....to think my daughter's class has a right to a qualified teacher?

[pokemeinthemorning]

So we had a message tonight on the system to explain what is happening in my daughter's year 5 class. Apparently, their teacher will now be teaching another class because one teacher left two weeks ago and they have said they have 'dispensed of any supply staff'. Basically the TA will be teaching the class for the foreseeable future.
I know there are many dedicated and wonderful TA's who could make great teachers BUT we are not qualified to teach classes on a regular basis.
On questioning my daughter I found out that from the start of this year she has her teacher in class 2 days a week and the rest is taken on by the TA. We were not told about this.
As a TA myself, I know that they often cover classes but this is on a regular basis for a prolonged period of time.

I feel that this is very unfair and they should at least be employing supply teachers in the meantime.

That should say 11 absences per day not per week.

My DDs school struggles to find qualified supplies. It's the state of the system and it's been a long time in the making. Teachers don't want to teach and the industry isn't appealing to new recruits as the pay is appalling and expectations are insanely high- it's exhausting!! I don't have any advice but just grin and bear it. The school system is no longer fit for purpose.

YANBU
I am a HLTA and I'm allowed to cover classes for odd days of sickness/training etc. but if it's a long term absence TAs shouldn't be covering. I know a lot of TAs who are perfectly capable and would do a great job but they're not paid to take on that role!

This is so poor. Gove allowing our kids to not be taught by an actual qualified teacher.

In a couple of years at primary school my sons TAs were much better than the teachers.

Parents should also be aware that at secondary level their child’s teacher may be qualified but not qualifies in the subject they’re teaching. In my dept we have a non-specialist teaching my subject. He is given KS3 so less ‘damage’ is caused but his class aren’t getting the best deal. I’ve taught for 22 years and this has been a regular occurrence for the last 10 years as schools operate on a skeleton staff.

@motherrunner

Parents should also be aware that at secondary level their child’s teacher may be qualified but not qualifies in the subject they’re teaching. In my dept we have a non-specialist teaching my subject. He is given KS3 so less ‘damage’ is caused but his class aren’t getting the best deal. I’ve taught for 22 years and this has been a regular occurrence for the last 10 years as schools operate on a skeleton staff.

Yep. And then they are crap at it. Someone sent to teach french when they don’t speak the language doesn’t help. Even in the lower classes.

I wonder how many people who think this is unreasonable also have contributed to teacher bashing threads and moan about their holidays.

No wonder British kids are the most poorly educated in europe!

@Drumshambo

No wonder British kids are the most poorly educated in europe!

No they are not

worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-educated-countries

@Nikkibrad

In a couple of years at primary school my sons TAs were much better than the teachers.

That's not the point though! The quality of teachers coming through the system is a separate issue! There is no justification for schools using teaching assistants as cheap labour. It seems from a lot of posts on here, that is exactly what's happening.

You’re right @Drumshambo - it is cheap labour, and is completely inappropriate for all concerned. However, as @Nikkibrad and others have said, the quality of TA is often better than some who are qualified, so schools will inevitably take advantage of that where they can. In my case, my school know they are getting a great deal for their money, and many parents have been hugely complimentary. I am educated to a high standard - have LLB, masters and BSc, as well as professional qualifications - and am proficient in their taught language - far more than most of the teachers at my school. So while I am mulling the logistics of cementing this career change with a PGCE, the school are inevitably utilising the benefit of their ‘cheap labour’. I am sole teacher for a class for the coming three weeks, as their regular class teacher, will be away on planned leave. I am sometimes allocated an occasional TA to help, and yes…as you’d expect with cheap labour, standards do very much vary!
State education, is very much on its knees. Sad but true.

the quality of TA is often better than some who are qualified

‘Often’? Really?

If people have such a low opinion of teachers, why do we need them to have qualifications at all?

That’s not the inference at all. Yes the quality of TA is often better - in that it’s not the rarity often assumed. That doesn’t denigrate teachers overall? And let’s not forget, many TAs are qualified teachers looking for better work life balance. It’s still cheap labour - and schools are inevitably cutting costs where they can. Using a well educated, competent TA, (whether QTS or not) has proved to be far more successful for our school, as the quality of supply teachers, has often been hit & miss. Not to mention the added benefit of consistency for the children themselves.

I do find it very sad that our education system has come to this. It’s infuriating and tragic at the same time. But it is the consequence of years of mismanagement (not just funding issues)/political interference and theorists trying to reinvent the wheel, and I think problems in wider society related to lack of discipline/seeing education as important and so on.

I feel sorry for the good teachers, hamstrung by the system which wants carbon copy/“teach like this” rather than giving professionals the latitude to teach their own way (as long as meeting the required standards), all the whole eroding discipline and respect for teachers- I’m not surprised that so many have left. Reap what we sow, I suppose.

