Derek McMillan

The dramatised account of the abdication on BBC 4 made it into a love story and a battle between the "People's King" and the stuffy old politicians who wouldn't let him marry the woman he loved. In a way the whole program was a cover-up because his unsavoury connection with the Nazis did not get a mention. A lie by omission if nothing else. One also wonders if the only issue was getting rid of "that impossible woman" then why not a little car accident?

Here I am replying to myself again but I got this from the campaign this morning. You know there was a lot of discussion about this on the "other" education website. Perhaps this is because there are more supporters of torture over there? Suggested letter to the PM Insert your address Insert date Prime Minister Tony Blair 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA Dear Prime Minister ¬¬¬¬ I am writing to request that the British government agrees to the immediate release by the United States government of Omar Deghayes from Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay allowing him to return to his family and friends in the UK. Omar Deghayes is a UK resident who has been living near Brighton for twenty years. His family fled Libya in 1987 following the assassination of his father who was a political opponent of Gaddafi's regime. Omar's family are British citizens and they, including him, were given refugee status. In March 2006 a judicial review was heard in the High Court, London and it was noted that "there is respectable academic support of the proposition that refugees should be accorded diplomatic protection by the State which has accepted that status". Omar Deghayes has been held in Guantanamo Bay since September 2002. There have been reports of torture in Guantanamo from the most respected international bodies, including the United Nations. I have concerns about the treatment of Omar Deghayes. There has been no legal proceeding in a case against him and there has been no evidence presented that has been made available to legal, public or independent scrutiny. The arrest, transportation, internment and torture of the detainees held in Guantanamo may be breach of Articles 5, 9 and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which state that: • No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. • No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. • Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal in determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. These principles are embodied in the European Convention of Human Rights and Britain's 1998 Human Rights Act. I will look forward to receiving your response to my concerns about the torture of Omar Deghayes and what steps you are taking to enable his return home to the UK. Yours sincerely

Slightly OT but we do get heads who leave the NUT on obtaining headships and we do have some very good heads who stay in the NUT on the grounds their principles are not for sale. "Buying off" the leaders has always been a tactic of employers as being a lot cheaper than paying the workforce more. It is not a new phenomenon and in the long run it is ineffective in a democractic organisation because the "bought off" leaders can be kicked out. It is also one of the reasons why socialists have advocated that posts should be elected and the holders subject to recall and that officials should not receive more than the average wage of the people they represent - as is usually the case with shop stewards or NUT reps. (Oh sorry they do get a free diary!) It is the reason why Martin Powell-Davies stood as a "teachers' leader on a teacher's wage" (I am particularly proud of this slogan as I rearranged the apostrophes!) Members of the Socialist Party working for teachers, for education and for socialism in the National Union of Teachers. Visit our website. http://socialistteachers.org.uk Comment on our blog socialistteachers.blogspot.com.

Workload ballot result The positive answer to the workload ballot was overwhelming: Endorsing the guidelines (Q,1) 99% Yes !! Supporting a ballot for action if necessary (Q.2) 87% Yes The turnout was just under 20% - not surprising given the lack of national union publicity about the ballot and the guidelines beforehand. Some may try and use the lowish turnout to argue there's no support - but the 99% speaks for itself. Members of the Socialist Party working for teachers, for education and for socialism in the National Union of Teachers. Visit our website. http://socialistteachers.org.uk Comment on our blog http://socialistteachers.blogspot.com .

Omar Deghayes, British resident imprisoned without charge or trial and currently being tortured in Guantanamo bay will be spending Christmas in prison while Blair and co are enjoying themselves. The Save Omar campaign - whose only demand is that he should stand trial if he has committed any crime - are asking all supporters to post Christmas cards with anti-Guantanamo and Justice for Omar greetings to the Prime Minister and the relevant members of his cabinets. Here are their addresses: Prime Minster Tony Blair 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett Foreign and Commonwealth Office 19 King Charles Street London SW1A 2AH Home Secretary John Reid 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF I think the world has learnt a great deal about the nature of democracy from Guantanamo. It truly is an educational initiative.

"The devil can quote scripture to his purpose." The church has been a consistent agent of conservatism, "rendering unto Caesar" and incidentally lining its own pockets. And at the same time Christians have been on the other side of the barricades, tending to the poor, comforting the sick, fighting for social justice, and using the words of Jesus to support their position.

