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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Worth a try?

30 replies

HapusHeddiw · 27/01/2021 00:31

I've changed my username as I don't want it linked to my usual.

I am a HLTA on a maternity contract, working in the special needs department of a secondary school. I do have QTS.

I teach a full time table, various subjects. I am responsible for planning, delivering, marking and assessing 45 lessons a fortnight. I also have a tutor group for which I am responsible for making contact with families, writing reports etc. As the pupils I work with are special needs, it falls on me and my colleagues to write IEPs and one-page profiles.

I am also involved with managing the school TAs. Planning timetables, arranging cover etc. If the senco is not in school then I am left in charge of the department and to deal with any issues if they arise.

I love my job, it's full on and exhausting but it's a great school and we are a good team but I feel like my role is class teacher not HLTA.

It sounds likely that I will be asked to stay on next year. WIBU to ask that they employ me as a teacher? I work just as hard as the teachers and my workload is just as much if not more. I feel like I've brought a lot to the team and my pupils.

YANBU - It's worth a try, you have nothing to lose.

YABU - If you won't do it, they'll just find someone else who will.

OP posts:
AmyandPhilipfan · 27/01/2021 01:15

It’s definitely worth a try, as you are a qualified teacher and planning and teaching a full timetable.

FlyingByTheSeatof · 27/01/2021 01:55

Are you a qualified Teacher it doesn't say in your post just that you are an HLTA for SEN pupils.

FlyingByTheSeatof · 27/01/2021 01:59

There is no way you will be hired as a teacher without the qualifications.

If you have a degree then you can do your one year teacher training and become a teacher.

FlyingByTheSeatof · 27/01/2021 02:01

It's similar to HCA's not having trained as a Registered nurse but thinking they can do the job just as well when in fact they haven't completed the necessary training so there is so much information they are unaware they do not actually know.

stopchewingeverything · 27/01/2021 03:10

The OP does say she has QTS....Qualified Teacher Status. I think you should definitely ask! Sounds like you are doing the work so you should he paid for that.

pumpkinsoups · 27/01/2021 04:21

@FlyingByTheSeatof

There is no way you will be hired as a teacher without the qualifications.

If you have a degree then you can do your one year teacher training and become a teacher.

Op is a qualified teacher!
wellthatsunusual · 27/01/2021 04:23

@FlyingByTheSeatof

Are you a qualified Teacher it doesn't say in your post just that you are an HLTA for SEN pupils.
It's right there in the second paragraph Confused
BidensWingWoman · 27/01/2021 04:26

It's right there in the second paragraph

Yeah, and it's totally obvious to people that understand teaching acronyms ..

The rest of us, not so much.

wellthatsunusual · 27/01/2021 04:43

I didn't understand any of the other acronyms in the post but I see QTS used all the time on Mumsnet. And the very first reply referred to it. If the previous poster saw it and didn't know what it meant they could have asked, instead of berating the OP for being too big for her boots.

BidensWingWoman · 27/01/2021 04:51

And the very first reply referred to it

Not explicitly. It certainly wasn't obvious to me until someone actually said what it stands for. It might be used a lot on here, but I've been on here for ten years+ and I didn't know it, and don't recall seeing it on here before. I don't usually go on to teaching threads. This one didn't make it clear it was about teaching, so I read it.

The previous poster could have asked - but alternatively, a better solution might have been for the op to be clearer in the post, using terms that everyone would understand.

However neither of these things happened. Thankfully there are posters on here that, instead of trying to make people feel stupid for not understanding a term specific to one profession, are happy to explain. Thank you @stopchewingeverything

wirldsgonemad · 27/01/2021 05:04

The post is very unclear to those of us not in the education sector as to whether you are a qualified teacher. If you are, then yes, apply. If you aren't, get qualified and apply or don't apply.

impostersong · 27/01/2021 05:08

We're definitely guilty of overusing acronyms in education! QTS = Qualified Teacher Status.
It does sound like you're doing a teachers job not a HLTA, and the school is taking advantage of you. I'd go back and look at your job description and a teachers JD. Take this both into a meeting with the head and discuss the comparison. Are there any bits of the teachers role your not doing? A HLTA could feasibly manage the TA team but not alongside a full on teaching timetable. That level of teaching responsibility is inappropriate. Is it full classes or small intervention groups? Interventions would perhaps be more appropriate but I'd still expect you to be supported with that.
I say this as a head of a special school by the way.