"many TAs are qualified teachers looking for better work life balance"

Are they though? I'd say that's a rarity. I've been working in primary schools for a long time (as a teacher and TA) and I haven't come across this army of "many" qualified teachers being TAs. People can't afford that wage drop unless they have a rich partner.

TAs are a mixed bag. Some have degrees, some are career changers trying to fit work around childcare, some were employed 20+ years ago to wash pots and sharpen pencils and there's no way they'd be employed now. They're the ones who sit in the staffroom moaning constantly and refusing to pitch in. You wouldn't want the latter to be in charge of a class.

@FrenchToasty so true!

Teacher strikes are not the way forward.

Parents on the other hand...contact everyone possible to raise the issue of the poor state of the education system. Find out about budget cuts, staff morale and OFSTED pressures. This affects your children.

Support teachers, turn the tide on the media. Teachers really do want your child to be the best they can be.

Read up on the academy programme and respond before the education system has all democratic processes removed.

Find out about Local Authority budget cuts by central government, the loss of external support services (SEN provision, family help through children's centres, cuts to social care). Schools are picking up so many pieces.

Contact your MP's. Demand answers. Stop voting Tory.

I work in primary school recruitment and the situation is dire. We cannot recruit. We don't get enough quality applications and we can hardly get supply. With sickness and COVID cases on the rise it is an almost impossible situation.

Education is underfunded and bruised from the last 2 years. We are pretty much on our knees.

Your daughter does deserve a qualified teacher but I doubt the school is to blame. Sad but true!

@FrenchToasty

"many TAs are qualified teachers looking for better work life balance"

Are they though? I'd say that's a rarity. I've been working in primary schools for a long time (as a teacher and TA) and I haven't come across this army of "many" qualified teachers being TAs. People can't afford that wage drop unless they have a rich partner.

TAs are a mixed bag. Some have degrees, some are career changers trying to fit work around childcare, some were employed 20+ years ago to wash pots and sharpen pencils and there's no way they'd be employed now. They're the ones who sit in the staffroom moaning constantly and refusing to pitch in. You wouldn't want the latter to be in charge of a class.

It's not that unusual in my experience.

I am a qualified teacher working as a HLTA. Yes I took a huge drop in wage to do so.

But I'm definitely not alone, nor unique.

Of the teachers who we employed as TAs at my school, and of those who have applied for Ta roles they been predominately women and from these main groups:

• older teachers coming towards the end of their teaching careers
• women who have recently had children or have younger children
• young people who have just qualified but won't to get more experience before deciding which area/phase they want to apply for

So TAs should be allowed to teach classes while working as a TA because some of them are qualified to do so?

If they’re qualified to teach and they’re teaching, then they are being a teacher not a TA and should be paid as such. If they’re not qualified to teach, then they shouldn’t be teaching but should stick to TAing.

@noblegiraffe

So TAs should be allowed to teach classes while working as a TA because some of them are qualified to do so?

If they’re qualified to teach and they’re teaching, then they are being a teacher not a TA and should be paid as such. If they’re not qualified to teach, then they shouldn’t be teaching but should stick to TAing.

Yes, nobody has answered this! Some of the ta' who've posted on here are letting themselves be used by schools without even objecting.in fact, I get the impression some.of them.get a sense of importance because they are doing the job of a teacher. I find that a bit pathetic tbh. They are being paid .minimum wage and generally treated like shit! You'd get paid more and given more respect working in tesco.

I can answer the many PP's who ask why TA's just don't refuse to do things etc... There were hardly any permanent contracts for TA's when I did it, a decade ago. As 1-1 need and funding change all the time contracts were often VERY temporary. If my 1-1 left the school, for example, there go my hours... It wasn't unusual to start a term with no actual contract as no one had bothered renewing it OR to find term by term, your hours could be slashed - I was genuinely offered 1 hr a week at one point. When they ask in a crisis if you can 'just help out today' it was usually by the same person who decided hrs and placements for the next term and they made it very clear how being 'flexible' and a 'team player' was important. The pressure was immense. TA's were rarely unionised, where I worked anyway.

I don't know about other schools but whenever a HLTA has been asked to teach a class long term (as in with the roles and responsibilities of a teacher rather than just cover) in our school, they get unqualified teacher pay.

@RamsayBoltonsConscience

I don't know about other schools but whenever a HLTA has been asked to teach a class long term (as in with the roles and responsibilities of a teacher rather than just cover) in our school, they get unqualified teacher pay.

My school used to do this, but all HLTAs are now instructors and paid on that (poor) scale.