The story on Channel 4 News this evening about private security firms in Iraq make one wonder whether the British death toll is being disguised. They showed the grieving family of one soldier who will get no military funeral because he signed up with a private army in Iraq. They also quoted from one security man who was hired to protect American soldiers. I will repeat that. hired to protect American soldiers and derided their lack of security consciousness concluding "If they get killed by a roadside bomb they will have nobody but themselves to blame." For someone employed to protect them I have to say this is probably not an attitude his employer would want made public. Moreover the idea that the American army need to be protected by security guards does nothing for their macho image. The fact that private soldiers, who will get no flag-draped coffins going home are very convenient for Bush and Blair.

I have just been watching a scientist on BBC2 comparing Animal Rights protesters with terrorists and explaining that all medical advances have been brought about by animal experiments in the past which proves conclusively that there will never be an alternative in the future. His case was undermined just a little by the way he was puffing away on a cigarette throughout. Obviously all those experiments proving that beagles get cancer if your force them to smoke were lost on him. I am not an animal rights supporter - I stroke the cat occasionally but that is about it. I do know that equally serious scientists are seeking alternatives to the old fashioned methods of animal experimentation.

Details of the training courses for NUT members in Spring and Summer are available at http://westsussexteachersassociation.blogs...t-officers.html There is even a course on stress and wellbeing. I think we could all do with that one!

Oh dear. I have no intention of naming anyone but I do know that such accusations have been made about many people and in each case there is no proof or anything which could be described as evidence. There is just an implication, "it would be in the interests of... (CIA, KGB,the Nazis, the Kaiser)" though in this instance that seems pretty obscure. I would take it as a sort of backhanded compliment.

"I am telling you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. "If someone slaps you on the cheek, offer your other cheek as well. If anyone grabs your coat, let him have your shirt as well. "Give to anyone who asks, and if someone takes away your belongings, do not ask to have them back." Has anyone put this point of view to millionaire George Bush and his church? "Turning the other cheek" is conveniently enjoined upon the exploited and the poor. A rather convenient morality for your slaves to practise so long as it does not apply to their masters.

Steve Bell's analogy turns out to be the most apt one. Invading Iraq to fight terrorism really is like invading Greenland to fight global warming,

The victory of Bernie Sanders in Vermont shows the potential for someone who stands against the millionaires to gain support. He appealed to both Democrat and Republican voters: "Right wing republicans cannot afford healthcare, right wing republicans cannot get their kids through college - they want someone to look after their economic interests." He approved of the idea of millionaires voting against him - it is in their class interests to do so! Bernie described socialism on Democracy Now! as follows: "Well, I think it means the government has got to play a very important role in making sure that as a right of citizenship, all of our people have healthcare; that as a right, all of our kids, regardless of income, have quality childcare, are able to go to college without going deeply into debt; that it means we do not allow large corporations and moneyed interests to destroy our environment; that we create a government in which it is not dominated by big money interest. I mean, to me, it means democracy, frankly. That's all it means. And we are living in an increasingly undemocratic society in which decisions are made by people who have huge sums of money. And that's the goal that we have to achieve." Bernie's view of socialism is more on the Scandinavian model of peaceful coexistence with capitalism. Nevertheless his victory does show what is possible.

The Soviet Union was derided for having a one-party state, imprisonment without trial and imperial ambitions. However I must agree that the Democrat victors sounded like Republicans, I will not be holding my breath waiting for them to do something about Guantanamo or the war. The theme of the night was "We must have a change of tack in Iraq" - not "withdraw the troops" just a change of tack, which Bush has already indicated is likely. And "we need a bipartisan love-in in Washington". If that is the case why vote for these jokers? Still it is interesting to see there is a lot of commitment in politics over there, a poll worker in Kentucky tried to throttle a voter according to this morning's papers. We seldom get that level of excitement over here.

