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Wellbeing lessons increase students’ grades
7th Mar 2012

A college is claiming that students’ A Level results have improved following the introduction of wellbeing lessons.

Wellington College has seen students achieving an A and B grade rise from 69 per cent in 2005 to 93 per cent achieving an A*, A or B grade in 2011.

The wellbeing lessons, run by the MindUp programme, are designed to give students the skills to cope with life’s challenges and teach skills such as emotional resilience, self-efficacy and positive thinking,  The Telegraph reports.

“Practising ‘mindfulness’, which is a fundamental element of the MindUP programme, helps pupils to connect with their emotions”, said Ian Morris, one of the wellbeing tutors. “By paying attention to the present moment in a non-judgmental way, we can take stock of our thoughts and beliefs and assess whether they are helpful.”

The MindUP programme, launched by Goldie Hawn’s educational charity, the Hawn Foundation is now being used in a total of seven UK schools. This includes four in London and the others in Sussex, Wales and Kent with these schools working towards what Hawn terms “the optimistic classroom”.

A recent report in the Daily Mail explained how student attainment can also be raised using exercise. Pooled research from scientists in the Netherlands showed that academic achievement is directly linked to exercise and outdoor games in children and teenagers age six to 18.

“According to the best evidence synthesis, we found strong evidence of a significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance,” Dr Amika Singh, from Vrije University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, wrote in the journal Archives of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. ”The findings of one high quality intervention study and one high quality observational study suggest that being more physically active is positively related to improved academic performance in children.”

At Recourse we believe that the health and wellbeing of staff in FE and HE as well as that of their students impacts on attainment. That is why we recently promoted the first University Mental Health and Wellbeing Day which aimed to help promote the mental health of people who work in Higher Education. The awareness day, run by the University Mental Health Advisers Network (UMHAN) defined five positive and practical ways of embedding mental health into the university setting, described as ‘five-a-day:

  • connect with the people around you
  • do something active
  • take notice of the world, catch sight of the beautiful, remark on the unusual
  • learn something new
  • do something nice for a friend or stranger

Recourse also developed our own ‘five-a-day’ to reduce stress and improve wellbeing:

  • get a good night’s sleep
  • muscular tension often parallels and exacerbates mental stress. Relaxing physically at the end of the day is important
  • reduce consumption of alcohol and coffee
  • do an activity that forces you to think actively about something else
  • make sure you and your colleagues know where to get help by referring them to Recourse

For related stories on wellbeing click on the links below:

By Lucy Rowe

Unions threaten to “name and shame” universities
7th Mar 2012

Two unions have threatened to use a new campaign to “name and shame” universities that fail to award all staff a “living wage”.

Unison and the National Union of Students (NUS) have said that all employees in Higher Education should be paid the current “living wage” of £7.20 an hour, or £8.30 in London, the THE reports.

“There is clearly an inherent injustice in the average vice-chancellor getting paid more than 17 times more than a minimum wage employee on their campus,” Dannie Grufferty, Vice President of the NUS for Society and Citizenship said. “Colleges and universities are a community and everyone within that community needs to be treated with dignity and that means paying them a wage they can live on for their work. The difference between minimum wage and a living wage is the difference between constant money worries and being able to make ends meet. It also makes sense for employers who’ll see a rise in productivity and greater retention of staff. Employers at colleges and universities have six months to get their house in order before we name and shame those that allow such shocking disparities to continue.”

Set independently each year, the living wage gives workers the minimum pay rate required to provide for their families. The two unions plan to expose those universities who fail to pay staff the “living wage” amount in the form of a league table showing which universities have the biggest gap between highest and lowest earners.

Jon Richards, Unison National Secretary for Education and Children’s Services, said: “It is time universities got their houses in order. While top pay has skyrocketed, with some Vice Chancellors now earning over £300,000, the lowest paid are on poverty wages. As educational institutions, they should know better. Low pay and inequality are at the heart of the huge problems that we face as a society today. We are determined that this disgraceful pay gap is closed.”

The campaign was launched at Unison’s Higher Education Conference in Brighton on 2 March.

If you are worried about pay and conditions you should contact your union for advice.

For help with budgeting, managing your money and information on our grants service, call our confidential Support Line on 0808 802 03 04.

