Spring 2008 Newsletter

I hope that you will enjoy the first UCET newsletter we have issued for some
time. We hope that this will mark the start of more frequent communications
with our members and other stakeholders. We will, over time, cover the work
of all our committees, starting in this edition with a focus on ITE primary and
early years and ITE secondary alongside other updates and reports.

A lot has been happening in teacher education over the last few months.
The announcement in December’s Children’s Plan that teaching should, over
time, become a Masters qualified profession is of interest to us all. We have
given the announcement a cautious welcome because of the evidence we have that demonstrates the positive impact that studying at Masters level can have on classroom performance and because of the recognition of the HE sector’s role in teacher education that it implies. We have, however, logged concern about the potential impact the new MTL qualification could have on existing Masters’ programmes, the danger of too much central Government prescription and the importance that the new qualification is academically rigorous.

UCET has, you will be reassured to learn, been offered a place on
one of the key Government groups charged with developing the new
qualification and we will do all we can to represent your interests. As
well as MTL, we are representing the sector in a number of other key
areas, including lobbying the Government on the implications of the
EQL rules with regards to HEFCE funding, the development of the new
OFSTED inspection framework, the review of the primary curriculum,
the role-out of the Rose recommendations for teacher education and the
Williams Review into the teaching of mathematics.

Finally, a reminder that invoices for 2008/09 subscriptions will be issued in
the summer. We have, I am pleased to say, pegged this year’s annual increase to 3%. I hope that you will still think that this represents good value for money.

James Rogers, Executive Director