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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Is the same teacher for three years a good or bad thing?

23 replies

notso · 08/07/2011 09:37

DS1 is moving up to the juniors and his year 2 teacher is moving up with the class.
She has taught them since year 1 due to staff reshuffles. I'm not sure if I like the idea or not.
On one hand she will really know them by now and the consistency should help them settle in.
On the other hand she told me last parents evening there had been lots of problems with discipline (not from DS) and she felt it was partly as the the children were very used to her and perhaps not challenged enough.

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IndigoBell · 08/07/2011 10:02

Obv depends on the teacher.

In some countries you normally get the same teacher for your whole primary years!

HarrietJones · 08/07/2011 10:05

V strange reshuffles.dd2s yr4 teacher is going to yr5 but taking the opposite class this time

caughtinanet · 08/07/2011 10:13

It obviously depends on the teacher, as you already have doubts then maybe not a good thing in your case. I think it would be valid to ask her how any disipline issues are resolved in the juniors esp as she has already raised it with you. Could your DS switch classes ?

Original poster

notso · 08/07/2011 10:15

That is the thing Harriet, there are two classes in each year group so she could have changed to the other class.

I have spoken to a couple of Mums on the yard and they all think it's a good thing but mainly because they are all new to the Juniors, I have had DD there already so am familiar with the teachers there.

I know Indigo, a couple of my secondary teachers taught me for the whole five years but that was only one or two out of a variety of subjects, not the same teacher all day everyday.

I think it is the discipline thing, there have been major problems involving all the boys apart from DS and one other from the other class.

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Ingles2 · 08/07/2011 10:18

not good ime....
a new teacher brings fresh perspective and stops the kids becoming too complacent. I moved my boys from a small village school to a much larger junior, one of the reasons being that we had the same teacher every year.

IndigoBell · 08/07/2011 10:18

I think the HT thinks this teacher is the best teacher for that class, otherwise she would have changed to the other class.

They don't make these decisions lightly, and if it's a 2 form entry the HT has loads of options.

Original poster

notso · 08/07/2011 10:19

The thing is caughtinanet in the other class there is a child with behavioural problems who was moved from DS's class because he was constantly targetting DS and his friend, so I think it would be out of the frying pan into the fire IYSWIM.

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caughtinanet · 08/07/2011 10:26

Not an ideal situation notso but I'd suggest trying not to worry too much over the summer, give it a chance in the autumn term and hopefully it will work out OK - obviously easier said that done

PandaNot · 08/07/2011 10:29

Depends on the teacher. My DS is going to have the same teacher for both year 3 and 4, after having her previously in year 1. When he was in year 1 he was so stressed and anxious about school that he was crying every morning and tearing his fingernails off til he made them bleed. Needless to say I'm not looking forward to September. We have considered moving schools and we're still thinking about it.

However, if he had been given this years teacher again we would have been delighted :)

Original poster

notso · 08/07/2011 10:31

I wish there had been some communication to the parents about the reasons for the descision. This has come out of the blue, the school report said how sorry she was going to be to see them go after two years.

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Original poster

notso · 08/07/2011 10:38

Your poor DS Panda, hope you get it sorted.

DS and I both like the teacher thankfully, and she does know how to handle his eccentric ways well. He takes instructions very literally, so she is always careful about how she words things directed to him which I am very grateful for.
I guess I was hoping for the strict but kind year 3 teacher for the class to sort out the discipline.

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IloveJudgeJudy · 08/07/2011 18:12

I think that no matter who the teacher is, it is a bad thing for the DC to have the same teacher twice in a row, let alone for three years. I think they will all get fed up with each other.

startail · 08/07/2011 18:51

DD had the same teacher for some days for 3 years. DD was very happy because this teacher was patient with her getting in a muddle. Unfortunately they were too patient in waiting for DD to learn to read. DD is dyslexic (that is a large part of why she is disorganised), but it took to almost the end of Y6 for school to formally recognise this. I think someone meeting her a fresh at 10 would have looked harder at the gap between DDs oral answers and her written ones.

PenguinPatter · 08/07/2011 19:20

I had this in the middle section of my Primary school three years the same teacher - felt in some very inarticulate way held back not allowed to change and developed and my problems, which later turned out to be dyslexia, were dismissed as me being me.

