political party.
    • The SSTA does not have a political fund and does not make donations to any political party.