SSTA Congress 2018
The 74th SSTA Annual Congress is taking place on the 18-19 May in Crieff. The Deputy First Minister John Swinney will be addressing Congress on the opening morning of Congress. You can follow the events and debate on motions of Congress on twitter on #SSTA18.
Working Time Agreements
At this time of year schools should be concluding their Working Time Agreements for the 2018 -2019 Academic Year. This should include elements of the School Improvement Plan if suitable time is identified and quantified. Please see SSTA guidance on Working Time Agreements.
The SSTA advises that all changes to National Qualifications including modifications to National 5 and Higher need suitable time allocated. The same advice applies to any new education priorities or new initiatives that are proposed which cannot be undertaken during the school year unless additional time is allocated.
SSTA advises all members to decline any work that is not accounted for within the Working Time Agreement. Please contact SSTA Headquarters to seek support if additional work is expected of members.
Conservation
Conservation is an issue which keeps recurring because of the plethora of acting posts due to secondments, career breaks and difficulty in filling roles permanently. These posts can go on for long periods of time.
Any member who is acting up into a promoted post for a period of more than 2 years becomes entitled to conservation of salary for a period of 3 years from the date of being stepped back down again.
During this 3 year period the salary is frozen and no increases will be applicable. Also no duties associated with the prior promoted post will be required to be carried out as the member again takes on the Job Description of the post previously held.
If members have any questions about Conservation please contact Headquarters.
Benchmarks
There is no expectation that teachers will report on learners’ achievement of a level in curriculum areas beyond literacy and numeracy. Benchmarks for all other areas of the curriculum needs to be proportionate and manageable. Teachers and other practitioners should be given time to engage in professional discussion to become familiar with the Benchmarks. The emphasise should be on Holistic Assessments.
Teachers are NOT required to use them but are for awareness raising. Inspectors will NOT be looking for Bencmark evidence during Inspections but will ask as to their progress https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/CfE-FAQs-0418.pdf
Short Term Supply Teachers
As you will no doubt have heard, from 1 January 2018 supply teachers are now paid their appropriate point on the scale from day 1 of any contract.
However, those who are asked to do short-term supply, i.e. 2 days or less will be paid for the available school contact hours for the day plus 10% for preparation – e.g. school contact hours 7 periods x 50 minutes = 350 minutes maximum contact time plus 10% (35 minutes) – claim should be for 385 minutes or 6 hours 25 minutes.
We are aware that some schools are attempting to only pay for the actual contact hours but the agreement is clear that members in this situation should be paid the available school contact hours, whether or not they are asked to teach for the whole day. It is up to the employing school to ensure that supply teachers are deployed adequately.
SSTA 75th Design Competition – £75 prize
The SSTA was established in 1944 and will be 75 Years old in 2019. The Association will be organising a number of national and local events to mark the coming of age and need a design to mark the occasion.
The SSTA would like to invite members to take part in designing a logo to be used throughout the year. It is intended to use the chosen design on all publicity materials, promotional items, correspondence etc. and there will be a number of prizes for entries including a prize of £75 for the selected design.
We are not requiring a finalised piece of work but a basic design that can be developed for our requirements. To participate just forward your design (more than one if you choose) to Headquarters by Friday 15 June 2018. High resolution versions of the SSTA logo and crest are available on request.
Please send you submission to info@ssta.org.uk with the email subject as “75th Anniversary Logo”.
National 5 Survey
Members are encouraged to respond to the recently released SSTA survey on the impact of the National 5 changes. Please use the link below to participate. Members views are very important in our discussions with the Scottish Government. You can complete the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GPRFC58
General Secretary Briefings
The SSTA will be holding a number of Member Briefings that will include SNCT Pay negotiations before the end of term. Details will be issued separately in the coming days.