Annual General Meeting 2011.
The AGM will be held at Dukinfield Town Hall on Wednesday 26th January 2011 at 4.30pm. In addition to the business of the meeting Derek Clarke will do a Power Point presentation on the current situation on Teachers Pensions
Agenda for the AGM 2011
1) Minutes of last AGM 2010
2) Matters Arising
3) Rule Changes
4) Annual Report 2010
5) Treasurers Report
6) Auditors Report
7) Adoption of Financial Statement
8) Installation of President
9) President's Address
10) Vote of thanks
11) Declaration of election of Officers
12) Election of scrutineers
13) Nomination and election of Officers, Committee Members and Outside Bodies for which no nominees were made.
14) Election of auditors
15) Committee recommendations
i) Honoraria
16) Motions to which proper notice has been given to the Secretary.
17) AOB to be submitted to the secretary prior to the start of the meeting.
18) The Divisional Secretary presents a powerpoint on the current proposals from the Huton Report on future of Teachers Pensions'.
19) Buffet
ANNUAL REPORT TO MEMBERS 2010
PRESIDENT:
Karen Bailey Alder High School Tel: 01457 763 108
ASSISTANT SECRETARY (CASEWORK)/ HEALTH & SAFETY ADVISER UNION LEARNING REPRESENTATIVE
Pat Davies Tel: 01457762883 (home) O161 342 2566 (office), nut.worker@virgin.net (home), pat.davies@tameside.gov.uk (office)
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES REPRESENTATIVE
Ann Slater
Rekha Patel
Jack Norbury
NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEMBERS
Helen Andrews
Nick WIgmore
Teachers Consultative Committee (TCC) Report
The TCC consists of up to four delegates from each of the teacher organisations. The NUT representatives are Anne Slater, Caryl Hughes and myself. The TCC meets monthly and every other month meets with the Director of Young People and Children's Services and other officers. The main issues during this academic year have been BSF, Academies, Trust Schools, Budget Updates. Minutes of these meetings can be found at www.tamesideschoolssupport.net . The weekly meetings of the Negotiating Sub Committee (NSC) which consists of the secretaries of each of the teacher unions is the most influential body that we are involved with in Tameside. The Director for Young People and Childrens Services, Jim Taylor regularly attends as do many of the key officers responsible for education. All policies affecting education are discussed at these meetings. Termly confidential meetings are held on schools causing concern.A good working relationship has been established with the other teacher unions and several joint initiatives have been enacted including join visits to school to speak to headteachers where issues affecting all staff are common.
School's Forum
The School's Forum meets termly and consists of head teachers, governors and a representative of the TCC. The other teacher organisations have observer status. The main items on the agenda for the meetings has been school budgets. This body has the power to accept or reject proposals put forward by the Authority. However it has no power to amend proposals.
Tameside Trades Union Council Report
Tameside Trades Council has ceased to exist as a functioning and representative body of trade unionists in Tameside. We have not affiliated this year and send no delegates.
SECRETARY'S REPORT
My second year as secretary has been a particularly busy one. The issues around the lease of the Risograph and photocopier have been resolved and significant financial savings have followed as a result. However the lease on the office is under threat from the cuts that the Council is currently implementing and serious consideration must be given to the Association taking over the lease or finding alternative accommodation from which to operate.
The change in Government has presented all who work in education with momentous challenges. Our initial concerns that the academies programme would have a detrimental affect has only been partially realised As a result of our campaign against opting out, only one school decided to become an academy in 2010. I am also pleased to report that we have received written assurances from the Governors of Denton Community High School that they will note apply for academy status. However we must remain vigilant and oppose any school in the authority that considers becoming a Gove academy.
Government cuts in local authority budgets have resulted in both job losses and a deterioration in services. Tameside has continued with its practice of no redundancies and all of the unions have worked closely with the council to minimise the impact of the cuts on employees. Nevertheless I am concerned that we are only experiencing the start of a process that will see the virtual dismantling of local authorities. We have had assurances from the authority that facility time will continue but will be reduced to reflect the extent of the cuts to all departments.