I was brought up on the tale of Karl Liebknecht, who stood out as a minority of one in opposing the First World War. Everybody knows he was right *now* - the trick was to be right *then*. There are no winners in war. People celebrated the end of the war, they were glad it was over. It was only later that the monarchs, politicians and generals dared to turn the commemoration of war into a glorification of... monarchs, politicians and generals

To put up with things as they are does not require thought. To imagine intelligent ways in which they might be improved does. I think people will only reject conservatism when they can be convinced that a political change would positively change theit lives and those of their children and is not "just another con" Campaign for a New Workers' Party

Laryngitis One of our members "somewhere in West Sussex" valiantly turned up to work with laryngitis. After teaching a modern foreign languages lesson which was observed for internal assessment, she was told this was "satisfactory." This would be quite reasonable but OFSTED seem to have an Orwellian attitude to the English language in which "satisfactory" can become "doubleplusungood" in the wink of an eye. The NUT advice to members: if you have laryngitis or any other illness which will prevent you working do not turn up for work. Your goodwill, it seems, will not be reciprocated. From http://westsussexteachersassociation.blogspot.com/

Ed I used to be a member of the Labour Party. There are still people old enough to remember when if you were fighting the closure of a local hospital or the privatisation of public services, it was the local Labour Party ***organising the demonstrations*** not carrying out the cuts and privatisations. I think there is a real chance of the union resisting the worsening of our conditions over this issue. One reason is that the NUT was formed to fight against performance-related pay. We still fight the same battles over 125 years later. I think STOPP has some mileage in forcing the national union to take this issue seriously and get some national action.

Information about Performance Management and the latest RIGged proposals: http://stopperformacepay.blogspot.com/2006...r-to-build.html Postponed for a year – a year to build a campaign to defeat these regulations! Comments on the new regs for Performance Management For further information, contact Martin Powell-Davies, Chair, STOPP martinpd_uk@yahoo.co.uk 07946 445488 Commentary on the Rewards and Incentives Group’s: Guidance on Teachers’ and Head teachers’ Performance Management (released October 10th2006) Making us jump through more hoops is apparently to help reduce workload ! 1.7 RIG has sought to develop non-bureaucratic, streamlined and multi-purpose arrangements for teachers’ performance management which build on the existing system and reflect partners’ overarching commitment to raising standards and tackling workload. Yes, line managers will have to do the dirty work for Heads. 4.11 RIG believes that wherever possible the role of reviewer should be delegated to the teacher’s line manager, i.e. the person who directs, manages and has a post of responsibility for the area in which the reviewee mainly works. Come prepared, after all there’ll be no union rep at a meeting to set targets & pay. 5.4 The planning and review meeting should be a professional dialogue between the reviewer and the reviewee. Reviewees should play an active part in the meeting making sure they put forward their views about their performance and future development. They may find it helpful to … ensure they have copies of any relevant documentation and evidence, and written feedback on classroom observations. In preparing for the next cycle … consider, as a backdrop to the discussions, the standards which apply to their current career stage and those to which they might progress, and, where the reviewee is eligible for pay progression, the relevant criteria for pay progression set out in the STPCD. Reviewers need to be ready too – forget teamwork, make it rigorous ! 5.5 Reviewers will want to be well prepared for the planning and review meeting, and may find it helpful to … check that all documents to which they will refer at the meeting have been shared with the reviewee, to assist their preparation for it. In preparing for the next cycle … ensure they have consulted with relevant third parties with direct professional knowledge of the reviewee, about possible objectives for the next review cycle, performance criteria, evidence, arrangements for collecting it and support to be provided to the teacher. There is no limit to the number of “challenging” objectives you could be set. 5.8 Reviewers are responsible for ensuring rigour when objectives are set. Objectives should focus on priorities. They should be time bound, challenging but achievable, and reflect the need for a satisfactory work/life balance. A reviewee’s objectives should reflect any relevant team, year or whole school objectives. There will be three hours of classroom observation for performance management. 5.10 All classroom observation should be undertaken in accordance with the regulations and the school’s protocol for the conduct of classroom observation and the school’s performance management policy ... There should always be a clear rationale and focus for any classroom observation. There should be no observations in addition to those agreed in the planning and review statement except for those described in paragraphs 5.17 and 5.18 below. 5.11 The regulations specify a limit of three hours in any review cycle for classroom observation, but there is no requirement for the whole three hours to be used. How can observation be “supportive and developmental” when it is linked to pay? 5.14 Classroom observation should be supportive and developmental … The observation record should be sufficient to meet the needs of individuals and the school (i.e. summarising the focus, what was learnt from the observation, the feedback given and any subsequent … follow-up) It might be more than 3 hours – Heads and Senior Managers can still “drop-in”! 5.16 - 5.18 If concerns arise during the review cycle or the reviewee’s circumstances change … additional classroom observation, where necessary including observation that exceeds three hours within the review cycle, may be agreed ... Classroom observations by Ofsted or by a local authority using its statutory powers of intervention are also not part of performance management ... Heads have a right to drop in to inform their monitoring of the quality of learning. In large schools they may delegate drop in to appropriate members of the leadership group. Targets and performance will be judged on data. This is “payment-by-results”. 5.19 The other evidence which will be taken into account will normally be in the form of data or written feedback from specific individuals. The Headteacher can still step in to overrule line managers’ decisions. 5.27 It is anticipated that head teachers will set up procedures for monitoring and moderating the plans for the forthcoming cycle agreed in planning and review statements. As part of this the head teacher may review planning and review statements …and where necessary instruct the reviewer to prepare a new statement prior to it being finalised and retained. If you don’t agree with your reviewers’ recommendation, tough! 5.41 The reviewer and reviewee should seek to agree an assessment of the overall performance of the reviewee against the performance criteria agreed at the beginning of the cycle. This should include, where the reviewee is eligible, making a recommendation on pay progression, taking into account the pay progression criteria. If the reviewer and reviewee cannot agree, the reviewer’s view will be recorded. Holding off on the main scale for now but rationing upper pay scale progression? 5.42 There is no change to the arrangements for pay progression. Annual increments continue to apply as set out in the STPCD for classroom teachers on the main scale. Therefore reviewers do not need to make a recommendation in support of an annual increment. The only exception to this is where the reviewer, in accordance with the school’s pay policy, is considering a discretionary additional point (double jumping) where provided for in the STPCD. 5.43 Reviewers will need to make a recommendation where the reviewee is on the pay scale for post threshold teachers, the pay spine for members of the Leadership Group [or that for ASTs]. Postponed for a year – a year to build a campaign to defeat these regulations! 7.1 The revised regulations will come into force on 1 September 2007. Local authorities, governing bodies and head teachers have until autumn 2007 to put arrangements in place for performance management that reflect the requirements of the revised regulations. 7.2 The first plans made under the revised regulations should be agreed by 31 October 2007 for teachers and by 31 December 2007 for head teachers. 7.3 The first full planning and review statements which record the outcomes of an assessment of performance and, where a teacher is eligible, include a pay recommendation, must be completed by 31 October 2008 for teachers.

