To be really worried, DD teacher left

[Inky87]

My DD is in y1 and her teacher is leaving due to stress. The other y1 class also has a supply since start of new term. At the moment, both classes are going to be taught by supply teachers, for the foreseeable. And it could potentially be different ones. Aibu to be worried about the impact? Also my DD isn’t great with change.

As the others say, long term, it's a concern as it says bad things about management. 2 teachers leaving in the middle of an academic year is not a good sign.

BUT I agree with the comments about the supply teacher probably being good. they will probably hire someone on a long-term contract to cover the rest of the school year. This person will be qualified and experienced. They will get to know the class, plan and mark the work.

I did supply myself (I used to teach primary) and was pretty good! Supply teachers often want the joy of teaching without being ground down by a particular school. A lot of them were from places like Australia (they would work a year and save money for travelling).

presumably they will get a new teacher in january?

sorry, meant to add...I'd be looking for another school but not in a panicked/rushed way.

i agree, it depends on the supply teacher and year 1 is fine and not detrimental

I'm a teacher. Sometimes I don't know why colleagues are leaving. I don't imagine the school put this in the newsletter- ' Thanks to parents and volunteers for their heroic efforts in the cake sale- we raised a fantastic £89.45 for the PTA. Over to Year 1... in Y1 Bumblebees, Miss Pretty is leaving because the little fuckers are stressing her out so bad.'

Lots of supply teachers is indicative of issues within a school - either management or child/parent behaviour. My girls are in year 2 and year 5 in same (excellent) primary, and youngest has ever had a supply teacher, oldest has had 1 once. Sickness is usually covered by the 2 PPA cover teachers.
Hopefully they have really strong TA's in your daughters class who will maintain emotional consistency - ours follow the children through the school from R to 2 and then a different set years 3 to 6.

You do know it's not compulsory to engage don't you?

@Libellousness why are you going on to different posts questioning why the OP is posting on AIBU? I've seen you on more than one post saying this.

It's a public forum. Bugger off!

@Inky87 YANBU. I would be concerned too. But as someone said above hopefully they have the same supply x

She's year 1 i thought you were going to say she was doing her A levels. Im sure it will be fine.

My son's year 6 teacher went on bereavement leave for 6 months and then phased return for another month. They had various supply teachers during that time. Some for a week and some for longer. My son was absolutely fine and i was pleased the school was being kind to the teacher.

Ok, you have permission to worry.

Where does that get you?

What do you plan to do about it?

You can move schools - teachers are human though so no guarantee they won't ever be ill, bereaved, pregnant or just decide to leave the job for any other reason.

You can stay at the school, google some techniques to help your child understand change and build resilience and make sure you are doing plenty of reading and applied maths at home (how many apples do we have? How many do we need to buy if we want to have 12 apples?)

What you can't do is make the teacher not leave or demand she stays or change the actual situation in the school. Demanding to speak to the head is not going to change anything - the head would also prefer not to have lots of supply teachers but it isn't in their power to magic up the ideal solution either

This ⬆️. How do you know she left because of stress? That should be private information.

Oh FFS give over!

Oooh, that's kind 🙄

I think high staff turnover like in any workplace is a huge red flag. However teaching in general is a highly fraught profession so you may well find similar situations in nearby schools. This is what we get when we refuse to acknowledge the importance of education and give it the funding and respect that it deserves tbh (ditto with health and social care) I'm not sure what the solution is. You could look at nearby schools but there's no guarantee they'll be any better or have spaces. I'd make sure the grass really is greener before jumping ship as this in itself will be highly disruptive for your dd

unfortunately this is very common these days. My youngest is in year 11 and doesn't have a permanent teacher for 2 of her subjects, with different subs coming and going. It is disruptive and frankly not good enough, but there is a shortage of teachers.

This is a mad generalisation unless you are talking about one school?! In my experience early years staff and KS1 are usually the most dedicated?

Maybe that teacher had things going on in their personal life you don't know about? I'm confused as to why you would know it was stress OP? The supply could be great but if it's multiple staff I'd have serious concerns about the ethos of the school.

yanbu to be worried, I would be. It’s indicative of bigger problems in the school if shes leaving because of stress, and also at this age the children need stability and a decent foundation in learning. If the school manage to get a long term supply teacher it might be ok, but I wouldn’t like different supply teachers.

Wish we still had the laughing emoji for this!

There is a shortage of teachers for some subjects at secondary level. There isn't a shortage of Year 1 teachers so the fact that two have left this school is concerning (and not common).

Speaking as a primary school supply teacher myself, who has taken over many a class due to a sudden exit by a teacher... Try not to worry too much. A year 1 class probably has a teaching assistant, right? They'll lend a lot of security to the children.
Last year I covered a Reception class from October half term til Christmas. The children stopped mentioning their old teacher within about 10 days. They became "mine" incredibly quickly.
Plus the vast majority of supply teachers tend to be a bit older, often with years under their belts, looking for an easier life. They have the freedom to be a bit freer with the children. More stories, more play, more singing, more creativity - all that kind of stuff. And for little new Yr1 children, that's the important stuff.

I’d be very concerned that the school is being run in such an unprofessional way that staff’s personal information is somehow making its way from senior management to parents.

They might only be little in Y1, but it is a very important year. It's the year they learn all the core principles. They go from sounding out words to actually reading. They learn the 4 operations in maths. They learn to do actual lessons (as opposed to more activities in YR).

So YANBU OP. But the pps saying 'its just Y1!' are very unreasonable!

Unfortunately, this is what is happening all over the place. The teacher retention crisis is just getting worse and worse.

It’s natural to feel a little concerned but don’t worry too much, just keep an eye on the situation and see how things go, it could all be fine.

How do you actually know the teacher left because of stress? I imagine that isn’t information the school gave. Is it gossip or hearsay? And if it is the case, her stress may be nothing to do with school, she could have a lot going on at home, personal issues etc.

As for the supply, don’t immediately discount them as bad teachers. I’m a teacher and ny current year group partner is here on long term supply and she’s fantastic. She’s taught for 30 years and left her school to do supply ad hoc a couple of days a week for an easier life as she got a bit older, but ended up at our school who needed her full time. And she’s bloody brilliant, in my 15 years teaching, she’s one of the best year group partners I’ve ever had.

There can be shortages of teachers of all levels in certain areas of the country. Especially mid term.