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School support staff are true stars in our schools

UNISON South East was delighted last month to organise two inspirational CPD day’s for over 250 people at the Thinking Schools Academy Trust (TSAT). With separate days at Portsmouth and Medway, this was a fantastic opportunity to bring together school support staff from across the trust’s 14 different schools. UNISON organisers delivered interactive, wellbeing-focused workshops […]

A new investigation by the Observer has laid bare the growing crisis with special education needs funding – and Hampshire County Council faces the largest overspend in the country; more than £10.5million. Read the full story here: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/nov/10/councils-face-crisis-special-needs-education-funding

This is a victory for all low-paid women working in the public sector

On behalf of UNISON’s 1.3 million members, I want to take this opportunity to thank school support staff for everything you’ve done for our nation’s children this year.

Surrey County Council (SCC) has announced a “pause” in the process to shut Ripley CofE Primary School, which until this time last year had 144 pupils. The move comes after concern that officials failed to follow correct procedures during the process. UNISON South East has been working extensively to support affected members at the school, […]

UNISON is organising meetings and support after Cheshire academy chain announced 43 redundancies at seven schools across the county

On 24 April, well over a hundred UNISON activists from across Britain came together in Brighton for a terrific day that not even the persistent drizzle could spoil. The Schools Support Staff Seminar is a mixture of workshops and talks, with this year’s special guest being Angela Rayner, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Education: […]

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has issued a damning report on the issue of Multi-Academy Trust schools (MATs). The report – produced by a cross section of MPs – is highly critical of the MATs model, particularly in regard to the ‘unjustifiably high salaries’ of many senior staff. More than 100 trustees currently earn salaries […]

UNISON calls on government to ‘give more money to schools now’ as Education Policy Institute report shows more schools recording larger deficits

UNISON backs Children’s Society campaign against changes to free school meal eligibility in England which could stop up to one million children qualifying

Real-terms cuts to school funding since 2015 have led to a big reduction in the number of secondary teachers, teaching assistants and support staff in England, says research published today (Wednesday) by the School Cuts alliance of education unions.

The National Audit Office (NAO) report on the public finance initiative provides a scathing indictment of PFI and PF2, and confirms many of the fears UNISON has been raising for more than 20 years, the union said today (Thursday). The NAO says there are currently 700 PFI and PF2 deals in operation, and if no […]

Four in ten (41%) school kitchen staff are worried about their pay, with one in five (21%) earning the minimum wage, a new UNISON survey published today (Friday) has revealed.

Joint letter to Philip Hammond from UNISON, Unite and GMB calls on him to fund ‘a decent pay award’ for school and council staff in this wee’s local government settlement