SCOOP

I read in the Gruniad today that tomorrow (Tues 20th) sees our very own FE sector up for debate in the Commons. Centre-stage, wow, I'm impressed. Quite a lot has happened in the FE sector over the last week and now this. Parity with the Schools sector - we want it, we deserve it. 13% difference between our salaries and schools and we want the same funding per student as the Sixth-form sector. I'm so sick of FE playing the Cinderella role. I want to get glammed up for a change and be thought of as an equal with the schools, sixth forms and university types. Fe's always been the poor relation. So come on Blair, Kelly and whoever is FE Minister this week. Let's have it.

Can you guys see it happening? Fingers crossed it's delivered.

Watch this space

Billie

xxx

I read this week that Alan Donald the 'latest' Pensions Minister, wants to increase the pensionable age for teachers beyond 65, until 70 for some staff. What bloody nerve the Government have. They really are going to face a massive backlash over this issue as the Pension is the only thing left in the FE sector.

I have been unfortunate to witness during my 25 years in colleges, a number of colleagues who have suffered heart-attacks in college, some needed bypass operations, some developed mental illnesses, some suffered cancers and others develop all other manner of nervous illnesses, all in the line of duty brought about mainly by stress. I once witnessed a senior colleague faint in a meeting and carried out on a stretcher. I have only ever known one teacher in FE reach 65, who was actually still teaching on the day he left.

I came into FE as a lecturer in the early 1980's. It was a great place to work then. Nationally agreed 21 hours contact per week plus departmental duties. Time off if you worked in the evenings. Holidays were comparable with schools. Silver and Puple book conditions of service, a nationally agreed pay award. Burnham conditions, a career structure that started at L1, then L2, then SL, then PL. These are all long gone. It went downhill from 1993 when the Tory government brought colleges 'Incorporation'. At the college I was at at the time we all had a celebratory party. Yipee and pictures in the local newspaper showing how happy we all were. Then the Grim Reaper showed up. The Uriah Heap style, Further Education Funding Council - the FEFC, the fore-runner of the LSC knocked at the door. They didn't actually knock, more like blew the hinges off. All good things we had fought for since the dawn of education went flying into the abyss.

Conditions deteriorated. Strikes at colleges. Several winters of discontent. The reforms went slowly at first. Then, a light in the distance. Four years later in 1997, Tony Blair came to power on the anthem of ahem...education, education, education, yours truly thought, yeah, wow, whoo - hoo, we're now going to really go places. I voted for him and encouraged others to do the same. FE would be on the up and we would get back to normality and parity with schools. I'm still waiting. I guess you are too. Bliar lied, cheated and conned the FE sector big style. He, ahem...'reformed' the FEFC and replaced it with the LSC. Teaching staff left in droves to the sixth-form and schools sector. Teaching staff had to jump through more hoops to meet more and more Funding body targets. Funding to colleges was cut if people didn't complete or pass courses. Adult and leisure courses were chopped as they were not part of the Government's skills agenda. We had to take in more dissaffected kids from schools as they couldn't handle them. Contact times increased so that staff had to teach longer hours and then still had to mark and prepare classes on top of that. Not only that, staff had to attend nonsense like quality days, take part in self-assessment days, team-building, to try and make us comply with the new regime. It was more students, less money, bigger classes. It led to bums-on-seats, no resources and more staff off on the sick.

So each year, conditions have got steadily worse and worse, thanks mainly to Mr Blair, and a succession of education ministers who have systematically shit on people in the FE sector since 1997 - for over 8 years.
In 2003 the Blair Government said it was going to review Public sector pensions because we 'didnt have enough money in the kitty to pay for them'. Before the election in May 2005, the Governments proposals were dropped, but the've reared their ugly head again and this week at the TUC conference, and thanks to Alan Donald, the pensions issue has been stirred up once again.

People in FE have got to make a stand here. Blair and his cronies have to be given a bloody nose on the issue of Pensions and Donald told to fuck off or we will be teaching until we're 70. (Sorry for the language everyone but it's what Bob Geldof would say.)

My message to Alan Donald and Tony Blair tonight is this, mess with our Pensions gentlemen, and you will unleash hell.

A very angry and passionate Billy tonight.

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Announced on Sunday (Why do the Government pick a Sunday to announce such a load of old tosh?) were our glorious leaderene Roof Kelly's latest plans to expose under-performing teachers according to the BBC. This scam (sorry, scheme) would make schools and colleges publish details of pupils' achievements that could damage staff morale, unions have said.
The proposal, a central part of (yet another) Education White Paper, will let parents use the data to complain to the inspection service Ofsted.

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly said the plan was not about "teacher-bashing".

