Calderdale Trades Council to hold "Hands off our schools" public meeting
Monday, 12 September 2016 ;
Calderdale Trades Council will be holding a Public Meeting: 'Hands Off Our Schools' on Tuesday 20 September, at Hebden Bridge Trades Club, Holme Street, HX7 8EE. The meeting starts at 7.30pm.
The meeting will focus on several issues concerning our children's education. Schools are facing a funding crisis which has already let to cuts to Teaching Assistant jobs and some teachers' redundancies. It is also feared that changes to the School Funding Formula will leave some schools in deprived areas even worse off.
The Government still wants all schools in the public sector to become academies. Converting to academies effectively means that schools are privatised and nationally negotiated conditions for staff are eroded. In addition, the Government is now proposing to expand Grammar School and extend selection for school places on academic grounds.
SATs tests in Primary Schools have become too hard – in May, School Students in Hebden Bridge and elsewhere staged a strike against SATs.
Speakers at the public meeting include Calderdale NUT Division Secretary James Wilson, Calderdale NASUWT representative, Tim Cooper and local parent Charlotte Brady.
Calderdale Trades Council Secretary Pete Keal said, "This important Hands Off Our Schools public meeting will be an opportunity to hear more about the serious threats to our children's education as well as to discuss what we can do to defend our schools from these Government attacks. We look forward to a successful public meeting on these critical issues on 20 September."