Latest news with #NeilButler
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
UK teaching union to hold leadership election as challenger emerges
The NASUWT teaching union will hold its first contested leadership election for a generation after a challenger emerged to Matt Wrack, the former firefighters' union general secretary who was initially appointed to the role unopposed. Neil Butler, an NASUWT official who won a legal battle against the union's national executive to run, has passed the threshold required to be a candidate, triggering a members' vote against Wrack later this year. Wayne Broom, the NASUWT's president, said: 'Following the close of nominations, there is now a contested election and we will move to a ballot of members.' Broom said the election would begin on 19 June and close on 23 July. The result sets up an ideological charged contest between Wrack, seen as being on the left of the Labour party, and the traditionally more moderate union mainstream. Wrack was named as the national executive's preferred candidate for general secretary in March. Under the NASUWT's rules, Wrack would have automatically filled the position if no other candidate received enough nominations from local branches. Butler's initial attempt to gather nominations was ruled out by the national executive on the grounds that, as an employee, he was not a member of the union. But Butler started legal proceedings to challenge the executive's decision, with the NASUWT backing down shortly before a hearing at the high court that cost the union at least £70,000 in legal fees. Wrack was then named acting general secretary and nominations were reopened. Now Butler's supporters say he has gained well above the 25 branch nominations required to be a candidate, setting off the union's first ballot for general secretary since 1990. The general secretary selection process has been fraught with difficulty after Patrick Roach's decision last year to step down after only one term in office. Wrack impressed members of the national executive appointments committee when he was interviewed alongside Butler and other candidates, and the executive then announced Wrack as its preferred candidate. But the appointment proved controversial among many NASUWT members, in part because Wrack had been general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) for 20 years until losing his re-election bid in January. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Members who spoke to the Guardian said they were concerned about the fact Wrack had never been a teacher but would be leading a major union that restricts its membership to qualified teachers and lecturers, as well as his outspoken views on politics and the Israel-Gaza conflict. Speaking to the Guardian earlier this month, Wrack blamed a 'ludicrous' and 'coordinated' attempt by political enemies to undermine his position, and vowed to stand in the event of an election. Wrack, who went to a Catholic grammar school in Manchester and studied with the Open University before completing a part-time master's degree at the London School of Economics, said his lack of teaching experience was irrelevant. 'It strikes me that people seem to be able to be the secretary of state for education without any teaching experience,' Wrack said. Butler, the NASUWT's national officer for Wales, is a former teacher.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
Teacher banned after sex assaults in mid-1990s
A former private school teacher has been banned from the profession after he was convicted of sexual offences against a girl pupil, a disciplinary panel has ruled. Neil Butler was working at Orwell Park School, near Ipswich, when allegations of sexual abuse from about 30 years ago were made in 2021. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel, which met in April, said the 59-year-old science teacher worked at Rose Hill prep school in Gloucestershire at the time of the offences in the mid-1990s. The TRA report stated: "Mr Butler's behaviour ultimately led to a sentence of imprisonment, (albeit that it was suspended), which was indicative of the seriousness of the offences." The report said Butler was found guilty at Gloucester Crown Court of one count of gross indecency with a girl under 14 years old and three counts of indecent assault on a girl under 14 years old "in and around 2024". He received a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and to pay £10,000 in compensation, the panel heard. It was in October 2021 that the victim reported the offences which took place when she was a pupil at Rose Hill, a private boarding school in Alderly in the Cotswolds, which has since closed. At that time, Butler was working at Orwell Park, in Nacton, but he left there in July 2022 "in light of the criminal allegations against him". The TRA said: "The panel noted that these actions relate to activity on a school trip and on the school premises." Butler was "prohibited from teaching indefinitely" and cannot teach in any school, relevant youth accommodation or children's home. He was also not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach due to the seriousness of the allegations. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Teaching Regulation Agency
BBC News
25-05-2025
- BBC News
Boarding school teacher banned after Gloucestershire sex offences
A former private school teacher has been banned from the profession after he was convicted of sexual offences against a girl pupil, a disciplinary panel has Butler was working at Orwell Park School, near Ipswich, when allegations of sexual abuse from about 30 years ago were made in 2021.A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel, which met in April, said the 59-year-old science teacher worked at Rose Hill prep school in Gloucestershire at the time of the offences in the TRA report stated: "Mr Butler's behaviour ultimately led to a sentence of imprisonment, (albeit that it was suspended), which was indicative of the seriousness of the offences." The report said Butler was found guilty at Gloucester Crown Court of one count of gross indecency with a girl under 14 years old and three counts of indecent assault on a girl under 14 years old "in and around 2024".He received a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and to pay £10,000 in compensation, the panel heard. 'School trip' It was in October 2021 that the victim reported the offences which took place when she was a pupil at Rose Hill, a private boarding school in Alderly in the Cotswolds, which has since that time, Butler was working at Orwell Park, in Nacton, but he left there in July 2022 "in light of the criminal allegations against him".The TRA said: "The panel noted that these actions relate to activity on a school trip and on the school premises."Butler was "prohibited from teaching indefinitely" and cannot teach in any school, relevant youth accommodation or children's was also not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach due to the seriousness of the allegations. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Violence and behaviour crisis in schools, union says
