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…
HSE: School Trips and Outdoor Learning Activities: Tackling the health and safety Myths
Dear Colleague School Trips and Outdoor Learning Activities: Tackling the health and safety Myths In July this year, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published a statement "School Trips and Outdoor Learning Activities: Tacking the health and safety myths" http://www.hse.gov.uk/services/education/school-trips.pdf to address perceptions that health and safety law is a barrier to school trips. HSE also agreed to produce a number of case studies to illustrate and encourage proportionate responses to the planning and delivery of school visits. The purpose…
GTCS Launches Consultations on Fitness to Teach and Codes of Practice
The General Teaching Council for Scotland has today launched three consultations on proposed changes to important areas of its work. The first consultation is on new Fitness to Teach and Appeals Rules. These rules set out the framework for how GTCS will investigate and determine the fitness to teach of individuals where it is alleged that they have fallen short of the standards of conduct or professional competence expected of a registered teacher. ‘Fitness to teach' is the terminology used…
Government Proposals for Public Sector Pensions
Current situation Much publicity has attached to the Government’s proposals for changes to state sector pensions. This has increased following the industrial action taken by some unions in England. (Given that the day of action was during the holiday period for many authorities, the question of industrial action by the Association never arose). Discussions between the Government and the TUC on the whole issue of public sector pensions continue but the Government view is that these discussions should end shortly.…
SNCT Update
Imposed changes to conditions of service and the payment of supply staff take effect from 1 September 2011. The changes are likely to cause confusion and uncertainty for supply staff and simply confuse payroll departments. The SNCT document relating to these conditions of service is available from http://www.snct.org.uk/ and the most important changes are listed below in bullet points: • There are now 3 categories of teacher employment. These are permanent, short term contract and supply. • The changes have…
Members Update
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…
Pre-Retirement Courses
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.
Faculty Arrangements in Edinburgh City
TO PROMOTED POSTHOLDERS IN EDINBURGH CITY Dear Colleague FACULTY ARRANGEMENTS IN EDINBURGH CITY The current move in Edinburgh City towards faculty arrangements appears to have been left very substantially in the hands of headteachers rather than involve senior officials of the authority who might have experience in employment matters. As a result, a significant amount of misinformation may be circulating. It is not clear whether headteachers themselves have been inaccurately advised. The Association offers the following advice to promoted postholders.…
Congress 2011 Videos
Video of the Guest Speech and a selection of the debate at Congress 2011 Peter Wright giving the Presidential address to Congress 2011 Mike Jennings, IFUT General Secretary speech at SSTA Congress 2011 - Part 1 Mike Jennings, IFUT General Secretary speech at SSTA Congress 2011 - Part 2 Janine McCullough speaking in favour of the Salaries & Conditions of Service Committee Report. John Gray speaking in favour of the Salaries & Conditions of Service Committee report. Alan Taylor and…
Update for members
Colleagues, There has been a flurry of press speculation in recent weeks concerning proposed changes to pensions, information contained in submissions to the McCormac review and responses to the imposed changes to conditions of service. This Association only circulates leaflets and advice notes when we know the outcome of any consultation and the final decisions have been made. In the meantime I will attempt to keep members updated via emails and the website. Pensions The Government has…
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