Author Archives: Andrew Lifford

Teaching unions: who needs them?

Taken from the original Independent article published on 06/02/2013. On first encounter, the thing that strikes you about John Roberts is his youthful looks. A keen climber, he has already climbed mountains, scaled previously never-scaled cliff faces and become possibly the youngest assistant headteacher in the country at the age of 24. Now, though, he…

Teachers don’t like industrial action: DfE survey confirms Edapt’s findings

The Department for Education (DfE) has quietly published a survey which confirms many teachers are ignoring work-to-rule directives laid down by teachers unions – because they join unions primarily for protection and support in the workplace. The findings of the NFER Teacher Voice Omnibus Survey” Understanding union membership and activity” (link here) published on the…

Parents evenings and the difference between supportive and pushy

Our anonymous primary teacher blogger describes the build up to parents evenings …   ‘Haven’t you just had a holiday?’ ask my non-teacher friends. It’s been a nearly eight week half term – no, I have not just had a holiday. Myself and the children were very much ready for a break because they were…

TAs worth their weight in gold

The following blog post is from our anonymous blogger in a primary school. TA, LSA, HLTA, Support Assistants – I have had some worth their weight in gold and I have worked with others who just seem like an extra member of the class to deal with.  There is nothing better than a TA who…