who are the 'other adults' that cover for teachers in school?

[givemeaclue]

just been to meeting at school for YR starters. It says in the bumpf that on wednesday afternoons the teachers do preparation etc and children are looked after by 'other adults'. Who are these adults/what are theirr roles/are they qualified teachers/does it vary from school to school?

thanks!

In DD's school, in Reception the classes are looked after by HLTAs (and an extra TA is drafted in). In KS1, classes are covered by a teacher who is employed purely to do cover.

In DS's school (KS2), each class has one afternoon of lessons timetabled with specialist teachers (in DS's case French and Music).

Depends entirely on the school.
As RSAN said, some schools use this time to bring in a specailist - sports coach or languages teacher or music teacher. Some have a teacher who is employed purely to cover everyone's PPA time. Some use a HLTA and bring in another TA, others don't bring in the extra TA and try to claim this is alright, when clearly it isn't!

Since my DS's have started school im amazed at the amount of adults who are involved in their day to day education....so many different teachers with abbreviated names...each of them doing something that when i was in primary school just the class teacher would do! only seperate teacher we ever had was if you learnt a musical instrument. not teacher bashing here btw just commenting on how different education is these days for those that are just experiencing it for the first time as parents. all seems so much more complicated than when i was in school in the early 90's...it takes some getting used to!

You may also have volunteers helping for example with reading (usually CRB checked).

4boyz - It is more complicated because successive Governments have added endless extra pressures onto teachers in terms of evidence, statistic compilation and monitoring. The paperwork, on top of the usual marking, takes so long that no normal person could complete it all within even extended office hours while also teaching. Because of this, the Unions campaigned and teachers were granted guaranteed PPA time (Planning, Preparation and Assessment).

If done sensibly, it can be incredibly enriching for the children. Some specialist teachers can be very inspirational about their particular subject and can offer a skill that the class teacher lacks.

I am a cover teacher. I am fully qualified and experienced, but found that full time teaching was too much for me in terms of the time it took up, so I have a cover post teaching ICT for 3 days and reception for 1. It suits me really well and I have something to offer the children that some of their class teachers are less confident at delivering. I wouldn't be concerned about it, to be honest. I think the more passionate and interesting adults a child comes into contact with in a day, the better.

I have recently done a training course to go in and read with the kids at DS's school (although wont be in his class) and had a crb check BUT I will not be allowed to be unsupervised with the kids and will read with one child at a time in the corner of the classroom.

DS has a HLTA on a Wednesday morning every week (yr 2).

A qualified teacher who is employed by the school in our case. He teaches DS1's class 2 days a week, as his class is taught the other 3 days by the Deputy HT, but on the 3 days he isn't teaching, he covers PPA for 6 other teachers.

It's partly because the school didn't want to lose such a good teacher after he covered maternity leave last year, and partly because the school has a bulge year in Y3, but a small year in Y5, so they have 8 junior classes currently, but when the current Y5 leave, they will have 9 junior classes for two years, necessitating an extra junior teacher.

Works here, got no idea how they do it budget-wise, but as a parent, I don't have to worry about that!

It means that in a school with 14 classes (currently), there are now 3 male teachers. Which is a GOOD thing.

In our school PPA is covered by a mix of HLTA, the teacher employed by school to cover PPa or the PE teacher.

yeah, agree now that it can be beneficial but in beginning was very suprised at the number of different teachers involved in one class. but point about a different adult having a 'passion' for something is spot on. my middle ds is very arty which was recognised by a TA who nurtured it more-so out of him than his class teacher may have done...so much so that she now displays his art work around her home! point about male teachers in primary education is a good one too....in his whole school life my 10 y/o DS has never been taught by a male. I think this is a shame. Thankfully no positive male role models are needed in our situation as he has plenty, but i still think - in the area that i live in anyway - that there is a shortage of male teachers in primary schools.