April Executive meeting and conference news

In the run up to conference we have had our 3rd executive meeting.

There was a request from Vice President Amanda Martin (also one of the English members of the Wales committee) to change the timing of Wales committee meetings as they are currently squashed into the lunchtime during executive meetings which also means members of the Wales committee have to have a working lunch and time is short. A suggestion was made that we should hold it on the same day as the action committee but Lesley Tipping suggested that we hold it on the Fridays or Wednesdays before the exec meetings the next day and this seems more reasonable as Welch executives are already in London then.

The timetable for Conference Cymru was confirmed and accepted

In order to enable us to address recent events, the NEU Executive has agreed to submit a priority motion to Conference on the issue of LGBT+ inclusive RSE education. Here is the text – I hope delegates will vote to suspend Standing Orders to allow this to be placed on the agenda.
LGBT+ INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Conference notes:
1. Over 115,000 people have signed a petition to Government opposing changes to Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in schools, including LGBT+ content.
2. Parents have opposed the inclusion of LGBT+ rights as part of the equality programme “No Outsiders” at Parkfield school in Birmingham.
3. Parental opposition is being organised by a range of anti_LGBT+ groups that launched the Parliamentary petition and have organised meetings across England.
4. The Conservative Leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, has said that parents should decide when their children are “exposed” to LGBT+ relationships in RSE lessons and that parents should have a veto over what is taught.
Conference believes:
a. All children are entitled to high quality, age-appropriate and rights-based RSE that is inclusive of LGBT+ relationships.
b. The Union should oppose any attempts to go back to the days of Section 28 that banned councils from “promoting the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”.
c. It is important for schools to have a clear dialogue with parents about the necessity of inclusive education.
d. We should reject any attempt to use this issue to increase Islamophobia.
Conference instructs the Executive to:
i. Lobby Government and opposition parties to strengthen the RSE guidance and make teaching about LGBT+ relationships statutory in primary and secondary schools;
ii. Issue advice to schools to empower them to positively teach an inclusive curriculum and develop a whole school approach to embed equality.
iii. Work with as many partners as possible to support increasing the scope of RSE in schools, share good practice, and support Regions, Districts and Branches to work with Local Authorities and employers to promote inclusive equality education in all schools;
and
iv. Support members in schools where opposition to inclusive education is raised by parents, including offering advice to engage parents in supporting inclusive education