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"Timetabling cited as main concern for head teachers"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on September 27, 2019 at 1:10 PM Comments comments (1068)

"The Holyrood study asked them to list factors they believe constrain their ability to develop a senior phase that meets the needs of pupils. Some 74% suggested timetabling was an issue, while 57% of respondents cited the availability of supply teachers."


https://stv.tv/news/scotland/1441068-timetabling-cited-as-main-concern-for-head-teachers/" target="_blank">https://stv.tv/news/scotland/1441068-timetabling-cited-as-main-concern-for-head-teachers/

"Teachers at blue water school vote to strike over health fears"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on June 27, 2019 at 6:45 PM Comments comments (61)

"Teachers at a school built on a toxic landfill site where four staff were diagnosed with the same rare cancer have voted to strike over health fears."



Call to arms. Toxic Schools. Stand up for what is right. We did this in the past, lets do it again.

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on June 27, 2019 at 6:40 PM Comments comments (212)

Schools built on a toxic landfill sites, four staff diagnosed with the cancer and NHS North Lanarkshire cant be even bothered to get even a few sample of  people tested. This is disgraceful. 

Please send a letter to newspapers/ your MSP/ The Education Minister


Find you MSP

https://www.parliament.scot/mspfinder/index.html


Scottish Education Minister John Swinney MSP

https://www.gov.scot/about/who-runs-government/cabinet-and-ministers/cabinet-secretary-education-skills/


Newspapers

http://www.wrx.zen.co.uk/scotland.htm?PHPSESSID=05df61c9570141a879e5a0d3c3f11e76

"If blue water' school is safe and has not caused cancer" Why not test the pupils and teacher?

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on June 27, 2019 at 6:25 PM Comments comments (44)

If this blue water is safe and there are no other health risks to anyone, why not just test a few hundred pupils and prove it?

The safety of two Coatbridge schools – Buchanan High and St Ambrose – on the same site has become a national political controversy over the last few months.

The newbuild is located on land which had previously been used for burying domestic and industrial waste. Ahead of construction, remediation work was carried out and the grounds were certified as being safe.

However, concerns were flagged up that the drinking water on the campus had turned blue. It has since been reported that four serving and retired teachers at Buchanan High have bladder cancer.

A parent has also demanded answers after her child, a pupil at Buchanan, lost his sight."


https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/17724223.headteacher-blue-water-school-is-safe-and-has-not-caused-cancer/




"Classrooms 'too small' for pupils"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on April 2, 2018 at 9:45 AM Comments comments (31)

“Excessive cover for absent colleagues is just another burden on teachers. They have been expected to plug the gap as a result of the unjustifiable cap on supply teachers’ pay which generated a crisis in supply teacher provision.

Too many schools are also seeing internal cover as a way to save money at the expense of the health and wellbeing of teachers and the livelihoods of supply teachers. Covering for absent colleagues is not a good use of teachers’ time. It could and should be more usefully spent preparing high-quality lessons and supporting the ongoing learning and progress of their own pupils.

Being asked to undertake frequent cover, often at short notice, also drives up teachers’ workloads, which are already at record levels. The NASUWT will now be making no cover a key campaigning issue.

The Scottish Government and employers are now being put on notice that we expect mechanisms to be put in place to move quickly to a situation where no teacher is asked to cover, expect in an absolute emergency.”



Supply Teachers will be paid the appropriate point".

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on December 21, 2017 at 3:10 PM Comments comments (197)

"From 1 January 2018, all supply teachers will be paid the appropriate point on the main grade scale, regardless of the duration of the cover."


http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/15780302.Teachers_agree_backdated_deal_on_pay/



"Supplies and support have left the building"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on October 28, 2017 at 2:10 PM Comments comments (209)
"Support staff and supply teachers as endangered species; music, reading clubs and study groups withering on the vine; teachers and parents reaching into their own pockets for resources as prosaic as glue sticks and as essential as textbooks – teachers are decrying life in Scottish schools as they contend with budget cuts."

"Scottish Schools turn blind eye to rise in racism"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on October 7, 2017 at 10:25 AM Comments comments (39)
“We are finding there is serious underreporting in schools [of racist incidents]. Schools don’t want to be tainted as racist and seem to be willing to sweep it under the rug as opposed to having an open and honest conversation with young people about it.”

"Scottish Borders Council bids to lure former teachers back to school" As long as you are willing to spend £400.

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on September 12, 2017 at 5:10 PM Comments comments (130)

"For the price of £400 to the already struggling teachers. The 10-week course is open to all qualified primary and secondary teachers who have been away from the profession for a number of years, or are new to the Scottish education system and who wish to return to the profession either full-time, part-time or as a supply teacher."



"New teacher drop-outs fuelled by workload and low pay"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on May 9, 2017 at 3:15 PM Comments comments (40)

"GRUELLING workloads, high levels of stress and low pay are among the factors threatening to impede trainee teachers from embarking on a career in the classroom, official research has revealed. It comes as staff from headteachers to trainees have lifted the lid on the extraordinary challenges facing every tier of the profession."



"The majority of responses mentioned a lack of supply teachers, with the job being seen as a “last resort” because of cuts to the salary."