The following resolution to be submitted to the annual conference of the NUT was passed by West Sussex Teachers Association at a general meeting on 27 09 2006 “Conference notes that the Government’s action in making Modern Foreign Languages optional at KS4 has resulted in far too few students leaving school with a qualification in a language. According to ambassadors to the UK this will have the effect of reducing the UK’s standing in Europe as the country is seen as “the language dunce of Europe.” It may also have the effect of reducing the UK’s competitiveness in the global market. “Conference notes that as a result of the Government’s decision, Languages will again be seen as an elitist curriculum area in which only the most able can be successful. “Conference welcomes the Primary Languages Strategy, but believes that the decision to make Languages optional at KS should be reversed for the large majority of pupils. “ Readers can either comment on the blog http://westsussexteachersassociation.blogspot.com/ or go along to an NUT meeting to support, oppose or amend the resolution. It is up to you. There is no question that the decline in numbers at GCSE level is turning modern languages into the élitist subject that it was when I was at secondary school (1953-1961). As a partner in a business that sells software for modern languages I can see clearly from our sales figures over the last two years that it is mainly specialist language colleges and independent schools (prep and secondary) that buy such software. The decline in modern languages in secondary schools is also leading to university languages departments cutting down the number of languages that they offer or closing down completely. My former university's languages department closed. As for languages being an élitist subject, maybe this will result in better students at A level, but the rest of Europe seems to be able to come to terms with a languages-for-all policy in schools.

