Three or more different teachers in reception...does it make a difference?

[houseofboys]

My DS is coming to the end of reception. His teacher left on maternity leave after Christmas and he has another teacher now on a maternity leave contract. As its a split Reception/yr 1 class, he will still be in this class in Sept. His current teacher is expecting the old teacher to come back part time, and she can't afford to work part time, so she is looking for other work. This will mean I guess there will be another job share. This means in his first class at school he will have had at least three teachers (more if there is a gap between her finding work and the other teacher coming back from maternity leavel This is exactly what happened to my older son in yr 2who had four diff teachers in a year). Now I'm obviously supportive of maternity leave having had a few myself but I'm worried about the impact on my DS of all this change in his first year at school... When his first teacher left she told me at parents eve we could expect him to go back a bit as he didn't take to change very well, and though he likes his new teacher she said he is quiet and unconfident in the classroom (though he's a very lively little boy at playtime) and has 'lost' friends and seemingly developed a few gaps in his knowledge throughout the year. How bad news is all this change at the beginning of his school career - does it set children back? Would be interested to hear of others experiences. For what its worth I think job shares in primary can be a real positive, if teachers communicate and have different strengths, but I am worried about it in reception. Thanks....

If he hadn't been in a mixed age class he would normally have had 2 teachers and he does have the continuity of the returning teacher albeit part time.
It can be a good thing as different teachers have different strengths

agree with 2nd poster. in a regular one class per year set up by the end of term 1 year one they will have had 4 regular teachers or more.
= A main class teacher each year and a cover teacher each year for one or more session of PPA each week.

Most children are taught by at least 2 teachers in any week. Year 1 cover teacher may not be the same person as year R's.

DD had a total of four teachers in reception. She changed school so that was no 1. Then she had two job sharing, which worked well. Then one left and she had a new job share teacher, who was fab.

At the second school they communicated really well, the teachers all knew the children. There was a board on the wall with the childrens photos and post it were stuck up with info of things the children had done or should work on (I expect there were also meetings for more sensitive info).

DD only has one class teacher now, which i actually think is a shame, she has supplies for days her teacher is on a course and RE/Music teachers when her teacher i think does planning and marking.

Ds has had 3 different teachers in reception. He started with a job share between A and B. A changed jobs at Christmas, so he then had job share B and C. He also has a separate HTA one afternoon a week.

I think for him it's been a good thing. They're got different strengths and complement each other quite well, and communicate with each other fine. It's much more a problem if you've one teacher who doesn't get your dc.