Working as a supply teacher and receiving the disgraceful remuneration agreed by another union in the sell out agreement (SOA), you will be very aware of the system now used to pay supply staff in differing authorities.

We are now able to begin the process of collecting evidence of unfair treatment to enable us to legally challenge this disgrace. Many of you will have worked for at least a few days on supply contracts. Please email us with information about the days you worked and the nature of the contract provided (i.e. supply or fixed term) . In particular we are interested in:

• Cover which has been artificially broken to avoid paying the correct rate.
• Part time permanent staff who are asked to cover at the sell out rate on a regular basis
• Cover which should be ‘fixed term' but is not. An example of this is a regular call to cover for a teacher who is working elsewhere on a Monday.
• Other examples of detriment caused to supply teachers by the SOA

Please contact us at supply@ssta.org.uk

This afternoon, Michael Russell, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, made an announcement outlining the Scottish Government's key objectives for ICT in education and his plans for the next generation of Glow. This included stopping the current Glow Futures procurement and utilising readily available tools, through a single sign-on, to make the next generation of Glow more relevant and dynamic.

The key ICT in education objectives are:

• Changing the culture of use of ICT in education;
• Improving confidence of all in the use of ICT in an education environment;
• Promoting new behaviours for teaching;
• Deepening parental engagement;
• Strengthening the position on the use of hardware and associated infrastructure in schools.

The announcement has been broadcast on the Engage for Education website (http://www.engageforeducation.org).

Dear Colleague

Hopefully you start the new session in a stress-free and positive mood after a relaxing holiday.

I apologise if anything in this update reduces the positive effect of the holidays, and assure you that is not my intention.

Regrettably teachers are returning to a changed working environment with the imposed changes to conditions of service now a reality. It's interesting that, despite holiday s and other commitments, time was found to produce the wording for these new conditions of service in record time.

Before discussing the effects of the imposed changes let me remind you of your contract. You are contracted to work 35 hours a week and any additional time is voluntary. We all know that teachers work additional hours to benefit their pupils, but no teacher can be forced to undertake tasks in addition to the 35 hr working week. If you are given a task which exceeds the time allocation in your WTA, or which is not included in your WTA, please contact us for advice.

We are committed to challenging the changes to conditions of service with all means at our disposal. Our success depends on our having accurate information as quickly as possible. Please contact us by email if any of the following situations occur:

• Any attempt is made to suggest that ‘school closure days' can be varied at short notice, or that the school will not close (e.g. to allow revision to take place). Please mark this urgent.

• You begin Maternity Leave after 1 Sept and suffer detriment due to the reduction in holidays and introduction of school closure days

• An artificial break is created in your supply contract (or in a supply contract in your department) with either internal cover or another supply teacher being used.

• Any attempt is made to pay the first 5 days of a fixed term contract at a reduced ‘supply' rate.

We have also been informed that some local authorities have erroneously stated that supply cover will be paid at 5/7ths of scale point 0. This is a breach of the SNCT conditions. The imposed changes to payment of supply staff are enough of a detriment without any action to worsen the situation.

If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to contact the Association at info@ssta.org.uk

With best wishes

Ann Ballinger

General Secretary

Margaret Smith

President

These courses are offered exclusively by the SSTA every year. The Courses are designed for members who are approaching retirement. This course covers; investment, state benefits, superannuation, the need for planning, taxation in retirement.

The courses are normally held between April and June in various locations across Scotland. Details of the events will be posted on-line and in the Bulletin when details are finalised.

The SQA are seeking feedback on the exam diet.   They particularly welcome your views on the questions and on any issues you believe will have affected pupil performance. They are also delighted to receive suggestions for improvements to future exam papers.     If you have any comments to make (positive, negative or a combination of both) please send them by email to info@ssta.org.uk adding SQA feedback to the subject line.   We will collate these and forward them to the subject teams during June.

The Association has been asked to invite appropriate members to take part in a Glasgow University Research Project dealing with the career trajectories of post induction teachers.

This research should provide an accurate picture of what paths teachers actually take on completion of their probationary period and will be a valuable marker for all those involved in teacher planning. Additionally the project may focus on transition from university to employment; induction experiences; support during first year of teaching; support following first year of teaching and longer term employment prospects. It is self-evident that this represents an important piece of research.

Members who may be interested should be aware that they may be interviewed by the research team. This may be conducted by phone or on a one to one basis and would require only one hour of time. We would encourage as many members as possible to volunteer.

If you are interested please contact Alan McKenzie in the offices of the Association for more details.

Scottish Pensioners Forum Manifesto Launch

PENSIONERS FOR PUBLIC SERVICES

“THERE IS A BETTER WAY”

4 April 2011 at 10.30am

Tea/coffee from 10am

STUC, 333 Woodlands Road

Glasgow

G3 6NG

HUSTINGS 2011

THE CONTINUING ECONOMIC CRISIS AND THE WELFARE STATE

II THERE A ‘BETTER WAY' FORWARD ?

Parties invites

4 April 2010 at 6.00pm

Tea/coffee from 5.30pm

STUC, 333 Woodlands Road

Glasgow

G3 6NG

Due to a clerical error in the preparation of the ballot papers a small number of members will receive duplicate papers. Unfortunately we have not been able to identify exactly who received duplicate copies of the papers. We ask that members who do receive duplicate papers disregard them. The number of duplicate ballot papers issued should have no real impact on the result of the ballot.

Before any formal action is taken we will hold a formal ballot under TU legislation.

As an additional service to members and as a result of enquiries we have created a timesheet which can be used to record your working time during the year.   The spreadsheet programme does the calculations for you and new copies can be downloaded from here.

Our most recent survey showed that many members are working in excess of 45 hours per week.   This will allow you to maintain a record for your own use.   It will also enable you distinguish between contractual and voluntary tasks.   Please note:   you must ask a line manager to determine which tasks you should not complete if the allocated tasks do not fit the time available. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the office on info@ssta.org.uk.

Guide on how to use the timesheet

All times must be entered in the 24 hour clock format of   hh:mm.

- Enter the number of hours you are contracted to work per week in the cell with the red border (F4). (i.e. 35 hours should be entered as 35:00)

- Enter the date (dd/mm/yyyy) of the Monday   in the week you wish to begin recording time in the cell with the purple border (B8)

- For the sheet to calculate the number of hours worked correctly you must follow the 3 rules below.

•   If you enter a time in the "Start Work" Column you must enter a time in the "Time Out (Lunch)" Column.

•   If you enter a time in the "Time In (Lunch)" Column you must enter a time in the "End Work" Column.

•   If you enter a time in the "Home Start" Column you must enter a time in the "Home Finish" Column.