Address your questions to Caroline Lucas
Leader of the Green Party
Caroline Lucas MEP is the Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the South East of England region. She is also the Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. She was first elected to the European Parliament as one of the Green Party’s first MEPs in June 1999 to represent the South East of England region.
Caroline is a member of the International Trade Committee and the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee. She also sits on the Parliament’s Temporary Climate Change Committee. She serves as Vice President of the Animal Welfare, Health and Consumer and Globalisation cross-party Intergroups, as Co-President of the Peace Initiatives Intergroup and is a member of the Parliament’s Permanent Delegation to Palestine.
With ‘Green’ issues growing in importance, we invite you to ask your questions to a leading politician on environmental matters. What does the Green Party want? Should the government be setting an international example on emissions? What can we do on a personal level to tackle global warming?
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Yours Questions Answered by NUT General Secretary
CHRISTINE BLOWER
Are improvements in exam results from GCSE to A-Level, which seem to be inexorable, really down to harder working students?
Aidan Power, Blackpool
I believe absolutely that improved exam results are a product of hard work by both students and teachers. Every year young people demonstrate their commitment and enthusiasm for learning, and every year despite this there’s a chorus of criticism from those who simply can’t believe that it’s young people’s efforts and the quality of teaching that have yielded the results.
The nature of examinations and the approach changes over time, which is why it’s almost impossible to compare exam papers of forty years ago to those of today. It must be remembered that rigour is maintained by Ofqual and the examination boards, and there’s no evidence that rigour hasn’t been maintained. Indeed, the most recent independent
investigations initiated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority have shown that standards have been maintained.
How do you feel about the inclusion of disabled students into mainstream education? Does the NUT have a policy?
Brea Owen, Wolverhampton
Inclusion can work, but it would be a more effective option if our members were adequately supported with training and specialist staff. Unfortunately, what often occurs is a two-tier system, in which classroom assistants take care of those pupils with the greatest needs.
We believe that special schools should be allowed to continue, and that they work closely with the local community of schools to ensure a continuum of provision within a continuum of need.
Is there a better way of gauging a student’s development than SATs? I have a child entering primary education this year and it seems to me that there must be a better way than subjecting our youth to a culture of standardised examination.
Olivia Saundry, E2
The NUT and the National Association of Head Teachers are running a joint campaign to end SATs. Our belief is that teacher assessment, already in action at Key Stage 1, would be a far better way of assessing children’s progress. Parents would receive full information on the progress of their children in the form of ongoing assessment as well as end of
Key Stage teacher assessment. The latest research has confirmed that teacher assessment is both reliable and accurate.
No inconvenience or disruption would be caused to schools, parents or teachers as happens with SATs. Furthermore, the disruption to the curriculum would be removed if the tests were discontinued, as would the anxiety of pupils about whether they will be branded failures at such an early stage in their lives. The enormous pressure on schools to teach to
the test would disappear.
As it stands, there’s continued pressure on teachers to concentrate solely on those children who are at the borderline of Government test targets, at the expense of those at lower levels. With our proposed alternative this would be removed. It would also spell the end of league tables.
Do you feel that Labour has kept its promises on education? It has been 12 years since we heard ‘education, education, education.’ Are things much different from your perspective?
Matthew Brodie, Oxford
The truth is that Labour’s achievements have been good in parts and not so in others. Where it has been successful is in funding for education, via new school buildings, information technology, SureStart and Early Years provision. It’s also true to say that standards have risen since 1997. However, Labour’s biggest mistake has been its lack of support of the
comprehensive principle.
Do you think teachers would be better represented by a single union, as opposed to the current system?
Charvi Singh, Beckenham
Absolutely. As the largest and most influential teachers’ union in Europe, the NUT campaigns consistently for Professional Unity. While we are some way off that, we believe that a single body, articulating the views of the profession, would benefit both children and teachers. We’re pleased to have a very close working relationship with UCU.
Why is teachers’ pay banded? It’s just as expensive to live in Brighton, for example, as in London. There’s almost £5,000 difference between the same main scale points for inner London and elsewhere.
Helen Glover, Brighton
Teachers’ pay is banded in the same way as in most other jobs. For many years, employers have recognised the extra costs of living and working in London - the higher costs of housing, the higher cost of travel and indeed the higher cost of many everyday items and services. Research continues to demonstrate that the London area remains the most expensive area in which to live and work.
