Class teacher swops

[8oxoffrogs]

Are there any teachers out there that can shed some light as to why the HT has decided to swop round most of the teachers for next September? 3 teachers are changing classes, two of which are swopping Key stage. Any thoughts??

I was once put in the very unfortunate position of being asked to job share with someone who had done 34 years in the same year group!

I only lasted 2 terms with her before I left.

In Reception (and Nursery!) a teacher has to teach a child to read and write virtually from scratch. It is a demanding job.

Littefish

I have found that KS1 teachers can move up the school really easily, in fact they are astonished how much easier everything becomes when you can;
write instructions on a board
children can read & research
Children can write what they know
etc

KS2 teachers really struggle with a move to KS1.
I had to take over from an experienced year 5 teacher, making a complete pigs ear of a year 1 literacy lesson.

I know this is completly off subject, but im a mother with a child in y2 and one starting in september. this is completly fascinating reading this, nice to see your comparisions between year groups. teachers are definatly under rated. not a job i could do.

bigTillyMint - It was truly a shocker!

FebreezeYourJeans, many KS1 teachers might find some elements of KS2 teaching easy but in my experience they don't like all the additional marking, SATs and increasing pupil attitude. Some teachers are even uncomfortable with the Level 4 and 5 content - shocking I know.

The big bit with Reception in particular is you send one class on reading, writing, pretty independent... and then that first day in September you get the next bunch in and it seems like they're miles and miles away from where you want to get them too - meaning you feel like you've been through a 90 degree spin cycle in the washer by the end of that first day and have the "oh hell how the heck am I going to get this bunch there by the end of the year" moment!

I was teaching an ICT lesson once (KS1 kids and their previous teacher was an utter technophobe who had avoided computers like the plague) and the Y6 teacher was working in the ICT suite... and me being me, I was really plugging away on making sure they actually knew how to do things properly in Word with font sizes and colours and types of fonts that they'd never really done before (I also hate WordArt with a passion and so wanted to make sure they realised they didn't need to go utterly berserk with that as the only way of making things look snazzy). She was in fits of giggles at how excited and impresed they were that they could make the letters bright pink and massive - because by her class the kids were utterly unimpressed with most stuff!

Having said that - by KS2 they really do get humour and sarcasm incredibly well and the quality of the utterly random conversations you can have is amazing too... although I'm not quite sure that the middle of Maths is QUITE the time to pipe up with (this was just after the Dolly the Sheep cloning thing), "You know Miss, I don't think I'd want to be cloned because that would mean there'd be two Mes and that wouldn't make me very special anymore"... loved this lad to bits but I had to agree on the thought of a second of him being the possible cause of yet more grey hairs!

Foundation Stage in a school where you've got a very KS2 oriented head who hasn't got a clue about the little-uns apart from to reel them out when she needs cute looking small people is a collossal pain in the arse though.

It has just been announced who the teachers will be next year, but with no 'padding' i.e. no reason :) We (parents) never get much in terms of communication (not the school's strong point) but because there was no communication of the thought behind it there is lots of tittle tattle in the playground. We will not yet know what class (and therefore teacher) the pupils will be in. That will be announced later with reports in the Summer. Interestingly, bigTillyMint, the weakest teacher in the school is the Y2/3 one who is responsible for KS1 sats and they haven't been moved.....

Forgot to say, there has never been any change in teachers (apart from maternity leave etc.) before.

The Head doen't have to give any reasons. Parents tittle tattle whatever they communicate, anyway.

Is it a new Head?

I know that the HT doesn't have to give a reason, but at times it might be good for 'relations' if a HT did so! I hate all this 'us and them' stuff that builds up simply because of thoughtless communication - and unfotrunately the school is known for its 'us and them' leadership team. It's only a small school in 'middle England'. The Head has been in place for about 5 years I think.

SO what would you like her to say?

I betshe would say that teachers have been moved around because
a) they requested a move (because bored / career development)
b) she thought they needed a move (because good for career development / she thinks they have got a bit stale)
c) they are trying to avoid a particularly pushy / nosey parent in a certain year group

c) was a JOKE

8oxoffrogs, I haven't read back far enough to know whether you are a parent or a teacher. I would be interested to know what makes you think that the year2/3 teacher is the 'weakest'. If she really is having problems, probably the HT thinks it best to leave her where she is and put in support, rather than making her learn a whole new curriculum level as well as addressing her problems.

I've never seen any movement of teachers at my dc's primary school.
Oh, and in defence of reception teachers, my dc's reception teacher was the best she ever had.

It really is for PD and for personal choice - the reason why teachers move year groups. It can get quite stale working with the same curriculum over and over again. Many people think that you get better at teaching the same stuff but in reality you can get worse as you tend to stick to 'what works' rather than try new things that might be better, simply because the workload is so immense.

I'm in my 11th year and this has been my schedule:
2000 - Y2
2001 - Y2
2002 - Y4 (infants and juniors amalgamated and formed 2 separate primaries so I chose this year group to stick with the same staff at the school of my choice)
2003 - Y4
2004 - Y4
2005 - Y4 (SO BORED BUT LOVE Y4!!!!)
2006 - Y4/5
2007 - Y5 (HATED Y5!!!)
2008 - Y1/2
2009 - Y1/2
2010 - Y1
2011 - Told I'm still in Y1 which is just as well as my maternity will begin at the end of the Autumn term!!!

A colleague went from Y6 to Y2 Sept 2010 and hated the move but he now (secretly) adores Y2 and wants to stay!

Also most primary teachers are trained to teach either:
3-5 years
3-8 years
5-8 years
3-11 years
5-11 years
7-11 years
So they SHOULD be teaching the year group they've trained for. So don't be surprised if a Y6 teacher is told they're teaching YR if they've trained for it! I trained 3 -11 years with an emphasis on 3-8 years but I must admit, I dread teaching YR despite Y1 being similar in that we've introduced play based learning.

Yes Mum2be79 is right. I also trained to teach 3 -11 years with an emphasis on 3-8 years. 24 years in teaching and I have taught every age-group going several times. Reception is also my least favourite! It is HARD work!

I'm not sure I agree with mum2be that teachers who teach the same year group 'tend to stick to 'what works' rather than try new things'. I did y3/4 for eight years before changing to ppa cover after my maternity leave. I would have gone mad with boredom if I hadn't tried different ways of doing things every time and constantly experimented with 'improvements'. I was lucky, though, that there was a two-year rolling program so that I didn't do the Romans every autumn.