Joint Executive Council

This afternoon’s Joint Executive Council (JEC) meeting of the National Education Union was short and uneventful, in the sense that none of the papers before the council proved controversial. In many ways, its was a continuation of the Joint Officer Group process that has led the creation of the National Education Union over the past two and a half years.

The major difference is that the paperwork we were looking at today (which won’t be formally agreed until September 1st, when the JEC officially comes into existence) relates directly to the operation of the JEC up to 1st January 2019. In many ways, today represented a milestone in the creation of the National Education Union. So, what does that mean for NUT (and indeed ATL) members?

The National Education Union is Here!

The room was charged with excitement, the tension in the air palpable, threatening to burst every time an announcement was made and greeted with applause. On Saturday, I attended a joint briefing on the National Education Union for NUT and ATL local Secretaries. At least that's what the event was billed as.

However, not long into the meeting, with an warm welcome delivered by the Joint General Secretaries Designate, and the announcement of the Deputy and Assistant General Secretaries Designate, of the new union, it was clear why there was such a level of excitement in the room - we were effectively at the first meeting of the National Education Union.

School Funding Campaign Post-Election

I've just spent the afternoon in a full Executive strategy briefing and workshop. We received a presentation, then had discussion in workshop groups, around three key campaigns - Funding, Assessment and Workload. In addition, we have had an initial discussion about the role of the Executive in the new National Education Union from September.

Our starting point was the unstable political situation following the General Election and the raised awareness over the issue of school funding. The School Cuts website the union launched, and the vigorous parent campaign that has developed nationally and locally, made education funding a real issue at the election.