STOPP PRESS This is a press release from STOPP - School Teachers Opposed to Performance Pay - 21 September 2006 Headteachers told to prepare for new Performance Pay regime in schools On Friday, September 22nd, Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, is expected to make an announcement confirming the Government’s proposals for a new ‘performance management’ system, now likely to be introduced in 2007. The advice already being given to Headteachers makes clear what the Government intends. Schools will be expected to introduce a rigorous system of individualised performance pay. In future, teachers who fail to reach their performance management targets can expect to be refused further progress up the pay spine. The DfES’ consultation paper on performance management, released in June, had already spelt out the Government’s intentions that, in future, “financial rewards will go to those who are making the biggest contributions to improving pupil attainment” 2 Ministers have always seen performance pay as a vital part in their drive to “raise standards”. But STOPP has always explained that it will have the opposite effect. Performance pay will dangerously undermine the teamwork and morale that is vital to a good school. Staff will opt for schools where results are easier to obtain. As the history books show, “payment by results” deadens education instead of enhancing it. Teacher concerns at the Government’s original introduction of performance pay, which led to the building of STOPP, forced Ministers to tread carefully at first. Instead of severely rationing pay as many teachers feared, most successfully crossed the performance “threshold” 3 when it was first introduced. But, already, increasing numbers have found their progression to the top levels of the Upper Pay Spine being blocked. The new proposals introduce this threat to teachers at every spine point. Briefings being conducted by “Head Support Limited” earlier this week have brutally confirmed STOPP’s analysis. Advice to Headteachers in training sessions in at least two South London Local Authorities included:  That Heads needed to make more ‘robust’ pay decisions – and that, if they didn’t, OFSTED teams will want to know why.  That the criteria of “substantial and sustained” achievement now used to judge Upper Pay Spine progression was too weak, harsher judgements were now required.  That inexperienced teachers should not be allowed to progress up the main spine every year to make sure they do not have an expectation of crossing the ‘threshold’. These threats are already provoking an angry response in staffrooms. For example, a meeting of the Lewisham 4 Association of the National Union of Teachers on Monday 18th , agreed to call on their Union to consider national strike action to oppose the imposition of performance pay. STOPP expects this demand to be widely supported. 1. STOPP was launched by teachers in 1999 in response to the introduction of performance management and the “threshold”. It organised a number of protest events, including a march and rally in London in February 2000. 2. Paragraph 7, ‘Performance management for Teachers and Headteachers’, DfES June 2006. 3. A “threshold” assessment has to be passed to go from the top of the main pay spine to the upper pay spine. 4. Lewisham was one of the Local Authorities where Heads have been briefed by “Head Support Limited”. The title should have read "New". Ooops

In the past “Virtual Learning Environments” were regarded with suspicion by teachers as a sci fi concept in which teachers are replaced with computers. After attending Moodlemoot ’06 at the Open University, I can honestly say that Moodle is actually whatever the teacher wants it to be. The course seminars included teachers from diverse disciplines from Science to English to Music and of course ICT who all used Moodle to teach in the way which suited them. Although the system is based on a social constructivist model of education, teachers frequently start out using it to replicate traditional classroom activities like essay-writing, feedback and redrafting or quizzes/tests with the slight difference that these are self-marking and pupils get instant feedback. Teachers only then go on to some of the more unusual features of Moodle like Wikis, blogs, asynchronous discussion groups and podcasting. And because it is Open Source free software, teachers can contribute to the future design of Moodle without some acquisitive corporations we could mention seeking to block them under the pretext of “business secrets”. Moodle is now used by over 100000 registered users, including the Open University. It is free to download and use and many schools and local authorities who have poured hundreds of thousands of pounds into the coffers of Microsoft are keen to find free software. If you want to find out more there is a website which talks about the conference and demonstrates the program at the same time. It is called http://moodlemoot.org/ and all of the conference is available as audio or video files. I recommend the audio file because the video quality will depend on the quality of your computer.

Wikipedia is fast becoming the standard online repository of all knowledge and wisdom. Although it contains much that is inaccurate, the rigorous scrutiny each new entry receives from around the world means that inaccuracies do not remain on the books for long. The pages about the ongoing war in Lebanon see Wikipedia struggling to obtain its objectivity as edits and re-edits sway the story back and forth. At least this is being done "out in the open" and you can view the history of each article. There is even a page about the West Sussex Teachers Association http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSTA And like everyone else on the internet, you can edit it.

