Now the supply teacher has gone. Is continuity just an oldfashioned notion?

[sparkysparkysparky]

Dd's teacher went on maternity leave before the end of the first term. This appeared to take the school (primary ) by surprise as they only started to recruit for her replacement after she left. And now the replacement has left at short notice. DD is 8 and whole year seems to have been one long exercise in coasting. Not sure dd has made much progress. Am I being incredibly naive to be fed up about this? It's parents evening soon. Do I shrug this off or do I ask for a clear plan of action?

[spanieleyes]

In my area, there is a HUGE shortage of primary school teachers, both permanent and supply. It is unusual to have more than one applicant for a full time post, in many cases schools have to re-advertise. We have 3 supply agencies we regulalrly use, at times all 3 have no one to send us. so the school may well be trying to find a replacement but is having difficulties.

[sparkysparkysparky]

I know that this is life and posts can be hard to fill [sigh].
I hate the idea of it being seen as acceptable.

[Unexpected]

I'm sure the school don't think it is acceptable either but if they can't get applicants for vacant posts it doesn't matter how they feel about it!

[CharlesRyder]

This situation has arisen through the top down belief that teachers are an expendable resource to be used until spent and that they should uncomplainingly jump though any hoop, however unrealistic (like making certain that every child makes better than average progress??).

Nobody in their right mind wants to be a classroom teacher anymore.

Maybe next time the teachers strike parents will support them.

[YonicScrewdriver]

If the supply teacher has been offered a permanent role, had to move for family reasons etc etc - what can the school do? I assume the original plan was to cover the whole period. Or perhaps the permanent teacher originally thought she'd return before her full year of ML but changed her mind?

It's crap, DS had this in year 2 related to long term sick leave, but ultimately teachers are people with other aspects to their lives.

[YonicScrewdriver]

Or perhaps something has happened behind the scenes with the supply teacher eg misconduct.

It's fair to ask for a plan - do you know what that would look like? My school committed to a member of the SMT taking up the cover to prevent further patchiness.

[clam]

As a parent it's tough (been there), but as a teacher I have to say that the effects of relentless pressure (from Ofsted/Management teams) and teacher-bashing in the media and on places like MN are now filtering through. Teachers, in their hundreds, have had enough. We're all just one bad observation away from wanting to quit.

[toomuchicecream]

You're seeing the teacher recruitment crisis in action. But it's ok - the government says there isn't one. They say there are lots of teachers available for work. Just not anywhere I know. Teachers are leaving the profession in thousands for a reason.

[RevealTheHiddenBeach]

I think, especially in certain areas it is almost impossible to recruit good teachers. I'm half way through my school direct year and have taken over a class due to shortages, I am their 4th teacher this year. It is really tough for the children, but if nobody is applying then the place is hard to fill!

[calzone]

Our y1 teacher left at xmas. Still not got a replacement.

[pasbeaucoupdegendarme]

I work in an "idyllic" primary school (actually, Ofsted etc aside it is quite nice. If I've got to teach, I want to do it here.). However, even in my school we are struggling to recruit teachers and TAs. We have a pt vacancy for a teacher at the moment, and a vacancy for a TA and we've hardly had any applicants, let alone decent ones.

In fact, my own mat leave can't start until after I go, so the class will be covered for a couple of weeks by supply.

[rollonthesummer]

I am amazed people are surprised this is happening. The government, the press, parents (not all) have eroded any respect people had for teachers and the coalition has finished it off with PMR, target setting and 'support plans.'

Despite the anonymous DFE spokesperson who trots out the 'there's never been a better time to be a teacher' line anytime recruitment us flagged as an issue and despite endless people who 'work in the real world' (because apparently teachers don't) telling us we have it easy, it appears not to be true and teachers are leaving in their hundreds. 7 teachers left my primary in July-only 4 have been replaced as that's all that applied. The rest are covered by supplies.

By all means ask the school for a plan but don't be disappointed if they can't help you.

What's sad is, it's the good teachers that are leaving...

[rollonthesummer]

This appeared to take the school (primary ) by surprise as they only started to recruit for her replacement after she left

I would imagine they had someone internal lined up to do the cover who pulled out for whatever reason, not that they didn't advertise externally until afterwards.

[sparkysparkysparky]

Politics aside (and I know that politics isn't an aside ), I'd be grateful if the teachers on this thread could suggest how I should support my Dd? She appears to be taking it better than some in her class - there were tears from others.
Can you believe that one child was chastised by another teacher for saying the thing they were most upset about was not finishing a book with this supply teacher.
So, frankly, we all have Big Picture problems with government policy impact on our work but my focus is on my Dd.

