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Original poster

DS about to start school and will have 2 teachers

28 replies

eversoslightlytired · 27/06/2011 23:13

who will be job sharing, one doing Monday, Tuesday and Wed morning and other one doing Wed afternoon, Thursday and Friday. We feel a bit concerned about this and surely in their first year consistency is a priority and they wont be getting it from two different teachers. Would you be concerned by this too?

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puffylovett · 27/06/2011 23:22

Same situation here. I am actually looking on the positive side that ds gets exposure to different teaching styles. It was also pointed out that if a child doesn't get on with one teacher, at least they get a change during the week! I have no issues with it :)

Magna · 27/06/2011 23:24

We had the same situation when DS1 started last year. No problems at all and in fact the same has happened for this year.

My DS responds to both styles of teaching and the class and children are doing really well.

bigmouthstrikesagain · 27/06/2011 23:24

My dd is finishing her reception year in w few weeks. She has had 2 teachers on a 3/2 day split. It really has not been a problem. There were no issues with her settling in and the teachers are supported by TA's and volunteers etc. They work as a team. The children are not confused though they may have their favourites. Dd prefers one but it does not seem to have held her back she settled really well. Don't worry. If the teachers are good at their job then the children have a good time and learn as they should. :-)

TheMitfordsMaid · 27/06/2011 23:25

Not at all. In fact I'd prefer it. Teachers do so much planning and assessment it will probably be easier for 2 heads rather than 1. Each teacher gets to rest, so will be a paragon of patience with your little darling.

If one is off sick the other will still be around so better continuty.

It will be fine.

piellabakewell · 27/06/2011 23:25

It can be an issue with teachers who have very different styles, but they should be working together to ensure consistency. They are two different people though so there are bound to be differences.

Chicksy · 27/06/2011 23:27

My DS has just finished P1 with two job sharing teachers. They took it in turns to work Wed - Tues. That way they had both teachers at some point easch week.
I was very worried about it but I really shouldnt have been. It has been brilliant. One was a young teacher and one has 30 years teaching experience. As puffylovett said it was exposure to two different styles and the change of teacher part way through kept things fresh and interesting. I am actually wondering now what will it be like for him next year with only one teacher.

cat64 · 27/06/2011 23:31

This reply has been deleted

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skybluepearl · 27/06/2011 23:35

Very impressed with the attention to detail, the high level of creative teaching and support with my schools jobs share teachers. They both seem to work very hard at home to keep on top of school work but also have really interesting home lives too. They seem fresh and enthusiastic as a result.

clam · 28/06/2011 08:39

What they all said up there ^
So has he only ever been with one adult all his life? At home? At nursery/pre-school?
There will be many adults around him at school in addition to his teachers: TAs, playground supervisors, dinner ladies, parent helpers. It's normal in schools.
He'll be fine.

TwoIfBySea · 28/06/2011 08:50

This happened to dts1 in both P4 and P5. He hated it, they're at that stage (i.e. not infants) where concentration is key and a lot of the children have hit a plateau. In fact I was talking to another mum last week who had worries regarding her ds's ability which had dropped. It is not ideal.

I'm parent helper in P7 who've had similar set-up and it effected discipline really badly. At one point the kids asked if I could be their teacher they were so fed up!

TwoIfBySea · 28/06/2011 08:50

This happened to dts1 in both P4 and P5. He hated it, they're at that stage (i.e. not infants) where concentration is key and a lot of the children have hit a plateau. In fact I was talking to another mum last week who had worries regarding her ds's ability which had dropped. It is not ideal.

I'm parent helper in P7 who've had similar set-up and it effected discipline really badly. At one point the kids asked if I could be their teacher they were so fed up!

clam · 28/06/2011 09:07

TwoIfBySea With respect, that was almost certainly due to the individual personalities of the teachers concerned, rather than the nature of job-share. P4 and P5 (and the equivalent in the English system) makes no difference to whether job-share is a success or not. I have taught that age-group for 25 years, half of which has been in a job-share scenario and it's been great. Virtually all positive feedback.
Re: discipline, children will only play one adult (be it a teacher or a parent) off against another if they are allowed to get away with it. It's never happened in our set up, or rather, it's never worked.

And a child's "ability" cannot "drop." If they're bright, they're bright.