"Teachers in pay hike demands"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on December 17, 2016 at 7:45 PM Comments comments (164)

"As well as calling for a pay rise, the union has proposed a raft of other changes, including removing a cap on short-term supply teachers’ pay and restoring certain maternity entitlements."


http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14972816.Teachers_in_20_per_cent_pay_hike_demands_as_talks_set/

"Shortage of supply teachers blighting Fife classrooms"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on September 3, 2016 at 8:35 AM Comments comments (586)

 

Sadly the shortage of supply teachers is the norm now in most Scottish councils. It was inevitable based on a series of blows:  The low pay supply deal done by EIS and Cosla, introduction of 32 period week to make teachers work to the last minute, reducing teachers number in schools to save money, SMT spread too thinly to provide backup when required, too much paperwork, no extra resources, funds or time provided but somehow teachers should change the whole curriculum and they way they teach are some of the reasons behind this shortage.

It is not even December yet when flu season usually starts. Teachers are exhausted, not only doing their job, which is difficult enough but also covering for others. Saving money is the only goal so who cares if our children are getting taught by subject specialists or just supervised day after day for months.

www.thecourier.co.uk

"Scotland's supply teacher crisis, getting worse"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on April 30, 2016 at 3:25 AM Comments comments (67)

 

"A SHORTAGE of supply teachers in Scottish schools is getting significantly worse, according to a new survey.  A poll of the country's 32 councils found more than two thirds believed the situation had deteriorated in the past year.  The shortfall was most acute in primary schools where 20 councils said they had difficulties, while half had problems in secondary."

by Andrew Denholm

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14416191.Scotland_s_supply_teacher_crisis__quot_getting_worse_quot_/?ref=mr&lp=18

"Permanent and supply teacher numbers under increasing pressure"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on July 15, 2015 at 2:05 PM Comments comments (45)

"Last week, Glasgow’s Govan Law Centre released figures showing that, of 12,533 looked-after children, only 6,374 had been assessed for a co-ordinated support plan (CSP).

 

Under 2004 legislation, there is a presumption that Scottish children in care may have additional needs and that those who do should receive a CSP assessment.

 

Exam performance highlights the consequences of failure to carry out this duty. Only 12 per cent of vulnerable school-leavers secured one or more Highers at the end of 2013-14, compared with 59 per cent in the pupil population as a whole."


"Lack of supply teachers has become a problem"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on March 17, 2015 at 6:15 PM Comments comments (37)

"Parents at a Dundee school have been assured that new teachers will soon be in place amid concerns that staff shortages could affect education standards.

 

A number of posts are empty at Blackness Primary and it has also struggled to secure sufficient supply teachers.

 

The shortage is likely to become even more pressing as more children than ever are due to start at the school this summer.

 

The picture at Blackness replicates the situation at schools throughout the city and across Scotland.

 

A spokesman for the parent council said senior staff were spending more time covering in classrooms than usual, adding: “Concerns have been identified about the reducing pool of teachers available for supply cover. “This has come at a time when 44 priority one children are seeking a place at Blackness in August.”


"Schools in crisis, over staff shortages"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on March 17, 2015 at 4:20 PM Comments comments (34)

“Permanent staff [are] in tears as they crumble under the extreme workload of endless extra duties every week, [with] special needs classes merged or individuals decanted to other classes, [and] non-specialists being preferred and employed rather than hire a specialist for a whole absence.

 

He stressed the problem was also one of cover staff being unwilling to accept work for a “Tesco-rate” gross daily wage packet of around £80."



"Scottish teacher workload a ticking time bomb"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on November 4, 2014 at 5:50 PM Comments comments (220)

“On a weekly basis, in parts of Scotland, pupils could be sent home through a lack of availability of supply teachers.”

"Councils cannot meet requirements in education"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on October 29, 2014 at 7:05 PM Comments comments (44)
"In submissions to work on the draft budget by the Education and Culture Committee, teachers’ union EIS said: “There is a very real risk of failure to meet statutory provisons. On a weekly basis, in parts of Scotland, pupils could be sent home through a lack of availability of supply teachers.”

"Parents warn schools facing crisis over teacher shortages"

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on October 9, 2014 at 2:00 PM Comments comments (223)


"Eileen Prior, the organisation's executive director, wants an urgent overhaul of the way teacher numbers are monitored and recruited.

 

She said: "As it stands we are dealing with a situation where local authorities are finding it difficult to recruit teachers and school leaders, both on supply and permanent contracts.

 

"From our perspective it appears there is something fundamentally dysfunctional in our manpower planning system.

 

"We continue to be in a situation about which SPTC is concerned, simply because of the impact on the learning of young people in our classrooms, on the effective running of schools and on the efficacy of the local authority service."

 

The SPTC represents almost 2,000 parent councils and parent teacher associations across the country and the Educational Institute of Scotland, the country's largest teaching union, echoed the warnings.

 

A spokesman said: "The lack of availability of supply cover is an issue for schools across Scotland, and is particularly acute in some subject areas and in certain areas of the country.

 

"This lack of supply cover increases workload pressure on teachers when colleagues are ill, and can have a negative impact on the learning experience of pupils."

 

 


"FRESH evidence has emerged of the supply teacher crisis which has hit Scottish schools over the past few years."

Posted by Scottish Supply Teachers on August 2, 2014 at 9:20 AM Comments comments (40)

"New figures show the number of supply teaching hours in schools fell by 15 per cent between 2010/11 and 2012/13, with a further drop of 16 per cent in the last school year.  The cut in hours is a result of a well-documented shortage of supply teachers caused by a cut in their wages, which has since been partially reversed."



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