Am concerned I am showing rare signs of PFBism - can someone give me a kick about temporary teachers please?

[MirandaWest]

DS is going into Year 4 in September - the teacher he was going to have has taken up a new post elsewhere. Had email from headteacher today to say that so they can get the best quality person (new teacher will also be Year 3/4 co-ordinator) that they will be recruiting for January 2013 and so Year 4 will have a temporary teacher for the autumn term.

DS has done very well this last year and has been very interested in all that he's been doing and enthused by his learning which is something I hope will always carry on. I suppose I am concerned that a teacher who is only there for a term won't necessarily have the same commitment (not sure if that is the word I want) as they won't be there the full year.

Am fully aware I am being precious and I am lucky in that DS is unlikely to struggle. And I will keep encouraging him as I have done in the past.

So anyway kicks appreciated please :)

The temp teacher will be trying to make a good impression to get a permanent post so will probably be very dedicated.

I wouldn't worry:-)

It's hard for teachers to get jobs these days so I think the temp will be working super hard in order to impress.

Trouble is all the good teachers have already got jobs now.

The candidates still interviewing are ones that missed out on the first two rounds of offers.

And teachers can't leave mid term.

So there strategy makes sense.

Thank you everyone :)

Indigo I agree it makes sense and is better than lots of supply teachers. They haven't actually appointed the temporary teacher yet...will feel better once I know there is one I suppose

Don't worry - better this than someone hastily appointed, or lots of subs. If this was year 6, I might worry, but I think year 4 will be fine.

It is quite different to have a fulltime contract for a term as opposed to occasional days of supply.

I agree that this could work out really well in terms of the temp teacher seeing it as an opportunity to really push the boat out in exchange for an excellent reference.

One of my ds's teachers came from an agency mid-year and she has been absolutely amazing - we have our fingers crossed that the school keeps her on next year.

Maybe the temp teacher will be working ++ hard to make good impression so as to be considered for the full time position?

I don't think Y4 Autumn term is anything to worry about. If it was Y5/Y6 i'd be more concerned.

When my DD was going into Y3 we found out a week before that she'd be having a new teacher!

We were invited along to meet the new teacher on the Friday and DD started in her class the following Tuesday never having met her. It worked out great fine.

My SIL is a teacher and i know she puts as much effort into teaching in a school for one term as she did for a full time position (so much that they offered a job whenever she wanted to go back).

"Trouble is all the good teachers have already got jobs now. The candidates still interviewing are ones that missed out on the first two rounds of offers. "

That's really not how it works any more. Maybe in the past the "good teachers" were snapped up before this point in the year, but there are plenty of excellent candidates these days who do not manage to secure a job because there are so few positions around. Particularly if they are holding on for a full time permanent job rather than part time or maternity cover.

We recently had over 80 applicants to a single job at our school for example, and I would say the vast majority had excellent applications.

Some of the temporary teachers I've worked with have been absolutely amazing, and we've tried desperately hard to keep them.

The autumn term is, on average, 13 weeks. This is a 3rd of the year. Any teacher worth their salt would not take that on lightly, and would probably see the class as their own.

Lots of schools employ people on long-term supply, so it's possible the same teacher could be there for the whole year. If not, then it's a shame the kids will have a disrupted year, but there's not much the school can do. They could randomly hire just anyone who applies, but I guess they want the right person (with the qualifications to run the phase) so it makes sense to hold off for a few months.

DS English teacher was taken ill during the summer holidays & so we received a message from HT to say DS would have a temporary teacher for as long as it was required. We were nervous about this as DS was taking his CE exams. The temp teacher was a friend of HT & had retired as head of English at another prep school the previous year. She was magnificent & her ideas really helped DS even more than his previous excellent teacher.

Try not to worry OP. Schools like to employ staff already k own to the school & nowadays, there's plenty of first class staff working for agencies. This could be a great opportunity for your child?

I had a temporary teacher in Year 4 back in the 70s when our class teacher went off on maternity leave. Don't know how they did things back then but I recall he was referred to as a 'student'. Anyway he was AMAZING. Really livened things up and made them interesting. (Once had us up on our desks pretending to be spacemen to Space Oddity.) Highlight of my time at Junior School!