Last year's NUT Annual Conference was held in Liverpool and our delegates, Ann Slater, Pat Davies, Mark Smith and myself found the debates both inside the conference hall and outside very useful. A full list of resolutions can be found in the office or on the NUT website.
Our delegates to the Regional Council, Pat Davies, Ann Slater and myself, continue to play an active role. As the Regional Treasurer I play an important role in the running of the Regional Council. I have continued to attend the half termly Divisional Secretary's Meetings, which have been very useful in obtaining information on a wide range of issues. Our involvement in Tameside's Teachers Consultative Committee has continued with our delegates, Anne Slater, Caryl Hughes and myself all making valuable interventions. Committee meetings of the Association have been held half termly with good attendances from Committee members, our regional officer Noel Hulse and national executive members Helen Andrews and Nick Wigmore. There has been three General Meetings over the year, all of which were inquorate. This is particularly disappointing and we must endevour to involve as many members as possible in General Meetings in the forthcoming year if we are to successfully campaign against Government policies.
Termly newsletters have continued to be produced and sent to all members via the internal mail system. However there are some schools who are not distributing the newsletter to members and we must devise a way around this. The link with the membership has been complimented with the website which is regularly updated and carries advice to members. We continue to obtain copies of Campaign Teachers and Anti Academies News, which are distributed termly to members in schools.
The membership has increased slightly again this year with the best growth in the area of NQTs. This was partly due to the national campaign for 4 terms membership for £1.00. One particularly positive development this year has been the increases in the number of school representatives that have been elected. However there are still schools with a substantial number of members where there are no representatives. Our aim must be to have one in every school in the Authority.
The Association continues to play a key role in all areas of the Local Authority and has established a good working relationship with the Director of Young Persons and Children's Services, Jim Taylor and his team and with the recently reorganised HR Dept.
I look forward to a more active year for the Association and an even greater involvement of the membership in its work in campaigning against the disastrous policies of the Government.
Finally I would like to thank Pat Davies, Caryl Hughes and Norman Jones for the support and help they have offered over the year.
Derek Clarke
Membership Secretary's Report
We have a new tool on HEARTH to get (fairly) accurate information about our membership base. It is not entirely accurate - we have found one NQT who is definitely a member but is not on the list, and it does depend upon members informing that they have moved in (or out) of the authority - we can see several people on the list who we know have moved but who are still, presumably, paying their subs to Tameside and others who have arrived and are still paying subs to another Division.
According to the new figures we stand as follows:
Total Membership: 1034
Retired/Life members 106
Supply Members 57
NQTs (NQT, NQT1, NQT2) 136
We have undertaken several membership campaigns this year including attendance at Freshers' Fairs, NQT events and a targeted recruitment drive which has, so far looked at disabled teachers and Black and Ethnic Minority members. All NQTs who have not yet joined the NUT have been contacted, as have all those who have, for whatever reason, not renewed their membership. Any new members are sent a welcome letter. Recruitment ideas are always welcome.
Caryl Hughes Membership Secretary
HEALTH and SAFETY
It has been a confused year because of all the changes in the Authority. New H&S leadership has resulted in several meetings being cancelled whilst paperwork etc was being sorted out. I have attended the NUT Regional meetings in Bolton so continuity has not been lost. As usual, the main area of concern has been the effects that over work and poor management styles have on teachers' health. I have dealt with several cases where the mental health of teachers is not being protected. Remember that a headteacher has a duty of care towards all members of staff and they have to ensure that you do not collapse under the weight of work you are being asked to do. One of the chief ways I can help with this is to attend meetings with you when your workload is being discussed or if you feel you are in a bullying situation. Do not go into these meetings alone as they can sometimes be upsetting. I have also accompanied some teachers on their "return to work" interview. This is your right and it is essential that you attend it as it is there to address any issues that have been highlighted by your doctor or Occupational Health. I had to deal with many queries concerning the gritting or non gritting of playgrounds and car parks at schools. There is no definitive answer to this, merely that the areas should be made as safe as possible and unsafe areas eg slopes, should be cordoned off. The Authority continues to closely monitor building work in the borough but if you have any concerns regarding work on your premises please let me know.
