Report to Annual Conference - Teachers of Primary Importance
NASUWT believes that children learn best when teachers are given the time, resources and freedom to make the fullest possible use of their professional talents, skills and knowledge. An education system that does not adopt this belief as a fundamental principle cannot hope to provide young people with the high-quality learning experiences they deserve.
This Report sets out NASUWT’s view of the key issues that lie at the heart of the debate on the future of primary education. The Report:
- puts the debate about the future of primary teaching into proper context by looking at key structural changes within the primary education system, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s;
- assesses the impact of these changes on the work of primary teachers;
- highlights the central importance of the National Agreement, the wider remodelling agenda and the changes to the national pay structure in delivering a better deal for primary teachers on the key issues of workload, teacher professionalism and pay;
- indicates where NASUWT believes that further progress is needed to ensure that the educational interests of children and the professional aspirations of classroom teachers will be met in dynamic and positive new ways.
- It is also important to stress that while the issues considered by this Report are focused largely on the
position of primary teachers in England and Wales within the context of the National Agreement, primary colleagues in Scotland and Northern Ireland share a great deal of common experience.
