Delegates in spotlight at union’s conference

OLDHAM’S campaign against homophobia in schools will take centre stage at the National Union of Teachers (NUT) annual conference this Easter.

Members of the union’s Oldham branch will speak about their work to tackle the issue in Wales on Monday.

Councillor Kay Knox, Oldham Council’s cabinet member for children, young people and families, will also address a fringe meeting sponsored by the branch.

Around 1,000 delegates and 400 guests will attend the conference which runs from tomorrow until Tuesday in Cardiff.

The six-strong Oldham delegation will be led by joint branch secretaries Bryan Beckingham and Tony Harrison.

They will be joined by Sue Coggins, from St Thomas’ Leesfield School, Alison Watkinson, from Radclyffe, Mac Andrassy, from Counthill, and equalities officer Jeff Evans.

Oldham NUT has worked with the council to draw up a training programme to tackle homophobia after a survey found that 85 per cent of local teachers had witnessed daily abuse.

On Saturday morning, Oldham delegates will highlight the need for industrial action to defend union reps who face victimisation, following claims that a number of local reps have been targeted.

The delegates will also call for a new charter limiting teachers’ workload and defending national pay and conditions, and ask branches to lobby MPs and councillors as part of the campaign to scrap SATs.

Mr Beckingham said: “I am confident that conference will overwhelmingly carry the motion from the national executive calling for a boycott of the 2010 primary SATs.

“We see this as a continuation of our own campaign to get rid of SATs in the interests of children and schools.”