Alternatively, try these links for more information:

by Victoria Bamber

UK degree courses axed
6th Mar 2012

Research by the University and Colleges Union (UCU) has revealed that the number of UK degree courses available has decreased from 70,052 in 2006 to 51,116 in 2012.

The biggest decrease was found in the single subject courses such as science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM subjects) at 14.6 per cent, followed by social science courses which had fallen by 12.8 per cent. UCU also analysed data from the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS) and found course reduction was worst in England, at 31 per cent the BBC reported.

“Although students in England are expected to pay up to £9,000 a year to study, there is much less choice for them,” said Sally Hunt, University College Union (UCU) General Secretary. “We fear that shifting the burden of funding from the state to the student means nervous universities will look to axe even more courses that they worry won’t make a profit.”

UCAS data also showed that in England, where tuition fees will rise to a maximum of £9,000 per year from this autumn, six of the nine regions are experiencing a cut of 25 per cent or more with the South West down by nearly half (47 per cent).

Professor James Ladyman, commenting on the research said: “I am really concerned that under the new funding environment, universities will look at concentrating their resources on courses which they believe will deliver the highest financial return. Provision shouldn’t be decided on the basis of short‐term popularity contests, but when you introduce a market that is what happens.”

This research follows figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency which revealed the number of staff working in the Higher Education (HE) sector, has dropped by two per cent over the past two years. The University and College Union (UCU) described the numbers as “concerning” when linked to the rise in student numbers.

In response to the UCU research, Dale Bassett, Research Director of think-tank Reform, said: “There are far more people going to university than ever before. There are 100,000 more places every year. What we are seeing is choice in action. There are more joint honours degrees, which is what employers want, and more part-time provision.”

A Spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills commented: “Our reforms are freeing up places at the institutions where students wish to study and bringing higher education into more local communities. Student choice is becoming more meaningful and no one should be put off as a result financial concerns.”

If you are concerned about the reduction in courses in your university and how this may impact on your job security you should contact your union. You can also call our confidential Support Line on 0808 802 03 04 for practical and emotional support.

To read related articles click on the links below:

By Olivia Bamber

Lecturers more likely to work overtime than staff in any other profession
29th Feb 2012

Lecturers and teachers are more likely to work unpaid overtime than workers in any other profession, trade union figures suggest.

The data, released by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) shows that 55.6 per cent of education professionals work unpaid overtime, putting in an average of 9.6 hours extra per week, the THE reports.

“Today’s figures confirm that our teachers and lecturers continue to go above and beyond the call of duty for their pupils and students,” Sally Hunt, General Secretary of the University and College Union (UCU) commented. “The Government cannot keep expecting more for less from such dedicated people, particularly when their reward is real terms pay cuts and attacks on their pensions.”

Across those working groups surveyed by the TUC, 21 per cent of workers do unpaid overtime and work an additional 7.2 hours a week on average.

A Spokesman for the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) said that the figures mask a more complex picture: “Academic staff in higher education institutions are valued and committed professionals with contracts that reflect this. Their roles require flexible and largely unsupervised working over a year with variable teaching intensity levels and there is a high degree of choice in how these professionals organise their time. Institutions tell us that their academic professionals regard this personal flexibility as one of the most valued features of working in the sector.”

In November 2011, it was revealed that many lecturers who were members of the UCU and were working to contract over changes to their pensions, said their work-life balance had been restored as a result.

At the time, Sally Hunt commented: “People are saying that for the first time in years they’ve been able to have some kind of normal life. It’s clear it has become very normalised for people to work 50-plus hours in a week, doing evening and weekend work. We’ve got very committed staff who are struggling to fulfil their research commitments alongside admin and teaching, and that will only get worse with the pressures they’re having to deal with.”

Recourse knows from calls and emails to its Support Line that workload is a major cause of concern for tutors and lecturers. 96 per cent of lecturers, teachers and school leaders who responded to a Recourse and Teacher Support Network poll say their workload has had a negative effect on their health and wellbeing. Symptoms described included increased alcohol consumption, lack of sleep, relationship problems, overeating, under eating, stress, anxiety, exhaustion, low self-esteem and in some cases thoughts of suicide.

