To expect my reception child to have a qualified teacher?

[MaryBeardy]

DS is in reception. I was told by another mum his teacher has been off for a few days. I asked DS who was teaching him and he said the two teaching assistants that help across reception and occasionally a teacher from a different class. Should there not be a qualified teacher present at all times (or at the very least one in training that has some supervision)? I’m feeling a bit annoyed this hasn’t been communicated by the school but don’t know if I’m being unreasonable. TIA

Presumably it’s a few days due to sickness, rather than a long term solution. Makes sense to me.

A lot of schools no longer have a budget for supply teachers so unfortunately it’s the norm across all yeara

No they'll be absolutely fine. The TAs probably have just as much knowledge on the reception curriculum as the teacher does.

It’s not ideal, I agree. But some children are very disrupted by unknown supply teachers so TAs can actually be a better option. The poor ill teacher is probably still planning for them!

There are plenty of classes across the country where this is a much more permanent situation, due to the teacher shortage.

A lot schools cannot afford supply now.

It's absolutely fine, experienced TA's can lead reception for a few days.
Also, I wouldn't 100% rely on my reception child to be fully accurate in their description of who is teaching them, for how long etc. If you have concerns, best to speak directly to the school

A TA may still be a qualified teacher or Early Years professional.

Ask the head teacher before you raise with governors

Your ds does not know the qualifications of the TA and cannot be relied on for accurate information he is five right?

Ok thank you. I’ll rein in my annoyance. It’s an eye-opener.

I don't think it's unreasonable to wish that children had a qualified teacher all the time

But I know it's unrealistic to expect it with the way budgets are. There are lots of children being taught by long term unqualified cover because that's all there is.

I also know that, for a few short days, a TA who knows the class is less unsettling than a stranger supply teacher. So in your case, this will be fine m.

You may find that the TAs are very qualified anyway! My 3 have had many TAs over the years who are qualified teachers but doing TA work because of the more family friendly hours and having their own young kids to look after.

As a reception teacher, I much prefer it when my class is covered by experienced TAs who know the children and how our unit is run, rather than by a random supply teacher. Different if it's longer term, but for a few days sickness absence it's definitely better for the children to have the consistency of familiar adults.

It's reception, they'll be fine.

Welcome to the teacher recruitment and retention crisis

An experienced TA who knows the children well will often be a lot more preferable than a supply teacher who has no knowledge of the children. Especially for younger children.

This. We don't have enough teachers or money.

What's the answer?

In my school you'd be hard pressed to know who is the teacher and who is the TA. TAs do an amazing job and it's usually within their job description to cover for ppa time and short term illness
I'd rather my Reception child was taught by a familiar adult who knew the children than a supply teacher trying to follow planning they've never seen before.
Honestly if it's to cover short term illness I wouldn't worry.

Just be aware that they might not have a teacher in the future too, for far longer than a few days.

If just sickness I agree the TAs who are normally in the class are often a much better replacement to a supply teacher. If the TAs are happy to do so.

Conversely, my job share teacher has been off sick, it's my day off and the supply teacher was next to useless, according to the TA who ended up doing more work anyway!

Yeah, nothing important happens in Reception, it's all basically glitter and playing with sand.

I think my daughters Reception class gets taught by a teaching assistant at least one afternoon a week. Normally Thursday and they split of into groups for phonics which is lead by two teachers and a TA each day. TAs do more class running than we probably know about.

Ideally of course all children should have a qualified teacher, ideally with a degree in a relevant subject for secondary level. In order to achieve this ideal, state schools would need to be properly funded, all families would be able to access appropriate support for early years intervention, and adequate SEN and specialist behavioural provision would have to be available. As it is, years of austerity have stripped schools of resources, removed much needed alternative support, and left mainstream schools struggling with insufficient staff and lots of pupils who are completely unable to regulate due to trauma or SEN (Covid didn’t help), many of whom would have previously been in specialist provisions but now they’re disrupting lessons in mainstream. Teachers are crumbling under the pressure and leaving the profession in droves. I’m currently in the middle of my teacher training and while I really really really want to do it, UK schools are massive shit show and I am very aware that I’ve made an insane choice, I just hope I can hold it together. Be grateful your child has an adult in the room who has the first clue what they’re doing. A couple of days without a qualified teacher is very minor when you realise the horrifying reality of the state of UK state schools.

Schools can have insurance to cover cost of supply teacher but that only kicks in after 10 days. So schools will make do unless long term sick

It will be an HLTA who is qualified to cover (they are not paid nearly enough imo). Schools only really get supply for long term now as they have so little money. It's also much less disruptive for the children.

For a few days of illness cover YABU. The TAs will know how to implement the regular teacher's plans and know the children and the class routines. At reception age the familiarity will outweigh any formal qualifications for short-term cover.

It will be a joyous day when we make teaching such an appealing profession and fund our schools so well that schools have are plenty of fully qualified, excellent supply teachers who are already familiar with the students and classrooms to cover every absence. But in our current reality TAs covering short-term illnesses is appropriate.