CASEWORK
The majority of my work this year has been attending meetings between teachers and their management. Some of these have been return to work meetings where there has to be changes in the teacher's working conditions or classroom or responsibilities to facilitate a successful return. On two occasions, teachers have requested part time working following maternity leave. Unfortunately neither were successful which seems to becoming a worrying trend. However, two cases for requests for flexible working were successful. Many teachers are being stretched to the limit of their endurance because of poor management and excessive workloads. Please do not wait until you are really ill before you contact me. If you begin to notice radical changes in your own health eg tiredness, sleeplessness, anxiety, raised heart rate, short temper or any thing else which deviates from the norm go to your doctor, speak to your head or contact me to talk things through. Do not leave it too late. My contact details are: 01457762883 (home), 0161 339 4342 (office), Pat.davies@tameside.gov.uk
Pat DavieS
ULR Report
Although I have organised some courses over the year the actual take up has been very small. In one case, although five people said they would attend none, in fact, turned up. Having discussed this at length at the Regional ULR meetings it seems to be a common problem caused mainly by two things. The teachers are so over worked that they do not have the physical energy to attend events after school; if the events are in school time they cannot be released so that seems an insurmountable problem. The other cause seems to be the poor communication between us and the schools. Although we send out all the details of events both as posters for the staffroom notice boards or in the news letter, many teachers never seem to see them. If there is no named school rep the office staff do not know who is to open the mail. If you could volunteer your name to the office staff this problem will be much lessened. The next event is on Wednesday, February 9th at Stalybridge Civic Centre. It is a practical De-Stressor course run by a trained Therapist who has been a secondary teacher for 30 years. It will be from 4.30 to 6.30pm and there is free parking on Tescos' car park. Full details to follow for display in your staffroom. If you wish to book a place let me know on pat.davies@tameside,gov.uk.
Pat Davies
Minutes Secretary Report
Minutes have been taken at all Committee and General Meetings and it is followed as required
Caryl Hughes
Retired Teachers Association
The Association enjoyed a full programme of meetings in the Stalybridge Civic Hall. Guest speakers entertained us with a variety of subjects, including 'The Musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber', 'Malaysian Customs' and 'What is the meaning of Time?'
An excursion to Llandudno in June was greatly enjoyed, as were the Summer and Christmas Lunches.
We welcome all Retired Teachers; meeting on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 2pm.
Programme 2011
20 January A.G.M.
17 February 'The History of Nursery Rhymes' Rona Catterall
17 March 'A Musical Journey' Rev. R.J. Cartledge
21 April 'How I made a Million & spent it all' Mr N. Cliffe
19 May 'My Life of Crime' Mr Terry Sims
16 June Excursion to Castle Howard
21 July Summer Lunch 12.30 for 1pm
15 September 'Oldham Coloseum' Mr Rustidge
20 October 'Customs & Culture of Malaysia' Chandra Law
17 November 'Dear Old Lady' Mrs Sandra Renshaw
8 December Christmas Lunch 12.30 for 1pm
Free Parking is available adjacent to the hall with overflow parking on TESCO car park (limit 3 hours)
Secretary: 0161 338 8716 Membership: 0161 370 3166
Tameside.retiredteachers@yahoo.co.uk www.trt77.org.uk
RULE CHANGES
Tameside Teachers Association (815)
Rules
1. Title
This Association shall be called Tameside Teachers Association.
2. Affiliation
This Association shall be an Association of the National Union of Teachers and the rules of the National Union of Teachers shall be binding on all members of this Association.
3. Objectives
The objectives of the Association shall be:
a. To advance the cause of education.
b. To influence by every legitimate means local public opinion on educational matters and especially seek the co-operation of the press in the locality.
c. To afford opportunities for the discussion of educational and professional topics.
d. To protect and promote the professional interests of teachers.
e. To secure direct representation on behalf of all members of the Union in the Association on all appropriate Committees and bodies of the Local Authority and of any Academy or other employer in the Association area.
f. To be responsible for negotiating on behalf of all members of the Union in the Association with the Local Authority and with any Academy or other employer in the Association area on all matters affecting the professional work and conditions of members.
g. To be responsible for negotiating on behalf of all members of the Union in the Association with the Local Authority and of any Academy or other employer in the Association area those agreements necessitated as a result of, or caused by, an Act of Parliament or Statutory Instrument.
h. To be solely responsible for negotiating on behalf of members of the Union in the Association with the Local Authority and of any Academy or other employer in the Association area such agreements initiated by or at the behest of the National Executive of the Union.
i. To secure the membership of all teachers in the Association area.
j. To promote the welfare of the charitable funds of the NUT.
k. To promote friendly social intercourse among its members.
