A BOLTON teacher has been elected the new president of one of the country's biggest teaching unions -- and he has pledged to fight to reduce teachers' workloads.

Mike Moore, from Heaton, takes over at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers on Sunday after 33 years in the teaching profession.

Mr Moore, aged 55, has taught at Harrop Fold Secondary School -- formerly Little Hulton Community School -- since 1968.

In his new role, he wants to tackle teachers' ever-increasing workloads and to change what he perceives as an "inappropriate" school curriculum which dedicates too much time to literacy and numeracy at the cost of other subjects.

Mr Moore is also highly critical of the way the Ofsted system works. He said: "If I have grandchildren, I'm worried about who will be left to teach them and what they will be taught.

"I'm looking forward to becoming national president as there are so many important issues for me to tackle over the next year."

Mr Moore, originally from Nottingham, settled in the North-west after completing his teaching training course in Didsbury. He taught maths for many years before becoming an Information and Technology and Business Studies teacher.

Mr Moore became the ATL's branch secretary for Salford in 1986 and has spent the past two years working as national vice-president.

He has been married to Dorothy, a teacher at St Matthew's Primary School, Little Lever, for 30 years. The couple have a daughter.

Mr Moore's school has granted him a two-year secondment.