The National Association of
Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) has announced it
will be taking Action Short of Strike Action from Monday
18 September 2023.
This doesn’t mean that teachers are
going on strike again.
Earlier this year, schoolteachers in
England, including members of NASUWT, accepted a fully funded 6.5% pay
award. All other school unions have called off industrial
action.
Here we set out what industrial action
NASUWT is taking and what it means for schools and sixth form
colleges.
What is Action Short of Strike
Action (ASOSA) and does this mean schools are closing
again?
No. ASOSA will only affect some
schools and sixth form
colleges in England. ASOSA is not the same as a strike, but
participating teachers could refuse to complete tasks which they
believe to be outside of their contracts, such as lesson
planning, or covering for other staff except in unforeseen
circumstances.
While ASOSA is not intended to close
schools and colleges, it may cause some disruption depending on
the school or sixth form college’s particular circumstances,
especially if they have a high number of staff who are NASUWT
members.
In the event of industrial action,
school or college leaders will take all reasonable steps to
minimise disruption. This could include reviewing timetabling or
making changes to how they
operate.
ASOSA will only affect schools and
sixth form colleges where there are NASUWT members who have a
mandate for ASOSA.
When is NASUWT taking
industrial action?
NASUWT will begin its ASOSA on Monday
18 September 2023.
NASUWT has not announced an end date
to the industrial action but its current mandates end in January
2024 in schools, and December 2023 in sixth form
colleges.
What are you doing to improve
teacher workload and wellbeing?
We want to ensure teaching remains an
attractive career.
To help, we will convene a Workload
Reduction Taskforce to explore how we can go further to support
school and trust leaders to minimise workload. We are also
setting an ambition to reduce teacher and leader workload by five
hours per week.
We also know that flexible working
opportunities can help to recruit, retain and motivate teachers
and leaders and help promote staff wellbeing.
Last month, we appointed seven
Flexible Working Ambassador multi-academy trusts and schools to
offer practical advice to school leaders on implementing flexible
working and we are currently in the process of recruiting
more.
This is part of a wider programme,
funded by the department, to help embed flexible working in
schools and trusts.
The Sixth Form College Association is
engaging with unions on pay and workload issues within their
discussions on behalf of the sector.
How will this impact settings
which are already affected by RAAC?
Teachers will still need to continue
to fulfil their contractual obligations and carry out their key
work in supporting children. You can read about how the
government is supporting schools where RAAC has been identified
in this update.
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