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Original poster

Class teacher Qualification

54 replies

Curiouslyhere · 21/09/2022 21:07

Is it a normal practise for a fresh college graduate with QTS ( BEd(Hons)) to be hired as a full time class teacher with no teaching assistant? In our prep school, they have hired such a teacher and she is so young with no classroom experience.
I always thought that they would need some transitioning and classroom experience with an experienced teacher, before being made responsible to be the only person responsible for the whole class.
I would appreciate your inputs. We are not from UK so unfamiliar with the education system here.
Thanks a lot.

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VivienneDelacroix · 21/09/2022 21:09

Yes, pretty usual. In fact as it's a prep school and so, I presume, an independent school - teachers don't even need to be qualified teachers.

JelloFishy · 21/09/2022 21:13

Pretty usual for the UK. If you are qualified off you go.

LaaDeeDaaa · 21/09/2022 21:15

Yes. In non -private schools they get half a day a week out of he classroom for training, working with their mentor, extra planning time etc.

As an aside, in private schools teachers don't have to have any qualifications at all.

SeasonFinale · 21/09/2022 21:17

LaaDeeDaaa · 21/09/2022 21:15

Yes. In non -private schools they get half a day a week out of he classroom for training, working with their mentor, extra planning time etc.

As an aside, in private schools teachers don't have to have any qualifications at all.

This is disingenuous. Whilst they may not have specific teacher training they are usually highly qualified with degrees relevant to the subject they actually teach.

CollieWobble22 · 21/09/2022 21:18

No teaching qualifications needed at all for private schools. So at least she has one, I guess.

Reframe your concern and be grateful & relieved that she has QTS and degree educated.

Onceuponaheartache · 21/09/2022 21:18

Yes ... in the same way as a newly graduated doctor can see you without anyone else present.

As for no classroom experience...the teacher will have done several months of classroom teaching both supervised and unsupervised. In fact on a BEd course they will have taught the whole of the last term without direct supervision.

I taught in my very first term at uni without supervision at a time when there was no such thing as a TA in every classroom.

As someone above has pointed out...independent schools do not even require a teaching qualification.

OrangeBlossom28 · 21/09/2022 21:22

A newly qualified teacher with QTS will have enough experience to be able to teach unsupervised. Often young teachers are really keen to try new initiatives. Don't be too quick to dismiss the new teacher. As others have said, they have QTS which isn't always the case in the private sector.

LIZS · 21/09/2022 21:25

Won't they have classroom experience as a QTS? Prep schools often hire graduates and train on the job.

JulesCobb · 21/09/2022 21:28

Perfectly normal.

LaaDeeDaaa · 21/09/2022 21:44

This is disingenuous. Whilst they may not have specific teacher training they are usually highly qualified with degrees relevant to the subject they actually teach.

Not always though. I taught in a prestigious cathedral school and it was shambolic. Every member of staff had a lesson that they had to launch in to when the head teacher rang a bell when she was bringing prospective parents around.

clary · 21/09/2022 23:16

As others say, a teacher with QTS won't have "no classroom experience" as you put it OP. They will have spent a good deal of their university time in the classroom. IME new teachers often have lots of exciting ideas and are also very keen - both good things for your child's teacher.

After all, the new teacher has to have their first job at some stage. No school has the resources to set two teachers on to one class. Nor should they need to.

goldenlilliesdaffodillies · 21/09/2022 23:42

Yes that is completely normal in the UK.

Original poster
Curiouslyhere · 21/09/2022 23:45

Thanks everyone.

OP posts:
RoseBucket · 21/09/2022 23:48

My daughter is a first year primary Ed student and already has several weeks of classroom placements coming up, by the time she qualifies she will have a lot of experience gained, I presume the classroom numbers are also fairly small?

YerAWizardHarry · 21/09/2022 23:58

I’m a newly qualified teacher in Scotland so perhaps slightly different but I did around 40 weeks of placements over the course of my degree..
i’m now in charge of 27 9 year olds and totally capable of doing my job and doing it pretty well!

