news and events

Teachers and lecturers working with the 14-19 age group are currently facing reforms likely to induce ill-health, CUSN Chief Executive Julian Stanley told a conference this week.

Speaking at the 14-19 Provision conference in Westminster, he said that the current period of rapid transition in 14-19 practice would only work well if teachers and lecturers are fully supported during the process.

A recent story by the BBC has highlighted the possible hazards of using social networking sites, particularly during work hours. The article, published on the 22 May, discussed the recent case where a teacher in the area of Argyll and Bute is understood to have posted up to 38 updates a day on the Twitter site. Many of the posts featured information about her classes and students and were posted during working hours.

From coming into contact with thousands of education workers throughout the year, we know that disruptive or threatening behaviour can be a concern for staff members throughout education.

Although violent incidents are rare, they can be extremely harrowing for those involved and the wider community. In addition, milder cases of threatening or persistently disruptive behaviour are a more common cause of problems for those working within adult, further and higher education.

College and University Support Network have welcomed the recent publication of the 'Cyberbullying: Supporting School Staff' guidance for Local Authorities and governing bodies.

The document was written by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) with the support of the charity, leading school employee unions and professional associations.

Our phone lines have been busy this month with nearly 120 calls. The top issue category for our callers was ‘Working Conditions’ with just over 32 per cent of calls. This included ‘Work-Life Balance’, ‘Performance and Pay’ and ‘Organisational Management’. ‘Money’ was in second place with 23.6 per cent and ‘Personal Issues’ accounted for almost 21 per cent.

College and University Support Network has called for more tailored 14-19 Diplomas training and preparation time to cater for a rapid increase in student numbers due this September. This week, the Government announced that the number of 14-19 Diplomas students is set to triple in September from under 12,000 to around 40,000.

After 11 successful years as Chief Executive, Patrick Nash will be leaving the Teacher Support Network Group of charities on 30 April to be replaced by Julian Stanley, former Chief Executive of The Creset in Peterborough.

Patrick will be taking up the role as full-time Chief Executive of up-and-coming social enterprise company, LTL Connect.

The top issue category for our callers this month was 'Money' with
just over 28 per cent of calls. The 'Personal issues' category was in
second place, with 26.5 per cent, and 'Working Conditions' accounted
for nearly 26 per cent.

Our online InfoCentre was also been busy this month with almost 450
factsheets viewed. Here are the top five most viewed factsheets:

This week, the Local Government Association (LGA) has urged local councils to ditch the jargon in order to improve communication with local people.

The membership organisation has published a list of 200 words, which is available here, that should be avoided in order to convey their meaning effectively, minimise misunderstanding and reduce irritation.

A few years ago, we developed a Starting Out guide(pdf) for trainee and new teachers. It's still available in pdf formatand packed with information to help prepare for the challenges ahead.