General Secretary Report - October 2018 - Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association

Teachers Pay – April 2018

SNCT 2018 Pay Claim submitted on the 8 February

10% restorative claim for all grades SNCT Pay Claim
EIS and SSTA are the only negotiators for the Teachers’ Side

COSLA (employers) offer – 6 September (SNCT REJECTED offer on 18 September)

This offer was for 3% across all SNCT grades except those over £80,000 (previous pay offer of 2% for those above £36,500 and 3% for those below).
COSLA also supported a Scottish Government proposal to amend the Main Grade Salary Scale by reducing the number of points from 6 to 5 with a higher starting and finishing point
SNCT Negotiations Ended – Thursday 4 October

SNCT Career Pathways Committee

Moyra Boland of Glasgow University chair of the independent committee established by the SNCT
Committee seeking evidence and views from all stakeholders including a teachers’ survey and public meetings
The working group is due to submit its report to the SNCT in December 2018.
SSTA will be making a formal response by 25 October

Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme Advisory Board – 28 September 2018

The scheme has breached the ‘cost cap’ (the way that the cost of pensions is balanced against the value of pension scheme member contributions).
The cost cap exists to ensure a fair balance of risks between scheme members and the taxpayer.
It takes into account the past and future service costs of all members of the reformed schemes, together with factors such as life expectancy, growth in salaries and career paths
Further meeting to take place in the coming weeks

Education Bill June 2018 (deferred)

COSLA/Government Agreement included commitments to:
Headteachers’ Charter to empower headteachers in the following areas:

Curriculum, School Improvement (also a review of planning across the system), Staffing (LA still able to intervene), Funding (Headteachers will make decisions on the spending within that delegated budget),

Parental and community engagement
Pupil participation
Regional Improvement Collaboratives (£10m funding announced in Sept)
Education Workforce Council consensus on the principle of widening registration to others but significant change should be carefully considered.

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2018/06/8745/downloads

Education Scotland are currently conducting LA inspection for ‘empowerment’ in preparation for moving forward with the Headteachers’ Charter

2019 NIF and Improvement Plan

Review to be undertaken – little appetite for change
Focus on Health and Well-Being and Early Learning and Childcare
Health and Wellbeing Census P5 to S4.Further discussion on S5 and S6
Evidence report to become a dashboard to allow further investigation

International Council of Education Advisers (ICEA)

ICEA reappointed for a further 2 years
Report published June 2018 (19 recommendations) includes:
Develop the 4 capacities of CfE
Define and gauge the health and wellbeing of young people
Continue with the Attainment Challenge Fund
Systematic steps to strengthen fairness, inclusion, and equity in education through ongoing investments in excellence
An implementation plan for furthering educational improvement with co-ownership and engagement across the system
Use of the term Improvement rather than Reform
Move towards an empowered and self-improving learning system
A collaborative approach to improvement rather than a legislative approach
Focus on capacity building
Three key policy imperatives for improvement: professional empowerment, responsibility and ownership
Collaboration remains the central focus of system improvement
Ensure that the RICs are providing additional capacity and have adequate capacity and resources to directly impact on learning and teaching
Provide funding and support for RICs to take forward regional pedagogical networks linked to teaching and learning

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/international-council-education-advisers-report-2016-18/

Government response to report due in September
Joint meeting with the Scottish Education Council to discuss the ICEA Report and COSLA/Government Agreement also published in June

Scottish Education Council

Members by invitation of DFM and includes all six Regional Improvement Collaborative (RIC) Lead Officers and Chief Inspector
Notes of June meeting

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/scottish-education-council-minutes-june-2018/

Education Leaders Forum – 1 October

70 organisations (including public and 3^rd sector) – to look at ‘wider issues’
Agenda to include:
Education Reform – Joint (COSLA) Agreement and ICEA Recommendations
National Improvement Framework Review and Improvement Plan for 2019

BGE Benchmarking Tool

Meeting with LAs, Headteachers and teachers
Not a performance tool – to support dialogue and assist improvement

School Information Dashboard/Parentzone Scotland

School information in a wider context – launch 29 August
3 sections – primary, secondary and special schools
Using existing data in one place
Developing supporting materials to help parents

Strategic Board for Teacher Education (SBTE) – 12 September 2018

Report from the Headteacher Recruitment Working Group

Career Pathways and Preparation for Headship – into, within and beyond Headship
Support for existing Headteachers – from Local Authorities and Education Scotland
Promoting the Role of Headteacher – awareness-raising campaign Autumn 2018
Terms, Conditions and Incentives – SNCT impact of potential education reforms

Report from the Diversity in the Teaching Profession Working Group

Closing the awareness gap
Attractiveness of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) to students from minority ethnic background
Effectiveness of university admissions processes in attracting a diverse range of applicant
Student placement experiences and support for students
Retaining students and teachers from minority backgrounds while supporting promotion at all levels
Responsibility of the Education Sector

Education Policy Conferences

Education Scotland organising a national conference on 20 November with 6 regional conferences to follow

STUC General Council

Research Update

Within its strategic priority – the Economy and Industrial Sectors, the General Council agreed to conduct 3 pieces of research:
The South of Scotland Economy
The Aberdeen / Aberdeenshire Economy
The shape and structure of the Construction Industry

First Minister Biannual Meeting – 31 October 2018