The number of violent incidents by pupils in schools across Wales has almost tripled since 2019, a teaching union has said. The NASUWT requested data from Wales' councils to find out how many incidents were reported by school employees and found cases had risen from 2,483 in 2019-20 to 6,446 in 2023-24. "We can clearly see that we have got a crisis in behaviour in our schools, and we are asking the Welsh government to step up and do something about it," said Neil Butler, its national official for Wales. The Welsh government said: "Any form of violence or abuse against staff or learners in our schools is completely unacceptable." It is due to host a national behaviour summit in May with unions. Colleague saved my life, says stabbed teacher Calls to ban phones in schools rejected Schools must not become battleground – child envoy Mr Butler welcomed the summit but said "talking is not enough". "We need an action plan from the Welsh government to deal with this crisis," he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast. "The results we got were very shocking but what we do know is that there is chronic under-reporting of violence in schools." He blamed the increase in the figures on "many different factors" including mobile phone usage and social media influences, as well as a "change in the ethos" in education towards individual learners, which, while important, was "forgetting about the needs of all... learners collectively". "We believe the individual needs of the learner are important but not necessarily catered for within the mainstream sector where learning has to continue without the disruption of poor behaviour and violence," Mr Butler said. A separate poll by the union, which is holding the second day of its annual conference in Liverpool, found almost three in five teachers believed social media use had a negative effect on behaviour in schools, fuelling an increase in misogyny and sexism. Mr Butler said: "Online influences are extremely serious and causing a great deal of damage, and are certainly, I think, another one of the factors that's driving this poor behaviour. "And one of the things that we are going to be looking at during the behaviour summit [in May] is whether we should see an end to mobile phones in schools." The Welsh government said: "Ensuring learners and staff feel safe and secure in the school environment is of the utmost importance. "Over 7,000 school staff responded to our recent survey on these issues, ensuring our national behaviour summit in May focuses on what matters to them." Experienced teacher Sharron Daly, who is attending the union conference, said "life in schools is more challenging than it has ever been" due to a number of factors, including children having more "complex needs" and "even more behavioural challenges than they ever had before". She said there had also been a "huge cultural shift" with online influences, and some children having a "sense of entitlement", with larger class sizes leading to "lots of low level disruption". "An awful lot of young people come to us... without boundaries and expectations at home and then that comes into the classroom," she said. The Bridgend teacher said even asking children to "sit down and stop talking" can be challenged by some pupils. She added that whilst she taught at a "good school" she had experienced verbal abuse. "It's not just upsetting for me as a professional, it's upsetting for the other children in the class to witness that if the adult in the room, the responsible adult in the room, is being verbally abused," Ms Daly said. Asking police to search pupils' bags 'impractical' Classroom violence drives teachers from profession NASUWT
BBC News
19-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Violence and behaviour crisis in schools in Wales, NASUWT says
The number of violent incident by pupils in schools across Wales has tripled since 2019, according to a teaching NASUWT requested data from Wales' 22 councils to find out how many incidents were reported by school employees and found cases had risen from 2,483 in 2019-20 to 6,446 in 2023-24."We can clearly see that we have got a crisis in behaviour in our schools, and we are asking the Welsh government to step up and do something about it," said Neil Butler, its national official for Welsh government said: "Any form of violence or abuse against staff or learners in our schools is completely unacceptable." It is due to host a national behaviour summit in May with unions. Mr Butler welcomed the summit but said "talking is not enough". "We need an action plan from the Welsh government to deal with this crisis," he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."The results we got were very shocking but what we do know is that there is chronic under-reporting of violence in schools."He blamed the increase in the figures on "many different factors" including mobile phone usage and social media influences, as well as a "change in the ethos" in education towards individual learners, which, while important, was "forgetting about the needs of all... learners collectively"."We believe the individual needs of the learner are important but not necessarily catered for within the mainstream sector where learning has to continue without the disruption of poor behaviour and violence," Mr Butler said. A separate poll by the union, which is holding the second day of its annual conference in Liverpool, found almost three in five teachers believed social media use had a negative effect on behaviour in schools, fuelling an increase in misogyny and Butler said: "Online influences are extremely serious and causing a great deal of damage, and are certainly, I think, another one of the factors that's driving this poor behaviour."And one of the things that we are going to be looking at during the behaviour summit [in May] is whether we should see an end to mobile phones in schools."The Welsh government said: "Ensuring learners and staff feel safe and secure in the school environment is of the utmost importance."Over 7,000 school staff responded to our recent survey on these issues, ensuring our national behaviour summit in May focuses on what matters to them."
