Yr 1 teacher

She’s a qualified teacher, that’s that. Primary teachers can teach in secondary and vice versa.

The head could be filling the class with a newly qualified teacher (no teaching experience barring teaching practice) or a TA (no teaching qualification at all).

First of all: How on earth do you know about that teacher's lack of qualifications and experience?
First thing that came to my mind

I wouldn't worry about the lack of primary experience, in itself. As long as someone knows how to communicate well with little ones - which she may well do, considering you say she has children and has been coming in to school to help with reading - getting to grips with the Yr 1 syllabus is not exactly rocket science. I don't say that in a disrespectful way whatsoever; I taught Yr 1 for several years and it's a fantastic age to teach and important that good foundations get put in place. I was very green when I first started but you don't get experience without being given a chance. Even great teachers have to start somewhere. That in itself wouldn't be an issue to me.
However, from her other comments, I can see why you might be concerned about her suitability to teach and influence your son. Her behaviour doesn't sound professional and she had better stop posting things like that, or school will have something to say and she won't be in a job for long. I'd give her a chance but keep tabs and obviously raise concerns if you're unhappy with anything she says or does. At least she's only one day a week and most likely will be being instructed by the main teacher.

We have 3 HLTAs (high level teaching assistants) at my school - we don't call them cover supervisors but they do cover as well as have other roles supporting children.

One is a qualified teacher who has had mental health issues and prefers the role with less responsibility. She is a great and very conscientious teacher.

Another is also great, very intelligent and shows more initiative than half the teachers. She married young and her husband did not allow her to complete university. Now in her late 40s and divorced, she doesn't feel able to start her education over and eventually become a teacher, which she would be really good at.

Third is also very capable and is taking a class next year as an apprentice teacher.

Just saying - not being qualified does not always equate to being lesser. Aptitude and intelligence count for a lot, plus all teachers start off by being inexperienced.

The job wasn't even advertised, I know at least 3 people who are primary trained with plenty of experience with great references who would of applied for this job so they can hardly say there is a shortage of people for the job.

I suspect there are a shortage of people seeking a primary teaching position who would be content to work one day a week and probably for a lower salary. The school at the end of the day want the best for the children, if they could afford and/or find a highly experienced KS1 teacher who was happy to just teach on Fridays and never teach any core subjects then I'm sure they would; as it goes they're constrained by budgets and reality. I think it sounds great personally, presumably this is the main class teachers PPA time, so the school care about staff, the teacher is less likely to burn out and I'm sure they'll support with planning etc as necessary.

1. She has no primary experience (she has been going in twice a week for an hour at a time this year to her child's class FS to help with reading).

She may have QTS which allows her to teach anywhere. You don't need any teaching qualification to teach in an academy school or private school.

2. She has been open and loud in her words “I’ll have to get (her child’s name) to teach me phonics, I have no fing clue what I’m doing”*

If she's swearing in front of the kids that is unprofessional, but until she's actually employed by the school (contract starts 1st Sep) there's probably not much you can do.

3.Today I have been shown screen shots from another parent group she is on bitching about another parent in her DS's current class. laughing that her child has been put in Mrs X class "I hope she's disappointed she's got the worst teacher"

This is most concerning as it's incredibly unprofessional. She needs to realise that she can't go saying these things and certainly not on social media. Whoever has these screen shots should, as you say they are, show them to the head so the teacher can be educated on the school social media policy and general professionalism.

4. She’s a very loud rude person in general, her child used to attend the same tennis class as DS, she would bring her dog into the playground while we waited, myself and 2 other mums have toddlers, who she used to shout at to keep out the way her dog is prone to be vicious around children, when we said they are in a playground she was very
defensive saying she has to wait somewhere

Well, not ideal, but perhaps her teacher persona is a bit more gentle.

5.The job wasn't even advertised, I know at least 3 people who are primary trained with plenty of experience with great references who would of applied for this job so they can hardly say there is a shortage of people for the job.

Teaching jobs do not need to be advertised. Only head and deputy jobs do. So nothing you can do about it.

You can do a PGCE in Dance that gives you QTS!

It doesn't sound like she has done her pgce, teaching dance doesn't make you a qualified teacher. It sounds like they employed a TA to cover topics, cover supervisors are very popular at the moment.

This is the reality…. There are funding cuts in schools so they employ ‘unqualified teachers’ who are paid using an ‘unqualified teacher pay scale’. This is what’s really going on.

Yes, it’s a problem that’s been growing for years but has really come to a head in the past 12-18 months.

Teachers have been trying to warn the public for a good 9-10 years but we’re vilified by the press and made out to be work shy professionals who should be grateful for all the perks like working 9-3 etc (which just isn’t true). The public and media told teachers to stop moaning and if they didn’t like it to get another job. And, unfortunately that’s exactly what many of them, myself included have decided to do.

Strangely enough, those who said it was a super easy job don’t seem keen to train up and replace us and so 1000s of classes up and down the country, both secondary and primary, are taught by unqualified staff everyday. I am of course a qualified teacher but have been called on over the past few years to teach subjects I haven’t studied myself since my GCSEs in the early 2000s. Maths was a highlight…concepts I have no recollection of ever studying myself. My maths teaching involved reading the textbook before the lesson and deflecting questions I had no clue about…so sad and not what I went into teaching my own subject for.

I never knew this was an issue

Really?

"I genuinely do, all of which have been on maternity leave or been at sahm for the past few years, why would I lie about this?"

SAHM - possible, but if they have been on maternity leave they will need to return to their original school for a period of time or they will have to pay back their OMP, so doesn't sound likely/believable.

I'm not sure you should have questioned the headteacher's recruitment decisions. Wait till your child starts secondary school, my DCs have had different subs for various subjects for almost a whole academic year.

All schools are struggling to recruit as no one wants to teach.

I’m sorry to break it to you but unless the teaching crisis resolves itself very quickly, you are going to be very very disappointed if you expect your child to be taught by a fully qualified teacher at all times (especially one with experience). I know how ridiculous that sounds but that is the truth of the matter at present.

Do nothing, you may find she's the best thing since sliced bread
If she's not she will get support
You may not like her but don't turn it into a witch hunt, let your friend deal with the comment thing which is indeed a big No No

Yeah I was coming on to say this.
You are one of ‘those’ parents by the sound of it.

She sounds awful. People on MN are so quick to defend teachers at all costs even when it's appalling behaviour like this.

I think the head needs to see the screenshots of these messages and I'd escalate higher than the head if she isn't going to listen.

Clearly school are cutting costs by using a cover supervisor. They probably can't afford a teacher to cover ppa