Year 2 School Staffing

[Dreamypuma]

Hi All,

I'm new here so apologies in advance for any breaches of etiquette.

I've just heard from my 6 year old daughter and another parent that her class is not being staffed by a teacher on Fridays, but two teaching assistants.

From what we can gather, this is not a one off, but likely to be the case every week.

Without undermining the value of teaching assistants, does this sound acceptable?

If the school is an academy, they don't actually have to employ qualified teachers at all. Whilst most still do, the Government and DfE have stated that they do not have to. They can appoint anyone they want to a classroom and give them responsibility for a class of children, their safety and their education.

I work in a primary school and this happens more than people realise.
We have had 2 level 2 TAs looking after a while reception class while the teacher is on PPA, meeting or not in school. They do not get supply teachers in for this.
Another class the teacher is training to be assistant head so every afternoon a (very shouty) TA has to have the whole class on her own and will likely have been set an activity that needs more than one person to do.
Often teachers refuse to work on their own, but TAs are thrown in with little experience and knowledge for a measley wage.

Our school uses LSAs (same as a TA) to run enrichment clubs for a whole afternoon every week during PPA. We've been doing it for years.

The list of activities is endless. We've planned and provided opportunities to try everything from woodwork to setting up a cafe to acrobatics. They've learnt to play chess, old playground games and ukuleles. They've had a go at sewing, creating a newspaper and archery. We've taken groups to the beach, children with autism to a world class facility with climbing walls and outdoor pursuits and whole classes to a local university to use sports facilities.

But hey ho, what a waste of an afternoon 😂

Our school have always had a HLTA cover PPA time. However now ds is in a split 4/5/6 class and they don't even have a TA. The government have cut funding so much that the school had to let three of them go.

Has been this way in the primary my DS1 attends all through. He's now in Y6. No ill effects from it.

It's a budget thing - especially in a school with certain demographics where there are fewer pupil premiums but also a 1.5 form entry!

They can only do what they can do. Most of the TAs in DS1s primary are bloody brilliant, tbf.

Your dd is not just going to be playing on a Friday. They will be doing the same amount of work as on the other days. There isn't time for playing! You should take a look at the National Curriculum if you think schools can write off a fifth of the time children are in school.

Many HLTA’s and Level 4 TA’s are qualified teachers who don’t want the hassle and stress of teaching.

The alternative is all teachers within the school have PPA time at the same time one afternoon and the school closes early. Several schools now do this.

Also, just to echo Iamnotthe1, academies and free schools no not need to have qualified teachers. Many parents don't realise this.

I'm a TA. I also happen to be a qualified teacher who no longer teaches. I am not an HLTA and refuse to be one. (The reason I left teaching was to get away from the planning etc)
HOWEVER I frequently cover classes, often at the last minute. I also do planned cover for my Class teacher. If I cover I am paid an enhanced rate.

Mixed age classes are incredibly common. They come about when schools are small or when the standard number for a school (the number they can admit per year group) is something like 40 but class sizes can't be that big.

TAs and HLTAs covering classes for PPA is common too. In our school some art is taught by a TA, she gets paid and enhanced rate for those days and does the planning and assessing. She is very good at teaching art, far better than many class teachers. Another teaches PE as PPA cover and , again, is far better at teaching PE than some teachers. We also have PPA covered by a sports provider. My class teacher is out one day a week - PPA and SLT time and currently is covered by another teacher who does a job share but I suspect if the other teacher moved on she would not be replaced and it would be me covering.

In short, its perfectly normal, not ideal and a reflection on budget cuts.

I’m a TA and I cover PPA for a morning a week with another TA. I’m degree educated with 6 years experience and the other TA has 15 years worth. We know the kids better as we spend all week with them. We plan our own sessions and have been observed by SLT on numerous learning walks who have all said we’re creating and delivering outstanding lessons.

TA’s don’t get the credit we deserve from lots of parents. We don’t spend our day sharpening pencils and cleaning paint pots with the odd bit of hearing kids read.