Original poster
HapusHeddiw · 27/01/2021 06:07

Sorry for the not explaining the acronyms!

My classes are maximum of 15 pupils however most have some form of SEN. In one class I have 5 pupils with ADHD and 3 with ASD.

Is it classed as an intervention when I am solely responsible for all their Maths and English lessons?

OP posts:
KatieKat88 · 27/01/2021 06:20

You're being taken for a ride there OP - you're their maths/English teacher if they aren't having lessons for those subjects with anyone else and you have that many students! I'd get your evidence together that you're working as a teacher and start speaking to your line manager asap (make sure you have evidence of the impact you're making with your students too) - don't wait too long until the summer when their staffing budget is accounted for already.

OfTheNight · 27/01/2021 06:36

You can certainly ask but, I think the school might make the excuse that, despite the huge amount of work you are doing, your role and a teaching role are different. You don’t often find Teachers that only teach intervention for example (though I really don’t see how it’s any diffferent - same sort of work load), you are 2nd to the SENCO in your department - basically the same as a Key Stage co-ordinator, which would mean they need to pay you more if you were employed as a teacher.

Basically I think the school (and others) are getting the services of a teacher but for cheap - I think that’s what the HLTA posts are all about. Not because schools are devious or don’t value the position, but because school’s are skint! So, yes, ask but be ready for them to say that they don’t have a ‘teaching’ post available.

Piffle11 · 27/01/2021 08:18

I say ask. My DS is in a SEN school – not mainstream at all, just SEN – and it’s clear how difficult it is to get good SEN teachers. The school had a vacancy years ago: I knew one of the Governors, and he told me that they had only had three applicants for the role, and truth be told, none of them were particularly fantastic. The person that they gave it to lasted about two months then went on long-term sick. She clearly couldn’t cope. The senior TA, who sounds as though she had similar qualifications to you, ended up taking over the class. She did - and continues to do, years later - a great job. I don’t know whether she was required to do any extra training, but she’s now the teacher.

jellyfrizz · 27/01/2021 08:33

@HapusHeddiw

Sorry for the not explaining the acronyms!

My classes are maximum of 15 pupils however most have some form of SEN. In one class I have 5 pupils with ADHD and 3 with ASD.

Is it classed as an intervention when I am solely responsible for all their Maths and English lessons?

It’s pretty shoddy that children with SEN, who arguably need the most qualified teachers, are being sidelined into classes with teaching assistants. (I know in this case the TA happens to be a qualified teacher.)
monkeysox · 27/01/2021 08:41

You should get SEN allowance too. They're taking the piss.

pumpkinsoups · 27/01/2021 20:51

@BidensWingWoman

It's right there in the second paragraph

Yeah, and it's totally obvious to people that understand teaching acronyms ..

The rest of us, not so much.

Have you ever heard of Google?
BidensWingWoman · 27/01/2021 22:50

Have you ever heard of Google?

Why would I need to Google it, when someone that's not a dick already explained what it means?

pumpkinsoups · 27/01/2021 23:34

@BidensWingWoman

Have you ever heard of Google?

Why would I need to Google it, when someone that's not a dick already explained what it means?

People who aren't dicks find it very useful to look up things that they don't know. You could give it a try?
FlyingByTheSeatof · 27/01/2021 23:42

If you're qualified then of course apply if you want the role.

It sounds like you work very hard and deserve it.

I'm surprised no-ones suggested at work that you apply for it.

I googled HTLA but not QTS but now we know.

FlyingByTheSeatof · 27/01/2021 23:44

I keep forgetting there's no actual role to apply for in which case ask and hopefully a QTS role will come up soon for you.

Gemma2019 · 28/01/2021 00:30

You should definitely be employed as a teacher and not a HLTA, plus have SEN premium on top. You must make sure you get paid what you are worth next year as good SEN teachers are difficult to find and you would be snapped up by another school.

MsJaneAusten · 28/01/2021 00:38

School is taking the piss. Don’t wait until contract renewal. Ask now! You should be paid as a teacher, getting SEN allowance and probably a TLR for managing others.