Teacher later expressed surprise to my parents I was in top stream in secondary school and that I went on to do so well academically.

I know as a parent I have appreciated a fresh set of eyes and perspectives on my DC who have changed so dramatically each year. So I would not be at all keen.

Lonnie · 08/07/2011 21:00

In schools with a mixed class set (like y3 and 4 together) you regularly have teachers for 2 years in a row.

I grew up in Denmark I had the same teacher for 9 years.

It has good and bad thing I would say look at what your child says about the teacher and how you feel your child is learning. It could be an amazing thing for them all and aid in settling

fridayschild · 08/07/2011 21:20

DS2 had the same infant teacher for two years in a row. She adored him and as a result he didn't have to do things he didn't like much (like learning to read). We moved to another school, but not because of that. His next teacher also adored him but does think part of her job is getting him to read. He learned. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth, but he did learn.

The teacher is now on course to teach him again in two years time (one teacher next year, back to her in Sept 2013). I think this is ok because she does get him to do what he is capable of. However I can see your concerns about 3 years in a row - I think that's a bit much myself. Apart from anything else, different people explain things differently, and one child will understand one teacher best, while another will understand another best.

manicinsomniac · 08/07/2011 21:57

I've had half of my Y6 tutor class for 2 years (children mixed around at end of Y5) and I wouldn't want to be taking them on into Y7.

I've got very close to them and I will miss them but it wouldn't be good for them. They need variety and a feeling that they are progressing through the school and maturing, not staying still. If I was still teaching children at 12 who I had taught at 9 then I'd probably be babying them and they would be relying on me too much.

BusterGut · 08/07/2011 22:01

I have taken three classes Y1-2, Y2-3 and Y3-4 within the last few years. At the end of the two years (although the Y4 class was one of my favourite of all time) we were all really ready to move on. The children needed different stimuli, a different sense of humour and .... a new teacher!

jenniec79 · 08/07/2011 23:04

Back in the mists of time, I had the same teacher for 4 school years (ages 6-10)

It was a tiny village school, with 2 year groups in a class; I was put up a year when we moved to the area which was more than ok academically, but bullying problems in that first year meant my DPs "moved" me back down (I had the same desk, and the work was all as one group or workbooks for eg maths, just wasn't sitting with the ringleader any more) at the start of the second year, so in the younger half of the class for 2 years; then the top half, once. Then they reshuffled the years and she had junior 2-3 rather than junior 1-2 (told you it was a while back) so we had each other for another year.

I would think less of Mrs R if she wasn't as glad to see the back of me as I was of her by the end of it, but I went on to pass a "10+" into a selective prep when we moved again, so something obviously stuck! (Probably by mere repetition, I had multiples of the same art projects by the end, let alone other subjects!)

I had a different "same teacher" for 3 out of 5 years at secondary, and one for the whole of 6th form too, but somehow less obvious later on - probably as subject teaching is separate anyway.

I suppose I turned out to be fairly academic in the end though. I got a decent raft of GCSE/A levels, 2 degrees and a few other postgrad bits and bobs, now back at uni in my 30s alongside a FT job; a reasonable group of mates, nice flat and a DBoyf. I don't suppose it did me too much harm in the long term.

And I can make a mean sugar-paper sheep, possibly in my sleep!

spanieleyes · 09/07/2011 09:03

I have taught my current class ( yr 5 and 6) for 4 and 5 years respectively and will have the 5's again next year!

IndigoBell · 09/07/2011 16:39

Spaniel - wow! So you really can claim the credit for those level 6s.

Maybe they did so well because they did have the same teacher for so long.

RandomMess · 09/07/2011 16:51

I think for some children it is fine if they like the teacher's style etc however if your dc aren't keen on the teacher for whatever reason it must really suck!!!!

Also I would worry about dc getting labelled by the teacher.......we often accidently do it with our children so I assume it's not uncommon for a teacher to forget to stand back and try at look at individuals with a fresh pair of eyes.

spanieleyes · 09/07/2011 18:21

*Spaniel - wow! So you really can claim the credit for those level 6s.

Maybe they did so well because they did have the same teacher for so long.*

I can always say anything they know I taught them, and anything they don't they should have learnt in the two years when I didn't

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