One respondent told Recourse: “A ‘healthy’ work-life balance is very difficult to achieve. When I should have time/energy for exercise, I have too many demands from the job to fit this in effectively. Taking time out for illness is problematic as the burden falls on colleagues. As such, there are times when I am in college, when I shouldn’t be. I only take a couple of days sick leave on average per year so constant tiredness results.”

Another member of staff working in FE commented: “I wake up at midnight most nights and often work through my college holidays. I feel like I have no support from management, even though I ask and have been victimised in the past for ‘not being able to cope’. The workload is ridiculous and I wouldn’t wish it upon anybody.”

If you would like to talk to someone to find out how best to manage your workload, call our Support Line on 0808 802 03 04.

Alternatively, visit these links for more information:

by Victoria Bamber

Why is LGBT History Month so important?
23rd Feb 2012

Julian Stanley examines why we need awareness days and months.

Looking back over my past columns for SecEd, there seems to be a bit of a theme: awareness days and months. World Mental Health Awareness Day, World Teachers’ Day and National Stress Awareness Day have all featured in recent articles and I could have written about even more: Black History Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Volunteer Week, Holocaust Memorial Day or International Women’s Day. The list goes on.

I tend to write about these days and months as they provide a useful route into a theme that deserves highlighting. World Teachers’ Day, for example, allowed me to discuss the public’s perception of teachers, tutors and lecturers and, more importantly, call for the profession to be properly celebrated. Similarly, World Mental Health Awareness Day led to a discussion on the disturbing rise in teacher suicide.

I know that schools, colleges and universities in particular, are key targets for this manner of raising awareness. There will have been and will continue to be mailings, emails and advertisements to teachers and school leaders and you must decide what to ignore, commemorate or add to the curriculum, which in itself can be difficult. You will then also be deciding what appeals to donate to, fundraise for or have the school ‘dress down’ for.

February is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender History Month. There has been various events, publications, fundraisers and articles that celebrate LGBT communities. Recourse’s sister charity, Teacher Support Network , for instance, has been running a series of articles from School’s Out’s Sue Sanders and, top of the Independent on Sunday’s ‘Pink List’ of most influential Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people, Elly Barnes on incorporating LGBT into the classroom and saying ‘Goodbye to the gay lesson’.

Yet, awareness days and months as a linguistic tool aside, why do we need them?

For many charities and organisations, it is not really about the day, the week or the month at all, but an opportunity to focus people’s minds on a single objective. Practically speaking, these larger events are more likely to encourage participation, media interest and, for charities, donations. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender History Month website suggests the month is “an opportunity for all of us to learn more about the histories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Britain and Northern Ireland”.

Similarly, Black History Month aims to “promote knowledge of the Black History, culture and heritage”, “disseminate information on positive Black contributions to British Society” and “heighten the confidence and awareness of Black people to their cultural heritage”.

There is a school of thought, however, that believes these kinds of days, weeks and months are not necessary and can even potentially harm the causes they aim to promote. These issues should not be thought about on a day or a month once a year, but thought about or acted upon every day, every week or every month, particularly when it comes to issues around equality. Then there is the thought that, if, again in the case of equality, all people are to be equal, then there is no need for a day, week or month to focus on a particular race, gender or sexuality. In fact, it could be argued that any efforts to raise awareness are divisive. In an ideal world, where a person’s sexuality is not an issue or cause for discrimination, then there is no need for a special month, is there? Much the same has been said about Teacher Support Network and Recourse. Why do teachers, tutors and lecturers need their own charity? Stress and poor wellbeing do not simply affect education staff, but all professions, what makes teachers, tutors and lecturers so different? Well, in an ideal world, there would be no need for Teacher Support Network or Recourse. Teachers, tutors and lecturers would not need coaching, counselling, information or support to help them in their roles or to assist them in getting back into the classroom. But the world is far from ideal.

In fact, today teachers, tutors and lecturers face unprecedented change, increased expectation and often, uncertainty about their future; this is why,135 years since it came into existence, educational staff still need their own charity.

Likewise, sexuality can still be an issue. Discrimination still exists. Staff must still decide how or whether to come out to their colleagues and students, and homophobic language still runs rife. For all these reasons, LBGT History Month remains of great importance; it helps raise awareness of the need for equality, understanding, and crucially, the need to accept difference and to celebrate it.