Same teacher 2 years in a row

[Notcatchingtheworm]

My DD goes to a large primary school (3 form entry). She’s moving from Y2 to Y3 and we’ve just found out she’ll be keeping her teacher.

I’m not very pleased about it partly because I don’t really rate the teacher (although I’m trying really hard not to let that colour my view - and definitely make sure my DD doesn’t know how I feel).

My other reason though is that I assume it isn’t seen as good practice - otherwise the school would move teachers with the class more often. It’s a large school, so they could easily manage another way - but have choosen to do this. So...

Does anyone know professionally know if it is ‘bad practice’ or at least not best practice - and if not why not?

I know the school will say is for continuity reasons (as there are other issues with the teaching arrangements) - but just interested in any counter arguments.

At my ds's school, it does happen often.(also 3 form)
They move teachers around, so sometimes they get same teacher 2 years in a row.
My ds never had this, but his friends seems very happy about it, so are the parents.

Is this already been decided? if so, does questioning this would change anything? If this is to go on ahead, arguing with school may give you a negative effect, and clearly shows that you aren't happy with the teacher.

I wouldn't say bad practise. Teachers get moved or not for various reasons.

If they have kept the same member of staff in such a big school I would suspect there is a specific reason eg a child that needs something specific that they have been trained for or maybe a difficult group that other staff don't feel up to taking on.

I doubt it would be because the teacher was unpopular as it would create more problems long term.

good practice, whenever its practical, but it normally isn't practical

Could she be pregnant and so due to leave at Christmas? They may think it's easier to keep with a class that already know her rather than a new class which would have one teacher for a term and then change.

Sorry, I misread and thought it was for the 3rd year running. A 2nd year isn't anything. Staff get moved around for all sorts of reasons.

Not bad practice. How could it be?genuine question, interested why you think that.

Theycould have employed someone last minute who is only ks1 and had to move a teacher who has experience of both.

We live in Germany where my DC attend the local primary school. It's standard practice for the same teacher to stay with a class for 2 years. My DS teacher is leaving at the end of term - meaning they have to have a new teacher for year 2. Cue much hand wringing from other parents who believe their DC will be disadvantaged by a change of teacher.
Having the same great teacher for 2 years worked well for DD. I think the most important factor is the quality of the teacher and their relationship with the DC. Whether it's for 1 or 2 years is not so important.

I'd be happy enough if mine had another year of their current teachers (hoping we get DD2 having DD1's current one to be honest) - but they're all really good so it's not a problem. I don't know if a second year of DD1 would be equally as beneficial to the teachers' sanity levels though!

Ok - that’s good to here all of those positive thoughts! That does make me feel better although I think I would still feel a little the same for my other DD who has a great teacher.

@ohyesiam there’s a couple of reasons - mostly because I’ve never seen it happen in their school or when I went to school and their old head ‘didn’t allow it’ - so I assumed it was for good reason.

More personally, different children flourish under different circumstances and so although there’s no certainty they would do better with the next teacher, it feels fairer to move around and give everyone the chance of a good fit.

Finally, I think it makes the transition the following year even tougher if they’ve have had the same teacher for 2 years. We had the same TA for 2 years and in hindsight the consensus was that it wasn’t great (even though she was good).

Happens a lot. Sometimes we do it deliberately if there are lots of children with attachment issues.
It’s really hard to sort staffing out- not as easy as you might think. Teachers have different skills with particular age groups, some cohorts are very tricky, you don’t want certain people in year 6/2 (management responsibilities or experience etc).
Honestly- it’s a nightmare.
I have had the same class 2 years running and you can just jump right in in September. No time wasted. They knew what I expected and I knew the children. Some parents won’t be happy but that’s always the case.

To be clear by ‘didn’t allow it’ - I mean if a teacher moved to the next year group, they would go to one of the other 2 classes rather than move with the class they had.

Happens frequently. I enjoyed it as a teacher because we could all start straightaway in September without any of the ‘getting to know you’ time that’s usually part of the first couple of weeks. However, there were a couple of classes I had where I would have resigned on the spot if I’d been given them again, so it’s not always great.

I taught the same class of children for 5 out of the 7 years they were in primary!

In some schools, two years with the same teacher is the norm! When you hit the second year, you’ve already built a relationship with pupils and their parents, you have a better understanding of their personal situation & you know what they need academically. It can take a couple of terms for some children to relax & open up so they often fly in the second year. There are always exceptions but it can be a real positive.

I have just this week read a piece of research showing that attainment is slightly better if children are with the same teacher for more than one year. This makes sense to me, as it takes a while to get to know your class and tailor teaching to their needs.

Happens reasonably frequently.

For example, if a member of staff is leaving and they don't want to put the newly appointed teacher with a tricky class, they might move the teacher up with the class. Or it might be that someone they appointed is actually better in KS1 so they're going to move the Y2 teacher up into y3.

At secondary teacher repetition is quite common. I've got a couple of students next year who I'll have taught for 4 years running.

I agree with others not always a bad thing. It is a shame though when it's not a great teacher. I'd have been more than happy for it to happen with DS's teacher last year and I'd be really annoyed if it happened with his teacher this year.

I agree with PP that it can be a real bonus at any level. I work in secondary and we keep our classes for the whole of ks3, give or take a few set moves. I then are some of those for GCSE. We all know where we stand and how it works!

Where I grew up in Ireland, our school was two teacher , so the same teacher for 4 years- or if they swapped, all 8!

Plenty of small primaries have two year groups combined into one class, so it would be the norm to keep the same teacher for two years. In fact, at our school, some other parents have complained vociferously when a teacher has been changed halfway through the two years that their child is in that class.

DS is just coming to the end of his second year with the same teacher. It has worked really well imo, and that of many others. In the first year with the class he addressed a lot of ongoing discipline problems, then they hit the ground running the second year with no need for settling in in Sept etc. He has expressly said that he will not do a third year with a class, because that is when complacency sets in. This makes me a bit sad, but I see where he is coming from.

Our teachers have just been given next years positions and quite a lot of switching around. TAs still waiting. It is a bit of a nightmare to organise to be honest and young teachers sometimes request a move to a different year group for professional development. Some Headteachers just chose and the teacher has no say in it even if they don't like it.
Consider for a minute small schools...sometimes three or four years of the same teacher. One KS1 & 1Ks2 teacher with a little part time to relieve HT for admin etc. that's what my boys had! One good, one not always so great.

I'd say it's neither good nor bad practise per se, it depends on the circumstances and the class. So, for example, a class that took a long time to settle into the new routine and gel as a class may be given teachers on a two rather than one year cycle so their learning was less disrupted. Or a class with children with particular needs may keep the same teacher to avoid new teachers having to be trained from scratch each year. Other classes might benefit from a fresh approach.

We haven't had the same teacher but we have had the same TA - my son is diabetic and she is trained (so are the teachers) but the TA is amazing and knows what needs to be done so she moved up with the class for this reason so maybe it's a child's medical issue or perhaps because some children didn't settle well they thought continuity would be good?