Education Motions

Created on: 06 Jun 2021 | Last modified: 16 Feb 2023


Motion

Resolution

1.Edinburgh Local Association and Council

"That this AGM instruct Council to seek to influence the direction of Education Recovery in the interests of equity and sound learning, and of the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff, by lobbying for sustainable investment in quality education for equity and appropriate prioritisation of resources to enable:

  1. minimum guaranteed access to a teacher for all 3-5 year olds;
  2. support for the further development of play-based approaches in early Primary;
  3. sufficient and transparent funding of Additional Support Needs provision to include increased specialist support in relation to such areas as speech and language therapy, mental health, EAL and home-school links;
  4. full utilisation of supply teachers in contributing to the Recovery effort;
  5. resourcing of a national mentorship programme for young people who have been disproportionately disadvantaged by Covid disruption;
  6. re-design of the Senior Phase such that 2-year qualifications become the norm;
  7. thorough exploration of the wellbeing needs of teachers and appropriate response to these; and
  8. an investigation and report on options for reforming national 5 and Higher assessments. To then use the findings of the report to develop policy around this area.

Amendment Edinburgh Local Association

Delete "h) an investigation and report on options for reforming national 5 and Higher assessments. To then use the findings of the report to develop policy around this area."

Carried

2. Glasgow Local Association and Council

"That this AGM believes that the number of permanently employed teachers must increase across Scotland to reduce excessive workload, to address pupils' needs particularly in relation to ASN, to facilitate education recovery and to achieve a sustainable workforce. AGM calls for:

  • legislation to immediately move to cut class sizes in P1-3 to a maximum of 20 to support pupil health, well-being and recovery.
  • a national minimum staffing standard – with ringfenced funding to local authorities - to be developed and adopted to ensure sustainable, fair and consistent teacher staffing levels throughout the country, capable of addressing issues of deprivation,additional support needs, EAL, rurality, and guaranteed time for promoted members of staff.
  • probationer placements to be centrally funded by the Scottish Government and to be super numerary in terms of school staffing.
  • A campaign for the Induction Year Placements to be funded by Scottish Government to allow them to sit beyond the core staffing of the school

Carried

3. East Dunbartonshire Local Association and Council

"That this AGM resolves to instruct Council to:

  1. investigate and report on practitioners’ experiences of remote learning across the Early Years, Primary, Secondary and ASN sectors, to include focus on digital access, workload, health and wellbeing, training in the use of digital devices and platforms, and professional learning in remote learning pedagogies; and
  2. to use the findings to lobby the Scottish Government, Education Scotland and Local Authorities with the aim of improving support for practitioners in the delivery of future remote learning provision.
  3. to investigate the provision of ICT for teachers and lecturers working from home and share findings with Council to inform subsequent campaigns."

Carried

4. Edinburgh Local Association

"That this AGM instructs Council to reinvigorate its campaign in defence of high quality early years provision, and the particular role and value of GTCS-registered teachers. This campaign to include, but not limited to:

  1. working with parent groups and others to make the case for an early years workforce which is fit for purpose in terms of size and quality across all providers;
  2. monitoring the implementation of the 1140 hours provision, and mapping emerging issues across local authorities;
  3. mapping the different models of provision within local authorities as regards "providing access to a nursery teacher" and sharing findings;
  4. supporting local associations in developing local campaigns where provision is seen to be falling short of best practice."

Carried

5. Edinburgh Local Association

"That this AGM instruct Council to investigate and report on alternatives to the current model of school inspections, as undertaken by Education Scotland."

Carried

6. Edinburgh Local Association

"That this AGM calls on Council to investigate and report on the proportion of Flexible Route probationers (across all sectors) who successfully complete probation using this route. Use this to:

  1. identify issues and potential barriers affecting members choosing the flexible route option, and
  2. inform guidance to members and local associations."

Carried

7. Midlothian Local Association

"That this AGM instruct Council to lobby the Scottish Government to take action to reduce waiting times to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

Furthermore, that this AGM instructs council to investigate and report on the provision and access to children’s services e.g. CAMHS, Speech & Language therapy across all local authorities."

Carried

8. Midlothian Local Association

"That this AGM instructs council to engage with the Government in order to achieve a ring-fenced funding strategy for Scottish Instrumental Music Services."

Carried

9. West Lothain Local Association and North Lanarkshire Local Association

"That this AGM agrees to campaign for:

    1. An audit of accurate numbers of these young people who apply for but are not offered a place in a specialist provision (and are, instead, in the mainstream);
    2. Training for all mainstream teachers to meet needs of pupils with ASNs within the mainstream setting;
    3. Additional funding to provide more trained staff to support pupils with specific needs including SFL/ASN teachers and assistants;
    4. The Scottish Government and Local Authorities to increase and resource the number of places at ASN establishments supporting children and young people with EBD needs, and
    5. A review of staffing standards in ASN establishments catering for children with complex learning needs requiring intensive support in educational and behavioural matters, with a view to increasing teacher and ASNA numbers assigned to individual children and young people."

Amendment Glasgow Local Association

Delete i, iv and v.

Carried

10. Midlothian Local Association

"That this AGM instructs Council to investigate and report on:

  1. Use of mobile devices to support learning, teaching and attainment.
  2. The impact of mobile phones on low level disruption to the learning environment."

Carried

11. Renfrewshire Local Association

"That this AGM campaign to persuade all Councils to adopt the Physical Education Physical Activity Sport (PEPAS) model to ensure the provision and maintenance of quality physical education in every school."

Carried

12. East Renfrewshire Local Association

"That this AGM instructs Council to campaign for the issuance by the SQA of updates contemporaneous with Scottish Government announcements relating to national qualifications."

Carried

13. Dumfries and Galloway Local Association

"That this AGM resolves that education on "the role of trade unions in society" should be a compulsory element in social education in secondary schools and should feature in all FE vocational courses. The EIS should campaign both through STUC and directly through the Scottish government to bring this about."

Carried