The National Union of Teachers (NUT) is calling for unity across the teachers’ profession saying this is the best way to ensure all children in the UK get a "first rate education".

Among the issues the union wishes to tackle is the workload teachers face, "particularly excessive planning requirements and too many observations", which are putting many off the profession.

According to the NUT, there is "overzealous inspection" and this coupled with an "overburdened" curriculum are affecting the education system.

Citing Scotland, where teachers have a 35-hour week, as an example of how to reduce pressure on teachers, the union says it is "engaging with government to ensure that teachers in England and Wales" get a similar treatment.

Another area of concern is the number of meetings teachers are expected to attend and the union says this should be limited to no more than one evening meeting a week be it for consultation with parents or otherwise.

The NUT, which has over 292,000 members, is Europe’s largest teaching union.

Schools will still receive the funding they have been promised to upgrade or put in place the relevant IT infrastructure needed, in spite of the credit crisis currently facing the economy.

That is the opinion of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) which is confident of receiving the money to be used for equipping the institutions across the UK with IT equipment and hi-tech facilities.

According to Martin Johnson, deputy general secretary of ATL, current funding is in the first year of a year-on-year, three-year package, hence funding commitments already made by the government will remain intact.

"Within that funding envelope, on the whole, primary schools will be able to add further IT equipments to roll out the availability of equipment and [ensuring that] more children can access, more of the time," he said.

The average amount spent on pupil funding as far as ICT facilities are concerned is set to total £6,600, according to the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Concern over understaffing in schools and other firms has been raised by experts and unions who are warning that colds, flu and the norovirus winter vomiting bug could cause many to call in sick.

As the nation goes back to work after the Christmas holidays, both teachers and students are expected to fail to turn up after developing the illnesses.

"There are more people struggling with this very unpleasant flu bug, which seems to lay you low for weeks, and various forms of the norovirus," the Guardian quotes Mick Brookes, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.

"I think the beginning of term is going to be a tough time for schools," he added. "If a teacher is off, the work doesn’t get done. You can’t have a classroom full of pupils and no teachers."

He went on to say that many schools will need the services of supply teachers adding that "you have to hope they don’t get ill too".

Calls to NHS out-of-hours services rose by 25 per cent, according to figures from the NHS Alliance.

A death knell for school bells has been sounded by a Scottish teachers’ union, which is recommending their removal due to sound health hazards, reports say.

According to the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA), some of the bells installed in school were too loud and could cause damage to he hearing of pupils and staff.

The SSTA’s acting general secretary Jim Docherty said bells in new schools were particularly of concern as most opted to install one big loud bell in stead of many small ones.

"It is clear that many bells have been designed and placed in schools with no thought as to the health of those who happen to be in the proximity of the bells when they sound," he said.

"School authorities must recognise these concerns where they are expressed and act accordingly before the hearing of staff and students is damaged. The result will inevitably be legal action against the authorities."

However, according to Nick Seaton, chairman of Campaign for Real Education, this is "health and safety gone mad" as the odd timing of the bell ringing can hardly damage hearing.

Government plans to make special educational needs co-ordinators (Sencos) qualified teachers have been faulted by head teachers who are warning that a third of secondary schools are not ready for the move.

A survey from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) shows that 36 per cent of schools do not have Sencos as qualified teachers, while some eight out of ten schools have Sencos carrying out administrative work.

According to ASCL general secretary John Dunford, secondary schools have diversified their workforce in recent years and one does not have to be a qualified teacher to play an important role.

"While the majority of schools choose to have a Senco with qualified teacher status, a significant minority do not and they should not be forced to dismantle a structure which is working well."

New regulations introduced by the Department for Children, Schools and Families state that all Sencos should be qualified teachers by September 2009 including those already holding such a post.

Schools and colleges across England are to benefit from a £720,000 package from the government aimed at encouraging young children and young people to become role models.

To be run by the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation, the cash for the Peer Mentoring programme has been set aside to spur mentoring initiatives through support, advice and friendship.

According to children and young people’s minister Beverley Hughes, children and young people should be encouraged to be mentors as they can be great role models.

"Getting young people to provide help and support for their peers can help schools tackle bullying and make sure that no one gets left alone in the playground or left behind in the classroom," she said.

"The peer mentoring scheme is approached from a different angle by giving support to young people. Many of the young mentors can use real life experiences to put themselves in the shoes of their peers."

A national roll-out of the scheme has been initiated after a successful pilot scheme that involved close to 200 schools and some 3,600 pupils.

Figures from England’s Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) show that the downturn is working in favour of boosting teacher numbers.

A 40 per cent increase in recruitment inquiries has been recorded on the TDA’s website since last December as thousands of workers in the financial sector eye a career in teaching.

According to the agency’s chief executive, Graham Holley, many City workers are already entering the teaching profession despite having well paying jobs, the Daily Mail reports.

"People are giving up salaries of £100,000 in the City to become a trainee teacher," he said. "In this economic climate, teaching is a more stable career.

"They may have tried the City for a period of time, but teaching offers the chance to improve children’s lives and it’s a more satisfying and challenging career."

Following the collapse of City banks such as Lehman Brothers, the TDA made a conscious choice to target the high flying workers by offering teaching as an alternative career.

Ten and 11-year-olds in danger of falling behind in school performance before secondary school are to benefit from a £15 million programme designed to offer one-to-one tuition.

Some 36,000 are to benefit from the Making Good Progress programme, which is being rolled out countrywide with aim of targeting specifically children falling behind in English and maths.

The move follows an interim evaluation of the programme’s pilot, which showed heads, pupils and parents backed reforms that could enable all children to stay on track, the government said.

"It is unacceptable for one-to-one tuition to be the sole preserve of the well-off," schools minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry said. "We want all children, whatever their family’s income, to get the extra support they need to get back on track.

"We know that some children benefit from a short burst of tailored, individual support, on top of effective whole-class teaching or small group support."

The one-to-one tuition programme is earmarked for the spring and summer terms of 2009.

Teachers at a London secondary school are considering strike action to protest against the dismissal of a 56-year-old teacher, who was reportedly sacked for wearing trainers to school.

Adrian Swain was sacked from St Paul’s Way Community School in Bow, east London before Christmas for wearing trainers and tracksuit trousers to work in breach of the school’s new dress code.

However, Mr Swain claimed the action had nothing to do with the dress code but his work as a teachers’ trade union representative as teachers at the institution regularly wore other "banned items".

"It is clear that this is not about what I wear or what kind of teacher I am," said the PE teacher. "This is victimisation because I have consistently worked to protect union members against bullying and intimidation."

According to a spokesperson from the Tower Hamlets Council, the decision to sack Mr Swain followed consultation between the council, the school and trade unions.

New data from the conservatives has revealed that up to 15,000 teachers a day call in sick in England and the trend is blamed on mounting bureaucracy and stress from disruptive classroom behaviour.

According to the Tories, almost three million working days were lost to sick-offs last year with over 300,000 teachers taking at least one day off.

This is an increase from 2.5 million days recorded in 1999 as the average number of sick days rose from 5.1 a head then to 5.4 in 2007, the government’s school workforce statistics show.

Commenting on the figures, shadow children’s secretary, Michael Gove said: "It’s very worrying that the number of sick days has risen so dramatically.

"The government needs to investigate the reasons so we can make sure there is as much stability as possible in every child’s education."
However, Christine Blower of the National Union of Teachers said it was "remarkable" that teachers "have so little sick leave on average" in light of the pressure they face from work.