Barnet UNISON Schools Conference a clear success!

“Very useful. A good chance to let UNISON know what sort of practices are going on in schools. Nice to feel listened to!”

“As this is the 1^st meeting, I think that it is too early to comment, as the sessions, if continued will develop, as and who attends”

“I found the amount of support available (on staffing and learning) brilliant”

“Reinforced my understanding of issues involving school support staff”

“I found it enlightening”

“Good to know we are not alone”

This was just some of the positive feedback from those who attended our schools conference. The last comment has a particular resonance. Schools support staff are certainly not alone. We have some 900+ members in schools and yet a lot of you feel alone! 

This has a lot to do with the way in which we organise in schools. It is difficult for you to attend meetings and we do not have representatives in every school – but the issues are so similar… This conference was an attempt to break through that and we have agreed to  

ü      organise meetings in some of the schools present at the conference.

ü      organise a meeting specifically for caretakers as they have yet to have their jobs looked at following the schools remodelling exercise.

ü      Send out the job descriptions for Levels 1,2,3,4 T.A s

ü      Organise a meeting for Nursery Nurses to discuss the key worker aspect to their role. 

It was really shocking to hear how many colleagues are being held at Level 1 T.A. when in fact no one should be on this level for more than a few weeks! This is just one of the issues we will be tackling throughout the year. Colleagues attending were also shocked to hear about the proposed transformation of Whitefield School to National Challenge Trust Status. Whitefield School is one of the first schools we will be holding a meeting. We will be writing more about this campaign to all our schools members. 

Many colleagues found the feedback from National UNISON speaker, Christine Lewis, very informative and people really liked to hear about the training opportunities which are available through the council on the Return2Learn scheme.

There will be another conference which will take place during the next half term. Make sure you don’t miss the next one. Contact the Barnet UNISON office if you are reading this and want us to come to your school and hold a meeting.

 Prize winner receives her min laptop!