GDST Trustees

[Common]

How has the GDST Board of Trustees managed to create the first strike by staff in 149 years?

Cheryl Giovannoni and her board have treated a unique educational institution in the UK based on values, ideals and morals like a business because they fundamentally fail to comprehend the ethos of service that powers the GDST.

Withdrawing from the Teachers Pension scheme is a big issue in the private sector, many prep schools have already done this. If GDST goes ahead with the withdrawal other school groups like United Learning can follow.

The background to this is that the government imposed a 43% increase in employer contributions to the TPS in 2019. This doesn't impact academies and maintained schools as they had their funding increased to compensate, but it hits independent schools using TPS. GDST say this has increased their costs by £6M a year. As a charity, they are looking to reduce this cost, so they have more money available for other purposes. I don't know the details of what is proposed so I don't know how this impacts teachers, but a 23.68% employer contribution (which is what the TPS requires) is over double the average for private sector pension schemes.

I suspect that GDST and other independent schools are worried that TPS contributions will rise further. The TPS has an operating loss of over £15M per annum. There have also been actuarial losses of £125M over the last two years, leaving the scheme underfunded by £480M.

This is not to say that GDST is right. I don't know what they are proposing so I am not in a position to comment.

@prh47bridge I had no idea it was that big a shortfall! DH's pension is in the TPS, I had always assumed it was safe as houses. Are there any teachers voluntarily leaving the scheme and transferring into another pension scheme?

Just to add, TPS is a defined benefit scheme. Most private sector pension schemes are defined contribution. I understand GDST proposes moving to a defined contribution scheme. The unions claim the move will reduce pensions by at least 20%.

[quote Xiaoxiong]@prh47bridge I had no idea it was that big a shortfall! DH's pension is in the TPS, I had always assumed it was safe as houses. Are there any teachers voluntarily leaving the scheme and transferring into another pension scheme? [/quote]
The TPS is safe as it is backed by the government. There is no way it, or any of the other public sector pension schemes, will be allowed to go under. The political cost would be too high.

It is possible for teachers to opt out of the TPS even if their school continues to use it, so some may have done so. However, I am not aware of any statistics on this.

Ah ok, I didn't know it was backed by government - so it sounds like as long as DH's school continues to use TPS (he's in the independent sector), he should stick with it.

@alwayspoorly , I completely agree that if GDST go ahead then all the big name school groups will follow. At the moment they are too worried about recruitment but if they know most teaching roles in the private sector are without TPS it won't be an issue to attract the best candidates.

They will not countenance other money saving ideas

I don't know what other money saving ideas have been put forward, but it must be remembered that GDST is a charity. The trustees must, by law, save money in ways that do not impact their charitable objectives if possible.

have substantial funds in reserves

Most of the "reserves" in the accounts are actually the land and buildings they own. Selling off any of those would probably conflict with their charitable objectives. There is also a substantial sum (around £95M) in restricted reserves, which means the trustees can only spend this money for the purposes for which it was given - they cannot use it to fund pensions. Their actual free reserves (i.e. their unrestricted reserves less the fixed assets) are £43M. For a charity with annual spending of over £250M, this is quite a low level of reserves. It is 2 months running costs, whereas the Charity Commission recommend 3-6 months. If your union is telling you that GDST have substantial reserves, they are wrong.

I completely agree that if GDST go ahead then all the big name school groups will follow

I don't know which big name school groups are in TPS. However, before the rise in employer contributions, there were 1,171 independent schools in the TPS out of a total of 2,461. Since the increase, 287 schools have either left the TPS or are about to do so. You may be right that GDST leaving will bring about a domino effect but, with 64% of independent schools already being outside the TPS, I am not convinced.

This is not intended to take sides. If someone posts what GDST are saying, I will happily fisk that.

@prh47bridge , the schools that have left include lots of prep schools. It's a big issue in the prep sector because by the nature of the businesses they don't have vast cash reserves or assets they can turn to to pay the TPS bill.

