NUT MANIFESTO LAUNCH

3 December 2007

“A Good Local School for Every Child and for Every Community”.

The Children’s  Plan, about to be published by the Government, must distance itself from all those enthusiasts from both sides of the House arguing for greater marketisation of the Education Service.

The Children’s Plan, the NUT says, provides a major opportunity for the Government to focus on children’s life chances and tackle the divisions created by social class.

The National Union of Teachers’ proposals for the Children’s Plan will be launched today in the House of Commons.

“It argues that every community deserves a good local school and that the Children’s Plan must focus on enhancing schools in their communities.

The NUT calls also for the Children’s Plan to link with developments globally, such as the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and global steps to prevent climate change.

The key proposals which the NUT is putting to Government include:

• a major review of legislation which set up Academies and Trust schools leading to all state schools returning to the local authority family of schools;
• the remedying of the current democratic deficit at local level through the piloting of democratic school boards;
• the achievement of Gordon Brown’s commitment to raising state school funding to private school levels by 2014 and that initial priority given in meeting that target to schools with high levels of child poverty and social disadvantage;
• the establishment of a UK Council for Education to explore ideas such as Britishness and the promotion of community cohesion, respect and tolerance; and show show educational best practice
• proposals for a new relationship between business and schools including dropping the idea that private companies can run schools and replacing it with practical ideas for partnership, including business provided pupil coaches, business funded bursaries and teacher research.

The NUT calls for new vision for the teaching profession in the 21st Century which will include;

• a professional charter for all teachers outlining their rights and responsibilities;
• £1,200 for every teacher to be spent on training of their choice and guaranteed one-term sabbaticals for all teachers, every seven years, to conduct research on effective teaching;
• a vote by teachers on the kind of professional council they want;
• a moratorium on the excessive external demands faced by head teachers;

Above all, the NUT says that the Children Plan should concentrate on children’s well being and learning.  The NUT’s proposals call for children and young people to have the time and space to learn and grow up without the excessive pressures created by top-down targets, performance tables and commercial pressures .  The NUT’s proposals include:

• a review of the Primary Curriculum which focuses on child development;
• a review of the overlapping accountability pressures on children’s learning including tests, targets, tables and inspections;
• much greater focus on promoting learning through play;
• specific advice by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to schools encouraging and enhancing the teaching of climate change;
• the establishment of a forum of representatives of the food, fashion, electronic games and advertising industries and representatives of school communities, including young people and health organisations, to take urgent steps to protect children from the worst effects of commercialisation; and
• an entitlement to one-to-one tuition for all children who need it coupled with entitlement to outdoor learning for all children and young people.