Time to move schools

[GeorgeT]

My eldest is in Y2, she has had 7 teachers in her first 3 years at school. I really think this is impacting on her attainment. She is an articulate and bright (many describe her as this) yet, is we keep being told. average. Moreover at Parents evening we discover she may not even hit average for Maths. While she is a July baby, so young in her year I do feel she is not doing as well as she could be. While I know she is young. I do not want her to fall behind and am considering a tutor to support her. Next year we potentially face a change of teacher mid year which I feel will be bad news for her. There seem to be quite a few children not achieving. The intake is very good, and I am very surprised that these children are not doing better. Is it time to consider an alternative school?

[cremeeggs]

Yes, i would say it's definitely time to assess your other options at least.

However, it is also worth requesting an appointment with the teacher or school head in order to get a better picture of DD's progress and to explain your concerns.

Our bright and articulate DD who was under-achieving at school turned out to be dyslexic with auditory processing issues. The school had clearly suspected this but due to cuts in special needs' budget and pressure on resources they chose not to make us aware of their concerns, as they had no extra help to offer. We had to piece this together ourselves as at parents' evening they always presented a different picture.

Needless to say we changed schools but not before we had all the facts i.e. a full evaluation of her potential vs actual achievement and a clear picture of the school's attitude towards her.

Good luck!

[onceuponawine]

I would want to question WHY there has been such a high turnover of teachers.

[GeorgeT]

Maternity leave is why we have had so many teachers

[GeorgeT]

Actually it is a combination of maternity leave and job shares.

[eileenslightlytotheleft]

Job shares aren't great for schoolkids, I don't think. DD had two teachers in both R and Y1, but the second teacher did one day only. That was fine, but two part-timers seems to have an impact. My friend's DD - who has really struggled - seems to have 7 teachers in Y1: three teachers, plus four specialists who come in for science, music etc. Crazy when you are 5/6.

[Bellbird]

I don't think jobshares always work either. I've only seen it work once - which was in a class with two super organised teachers that were on excellent terms with each other. (This was before the advent of mobile phones!)Each teacher did specific subjects and they both worked through Wednesday lunchtimes for a long chat...before the second one took over.

However, more recently I've seen a teacher living out of her holdall and her files, because she doesn't have a permanent office space. She spends so much time sorting through stuff and deciphering text messages ... It's inefficient and unfair on the class. She hardly ever sees her jobshare partner.

I don't think she wants to voice the fact that quite often she is struggling, because she is quite new. When she is not in a muddle she is a great teacher, but I really think that the school are not giving her much support and communication is a major issue.

(A full time TA is there, but is very much tied down looking after a SEN child who is a bit of an extreme case.)

[UnSerpentQuiCourt]

I work as part of a job share, doing one day and one hour in one class (and ppa cover in other classes). I think it works very well. My partner and I teach different subjects and liaise frequently. We have different teaching styles, which means that more of the children have an envirnment that suits them - my partner is a great advocate of total silence, while I lean towards more fun. Children are generally more flexible than one thinks.

[SnapFrakkleAndPop]

It depends how the job share is set up. Given the amount of ppa time/subject coordinator time sone teachers have it's getting increasingly rare to find a class who has 1 teacher all the time. Sone schools get round this by having specialist teachers in for MFL/music etc and others job share.

It sounds like this school has had a tricky time with staffing problems but also that they're not handling it very well. Staffing problems can hit any school so even if you do move you're not completely out of tge woods! Maybe you should approach your current school, outline your concerns, and ask what they plan to do to minimise tge potential impact on this particular class next year.

Children are very flexible and adaptable learners but that does depend whether it's a continuous arrangement for the year where they need to adapt to different people for different purposes at different times or they need to adapt to everything being different every 6 months.

[seeker]

Job shares can work very well - but the Head has to make sure both teacers are supported properly and have enough PPA time to do a good handover.

What are they saying she is going to get for her SATS?
And what were the school's KS1 SATS like last year?