Nick Linford | Schools Week

Schools increasingly meeting pupils’ basic needs as three in four teachers report hungry pupils

Schools are increasingly having to help meet the basic needs of pupils, including food, clothing and housing, a leading poverty expert has warned, after it was revealed almost three quarters of teachers have seen pupils coming to school hungry. A survey of 3,250 teachers by the National Association of Schoolsmasters and Union of Women Teachers […]

NUT will ballot for strike action over academy plans

The National Union of Teachers will ballot for strike action over the government’s plans to turn all schools into academies. Members of the union, which represent over 300,000 qualified teachers, this afternoon voted overwhelming in favour of a priority motion condemning the government’s education white paper. The motion included a movement to ballot over strike […]

Nicky Morgan pledges to reduce workload – and accepts expert recommendations ‘in full’

Nicky Morgan has accepted “in full” the recommendations made by three expert groups tasked with reducing teacher workload. Launched in July last year, the experts focus on three areas – planning, marking, and data – flagged during the government’s survey of 44,000 teachers as causing the greatest undue burden. Speaking at the NASUWT conference in […]

NUT pass motion ‘to persuade members that national strike action will be necessary’

The threat of strike action over teacher workload a step further this morning, despite the education secretary publicly pledging to reduce unnecessary tasks. At the National Union of Teachers’ (NUT) annual conference in Brighton this morning, members voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion that would seek to organise a “national demonstration around the crisis […]

Morgan: ‘No reverse gear’ over academisation plans

Although education secretary Nicky Morgan faced a relatively polite reception at the NASUWT conference, a few of her comments prompted teachers to shout and laugh at her. Ms Morgan, the first Conservative education minister to speak at the event in almost 20 years, was heckled by one delegate when she spoke about children “suffering” in […]

7 things we learned from the NUT teacher survey about the state of schools

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has published the results of a series of surveys of its members. Here’s what we found. Primary tests should be cancelled The survey revealed that 86 per cent of respondents want this summer’s primary tests cancelled. The NUT’s leadership says this is significant because these are teachers who […]

NASUWT conference: Teachers turning to drink and medication to cope

Teachers are turning to drink, cigarettes and medication to help them cope with their workload, with almost half having sought medical help over work-related health problems, a leading union has claimed. The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) has accused schools and the government of failing to address workload problems after […]

Teachers could strike over plan to make all schools academies

Teachers could strike over plans to turn all schools into academies, a leading teaching union has said. The leadership of the National Union of Teachers has confirmed that wording of a priority motion being worked up for its annual conference in Brighton this weekend will include room for debate about industrial action. Proposals which will […]

NUT strengthens Labour link as Corbyn makes historic conference appearance

A new alliance between the Labour Party and a leading teaching union has been signalled after both sides spoke of working together to oppose government plans for schools. Messages from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and National Union of Teachers bosses Christine Blower and Kevin Courtney were remarkably in-sync on the first day of the union’s […]