31 January 2015
TO:
NUT ARK ACADEMY REPRESENTATIVES
NUT DIVISION SECRETARIES WITH ARK ACADEMIES
NUT REGIONAL SECRETARIES
NUT ORGANISERS
Dear Colleague
NUT ARK ACADEMIES BRIEFING – SPRING TERM 2015
This briefing gives information on pay and conditions and other matters in ARK Academies and on the
ongoing NUT campaign to Stand Up for Education in opposition to the Government’s attacks on pay,
conditions and pensions.
A Manifesto for the 2015 General Election - Stand Up for Education
The NUT is continuing to take forward the Stand Up for Education campaign in the run-up to the
General Election. Go to www.teachers.org.uk/volunteer to find out how to volunteer for local
campaigning opportunities and join the growing list of members lobbying their MPs between 26th
January and 6th February.
The NUT Manifesto for Education (available at
www.teachers.org.uk/parents) is receiving positive support from educationalists, politicians,
journalists, commentators and campaigners, authors and poets, parents and teachers. To support or
endorse the manifesto, go to www.teachers.org.uk/node/22622.
The action short of strike action is continuing as part of the Stand Up for Education campaign. For the
latest guidance, go to http://www.teachers.org.uk/files/instructions-for-action-short-of-strike-action.pdf.
Meeting with ARK Trust - 20 January 2015
We discussed a range of issues with ARK, including asbestos management; workload; staff turnover;
facilities time and new arrangements for pay progression.
On pay progression, ARK said they had not had any pay appeals. This does not of course indicate
that there isn’t a problem. ARK have asked head teachers to liaise with governing bodies on the
issue of local scrutiny. We’ve formally requested, as provided for by the recognition agreement and
as part of the collective bargaining process, detailed information on pay progression. This includes
the proportion of eligible teachers progressing, reasons for denial of progression and breakdown of
the figures (by academy/scale point/gender/ethnicity/full or part time status). They have promised the
union side detailed information on pay progression when it’s available. In the meantime any feedback
on issues encountered locally is welcome.
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In view of continuing concerns regarding workload and working time for teachers in ARK academies,
the NUT has decided to carry out a workload survey1 of NUT members working in ARK schools. The
purpose of this survey is to obtain evidence of workload problems directly from teachers in ARK
academies, so that we can use this evidence in national negotiations with ARK.
The next national meeting between the unions and ARK will take place on 19th May, but we’ll be
pressing ARK on the key issues ahead of that meeting. If there are any issues which you would like
the NUT to raise with UL, please let us know in advance of this date (see contact details at the end of
this briefing).
Status of Policies
The ARK pay and PM/appraisal policies were published but not agreed with the unions. Key
concerns remain with regard to pay progression and related issues – for example, ARK refuses to
limit objectives and observations to a maximum of three per year. We did, however, succeed in
obtaining some improvements to the original ARK drafts. For example, ARK accepts the concept of
pay portability in principle and will apply it unless there are “compelling reasons to do otherwise.”
The union side has been discussing with ARK a number of new and revised policies, but due to
delays in the process on the ARK side the unions haven’t yet reached the stage of formal union side
response to the policies. ARK have promised to forward the relevant information on these policies as
soon as possible, and, once the formal processes have been completed, the policies will be posted on
Hearth at http://www.teachers.org.uk/taxonomy/term/1732. In the meantime the current ARK policy
architecture remains in place.
ARK rejected the teacher unions’ claim for a substantial across-the-board increase in teacher
scales from September 2014, to at least maintain the real value of teacher pay against inflation.
unions reluctantly accepted the 1% pay increase, but welcomed the continuing application of
scales for teachers in ARK Academies which reflected and built upon the national pay structure
pay scales for maintained schools.
pay
The
pay
and
General Information about ARK
Information about pay, conditions and other matters about the ARK academy chain is available on the
NUT website at http://www.teachers.org.uk/taxonomy/term/1732.
Trade Union Facilities Time Arrangements
The national recognition agreement provides for Academies to participate in local facilities time
arrangements on the following basis:
The national ARK recognition agreement states “ARK Academies will seek to participate in
arrangements within the local authority area with regard to time off with pay for any employees who
are local or national trade union officers and will, subject to the provision of adequate funding by the
local authority, permit reasonable time off with pay for trade union duties undertaken in that capacity.”
ARK informed the unions in 2013 that it decided not to pay in to any local facilities time pots despite
the recognition agreement. Following pressure by the unions ARK agreed in December 2013 to
comply with LA arrangements for facilities time in each LA where it had academies although it
reserved the right to negotiate alongside other schools not within the ARK network to revise those
arrangements where appropriate. It would also review arrangements every 12 months. ARK has
written to its Principals to inform them of the decision which is being centrally funded by ARK.
We are not aware of any problems with ARK academies regarding facilities time, but local secretaries
need to ensure that individual Academies comply fully with the agreed policy on facilities time and are
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See http://nut-campaigns.org.uk/t/1RS-34VLQ-IXTDTY-1FXRRI-0/c.aspx
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advised to liaise with NUT representatives on this issue. Please let [email protected] know if any
Academies are not participating in local facilities time arrangements or if any LAs are not both seeking
and accepting contributions from Academies.
NUT Training for Academy Reps
The NUT’s reps’ foundation course is a new 3 day course for newly elected reps or those who have
not previously attended training. It has been developed specifically to reflect the changing context in
which you will be operating as the workplace rep. The course is delivered locally or regionally and is
free with travel expenses reimbursed. Details can be found at http://www.teachers.org.uk/nutreps.
Training courses for reps who have already attended the foundation course are also held regionally
and are free with travel expenses reimbursed - www.teachers.org.uk/advanced.
Reps in ARK Academies should be entitled to time off with pay to attend these training courses as set
out in the terms of the recognition agreement with the ARK Academy chain.
NUT Contacts
The
NUT
Executive
representative
for
ARK
Academies
is
Jerry
Glazier
at
[email protected]. The NUT national organising team member dealing with ARK
Academies, members and representatives is Alice Sorby at [email protected].
NUT members who require advice and assistance should in the first instance contact the NUT
AdviceLine on 0203 0066 266 or via email at [email protected]. NUT members in Wales
should contact NUT Cymru on 029 2049 1818.
Representatives who need to seek assistance with any casework problems affecting individuals
should, as ever, contact the NUT local secretary who can seek support from the NUT’s regional
offices as appropriate. In the event that assistance or information is required from NUT headquarters,
however, the following will be able to assist:
David Powell
Principal Officer
[email protected]
0207 380 4777
Patrick Bennett
Policy Officer
[email protected]
0207 380 4846
Yours sincerely
ANDREW MORRIS
Advice, Policy and Campaigns Department
Head of Pay, Conditions & Bargaining Section
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