[quote sunshineclouds24]@prh47bridge , the schools that have left include lots of prep schools. It's a big issue in the prep sector because by the nature of the businesses they don't have vast cash reserves or assets they can turn to to pay the TPS bill. [/quote]
Thank you.

Many pension schemes have changed to defined contribution schemes or purchase schemes. Teachers are the only public sector employees who can go and work in the independent/ private sector and maintain their pension in a public sector pension. A nurse who leaves the NHS for a private hospital doesn't remain in the NHS pension fund.

The alternative is going to be fee rises, which GDST try to maintain at the more affordable in comparison to other top performing schools in the country.

If we want a public sector pension, we should be working in the public sector - it may hit recruitment (which is probably a big risk), but there are other advantages to not working in the state sector.

The problem with the GDST is precisely in its title: girls day schools. The market in independent education is moving towards Co Ed and foreign boarders. Apart from one or two of their big name schools, I wonder how many of their schools are struggling for numbers. They clearly need more income and would certainly get this from opening up to the international appetite for British boarding schools. They have a brand they could sell and some amazing schools which would be attractive to overseas parents.

The GDST claim they need 35mil per year to spend on capital projects

They spent £32M last year and £30M the year before.

Personally, I feel (although I have absolutely no substance for this) that they are after opening schools abroad following in the footsteps of big name public schools but that is pure conjecture

I think that is probably wrong. They would have to change their charitable objects to do that. Their objects are clear that they exist to operate day schools for girls in London and the Provinces (i.e. within the UK).

Anyone interested in the numbers, the amount of reserves, there is a balanced view on the NEU website

Do you have a link for that? All I can see is this in one of their briefings:

The Trustees determined appropriate level of reserves in the range of £28-£43 million. Current reserves stand slightly above that range at £43.1. In addition, there are restricted funds of £95 million.

This is correct. What it doesn't explain is that the level set by the Trustees is significantly less than the Charity Commission recommends. And the restricted funds are entirely irrelevant - they must be spent for the purposes for which they were given.

It is telling that I feel I need to leave this thread now in fear of repercussions

In case you are concerned about me, can I make it clear that I have no connections with GDST at all, nor, as far as I am aware, do I now anyone who is connected with them.

Pension schemes change all the time, as they become unaffordable. Some of the TA's in the state sector, who are part of the local government scheme have seen changes to their scheme whilst they have been members. Talking to someone today, her NHS pension that she could have started 8 months ago at 55 (one of the last), has further changes coming, which may mean she will stop contributing as she will save so little into the new portion from a point when existing contributions get frozen, it makes it not worth it as she only intends to keep working as a nurse for another 4/5 years.

Edit - pay freeze should be 2020-1

I don't know how this impacts teachers, but a 23.68% employer contribution (which is what the TPS requires) is over double the average for private sector pension schemes.

This is irrelevant. The pension is a big draw for teachers. If a business can't recompense their staff properly it isn't viable. Those teachers would be welcomed into the state sector.

My brief brush with an independent girls' school was abysmal in terms of HR management. I was conned into believing that they'd be paying me actual M6, not M6 on their own scale. I was given a timetable for the days I'd explicitly stated I worked elsewhere. There was no quality long (or even short term) planning in place and they were even more skint than the public sector to the point where they couldn't afford books. Results were dire. I was glad to have the excuse of M6 to get out of there fast.

As a teacher I wouldn't go anywhere near the private sector again.

I am a teacher in a GDST school.

The GDST has misrepresented the situation in different ways as it has been caught out by questioning by the NEU. They have not shared their figures completely. They are basing their decision on a number of unlikely events which would, theoretically, make TPS unaffordable.

In addition, all teachers in the GDST will be fired in August and will either have to sign a new contract or leave the following Christmas. This was implemented at the same time as the consultation began. Teachers are negotiating with a gun to their heads. This type of fire and rehire policy has been denounced by such famously leftie public figures as Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson.

