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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

TA teaching lesson

21 replies

Stephthegreat · 10/03/2022 22:18

Ds is very low in confidence with his work at the moment. The lady who used to work in after school club is working as a TA now and she teaches his class Maths. He says they have no idea what to do most of the time and if they put their hands up the TA repeats the same things over and over again then goes back to sit with the child she’s supporting.

The class is split so the qualified teacher just works mainly with Year 5. I spoke to her about this last week as ds gets difficult homework and every week gets upset as he can’t do it. The teacher says she’ll go through it but hasn’t done. She also brushes any problems aside and says that this TA is good at supporting the children.

AIBU to complain to the head about this?

OP posts:

mangoallergy · 10/03/2022 22:59

Does 'teaching' mean she's doing all the input, or just supporting with the maths work after teacher did the input?

Original poster

Stephthegreat · 10/03/2022 23:00

Yes the TA just teaches the class all on her own. The class teacher is working with the other class.

OP posts:

raspberryjamchicken · 10/03/2022 23:07

Is it a mixed age class, eg Year 4/5? In my experience (teacher), in such classes the younger age group sometimes gets left with a TA as the current maths curriculum really doesn't suit mixed-age classes. I don't think it's great and would be raising it with the teacher again.

pickingdaisies · 10/03/2022 23:11

Yes that's not great. It's not fair on the children or on the ta. She's certainly not being paid enough to be teaching, and it sounds like she hasn't got the training either.

ForcedOut123 · 10/03/2022 23:13

TA shouldn’t be teaching lesson. But we’ve had it too.

SparklingLime · 10/03/2022 23:13

YANBU, but funding…

mangoallergy · 10/03/2022 23:17

@pickingdaisies

Yes that's not great. It's not fair on the children or on the ta. She's certainly not being paid enough to be teaching, and it sounds like she hasn't got the training either.

This. I wouldn't be happy being a parent or the TA. I'm not a HLTA (so technically not qualified to teach) but occasionally need to cover a lesson or two. That always scares me. I'm sure the children can sense my nervous too and it's not very fair on them!

Original poster

Stephthegreat · 10/03/2022 23:18

I think I wouldn’t be so concerned about it if ds did understand the topics and the homework wasn’t so difficult. If the TA was really helping and able to explain I wouldn’t mind but ds has lost all confidence in Maths, was below expected last year and the school said this was due to Covid. I had hoped for intervention.

OP posts:

Original poster

Stephthegreat · 10/03/2022 23:20

The TA isn’t a HLTA, I think she used be in the after school club and I believe 30 years before that did some TA work but I don’t know what level.

OP posts:

mangoallergy · 10/03/2022 23:29

@Stephthegreat

I would raise it to the teacher tbh. He/she should be able to work out a provision for your dc. Even quite likely it would still be the ta who's actually working on it. But at least a teacher or at least a HLTA would look into it see how school can help

Original poster

Stephthegreat · 10/03/2022 23:33

I have previously raised it with the teacher but she believes there is no problem. Her suggestion was that parents need to help more with the homework.

OP posts:

venusmay · 11/03/2022 00:11

It's not great for your ds,I would be thinking if this was a long term thing then maybe look at other schools.Fwiw I don't think mixed classes work well.

noblegiraffe · 11/03/2022 00:34

If the class is split then the qualified teacher should work with both halves equally, not one half left with a TA.

Ask the head why your DS isn’t getting regular teaching from a qualified teacher as the current arrangement isn’t working.

Bluebellbike · 11/03/2022 00:36

I left my job as a TA due to being told several months into my contract that I was expected to do "cover supervision" which meant taking a class. It hadn't been mentioned at my interview nor in the job description. It wasn't something I wanted to do and I made it clear that I considered that the children deserved to be taught by a qualified teacher.

ralanne · 11/03/2022 00:59

Raise it again with the teacher and explain what you have here. If you're still not getting anywhere then speak to the head.

MarineBlue33 · 11/03/2022 01:09

No way should a TA regularly be teaching a class. One off cover lessons fine but not like you describe it. It's not fair on the children especially.
I would definitely speak to the Head and then governors if it isn't sorted out

StarCat2020 · 11/03/2022 01:36

Academies often have "unqualified teachers", it is a joke.

Fredthefrog · 11/03/2022 06:46

O work across schools and this is becoming more common due to budgets. It is completely unacceptable that the teacher is not teaching your son at all and I would continue up the complaints procedure. Headteacher and then governors if needed etc.

WindyPopPops · 11/03/2022 06:57

Keep complain. Your child is not being taught he is being babysat. He is not learning anything from what you've described
I agree with @fredthefrog, take it further. I wouldn't hesitate, given the response you already been given

SavoyCabbage · 11/03/2022 06:59

I'm a supply teacher and there's a huge shortage of teachers and even more so TAs where I live. Schools are absolutely desperate.

I went to a school a couple of months ago where the whole class was being taught by a lunchtime supervisor. Where there has usually been a teacher and a TA.

Last week I went to a school that was further away than I can travel and get there in good time so they agreed I could just arrive when I could. And I was there for a whole week because they couldn't get anyone else.

Academies don't have to have any qualified teachers at all.

CaptainCallisto · 11/03/2022 07:07

I'm a TA and, yeah that doesn't sound great. A qualified HLTA covering regular PPA sessions I have no problems with (it's how it works at our school), as long as they're properly supported by the teacher in terms of preparation, but just dumping a random TA in front of the class for more than unexpected occasional cover isn't fair on anyone.

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