4. Membership
Any teacher eligible for admission under the general rules of the Union shall have a right to membership of this association.
5. Subscription
a. The Annual Subscription of every member shall be such subscription as is payable to the National Union of Teachers under its rules for the time being and, in addition, a local subscription to be determined by the Annual General Meeting of the Association.
b. Every member shall pay a further sum as the Association may require for the purpose of meeting any levy made by the Executive under the provision of rule 41 of the Union.
c. A member leaving the education service but not retiring shall be entitled to Left Profession membership upon payment of an Annual Subscription as determined by the Annual Conference of the Union plus any Local Association fee and shall be entitled to those services and benefits not excluded within the rules of the Union.
d. A member retiring from the profession shall be entitled to Retired Membership upon payment of an Annual Subscription as determined by the Annual Conference of the Union plus any Local Association fee and shall be entitled to those services and benefits not excluded within the rules of the Union.
e. In accordance with Union rule 35 any teacher who is a member of the National Union of Teachers for the current year through another Association may become a member of this Association on payment of the Annual Local Subscription.
f. All subscriptions shall be due and payable on 1st January each year.
g. Life Membership may be conferred by the Association to any member in respect of merit of service to the Association.
6. Officers and Committee
a. The management of the Association shall be vested in the Officers and Committee.
b. The Officers of the Association shall be the
President Vice President
Ex President General Secretary
Assistant Secretary (Administration) Assistant Secretary (Casework)
Treasurer Assistant Treasurer
Minuting Secretary Health & Safety Adviser
PRO Equalities Officer
Membership Secretary Union Learning Representative
c. The roles and responsibilities of the Officers shall be as defined in Appendix A of these rules.
d. The Executive Officers of the Association shall be the President, Vice President, Ex President, General Secretary and Treasurer.
e. The officers listed in rule 6c shall be declared elected at each AGM except as provided in rule 6f.
f. The President and Vice President of one year shall be the ex-President and President respectively in the succeeding year.
g. The Committee shall consist of the Officers as in Rule 6 (b) together with 15 members who shall be declared elected at the AGM and in addition:
7. Election of Officers and Committee
a. Nominations for the Officers listed in Rule 6 (b) (i), the elected Committee Members in Rule 6 (e) and Conference Delegates other than those attending ex officio under Rule 8 shall be made in writing, signed by the proposer and seconder and endorsed by the nominee and shall reach the Secretary not later than November 30th.
b. No person shall be eligible for nomination for any of the aforesaid positions who has not been a member of the Union for at least one year or whose subscription is in arrears.
c. Voting papers shall be issued to members not less than fourteen days before the date named for the close of poll which shall be seven days before the date of the Annual General Meeting. The vote shall be counted by the scrutineers appointed at the previous Annual General Meeting. The President for the time shall act as Returning Officer. Any election conducted as above shall not be invalidated by the failure of any member to receive or return a ballot paper.
d. Any vacancy for which no nomination has been received before the closing date may be filled by election at the AGM or by the Committee under rule 6 h.
8. Election of Conference Delegates
The President, Secretary and Treasurer shall be entitled to attend Conference ex officio together with other delegates elected in accordance with the procedures in Rule 7. The total number of delegates shall be determined in accordance with Union Rule 27 (a).
9. Sections
The Committee shall have the power to form such sections as a General Meeting may deem desirable and that the representative of that section on the Committee be determined by and from members of that section. Such sections are to be within the objectives of the Union and are answerable to the Committee of the Association.
10. Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall normally be held in the last week of January.