YerAWizardHarry · 21/09/2022 23:59

Would love to hear about other graduate jobs that have as much on the job experience (excluding perhaps healthcare workers?)

Yalz · 22/09/2022 00:09

LaaDeeDaaa · 21/09/2022 21:44

This is disingenuous. Whilst they may not have specific teacher training they are usually highly qualified with degrees relevant to the subject they actually teach.

Not always though. I taught in a prestigious cathedral school and it was shambolic. Every member of staff had a lesson that they had to launch in to when the head teacher rang a bell when she was bringing prospective parents around.

😀 I love that! Presumably the students noticed though? How did the HM have time to show all prospective parents round, rather than just a short conversation?

For all the comments that teachers in independent schools don’t need QTS, isn’t that true for Academy schools, too?

HaveringWavering · 22/09/2022 00:36

Confused that you say "no classroom assistant". It's normal practice now for classes to have one teacher and a Teaching Assistant.

The teacher you are concerned about should have a TA in the class with her. The teacher will be the qualified one and "in charge" but she's unlikely to be alone in the class all day every day. The TA might be more mature and experienced in the classroom than she is so it could be a good combination.

spongedog · 22/09/2022 01:16

SeasonFinale · 21/09/2022 21:17

This is disingenuous. Whilst they may not have specific teacher training they are usually highly qualified with degrees relevant to the subject they actually teach.

Show quote history

Indeed and they might also have the DTLLS teaching qualification (perhaps retitled since I started it). It was the equivalent teaching qual for the non - compulsory sector. ie outside state 5-16.

Dontsparethehorses · 22/09/2022 01:20

HaveringWavering · 22/09/2022 00:36

Confused that you say "no classroom assistant". It's normal practice now for classes to have one teacher and a Teaching Assistant.

The teacher you are concerned about should have a TA in the class with her. The teacher will be the qualified one and "in charge" but she's unlikely to be alone in the class all day every day. The TA might be more mature and experienced in the classroom than she is so it could be a good combination.

When you say normal practice do you mean in independent schools? In state schools this isn’t my experience over the last 10 years- teaching assistants are placed based on the needs of children and it would be very common for classes to share a TA due to budget restraints mainly

pompomdaisy · 22/09/2022 02:07

I was taken on to teach in further education college without a teaching qualification. I did it over the years I worked there. To have to stand in front of 25 17 year old girls and teach a two hour lesson with no teaching experience was challenging to say the least! ( I was a registered nurse but it's not the same obviously!)

Skolo · 22/09/2022 06:32

Yalz · 22/09/2022 00:09

😀 I love that! Presumably the students noticed though? How did the HM have time to show all prospective parents round, rather than just a short conversation?

For all the comments that teachers in independent schools don’t need QTS, isn’t that true for Academy schools, too?

Show quote history

Yes, it is true for Academy schools as well.

Cillery · 22/09/2022 06:37

Classroom assistance are a pretty recent thing. We never had them! Just thrown to the lions!

LaaDeeDaaa · 22/09/2022 08:53

😀 I love that! Presumably the students noticed though? How did the HM have time to show all prospective parents round, rather than just a short conversation?

It was the prep part if the school so not huge. I suppose getting in new customers/children was a large part of her job so it was quite a good use of her time.

She certainly wasn't making sure lessons were planned or implementing phonics schemes that's for sure.

Redlocks28 · 22/09/2022 09:00

It's normal practice now for classes to have one teacher and a Teaching Assistant.

Normal practice where?

It wasn’t ‘normal’ when I started teaching in 1997 to have a TA in every class. For a good few years (under a well funded government) it became much more usual, but it hasn’t been ‘normal’ to have a TA in every class for years now. We barely have any at all and the ones we have are attached to High Need pupils.

Or are you talking about private schools? There is no expectation to even have qualified teachers in indies. I know it is often said that private schools all have wonderful graduates working as teachers who are experts in their field but just didn’t quite get sound to getting qualified, but that is not true in my experience. They are usually just cheap. It does depend on the school though.