Independant school providing supply teacher for a term - are we entitled to any fee refund?

[mummyinred]

DD started school yesterday, in a letter home we were told class has no permanent teacher and a supply teacher will be provided until one is found and able to start, legally are we entitled to any refund of fees?

i doubt it very much, but agree this is not exactly what you have paid for.

Erm I am confused as to why you need a refund? Cause you beleive a permannat private school teacher is better than a supply teacher? How odd.

Why on earth would you be?!

Hopefully your supply teacher will be perfectly well equipped to teach your dd to spell 'independent' .

Perhaps they'll ask the parents to pay more as it must cost the school more?

Supply teachers are often excellent, they just don't want a permanent position.

NO you will not be entitled to a refund

The supply teacher will probably be well known to the school and will do the job just as competently as any permanent teacher.

LOL CantSleepWontSleep, just what I was thinking!

LOL CantSleep!

strange idea about refund..but I hate it when there is no permanent teacher

I'm no expert in this field, but I could not imagine for one moment why you would be entitled to any refund in the fees!

I'm quite that you would even consider such a thing.

For what else might you also consider a refund???

Are you serious?

Are you serious?

snort

Is the supply teacher not qualified?

Independent schools are not immune to the need for supply and short-term contract workers. They are almost always an asset to the school.

We had a superb supply teacher covering a recent maternity leave. She hit the ground running and was very enthusiastic, and had lots of ideas from her wide range of experience.

I have done contract and supply work in independent schools before getting this permanent job, and I would like to think that I was a valued member of staff. My results were certainly very good, if that is anything to go by. I worked as a regular member of staff, putting in the long hours expected in independent schools.

Independent schools have established protocols for covering long-term gaps, and usually stick to them.

But what if the head gets flu and is off work and the deputy stands in???? Now then you will need a refund!

are you for real!?

I bet she doesn't have the balls to come back to this thread!

No! I think that is the answer you will find.

I am assuming the supply teacher is fully qualified after all?

Last year we had a supply head for a while. Eeek! I should ask for the whole lot of fees back for thtat surely?!

No you're not entitled to a refund. The supply teacher should give exactly the same standard of education.
Teachers don't even have to have a teaching qualification to work in the private sector unlike the state sector.

Oh dear Layla, schoolgirl mistake

YES THEY DO

Oh no they don't. Best friends DH has just started at independent boys school in London, he has Bsc, Msc ,PhD but no teaching qualifications as in BEd, BA Education or PGCE. He is deemed to be very knowledgeable in the area he will teach ( which he is).

I wish to god ds had had the supply teacher who covered his ghastly form teacher's mat leave the previous year.
She was smashing, unlike the woman she was replacing.
What you get for your money, mummyinred, is actually the courtesy of a letter home telling you this fact rather than you having to guess what's going on, IME. So you are not entitled to a fee refund and if you consider the home-school partnership to be at all worth maintaining, I would not ask for one.
Have you seen the supply teacher yet? It could well be an ex-member of staff helping them out.

Same thing also happens in the state sector as well layla. Ask any one of the MN teachers, eg Martianbishop. There are quite a few unqualified teachers covering shortfalls in certain subjects in state secondaries all over the country, apparently. I don't think it happens much in the primary sector.

Layla, he will be classed as an unqualified teacher. Is he doing the GTP?