Something EVERY parent of a child in a UK State school should know about

[QualifiedTeacher]

The UK Government has new proposals to allow non qualified teachers to teach in UK schools. This means our children?s education may be placed in the hands of teachers without basic qualifications such as English and Maths GSCE let alone a Bachelors degree. This policy will mainly be affecting children from the lower economic backgrounds and the reasoning behind employing unqualified teachers is simply because it costs less.

I have attached an epetition which gives more information and is asking for signatures to oppose the use of unqualified teachers in UK State schools. If the numbers signing this petition is large enough, we can get the debate discussed in the UK Parliament. Please help and protect the education of all UK children in State schools.

Thanks

Qualified teacher. I don't see why a qualified teacher working as a TA would would not do their best to teach dcs. Obviously they want work as a teacher so of course will be trying hard.
Also you should know from your training tha t teachers do it because they want to. I think you do the profession a disservice by suggesting somebody wouldn't work as well.
Finally, anybody can only teach as good as the curriculum on offer and as this is so bad in state sector I would be more inclined to complain about changes here.

MTPP, re working your very, very best at half or in some cases a quarter of your current salary or even voluntarily,

I'd like to see the concept extended to say, MPs, HTs and perhaps yourself.....

LOL @ mumnosGOLDisbest

Qualified teacher.

I am a qualified teacher and have taught many subjects I am not qualified to teach.
My PGCE taught me nothing that anybody else couldn't learn in the same amount of time.

As for experience of managing a class no NQT is brilliant at this, it comes with practice.

If the government can save money by employing suitable people to train as teachers why not?
In some cases it will be an improvement, as you must admit that along with good teachers there are bad ones too.

This isn't about employing suitable people to train as teachers - the GTP does that. This is about hiring unqualified staff with NO training to teach immediately.

Pay attention, MTPT.

MTPP a good teacher can teach regardless of guidelines and poor curriculum.
@ QT you can only use it once as firewood. Thats very wasteful! Fold it to make a pretty fan or roll it into a cone as a sun hat when you take that ywars holiday that will improve your teaching skills not that teachers can afford holidays in the sun

I guess the unqualified teachers will still have performance management targets, observations, book monitoring, progress checks, etc, just like their qualified colleagues, to ensure some accountability.

Our new appraisal policy is only written for qualified teachers - presume an academy's policy will include unqualified teachers.

A friend of mind went for a qualified teachers' job, you know they kind with a proper salary and she was turned down. The HT told her it was because she had been out of teaching for a while (6 months) and suggested she worked voluntarily at her school. How sweet!

I have some guys doing some skimming in my living room and hallway, will cost me near £1,000 and I suggested, since they've been out of work for a while due to illness (he said), they do it voluntarily. They were extremely rude! Perhaps I should have suggested, half or a quarter of their salaries or minimum wage, I mean paying people peanuts does not impact on their performance or attitudes to work does it?

mumsGOLD very good suggestions for possible uses of my devalued QTS certificate. Thanks

I really don't see there being any problem. If the person has a degree basic English and Maths where is the problem? I think it may improve schools, my dds last teacher has a Degree in Textiles, another had Drama, woodwork. All had basic GCSE's. At least this way dcs may be taught by teachers who have relevant subject knowledge.
Anyway, as I said until the nc curriculum is anything but laughable my dd won't step foot in a state school again

You're welcome! I'm spending my first summer without any work as I'm on mat leave holidays learning origami

What do you teach, MTPT?

MTPP these teachers can sew a straight jacket and build stocks for the unruly kids as their lack of training will mean they wouldn't have a range of strategies for dealing with behavioural issues1

*1=!

A degree in textiles

What if the person that the head chooses has no degree at all? Or GCSEs/O levels or A levels.

letseatgrandma

Do you know you don't have to be a qualified teacher to work as a Head of Year anymore nor as a Head teacher.

Mr Peter Noble (a bloke with NHS management experience) was the FIRST EVER non teacher to work as a Head teacher and the school he did it in went into special measures. FACT!

Feenie. I taught.

Management, business, sociology, psychology, media, Maths (A level) I have a level 2. English and maths gcse I have level 2 English.

I don't have QTS as QTLS was a requirement in PC ed.

You could't guess what my degree was from all of these. Some subjects the students were one step infront of me. I shouldn't have been teaching many of these subjects, but like many needed the job.

Interesting comment about ofsted inspectors having to have teaching qualifications. At univeristy there was a guy who was the least teacher-like person you could imagine, a very poor communicator. He did a pgce because he didn't get straight away onot a postgrad course ( in those olden days people without a job often did pgces) He failed, unsurprisingly, and then after several years joined ofsted and is now a senior person there.

letseatgrandma.Do you know you don't have to be a qualified teacher to work as a Head of Year anymore nor as a Head teacher

I didn't know that and think it's terrible. I teach in a large state primary and all of our teachers are qualified and the head only uses qualified supply teachers. If we are forced to become an academy though-goodness knows what will happen!?

And to whom did you teach those subjects?

Already that's very different to, say, stepping in off the street to teach a class every subject up to level 6 at Primary school - with no training.

MTPP

The training teaches you how to teach. I tutored for many years prior to teaching and have tutored and taught various subjects including my subject specialisms. My PGCE informed all my teaching and my learning. I am currently learning new skills and thinking throughout the learning process of how to teach it. Wouldn't have been doing this prior to PGCE studies.

I have learnt to break down my postgraduate subject specialism into KS3 tasks. Not easy, but my PGCE helped. Sorry to hear yours wasn't as good.

How on earth can someone with GCSE maths teach A level

mrsg, I note that you haven't answered any of the questions I posed to you earlier and I am still at a loss as to why you continue to take quite such an antagonistic attitude towards teachers (the qualified ones anyway).

As an example, your tone of contempt is as unmissable as it is unjustifiable in this statement, 'in those olden days people without a job often did pgces'.

As has been pointed out to you several times, there are many professions where you are required to train before doing the job - in medicine, pharmacy, law, optometry, dentistry, the army, the police force.... - it was ever thus. I'm still struggling to work out what your problem is with this.

Why don't you nail your colours to the mast so we can understand where you're coming from? Are you just against training? Would you rather your doctor and local bobby were untrained? Please do explain.

Mrz. I know its madness. The SMT got away with it by calling it cover, but I was given a spec, did my own planning and resources and honestly relied on the most intelligent student there.
My friend who did exactly same PGCE as me went to work in a 6th form dept of a high school. She does have a Degree in English but taught childcare. She like me doesn't have QTS as its not applicable to our PGCE. She was moved from her dept to cover GCSE maths also with a GCSE herself and was never returned to her department. This is wrong as she teaches Y9/10 and qualified to teach PC like me.
I left and promptly informed the union and haven't gone back to teaching again.

My point is does it matter if a person isn't a qualified teacher if they have the subject knowledge, and are qualified/experienced in that subject.
My degree by the way is Leisure,Travel and Tourism Management which I am very knowledgable in and have extensive Indudstry experience. Just because there aren't the jobs teaching this subject doesn't mean I should get a job teaching somebody elses subject(s).

Finally, I wasn't salaried neither and paid on contact with the students. All the work I did went unpaid and tbh I ended up better off not working. I also had ofsted, in house observations, parents evenings etc. I really don't know how I did it now.