Teacher sickness covered by a TA

[Dinnertime22]

The TA has covered the class for the last three days while the teacher has been off sick. Has this changed as I recall a cover teacher was normally drafted in? Is the common practice?

Schools simply don’t have he money to pay for supply teachers. This is a situation that will get a lot worse.

My nephew’s Y5 teacher is leaving at Christmas-he is being replaced by an HLTA until July-that’s 2/3 of the year!!

Oh my god! I think for a few days absence the TA makes sense - she knows the kids so it's less disruptive but for months that's ridiculous! Also I hope the HLTA is getting a larger salary if she's lesson planning etc.

Noidea if a doctor was off his appointments would be cancelled. A school can't cancel a class because a teacher is off - imagine the outrage from parents.

This is the reality. Insurance does not usually kick in until the absence has been a few days. In high schools we have cover supervisors - some have been neither a teacher or TA

@EmmiJay that’s very unfair on your daughter

Also I hope the HLTA is getting a larger salary if she's lesson planning etc.

When I've seen this happen, usually another teacher does the planning.

The HLTAs I know are all qualified teachers who didn't want to work 8-6 plus evenings because they have children. Chances are your HLTA is more qualified (as in has had more years of teaching experience) than the CT

The HLTAs I know are all qualified teachers who didn't want to work 8-6 plus evenings because they have children. None of the ones I know fall into this category.

I think it's ompletely unfair to the TA that their workload and responsibility is far higher, for crap pay, but for kids the reality is they are in some ways going to be more consistent for learning than a supply who doesn't know the kids, their abilities, or where they're at in terms of individual progress and how far they've got with a topic or project.

Not true. HLTAs have additional training and are qualified as HLTAs.

Nope.

Heads can appoint who they like as an HLTA if they are satisfied they can do the job. There isn’t a time scale for sending staff on the course so many heads simply don’t.

In Ireland other sub teacher (and ALL teachers for that matter) are paid directly by the department of education NOT by the schools budget!! I am shocked at the way the UK is treating the their teachers and children, the school system over there is going to shit (for want of a better word)

@EmmiJay if your daughter was in Ireland she would have her very own SNA (special needs assistant) to sit with her, help her, take her out for movement breaks, etc and depending on her needs she would have the SNA for all day or part of the day.

I’m a HLTA. I have 11 years experience as a TA and have a HLTA qualification( not compulsory) so it’s usually someone very experienced left in charge of a class, with a lesson plan from the qualified teacher.

The HLTAs in my school are excellent. We have a mix of younger TAs, who often go on to teacher training after a year or two, and older ones who could teach but choose not to because they prefer part time work to suit their family. The TAs that work in my class know the children, the school and all the class routines. They are generally in a much better position to cover the class than a supply teacher who has never been to the school before.

All schools are different, but don't assume that the children are losing out of an HLTA is covering.

Every school I’ve worked at HLTA’s need to provide evidence and be interviewed to gain status to be able to cover classes, the headteacher puts forward those that they think would pass.
I know TA’s and HLTA’s that hold many more qualifications and have years more experience than class teachers and are considerably better at the job!
I also know a few TA’s that are fully qualified teachers that decided that was their preferred career choice

Exactly. Classes cannot be cancelled. The school should have the funds to cover absence - they don't. In my school 3 times since September there have been pleas for teachers to give up PPA time to cover. This is in breach of contract, but it saves on supply costs. The latest request was to cover staff out on a trip that was planned over 6 months ago. It is wrong plain and simple. and its all about the lack of money in schools. Cheap options are not the right options.

If you voted Tory, this is what you sanctioned by the way.

I've seen it happen a lot, and it is concerning. A TA is not a qualified teacher, is not trained to teach a whole class, hasn't studied pedagogy, cannot be responsible for the progress of a class. I know some amazing TAs, and they are invaluable a classroom, but the two jobs are not interchangeable. Despite this, schools are using TAs to cover for teachers. Not only are the class being done a disservice by not having a qualified teacher, but a child, or a group of kids, have lost a TA for that time.

Also, the only Cover supervisors that I've known who are ex teachers, are being forced to take the lower pay of a cover supervisor because it's harder to get paid a supply teacher rate these days. Schools won't pay a qualified supply teacher to teach a class. So, quite rightly in my opinion, the 'supply teachers' will only do the job they're paid for and not actually teach the lesson.

Just to add - most of the TAs I work with are not qualified teachers. The ones who are are not TAs by choice - they spent years to get QTS and now work as TA and HTLA because they cannot get teaching jobs. So great for the school - they get overqualified staff who they can exploit. Not so great for those who but time and money into getting those qualifications.

DD has a SNA four days out of the week, but because of these cuts shes also stretched to teach the other (NT) children in the class too. Its so unfair to her (SNA) and my DD at times. Luckily, DD is (amazingly) progressing really well and hitting her targets but its just these morning wobbles and I actually get a bit anxious when DD asks if her main teacher or SNA is going to be in that day. The ripple effect goes far here. (Thats amazing to know re: Ireland by the way - I had no idea)

Every school I’ve worked at HLTA’s need to provide evidence and be interviewed to gain status to be able to cover classes, the headteacher puts forward those that they think would pass.

I’ve been teaching for 20 years in lots of schools and this is not my experience at all. Clearly there is a massive variation which isn’t a good thing. In my last school, anyone that had been there longer than half a term and was prepared to go anywhere near the y6 classes, was made an HLTA.

I would rather my TA cover me than the HLTAs in my school. She will do a better job because she knows how I like things to happen and knows my class as well as I do.

Supply teachers are an expense many schools simply can’t afford if they don’t have to pay for it. I was off last year for two weeks and I only had a supply for one week of that.

It’s lucky that your school has TAs, they are becoming an endangered species in our local Primaries, unless they are 1 to 1 support.

With slashed supply budgets not sure what they will do if teachers are off sick.

The result of Tory Britain. Education and schools are at breaking point. Budget cuts and shortage of new teachers coming into the profession.

I'm an HLTA, I have over 15 years experience and a first class honours degree in Primary Education.

I'm perfectly competent to cover your child's class, I have knowledge of the school, it's systems and the children.

I will make sure any work from my lessons are marked, the classroom is tidy and have enough in my 'box of tricks' to occupy a whole class (and ensure they learn something!) in the absence of any planning to follow.

Short term supply teachers aren't usually invested in the children's overall progress - I am 👍🏻

I'm not a glorified paint stirrer playing at teachers for the day!

I'm a TA in a sixth form at a special needs school. My class teacher is also the head of sixth form, and because of this she is quite often out of the room for meetings, or dealing with crisis situations (which happen fairly often).
99% of the time I will just take over from where she left off.
If she is off ill, we should have either an MTA or a HLTA to cover, but they are often being used elsewhere (younger years needing a higher staff ratio than our young adults) so again, it would be me. This is common practice not only because of money, but also because our kids need consistency in staff and would be unsettled by having lots of different agency faces.

I'm an HLTA, I have over 15 years experience and a first class honours degree in Primary Education.

That is super, but none of the HLTAs in my current school, or even the previous 3 schools have even had an A level. Most hadn’t even been a TA very long.

That’s the problem. When you don’t HAVE to have a certain qualification, it’s impossible to monitor who has it or in fact, any qualification, and when schools are desperate, anyone will do.