11. Meetings
a. At least three General Meetings shall be held during the year and such additional Meetings as the Committee shall deem desirable.
b. An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be summoned at any time by the Secretary on the instruction of the Committee or within twenty one days of the receipt of a written requisition stating the purpose for which the meeting is summoned and signed by not less than twenty members. No business other than that stated by the Committee or in the requisition shall be transacted. Thirty members shall form the Quorum for such an Extraordinary General Meeting.
c. The Quorum for all General Meetings and Special Meetings shall be ten and no business transacted at inquorate meetings shall become Association policy unless adopted by a subsequent quorate meeting.
d. At least seven days before the date of any General Meeting information shall be sent by the Secretary to the Members of the Association stating the time and place of the meeting together with the Agenda of the business as it shall have been arranged by the Committee.
e. All motions received by the Secretary at least fifteen days before a General Meeting shall be included in the Agenda but the Committee shall have the power to determine the order on the Agenda Paper excepting that business deferred from a previous meting shall take precedence over all other.
12. Order of Business; Annual General Meeting
The order of business at the Annual General Meeting shall be:
a. Minutes of the last AGM
b. Matters Arising
c. Rule Changes (if any)
d. Reports
e. Treasurer’s Report
f. Auditor’s Report
g. Adoption of Financial Statement
h. Installation of new President
i. President’s Address
j. Vote of thanks to the President for the Address
k. Declaration of election of Officers, Committee Members and Conference Delegates
l. Election of Scrutineers
m. Nominations for and election of Officers, Committee Members and Conference Delegates for which no nominations were made.
n. Election of Auditors
o. Election of representative to outside bodies.
p. Committee Recommendations: Local Subscription, Honoraria, Grants and donations.
q. Motions of which proper notice has been given to the Secretary.
r. Discussion of matters declared urgent by the Meeting.
13. Alteration of the rules
No alteration of or addition to any rule shall be made except at the Annual General Meeting or at a Special Meeting convened for the purpose. Notice of any proposed alteration must be sent to the Secretary at least one month prior to the date of the AGM or Special Meeting.
14. Financial Year
The financial year shall end at 31st December and at that day or such other dates as shall be required by the Executive of the Union the Association shall prepare and submit to the General Secretary a statement of account of the Association in the form and manner required by the Executive in compliance with the Certification Officer for Trade Unions and Employers Associations.
15. Accounts
The accounts of the Association shall be audited on behalf of the members of the Association by two lay auditors who shall be appointed at the AGM and who shall not be Officers or Members of the Committee or by professional auditors appointed by the Association. The Auditors shall be required to carry out their duties in accordance with the requirements of the Auditors appointed by the Executive of the Union under Rule 48 (a).
16. Statement of Account
a. The Statement of Account prepared and audited under Rules 17 & 18 shall be presented to the AGM of the Association. The Auditors shall be required to make a report to the AGM.
h. All Bank, Building Society and/or other Accounts shall be in the name of the Association and withdrawal from any account shall require the signature of any two out of three members delegated by the Committee to do so, one of whom shall be the Treasurer.
17. School Representatives
The Association shall take such steps as may be necessary to establish that in each school or unattached unit in its area there is an accredited Union representative. In particular these steps shall include those set out in a. to f. below.
a. The procedure for the election of the Union Representative shall be subject to the approval of the Committee of the Local Association.
b. The Union Representative shall be elected annually by all members in the school.
c. The Association shall bear responsibility for granting accreditation and shall issue accreditation documents stating the group of members.
d. The Association may approve the election of one or more Deputy Union Representatives for a given school.
e. The Association will notify the Local Education Authority and the relevant Headteacher of the names of its accredited Representatives and of their authority and responsibilities.
f. The Association will advise its accredited representatives that their authority and responsibilities include
i. The direct recruitment of members of staff.
ii. The dissemination of both local and national information from the Union to members in the school.
iii. Calling meetings of members in the school as and when required.
iv. Handling the initial stages of individual grievances of members.
v. Responsibility for consultation within and negotiations on those issues where the school has discretion regarding the implementation of agreements between the Association and the LEA on matters of collective interest to members in that school.
vi. Responsibility for ensuring that all agreements between the Union and the employers both local and national to which the Union is a party are observed within the school.
18. Interpretation of Rules
In the event of any question arising as to the interpretation of any of the Association rules the question shall be referred to the Committee whose decision shall be conclusive and binding on members.
Schedule