Yeah right Roof. Sounds just like that old TV programme "The Prisoner" to me. Grades awarded 1 - 5 for staff, teachers asking each other is 1 a high score or is it the other way round?

"Where am I?"
You are in the college
"How did I get here?"
You are number three...
"Who is number one?"
"What does that mean?"
Congratulations number three you have just been Ofstedded
"How do I get out of this F£$%^*g job?"....
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

For the rest of the year expect staff walking round the corridors zombie-like with large numbers painted on them. Great. Well done Roof. What number are you then? And how are you getting along with that nice Lord Adonis chap?

How did induction week go for you?

Monday - chaos, what else. No classrooms and the painters are still in from the summer and three kids are sent home covered in paint. Cover for a colleage who is off sick having thought the afternoon I could have a long lunch - wrong.

Tuesday more chaos - classrooms ready but stink of Dulux and we have to have all the windows open. The place resembles some cheap TV makeover job where the only colour they had was trade off-white, so everything got done in that. Meanwhile down the corridor in the management section (off-limits to kids and staff) the new blue carpet, potted plants, air conditioning and colour scheme to match the college logo looks (jealously) nice. Team building with the kids in Public Services National Diploma - a map reading exercise which comprises a quiz to find all the fire extinguishers in the college. They will find this very useful in later life I tell them as they already look pissed off and it's only Day 2.

Wednesday - crisis. Our new Head of Faculty calls in sick. She's only been here a month and the signs for her long-term committment don't look too good. With no timetables for the day we are all in shtuck. Lets watch a few videos...a brief respite. Star Wars IV and an analysis of what Lucas meant by "the Force". This takes up all morning and the kids love the debate. We do the shields exercise to get them all standing up and talking about themselves.

Thursday - from crisis back to chaos. Head of Faculty decides to come back to work and we all receive our timetables for next week. 25 hours contact. Not too bad. Go to the Gym to tone up at lunch time.

Friday - TGIF. No kids today. Chaos? - couldn't care less now its weekend and can at least start planning my classes for next week. Most of it Iv'e got in hand but do some searches on the web and find some good stuff.

God I love this job. Some fun kids this year - should be more stories for BBD.

Billy xxx

If you've watched any of the early episodes of the X-Factor, you will have seen the staged predictability of the show with its highs and lows, good, bad and uglies - and that's just the panel members.

I think they should bring in the same technique for appointing FE staff. It might go a bit like this.

TANIA aged about 20, enters stage left, long blonde hair, blue eyes. Dressed in a smart black suit, heels, looking very much Miss Selfridge. Putting her briefcase down she moves centre stage to face the panel.
------------------------------------------------

PANEL: Hi, and you are?
TANIA: Hi, my names TANIA.
PANEL: Well you are looking smart today. (Panel mutter among themselves)
PANEL: And do you think you have the X-factor to start a career
in teaching in further education?
TANIA: O'h, yeah, its me dream you see. I love Science.
Me mum and Dad right, they know I can do it and
I've got talent.
PANEL: OK then Tania, what are you going to perform for us?
TANIA: I'm going to describe Newtons Third Law of motion and how it
affects our everyday lives.
PANEL: Wow, well, the college is very short of sciene lecturers
at the moment, so, off you go.....
TANIA: Well, there were this geezer called Newton and he were in
hees sittin in is garden one day, when this ruddy great
lemon fell on his head, and...
PANEL: Hang on a minute, you were doing well until the Lemon.
Newton wasn't hit on the head by a bloody lemon,
it was an apple.
TANIA: Nah, you're wrong , thats not what I was taught at skool!
PANEL: (all with arms folded - scowling)
And what school did you go to luvvie?
TANIA: Blogginsthorpe Academy Skoowel - one of them new jobs that
that Charlie Clarke built. It were brilliant.
PANEL: Look Tania, its obvious, you haven't got a clue, you don't
look right, your hairs a mess, you cant speak properly
and you have NO TALENT to teach.
TANIA: (Through streams of tears) Well it's me dream, me dream.
PANEL: Well, How do you fancy being an Assistant Principal instead?
£48K, Car, no teaching, you can surf the web and look
out of your window most of the day. Do you think you could
do that?
TANIA: Oh could I, PLEEEEASE give me a try, I'll make you proud,
I will honest.
PANEL: When can you start? How about Monday?
TANIA: Well, I'll have to ditch my job at the bettin office.
PANEL: OK then, look forward to seeing you back here on Monday
at 8.30 Tania. (Tania exits)
PANEL: Phew, strewth, how many more do we need?
SHARON and LOUIE:
That's one Prinicipal, another 8 Assistant principals,
Three Heads of Department,
16 FT lecturers, 176 PT lecturers...god, we'll be here till
bleedin Christmas.

(And they were)

Staff - the most precious asset any organisation can have.