HLTA covering two whole days every week?

[SuperSange]

Hi all; I've just found out that a HLTA in my daughters school is taking the class for two whole days a week. (Y3) we were told at the induction meeting that she was full time, but she has a full day PPA and another day for 'study', perhaps for an additional qualification, I do t know. I didn't know PPA was a full day, and surely they shouldn't have the TA for two full days? I'm minded to ask the school, but I'm not sure how to approach it with the head. Is it a common state of affairs, or is it worth asking?

Very common ! They can't recruit staff and a good HLTA who knows the children is in my mind far better than a series of unknown supply teachers..

Yes very common. All teachers get 10% of their contact time. Then NQTs get an extra half day. Then if you are leading a curriculum area such as maths or they have SEN responsibility for example.

The teacher shortage is a catastrophe.

Yes, I can see the advantage of that! I thought it might have been mentioned at some point.

It may be better to use support staff rather than unknown supply teachers, but how fair is it on HLTAs, who are basically on a job-share with a teacher but on a significantly lower wage? This is very common now, with schools expecting TAs to cover classes on a regular basis. No surprise that schools are now finding it hard to retain or recruit support staff.

@Tiarella the HLTA isn’t necessarily poorly paid, as a nqt the experienced HLTA was on more money than me!

I am a supply teacher and this is so depressing to read.

I may not know the children but I do very quickly get a feel of them, their abilities, their needs. I am a fully trained, qualified teacher with many years of experience, both in supply and in post.

Fair enough, if the children have supply teacher after supply teacher then it can be difficult for them but being taught by one long-term supply teacher would be better for the children than having an HLTA cover two whole days every week. It's also not fair on the HLTA who is expected to do the job of a teacher for a fraction of the pay.

Exactly. I’ve been a teacher and a TA. As a TA I was in significantly more per hour. Not only that, but TAs get overtime, which teachers don’t

For all you know the TA may be more experienced and better qualified than the teacher anyway. For all you know the TA might be a qualified teacher

No money for a supply teacher in our school, so an HLTA covers my class for my PPA and SENCo time. I used to have a supply teacher, which was great as she would mark the work. Now I have to plan the work, mark the work and do the work that I'm supposed to do in my non-contact time.

Most schools are working with a lot less money and a far smaller pool of staff.

HLTA's can be brilliant, so don't make any assumptions. Good supply teachers are in short supply in most areas now and if they can find one they might only want short term work. A good HLTA will provide consistency for the children.

I happen to know she's neither of those, but thanks anyway

Honestly. Find something else to worry about. You can guarantee that your daughter’s teacher is planning and assessing the work the hlta is covering. What exactly is the problem?

No you can't. HLTAs can and do plan and assess.

Well, ok. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Still don’t see the problem.

As a former HLTA, I've covered classes for weeks on end covering sickness.

For comparison, my hlta wage was £11.97 or thereabouts an hour. My 1-1 ta wage (two contracts) was £9.52 approx an hour.

The extra £2 p/h was not worth it.
I would also question any TA earning more than a teacher.

If there is no value in a qualified teacher what's the point? And if it doesn't matter who delivers the work why not a base level ta and a twinkl PowerPoint?

I too would be uncertain of a long term plan for a class including a couple of days per week unqualified teaching. Unless the teacher themselves was poor, and the HLTA great.

Not common here in NI at all. I wouldn’t be happy that my child only had a qualified teacher for 3 days per week. I would speak to the school. Is the teacher a part time teacher?

Nothing wrong with this. HLTAs are qualified to take a class. As a previous poster said it is far better than having to use a supply teacher.

No, we were told she was full time.

Fairly common and whether it would bother me depends on the HLTA and how the class benefits from the stability vs having supply teachers (assuming school has budget anyway..). My daughter’s class has some children who find change really challenging and having a teacher/single HLTA spilt that is regular would be better for them than having more, but more highly qualified, class leaders. I’d expect the regular spilt to give scope for the teacher to carefully plan and monitor progress.

It's taking advantage of a lower-paid staff member to save money. School budgets need sorting out. A teacher in the classroom should be a basic fundamental requirement.

As an HLTA, I can confirm that we are paid pennies for what we do.

Its not a terrible hourly rate, although I don’t think it recognises the expectations of the job, but it’s impossible to earn a decent wage for a single adult household as an HLTA simply because the hours are so limited. Being paid overtime on some inset days doesn’t make much difference.

It’s becoming much more common for HLTAs to cover increasing periods of time unfortunately. As always, it’s about money. An HLTA that is based in class the rest of the week is by far the best option for cover on two of the days if the teacher can’t be there.

What you should ask the school is if the HLTA will have another TA with them or of if they’ll be on their own.

Artisanbread HlTA's get paid more than average TAs and are qualified to deliver classes - they're intended to be a level up from TA. I wouldn't underestimate a good TA.

Absolutely this!

I was encouraged to become an HLTA by my school when the role was first brought in. I was told I would be getting recognition for the responsibilities I was already taking. However, it was firmly pointed out this wasn’t a professional qualification. I should have read the signs. I was used as a supply teacher/PPA cover too at an additional £2 an hour! Bloody cheap at the price when I found out what an outside supply teacher gets. I was expected to do all my own planning and preparation in my own time and I was on my own with a class of 35 pupils, some of whom had behavioural issues, which was ironic when the fully qualified teachers always had TA support in the classroom. I raised my concerns and was told that I could always send a child as a runner to the office if I had any problems!

I wish more parents would question the arrangements some schools make over cover. PPA has always been a bit of a joke to me. What other profession gives you half a day off every week to do planning etc? Those in the teaching profession don’t have pupils for 12 weeks a year; if they took off 6 of those weeks for holiday entitlement, that still gives them another 6 weeks to do admin in. At my school, they used to get quite ansy if they didn’t get their entitlement and would ‘bank’ their time away from the class so they would get a couple of whole days off which was occasionally used for appointments, shopping etc justified by the argument that their planning had been done in their own time.

My daughter is a secondary school teacher and she’s lucky if she ever gets PPA time. She gets into work early or stays late to do her paperwork and she certainly has a lot more admin and marking than most primary school teachers. Secondary schools also have cover supervisors, if necessary for staff sickness where work has been set by a teacher but not delivered by them to the pupils.

Bearing in mind that in order to teach you now need a degree, it seems a farce to have unqualified staff like myself fulfilling the same role.

This Is becoming increasingly common- schools cannot afford supply and it’s almost impossible to recruit teachers in many areas.
I’ve seen lots of people tell teachers to stop moaning and do something else if they don’t like it. Well they have. The Conservative govt have cut school funding to dangerously low levels. It’s going to get more and more common.
Some HLTAs are great, really. But it’s not a qualified teacher with the training that entails.