DC’s teacher didn’t go to university.

[RabbitWedge]

Two of my DC’s are at the same secondary private school. It’s a small private school, not a well known name, but costs a small fortune nonetheless. An interaction with one of my DC’s English teachers at the end of term has made me feel uncomfortable.

‘Mrs Jones’ has worked at the school for a number of years. She is a very well liked English teacher; the children love her and she’s given high praise on the parents WhatsApp group. At the end of term, I was having a casual chit chat with ‘Mrs Jones’ and the topic of university came up. I asked ‘Mrs Jones’ where she went to university, and she stated that she had not gone and didn’t have a degree. I must have looked very taken aback, as she quickly added that she had an impeccable educational record (apparently all A’s and A*’s), she’d been tutoring for a number of years and working as a TA, at which point the school promoted her to teach English. I didn’t ask for this explanation, but she perhaps felt the need to justify her teaching.

I was under the impression that all teachers had to have degrees at the very least, and whilst I don’t doubt her popularity and delivery of her English lessons, I am concerned. I was aware that teachers in the private system didn’t need to be qualified teachers, but to not even have attended university seems unsuitable.

Would you raise this with the school in my position?

I know.... the waste of ££££££ is shocking!

It's like the past education is null and void.

Do you honestly think you know before the school?

Academy's also can have unqualified teachers, not just fee paying private schools. They usually have to show why they've taken that person as a teachers and what skills and experience do they have that's relevant etc. I genuinely don't see the problem with this.
Like someone else has stated, a good TA with 10 years experience within a school setting would be better than a newly qualified teacher!

don't you realise it will be the same teachers moving between the two

They still had several years worth of college training though. This TA has none.

Err no they absolutely wouldn’t. I am a former teacher now a TA in a state school.Our NQTs are bloody amazing. I really think you underestimate the training and quality of today’s NQTs A lot of our TAs are ex teachers and some aren’t. We’re all fantastic TAs but none would be able to teach to the standards and demands required in the state sector without current teacher training whether that be update or complete training.

This wouldn’t bother me for a more practical subject like art or PE. But for English at secondary school - no. Shes basically a very nice TA.

Well you get what you pay for - to opt out of those pesky rules and regulations for state education in this case.

It is true that academies can have unqualified staff taking classes - a fantastic innovation by the Tories there, but still subject to more regulation than the independent sector. Luckily it is only the minority that take up this option, presumably because most know the backlash that they would face from parents.

Private schools can take anyone to teach.

I am also a former teacher and GOOD teaching assistants can be better than NQT'S due to their experience. I've literally seen it multiple times. They usually go through training at the school and have already been in a school setting for a while.
I qualified just under 10 years ago so it wasnt that long ago.

I knew someone working as a cover supervisor in secondary schools so short term cover for emergencies like medical appointments. I did it myself fresh out of uni to put something on my CV. You don’t teach anything just hand out work and talk through it and keep them safe for an hour. Sometimes this stretched to a full day cover here and there, usually end of term when exams were finished so not really learning anything.
This other person ended up doing it for years with actual assigned classes and a full teaching programme including GCSE’s and marking coursework for Year 11’s in a state school. Eventually they converted their degree whilst teaching and got QTS but I did wonder how many parents knew they weren’t a teacher for about 5 years

Just wait until you go to hospital and find out that many nurses don't even have degrees! There used to be this pathway of actually working on a job, getting experience, and that being enough of a qualification to do an excellent job.

Let's face it, the deputy PM barely has a GCSE to her name but she's practically running the country.

It is fine to raise genuine concerns of course. But here there doesn’t seem to be a genuine concern.

Agreed. You have a nice TA teaching the class. She may have great skills at interacting with the children. I wonder what the attainment levels of the pupils are.

@RabbitWedge Nurses did not used to require degrees because they were more like the current high band HCAs, doing personal care, observations, and simply medical procedures. The job has changed massively and nurses now have more responsibility to manage patients and carry out far more minor medical procedures.

You sound quite pretentious to be honest. It seems everybody is happy with her performance, she obviously does her job well, but because you are spending a small fortune you feel let down and would like to inform other parents? How about you save your fortune and put your kids into a state school where a degree is required?
l really wouldn’t want to know you in person 🙄

Well .....yes.....but...academies and free schools are State schools without many if the restrictions of State schools. They are allowed to do things no LEA school is allowed to do and I disapprove of their freedoms.

You and the OP have no idea if her performance is good. Pupils and parents liking a teacher does not mean they are necessarily doing a good job of teaching.

Well educated has nothing to do with having a degree.

I work with a lot of university students and have been asked things or told things that make me wonder how they managed to get to university in the first place, let alone survive.

I certainly understand now why my ds wasn’t learning anything at his state school where all the teachers were degree educated

I would rather a teacher without a GCSE who knew everything about their subject and could teach it in a way that all the students could relate and learn.
Rather than the one size fits all style of teaching that comes with a degree and a qualification to teach.
When faced with a child who couldn’t read, the response was that it wasn’t an excuse to not do the reading and writing homework. Even went on to say ds was stubborn for not picking up his pen and completing the homework when kept in every break time

I think there should be an exam in common sense before letting people into university.
Just basic common sense seems severely lacking. I think it would save lives in the long run as some of the stuff they think is normal could kill them

Electrical equipment being put in the dishwasher then they wonder why it doesn’t work the next time they get it out to make something

We had a small private school near us that even had some celebrity offspring among the pupils. One of our teachers went for an interview and the head asked her if she was a qualified teacher. Obviously she was quite taken aback as she had assumed it was a pre requisite of a teaching job. Then the head told her that if she got the job to keep quiet about her status as she'd be getting paid more that the others.

MiL was bragging about how the other grandchildren were going to be going to this school along with the celebrity kids.

I thought "Yep, crack on and waste your money"

You are definitely being unreasonable, OP.

DD went to a private school and from what she’s told me the recruitment process to become a teacher at the school seemed quite extensive, with several rounds of interviews and many supervised teaching sessions. If the school hired her, they would’ve believed she was most suitable for the role out of all candidates and whether or not she has a degree is irrelevant to that. Funny enough DD’s GCSE physics teacher was a great teacher but didn’t have a degree, yet she still came out with a grade 9 - don’t sweat it!

If the teacher is good at her job, then she’s good at her job - end of story.

Which calls in question the whole need for a nursing degree, I think?

Why would it be a waste of money?

I sent dd to a private school purely because I knew she would struggle academically in a state school and wanted a school that was more suited to her needs

Not if you want a teacher who has any expertise in their subject.