GooseyLoosey · 28/06/2011 09:12

Depends on the teachers and how well they work together and hand-over mid week. Two classes in my dcs' school have 2 teachers. I think in one class it works very weel because the teachers are committed and organised and their skills compliment each other. I would say in that class, it is a positive advantage having 2 teachers as they each bring something slightly different to the job. In the other class I am not sure that it works so well, they don't hand over well and don't have such complimentary styles. That said, it has not made my children unhappy.

If you are worried, I would ask about things like mid-week handovers and how they ensure that one knows what the other has been doing. I would not view it as a bad thing per se though.

TwoIfBySea · 28/06/2011 09:17

Clam I saw it more that it just didn't suit dts1 as he was getting bullied a bit this year and his friend was taking the opportunity to be a lazy wee devil! It hasn't worked for them, it depends on the child I would imagine.

Unfortunately the job share teachers in both years weren't great. I don't think they were particularly happy with the situation. Dts2 on the other hand had a typical teacher @ the school - encouraging, imaginitive, fantastic all rounder. So seeing the other class having such fun didn't help the job share class ones.

Next year he has a teacher I've been a parent helper for. She respects discipline which is exactly what the class needs.

clam · 28/06/2011 09:28

But again, that just underlines the point that it is the teachers themselves that make the difference. If the teacher who "respects discipline" shared with a "typical" one who is encouraging, imaginative etc... then there would be no problem. Add in to the mix of two poor teachers your son's experience with bullying then it's not surprising he wasn't happy. But that's not the fault of a job-share set-up, but of the teachers concerned who didn't deal with it properly.

TwoIfBySea · 28/06/2011 10:45

Communication would have worked!

Anyway it has put the parents with kids in that class off any form of multiple teacher scenario as no one wants to be seen to criticise the actual teacher themselves.

Each to their own.

TwoIfBySea · 28/06/2011 10:45

Communication would have worked!

Anyway it has put the parents with kids in that class off any form of multiple teacher scenario as no one wants to be seen to criticise the actual teacher themselves.

Each to their own.

clam · 28/06/2011 11:31

Do you post in duplicate because you have twins?? Grin

ilovesooty · 28/06/2011 11:51

I agree with clam

BTW many of these teachers job share because they are mothers. I take it you support flexible working for your fellow mothers...or is it only ok if they aren't teachers?

Original poster
eversoslightlytired · 28/06/2011 12:49

Hi everyone and thanks for your replies. I have spoken to a lot of people about this as well, including DS's preschool and their and all of your advice has been considered and I can see the benefits of the two teacher system so am going to (try to) not let it concern me and just see what happens when he starts. Thanks again for the replies.

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2kidsintow · 28/06/2011 18:04

Don't forget that no child in England or Wales ever has just one teacher anymore.

PPA (non contact time for planning, preparation and assessment) is given to all teachers so they are out of their classes for 10% of the week, approx half a day. This time is covered by other teachers or HLTAs so all classes have more than one teacher these days.

Elibean · 28/06/2011 18:37

We have a jobshare in Nursery, and another in Y4. dd1 will have a jobshare in Y3 next year.

The two existing situations work extremely well (though some parents were nervous before experiencing them) because the teachers in question communicate well, keep the continuity and balance each others' styles.

I have faith in dd's Y3 working too - one of the teachers is an outstanding one (and Deputy), a great communicator. The other one is experienced in Y3, and in jobsharing.

I agree it depends on the teachers rather than the jobshare situation.

Mum2be79 · 28/06/2011 19:26

As long as the two teachers have similar values and methods in discipline, expectations and teaching, it shouldn't be a problem.

We've two teachers who job share and have done for many years now with no lasting or damaging effects on the children - I know because I receive that class every year when they begin Year One.

The two teachers used to do Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and the other Thursday and Friday but the teacher on a 0.2 contract is moving to a 0.3 contract from September so the teachers have a 'cross over'.

PercyPigPie · 28/06/2011 19:43

We have had a couple of job shares and it has been fine (one was reception). It all depends on good communication and handover between the two.

choccyp1g · 28/06/2011 22:15

We've had at least 3 job shares so far, and the only problem I see is that it sometimes becomes obvious (to the parents) that one teacher is "better" than the other. Cue lots of moaning about the perceived second-best teacher. My response is that it could be worse, you could have the poorer teacher the whole time.