Media Coverage: Letters

The Times, 16 March 2009: "Fast track to teaching and an executive job"

TES, 13 March 2009: "Running schools like businesses will not give us freedom"

The Guardian, 3 December  2008 

Effective responses to Baby P failures 

The practices of those involved in the Baby P case ("Report reveals Baby P failings", 2 December 2008) need to be examined, but there is a wider picture. There is still a long way to go before we have a fully integrated children’s workforce. Many professionals are not communicating with each other in a way that gives them confidence to be critical of others’ practice, especially when that practice is at a senior level.

Questions have been raised about how this case was followed up. The whole children’s workforce - including teachers, support staff, childcarers and social workers - must be trained not only in safeguarding children, but in communicating with other professionals and questioning practice where necessary. Whistle-blowing should be everyone’s duty rather than something undertaken by the brave or, as it’s seen by many, the foolhardy.  Voice has written to Lord Laming, calling for professional development for those working with children.  There should be a requirement to report bad practice or even suspicions. It is better to have a complaint investigated and found to be of no consequence than to withhold information through fear – the stakes are too high.

Those reporting concerns about a child should know that their concerns have been acted on.  All concerns should be investigated and become the responsibility of at least two people so that they are not reliant on just one person. A procedural complaint should not be dismissed until it has been fully investigated by more than one senior officer. This would safeguard individuals by ensuring that decisions were not theirs alone.

Safeguarding children should never be second to safeguarding our own positions.  Even skilled and dedicated professionals can fail when the system fails them.

Philip Parkin, General Secretary, Voice: the union for education professionals 

The Independent (Education), 18 September July 2008

The Independent (Education), 17 July 2008

"Teaching by degrees": Letter from General Secretary Philip Parkin (3rd item in column)

(Letter in response to "Do they need this masterplan?", 10 July 2008)

Financial Times, 12 July 2008

"Some parents try to mask children’s school absence": Letter from General Secretary Philip Parkin

Education Guardian, 10 June 2008

"End obsessive testing", letter from General Secretary Philip Parkin

Early Years Educator, June 2008

Basic rights needed for accused teachers

Voice: the union for education professionals is backing calls by Scotland’s Children’s Commissioner for anonymity for teachers accused of abuse.

Children need protection, but those who work with them – both teachers and support staff – are entitled to protection as well. The lives and careers of innocent people have been ruined by false allegations of abuse, even after they have been acquitted of any offence. Being falsely accused and suspended can cause severe personal distress and long-term damage to the accused’s career.

Splashing someone’s name across the front page of a newspaper because they have been accused of something, but not charged, is trial by media. A small paragraph on an inside page weeks later reporting that the charges have been dropped is not acceptable – mud sticks.

An accusation of abuse should never be ignored, for fear that a child, pupil or student may be at risk, but neither should the accused be obliged to wear the mantle of guilt. It is time for teachers and support staff to be given some basic rights and safeguards. Among these should be the right to anonymity unless, and until, charged with a criminal offence. The necessary legislation to effect this should be introduced as soon as possible.

Philip Parkin, General Secretary, Voice

TES Scotland, 6 June 2008

Reduce class sizes now to achieve world-class education

Voice (Scotland) supports the aspirations of the Scottish Government to work towards smaller class sizes in Scottish schools.

We endorse the target of a maximum of 18 pupils in all P1 – P3 classes.  We also urge that, once done, a further aim should be to extend this maximum year-on-year as these cohorts progress through primary school.

In secondaries, we would like to see maintained the commitment given by the previous administration to a maximum of 20 pupils in S1 and S2 English and Maths classes, and this extended to all years and all subjects (practical subjects already have this restriction).

Voice (Scotland) recognises that there will be implications for staffing resources and costs, and also for accommodation and school design.  Over the last few years, there has been increased investment in training more teachers, a number of whom are finding difficulty in securing permanent jobs. 

This resource, coupled with the trend towards falling pupil rolls, creates an opportunity, given the political will, to start reducing class sizes.  This would assist in the raising of attainment by improving a teacher’s contact with individual pupils and would support the Scottish Government’s aim of achieving a world-class standard of education for Scotland’s children.

Maureen Laing, Senior Professional Officer (Scotland)

The Independent (Education), 03 April 2008

"Union unity": Letter from General Secretary Philip Parkin

PAT letters