Reduction in Teacher Contact Time (90 minutes) – Deadline Approaches
The Scottish Government committed to a reduction in teacher class contact time from 22.5 hours to 21 hours. This commitment was made in recognition of the workload pressures that Scotland’s teachers faced.
Little progress has been made to date and the SSTA and other teacher unions will declare a formal trade dispute if no proposal by Monday 3 February. However, the Scottish Government published a joint agreement with COSLA on 11 December 2024 that stated.
“Local Government and Scottish Government are committed to working together to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels next year, and freeze learning hours which will support the learning experience for pupils across Scotland. Both Local Government and the Scottish Government have also agreed to make meaningful progress towards reducing class contact time for teachers, in recognition of the asks made by teachers and teaching unions. Medium- and long-term joint workforce planning will take into account the importance of responding to issues including different local needs”.
See the full statement – https://www.gov.scot/publications/education-agreement-with-cosla/
SSTA Vice-President Election – Make Sure To Return Your Ballot Paper
The SSTA Vice-President Election is a postal ballot of members and is taking place during January 2025. Ballot papers were distributed to members home address on Thursday 9 January 2025, by the scrutineers for the election, UK Engage. The closing date for the election is Thursday 30 January 2025. Members will be informed of the results of the election as soon as practicably possible after the closing of the election.
Guide to Mental Health Support – Wednesday 5 February, 5.00pm – Online
Members and colleagues are experiencing Mental Health issues that are either chronic or acute in nature. This session aims to signpost where to find support as an individual and explain what the experiences of a Mental Health First Aider. Completed with a presentation on safeguarding and trauma informed approaches to support staff in education setting.
Behaviour Action Plan – Thursday 6 February, 5.00pm – Online
Poor pupil behaviour is a major driver of stress and increased workload and the SSTA has continued to press the Scottish Government for a unified approach to support teachers in meeting the needs of pupils. The Scottish Government produced a ‘Behaviour Action Plan’ and this event gives an overview of the plan and the way forward.
Please follow the links above to reserve your place.
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- SSTA Website – https://ssta.org.uk
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- X – https://x.com/SSTAtradeunion
- Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/sstatradeunion.bsky.social