September 2015

NUT OASIS ACADEMY TRUST REPRESENTATIVES

NUT DIVISION SECRETARIES WITHOASIS ACADEMIES

NUT REGIONAL SECRETARIES

NUT ORGANISERS

Dear Colleague

NUT OASISBRIEFING - AUTUMN TERM 2015

This briefing gives information on pay and conditions and other matters in Oasis Academies and of the ongoing NUT campaign to Stand Up for Education in opposition to the Government’s attacks on pay, conditions and pensions.

The NUT is also now beginning to send email newsletters to all NUT members in all national Academy chains as part of a more regular programme of communication. Members in your chain will be receiving one shortly.

NO TO AUSTERITY

The NUT is calling on its members to support the ‘No to austerity – yes to workers’ rights’ national march and rally at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on Sunday 4 October. Please encourage members to attend!

See the TUC website for more details:

The People’s Assembly is organising coaches from around the country - See the People’s Assembly website for more information:

SCHOOL FUNDING CRISIS

This year's NUT Conference committed the Union to campaigning for an end to education cuts and for a restoration of funding levels. To do this, we need to show how financial pressures are affecting schools, colleges and education. We’ve recently sent an email survey to school reps - the responses so far have highlighted concerning issues for example areduction in teaching and support staff, larger class sizes, cuts to available subjects, increased reliance on unqualified teachers and cheaper and substandard materials and resources. These examples are very useful for us – especially when are communicating with the press and MPs. If you haven’t already done so, please complete the NUT survey at: ]

LOBBYING OPPORTUNITIES

The school funding crisis is just one of the issues members can lobby their MP about this term – either in person or by letter or email. On the national lobby days we want a strong presence in Parliament – with a delegation attending from every MP‘s constituency. Please work together to ensure your area is represented. More information on the organisation of the lobby days is available on the website – it’s also a good idea to talk to regional offices aboutarrangements.

Members can be directed to the following places for information about the issues and how to get involved:

Supply agency lobby – Wednesday 28 October

School funding lobby – Wednesday 18 November

Members can also email their MP about the new Education and Adoption Bill. More information and the link to email MPs is available here:

The NUT is backing the TUC campaign against the Trade Union Bill –more details are available at:

All these issues are being drawn together in a campaign video that can be used in members meetings – once its available online we’ll let you know.

2015 PAY AND PROGRESSION

In the context of the STRB’s recommendation we are pleased that Oasis have awarded the following pay increase for 2015-16:

  • 2% increase has been awarded to the maximum of the main pay range for classroom teachers (M6)
  • 1% uplift applied to all other pay ranges
  • 1% uplift to top of the ranges for head teachers
  • TLR’s and SEN uplifted by 1%

Advice for NUT members and representatives on how the pay progression system works; on assessing and challenging school policies on pay progression; and on pursuing appeals against denial of pay progression is available on the NUT website at:

OASISJOINT NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE (JNC) MEETINGON 15 JULY 2015

The JNC meeting included an academy update in which it was noted that Hextable Academy will be closing at the end of the 2015-2016 academic year due to falling rolls. The NUT regional office had raised concerns about how the consultation was handled. Oasis will be opening five new academies either this September or in 2016 which will bring its total to 49 schools by September 2016.

We also discussed the negative coverage of Ofsted’s inspection of Oasis in the Guardian newspaper. Unions made the point that Oasis’ plans to deal with the consequences of the Ofsted inspection should not put extra pressure on staff. We have asked to see an action plan at the next meeting.

Health and Safety

Despite undertakings, Oasis did not produce a draft Health and Safety policy for this meeting as anticipated.We will continue to raise this at future meetings.

Pay

There is still an outstanding sticking point on the appeal procedure (within the pay policy) against pay decisions, and there have been delays on getting what the unions believed were agreed changes into the policy. The Union Side agreed to redraft the disputed sections and these are now under consideration by Oasis. We will discuss the policy with a view to agreement at the next JNC meeting.

Appraisal

There are still problems with the associated Lesson Observation Protocol in the appraisal policy. It contains provision for no more than three lesson observations under normal circumstances but there is no maximum time limit in the Protocol. In secondary schools this should not be an issue but there is an opportunity for misuse in the primary sector.Drop-ins and learning walks are still included in the Protocol but we were able to establish that they would not be used as evidence in any appraisal and would only be carried out by the principal or a named substitute.As with the pay policy, the Union Side has redrafted the policy which Oasis is now considering.

We are in the process of making Oasis chain policies available on the NUT open website, so please make reps and members aware.

NEXT JNC MEETING

The NUT and other trade unions will be meeting with Oasis on 20 November 2015. The agenda is yet to be set so if there are any issues which you would like the NUT to raise with Oasisthen please let us know in advance of this date (see contact details at the end of this briefing).

ACADEMY LEVEL MEETINGS

JNCs in individual academies can also be set up as a forum for local negotiation and consultation with the academy management team – see the Oasis recognition agreement. If you don’t already have local arrangements, Division Secretaries are encouraged to help academy reps liaise with head teachers and principals to set these up. Regional offices can also provide advice and guidance.

TRADE UNION FACILITIES TIME ARRANGEMENTS

The national recognition agreement provides for academies to participate in local facilities time arrangements. The text below is an extract from the Oasis recognition agreement:

19.Oasis will participate in arrangements within the local authority areas in which Oasis Academies are situated with regard to reasonable time off with pay for any employees who are local or national trade union officers in order to permit time off with pay for trade union duties undertaken in that capacity.

Oasis believes that Principals should join local facilities agreements, but the decision is ultimately left to the Principal. Local secretaries need to ensure that individual academies join local facilities arrangements and are advised to liaise with NUT representatives on this issue.

NUT TRAINING FOR ACADEMY REPS

TheNUT’s Reps’ Foundation Courseis a new three-day course for newly elected reps or those who have not previously attended training, developed specifically to reflect the changing context for workplace reps. The course is delivered locally or regionally and is free with travel expenses reimbursed. If you’re a rep and haven’t attended, please apply. If you’re a Division Secretary, us this to encourage members to take on the role of NUT rep. Click here for details -

Training courses for reps who have already attended the foundation course are also held regionally and are free with travel expenses reimbursed -

Academy reps are entitled to time off with pay to attend these training courses under the terms of the recognition agreement with the academy chain.

NUT BENEVOLENT FUND

The NUT has now set up a benevolent fund which will provide financial assistance when members have suffered sickness, accident or injury, unemployment or bereavement. It is financed by donations from members, local associations and income from investments. More information, including on how to donate, is available here:

FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT WORKING IN OASIS ACADEMIES

Further information about pay, conditions and other matters regarding the Oasis academy chain is available on the NUT website at

Details of the national Trade Union Recognition Agreement with Oasis are also available here.

INFORMATION SHARING AND CONTACT DETAILS

The NUT Executive Rep for Oasis is Anne Lemon at:

The NUT national organising team member dealing with Oasis, members and NUT representatives is Jen Larbie at

The colleagues at NUT HQ who are responsible for negotiations with Oasis are Nick Kirby, Principal Officerand Anita Brown, Policy Officer

NUT reps who need to seek assistance with any casework problems affecting individual members should contact the NUT local secretary who can seek support from the NUT’s regional offices as appropriate. Please advise NUT members who require advice and assistance to contact the NUT AdviceLine on 020 3006 6266 in the first instance.

Please tell us about any notable developments in your areas and remember to look at emails from NUT HQ so you don’t miss anything important.

Yours sincerely

ANDREW MORRIS

Advice, Policy and Campaigns Department

Head of Pay, Conditions & Bargaining Section