An Important first victory was won last week by CAAM (campaign against academies in Merton) lead by parent and Socialist Party member Rob MacDonald in the High court. This was the first of three test cases to be heard over the academy schools. Rob won the right to a judicial review which will be held at the end of July. The case was over whether the council and government had to have a Funding agreement for the setting up of academy schools when they have the consultation process. The funding agreement is not just about money. It is like the contract that sets out all details of how the school will be run like admission, discipline, and provisions for special educational needs. For example at Tamworth Manor the admission policy was put out well after the consultation process had finished and is controversial. The judge himself liken this to giving a blank cheque to the sponsors. The arrogance of the government and Merton council has had a blow from this ruling. The council legal case was very weak and basically blamed the government. They also couldn’t use much of their case as it was a political attack on Rob for being a member of the socialist party and an ideologue. In their first legal papers Articles from the socialist party website were used as evidence that he was a leading member of the group in SW London. And the fact we had a good website was mentioned as if that meant we weren’t parents. This use of red scare tactic has been led by the ex- council leader and the local labour MP, who repeat this argument over and over and add that Rob doesn’t live right next to the school. It all shows the desperateness of these people. Robs response is to answer first “how does this not makes me a parent”. Then he points out there are two ideologues here. One for privatisation and loss of democratic control and one for quality comprehensive education for all. The press coverage has been huge. Rob did 24 interviews to the nation’s media over 3days and was on every major TV, radio channels and most of the serious press. Locally it has had press coverage almost every week and has been front page over 10 times in the last year. It is likely the full judicial review will be a lot harder to win as the government are likely to join the battle. The courts are far from the best area to fight these battles but any upset for the academy programme would be positive. The court case has raised the whole question of democracy in England. An unelected minister Lord Adonis gives control of a school to an unelected Lord Harris of Carpet right. The decision is pushed through by cabinet in the council rather than a full meeting. The School organisation Committee don’t vote unanimously to close the schools so a Un elected adjudicator decides to do it. If all this doesn’t work an unelected judge decides. That’s capitalist democracy. Rob has got some legal aid but the community also has to pay towards cost so far the campaign has raised £4000 mainly from trade unions and individuals. The negative side of the issues is the limbo this has left the two schools in Merton. Some parents are very concerned and rightly just want some conclusion. Students and teachers will break up for the holidays not knowing the future. This is completely the fault of the council who have tried to railroad the plans through for September 2006. Despite many warnings from the campaign. This case might have implications for other areas. It also could start to galvanise the opposition. If you would like rob or a speaker from the campaign to address your union or campaign group please get in contact. For Up to date information or to use the message board go to http://www.campaignagainstacademiesinmerton.t83.net

The first session was a fascinating speech from Mick Waters of the QCA. Most teachers think of the QCA as a very top-downwards, authoritarian body producing highly prescriptive “advice.” Mick Waters brought an entirely different perspective. While recognising the tension between national testing and local autonomy he was perfectly clear that “people in schools need to set their understandings of their children alongside the learning they should meet to create learning which is irresistible.” Unlike the run-of-the-mill bureaucrats he prefers to spend his time in the classroom working with teachers. This set the tone of a conference which was about (apologies for the jargon) empowering teachers. Teacher power! It has a certain ring to it! This was continued with a discussion of “personalised learning” and the somewhat ambiguous definitions available from the government. It was felt that “personalised learning” could be used to promote teacher autonomy (teacher power again) and the concept that learning should be related to the needs, aptitude and ability of the pupils. There was also a warning that “personalised learning” could be misinterpreted as a system which involved pupils interacting with computers without any teacher intervention and the delivery of education could be in the hands of unqualified staff. Paul Crisp is the managing director of CUREE and although his presentation was heavily focussed on the research methodology of his work on mentoring of teachers, it is clear that much useful material has come out of this research which will be of use to Union Learning Reps in the future. Much of it is now available online. Elizabeth Wood of the University of Exeter talked about research on the issue of the underachievement of boys. Although she was restating much of the existing knowledge on this subject it is clearly important to go on stating it in a climate where the underachievement of boys is misunderstood. In many ways it is an oversimplification to talk about boys’ underachievement and her research was firmly based on the observation of children and her insights into the role of play. “When girls performed less well than boys it was not called underachievement. It was because they were all dumb blondes.” She has some very interesting and provocative research. The future of the National Education Conference was a wide-ranging discussion somewhat depleted by some football game taking place at the same time.  It is proposed to promote the National Education Conference to teachers who take part in NUT Continuing Professional Development. They may well include the future leadership. Maurice Galton’s research on “The Cost of Inclusion” tackled one of the conflicts in education at the moment. How can inclusion be helping pupils when the resources are not being provided to support the pupils being included? It is unsual for speeches to be interrupted by applause at the NEC. His remark that “these pupils have a right to be taught by qualified teachers” did receive a spontaneous ovation. The final session of conference was a speech by Peter Mortimore who is not only an accomplished orator but also a powerful voice in educational circles. He had done a comparison between the NUT’s “Bringing down the Barriers” and the government’s Education Bill. The NUT had no input as to what his final result would be. The results are available online. http://wsta.org.uk/mortimore.pdf As Bill Greenshields concluded, “We are involved in a battle for ideas, every school is a fortress,”