[rollonthesummer]

I didn't see your reply-sorry. That's sad that a child was told off for the book comment :(

It's difficult to know what you can say to your DD without knowing the situation. Is there another supply coming in or is a member of the management going to be taking the class after Easter? It's definitely not a good thing for the children concerned. On a more practical level, make sure she's reading to you regularly, knows her tables etc

[jamdonut]

No words of wisdom I'm afraid! Just keep up doing what you would normally do at home.
But where are these places with Teacher/TA vacancies???
In our area we are fighting to save our jobs!!! Cuts being made left,right and centre!!

TA jobs are like gold dust! Even with low pay ( ie advertised with " full-time " salary of £15,882pa, but reality is 28 hrs pw term-time only, and take -home of just over £10,000) the jobs are hugely sought after!

[auntpetunia]

My goodness those descriptions of no teachers isn't the case here (Liverpool ) we had 2 teaching vacancies recently and had 178 applications, we whittled it down to 14 worth getting for lesson ob and 7 for final interview. And that was hard work. So many had brilliant qualities and the interviews were so hard the panel was split and the head had to make a final decision on 1 candidate.

[LadyIsabellaWrotham]

We had that during DD's last year in primary. She had four teachers that year, three good, one totally shit, and much of the good ones' work was wasted due to lack of consistency and the need for them to get to know 30 new pupils in a very short period of time. The second teacher did a brilliant detailed SATs revision plan for them all which was then totally ignored by the subsequent teachers - I could have wept at the waste of her hard work.

DD did fine because I was coaching her for 11 plus exams, but much of the rest of the class really suffered, and the school's SATs rates dropped 20% in a year.

[SavoyCabbage]

When I phoned a supply agency to register the hounded me. And not only the one I approached but people from other branches in different parts of the country too.

'If you come to Lincolnshire instead we will give you x.y.z'

[MissMillament]

The supply and demand situation seems to vary a lot by region. In the area I used to live in you would get dozens of applications for each position. Where I am now, the opposite. I registered with a couple of supply agencies until I fixed myself up with a permanent (secondary) position. I had no end of calls from them asking me to do primary, and particularly early years, supply, which I refused because I felt I would not be able to do the best job possible for the children.
OP - I recommend you do ask what the long term plan is. It is the headteacher's responsibility to make sure your DD and her classmates are being properly taught in their class teacher's absence. As for your DD, encourage her to see it as an opportunity to experience different teaching styles and learn in different ways. It is a shame about the book - perhaps you could get hold of a copy and finish it with her at home - do you know what it was?

[rabbitstew]

Is recruitment of teachers easier in areas where a teacher's salary goes further and there are fewer employment opportunities, generally? ie is the main problem finding teachers for posts in the South East?

[spanieleyes]

No, I'm in a rural middle England county, well away from the South East where house prices are low ( around £160000 for a brand new 3 bed detached) and money goes quite a bit further than more expensive areas! Yet we struggle to find any applicants for any posts ( even though my county still pays to scale, primary academies are unusual and there seems to be plenty of opportunities for progression.) What we have very few of ( indeed only one as far as I am aware) is a teacher training centre. there are very few NQTs in the county and we simply can't replace the teachers leaving in droves!

[Millymollymama]

That suggests that all the teachers being trained that come from your county, are not seeking jobs back home. I live in a county which also has no teacher training university in it, but people do come back and live with their parents and work locally. This is a SE county and housing is expensive.

At the school where I am a Governor we have not experienced teachers leaving in droves. We have had the odd one leave due to DHs job moving or, just recently, to care for an elderly relative. We have been able to stay in touch with former teachers of ours who will come and do a bit of supply when needed but at times we have had to use agencies when cover is needed for a longer period. I agree that no school wants poor continuity of teaching but it might be a real struggle to get a suitable teacher. If only the Head is non teaching, getting them to teach a class is almost impossible although if there are two or more non teaching SLT, then perhaps they should teach. It is difficult to plan if a school does not know if or when a teacher is coming back after mat leave. This should be clearer fairly soon so the school can plan. However the school does not have to share a teacher's maternity leave plans with a parent. This situation will be very frustrating to everyone concerned.

[pudding25]

I teach in a primary school in a leafy suburb of North London. We are now even struggling to get decent supply teachers when we need them for sick cover or cover when a teacher is on a course. Most of the good supply teachers are covering long term posts where teachers have left the profession.
As my Head said, "Who would want to be a teacher nowadays!"