There’s clearly some truth in the argument that there are high-cost hot-spots outside London. The NUT suspects, however, that the desire to review the London pay system sometimes expressed by Government is actually driven by a wish to drive down pay in other areas, rather than provide higher pay in areas which might merit it. The current system has to be retained until any replacement is guaranteed to level up, not level down.
What is the deal with teachers’ behaviour out of hours affecting their careers? Surely the NUT should be trying to put a stop to this.
Dixon Reid, Manchester
A new Code of Conduct, proposed by the General Teaching Council of England, has caused a good deal of controversy in recent weeks. Although we at the NUT recognise the body’s need to set standards within its own terms of reference, it does concern us that teachers would always be expected to be ‘on duty.’ This is manifestly unfair, as they would be
judged on their leisure time outside school. It would be unacceptable for the code to interfere with every qualified teacher’s right to a private life.
Of course teachers should uphold the law and be good role models in school. Nonetheless, our members continue to have distinct reservations about the code. If it’s causing concern, it needs to be looked at again. We are not opposed to having a code per se, but teachers feel extensively scrutinised as it is. I hope we can reach a meeting of minds with the GTC
and other unions to solve this.
Why does teachers’ pay not go up with inflation?
Anna Morel, Hertfordshire
The Government receives recommendations on teachers’ pay from its advisory body, the School Teachers’ Review Body. The STRB is required to consider a range of factors. Inflation is one of these. Others include pay increases received by workers in comparable jobs and across the whole economy, and absolute pay comparisons with those professions which compete for graduates with teaching.
Usually, pay goes up by more than inflation as the economy grows and people get richer. Linking teachers’ pay to inflation would mean that, in the long term, their pay would fall behind (just as pensions have fallen behind since a link to earnings was changed to a link with inflation). Compounding this problem, for the past 3 years teachers’ pay did not
even match inflation, cutting teachers’ living standards.
This year, the 2.3% pay increase for teachers will restore some of those losses but, if teachers’ pay is to become competitive again, increases above inflation, not in line with inflation, will be needed.
Should Modern Languages be a compulsory part of secondary or even primary education? My experience on the continent suggests we could do with a national kick up the backside.
Nicolette Meyer, Swindon
It was a serious error on the part of Government to make Modern Foreign Languages optional – a short-sighted decision in 2004 which, it must be said also drew support from the Conservative Party. As a result the number of students studying a foreign language has declined dramatically.
It’s absurd that primary schools with the enormous range of expectations that rest on their shoulders should carry a disproportionate responsibility for ensuring learning in Modern Foreign Languages.
In a world where national boundaries are less and less important, the need for fluency in other languages is self-evident. I expect that many young people will come to regret their decision not to develop their foreign language skills beyond the age of 14.
Do you agree with league tables?
Brian Jeffers, Livingston
No, they are immensely unfair, particularly on schools in the toughest areas. No parent can gain accurate information from league tables. It’s common for schools to find themselves at the bottom of league tables yet still get good inspection reports. No other country in the UK has such tables. We have an absurd situation where inspection judgements and school league rankings often contradict themselves.
We have an absurd situation where inspection judgements and school league rankings often contradict themselves. There’s clear evidence that they’re narrowing the curriculum and undermining children’s learning. We need a new direction which restores fairness in judgements on schools.
What can be done in your opinion for the government to meet its target of getting 50% of young people into higher education? Does this inevitably mean more pressure on teachers?
Anna Morel, Hertfordshire
This year saw huge levels of interest in university courses, but a fatal shortage in the number of available places. If the government are coming nowhere close to meeting demand, especially in a time of recession, then their 50% aspiration becomes a somewhat empty pledge.
With the right support from their school leaders, teachers can do much to make a difference to children’s lives, without experiencing a detrimental effect on their own workload. Smaller class sizes, a fully qualified teacher in every class, statutory entitlement to 1-2-1 tuition, as well as Gordon Brown fulfilling his pledge to match spending per pupil in
the state sector to that of the private sector, would ensure all children receive the best possible education and a greater chance of gaining the qualifications needed to go to university.
Education can transform lives, higher education even more so, and it’s right that government should have the ambition of 50% participation amongst young people.
What made you want to go into teaching originally?
Keith Sapala, Bermondsey
Originally I had wanted to work with young people in the probation service and thought that in order to have a better understanding of the problems some children face I should first go into teaching. However, once I’d started teaching I never looked back as I enjoyed it so much. I chose later on in my teaching career to work in a unit for young people at risk. In many ways I was able through teaching to achieve all my ambitions.
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