There has been zero movement in terms of the offer since the euphemistically named 'consultation' began. The Trust's roadshow to engage and comfort staff was a clinically worded intractable PR disaster. The weekly emails from trust, which are becoming increasingly desperate, only serve to inflame an already incendiary situation.

NEU members voted 95% in favour of a strike, with an 84% turnout. This is one of the most impressive shows of feeling the NEU has ever seen. This is also the first time in the Trust's 149 years history that strike action has been voted for.

The teachers do not want to strike. But equally they do not want their pensions eroded by, in some cases, £10k or more a year. Teachers in the GDST already get paid less than in the state sector. This policy will see a recruitment and retention crisis as good teachers leave for financial security in their old age, schools will decline, close and in the end it is the students who will suffer.

The GDST claims to be a family, but being run as it is by chartered accountants, investment fund managers and advertising executives, it has become a bean-counting machine seemingly determined to undermine, undercut and demoralise its greatest asset in the name of cutting costs.

No one wants to strike. We strike because we care.

@Tcb1969 thank you so much for sharing the situation honestly. As a parent who removed their children from a GDST school because it seemed to be better at marketing than pastoral care, it is a very interesting read indeed.

Letter from NEU to GDST

Dear parents/carers,
As you will have heard, teachers in the National Education Union (NEU) have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action on 10 February – the first strike in GDST’s 149-year history. We have taken this decision with heavy hearts and wanted to give you an explanation of how it has come to this.
We know from the many kind comments that we have received that you have appreciated how hard teachers have worked to keep your daughters’ education going during this extraordinarily challenging time.
After such a difficult two years, teachers returned last September to be told that the GDST would take away a huge part of our remuneration: membership of the national Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS).
Not only that, before a word of consultation had been exchanged, teachers were threatened with ‘fire and rehire’ if they did not agree.
The timing and nature of these proposals has caused very deep anger and upset among our hard- working staff.
The benefit of receiving a good pension is one of the things that attracts teachers to the profession. To be told that we would receive less than our peers left members in shock.
GDST CEO Cheryl Giovannoni (herself in the top ten salaries for charities in the UK) made the proposals on the assumption that the cost of remaining in the scheme will rise when it is revalued in 2024. The trust wants to take teachers out of the scheme a whole year before valuation is complete. It seems entirely reasonable to wait for the outcome, rather than tearing up teachers’ contracts when everyone is still reeling from Covid-19.
The amount that GDST will save from withdrawing from the TPS pales into insignificance when compared to the vast capital spend programme the trust is planning.
Teachers understand that new facilities are important, but we believe the balance between the huge increase in capital spend and lower investment in staff is entirely wrong. It is teachers who make the real difference to children’s education. If GDST does not offer the TPS, high-quality staff will likely choose to work elsewhere.
Teachers are asking for a period of stability to support students who have already experienced too much disruption due to the pandemic. We should be spending our energies on students learning; on preparing for important exams.
We are truly saddened to be having to take this unprecedented action. But we teach young women that it is right to stand up and fight for fair treatment, fair pay and fair conditions.
The GDST Council will make its final decision on whether to push ahead with the proposals at the end of February. There is still time for the council to withdraw these proposals. We sincerely hope that it will listen to the vast chorus of opposition and shelve these plans.
We hope that you understand that we are a moderate staff who have been given no other option.

We hope that you understand that we are a moderate staff who have been given no other option. If you would like more information please visit neu.org.uk/support-gdst-members
To show your support for GDST teachers and the campaign:
• Jointhecampaignsupporterslistbit.ly/WeAre23Strong
• WritetotheCEOofGDSTandchairofcouncilbit.ly/GDSTCEOAction • WritetoyourlocalMPherebit.ly/GDSTMP
Yours sincerely,
NEU GDST Teachers