Scottish Supply Teachers

"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/

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 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/

“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.”

"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/

"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."

"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/

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

"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

"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."

"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.”

“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."

"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."

"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."