Being taught by TA

[Chocolateyshakes]

DD's class teacher is currently acting up into the role of DH for one term. We received an email to say that the other job share class teacher would be teaching DD's class for 3 days a week and her actual designated teacher 2 days. So far this term DD has said she has not been taught by the other job share teacher, but by the TA each day.

Is this allowed? I know TAs work incredibly hard etc, but they're not a qualified class teacher. I am just concerned that one class has a full time teacher and DD' sclass is being taught by the TA.

Please don't flame me. I would just like to know legally how much a TA is allowed to teach a class.

@TugboatAnnie

Look up unqualified teachers in academies. You can easily change someone’s job title from TA to UQT (underqualified Teacher). It happens a lot.

If the TA has a teaching qualification then absolutely it's OK. If not, then no.

That said, there is a definitely gap between what the rule should be and what happens in practice. We have a shortage of teachers, school funding is at such abysmal levels that many schools can't afford to pay for supply staff. Heads have difficult decisions to make.

TA here. I teach phonics for an hour a day and do 30 minutes of interventions in the afternoon. I am trained how to deliver phonics. All the children in my group last term made excellent progress. I am not a teacher, I don’t have a degree. But I am good at what I do.

@Curlyshabtree

How was your training? I got given a phonics group in my first week on the job with absolutely zero training. Same for read, write, inc. Absolutely zilch.

It was comprehensive. Lots of support and ongoing training.

@TugboatAnnie I’m not sure on the legislation but here is the government page stating which schools can employ unqualified teachers.

Unfortunately there are no laws around this. The best you can do is complain to the headteacher and if not satisfied complain to governors then ofsted.
It’s very, very likely a budget issue.

Just to add- there are probably 10-20% of TAs who, if observed, you wouldn’t be able distinguish from a good qualified teacher. So the question to ask the headteacher is - who is monitoring the TA? What mechanisms do you have to ensure teaching is good (whoever does it) and also (if you believe in fairness!) are they being paid as an unqualified teacher (not as a TA who earn less as they should have less respeonsibility)

Thanks @JustKeepBuilding. I've just checked a couple of MATs and their interpretation of an UQT is eg one says they need to be working towards QTS, another says a teaching qualification from abroad etc so academy dependent I suppose. I can't see any where a TA is bumped up to UQT when necessary though. Surely that would need a change of contract.

@TugboatAnnie that would be an internal MAT polices. Legally an UQT doesn’t have to be working towards QTS. A change of contract is probably best practice, for the TA themselves if anything, but not essential.

So the question to ask the headteacher is - who is monitoring the TA?

No, the question to ask the headteacher is why is the teacher they said was teaching the class not teaching the class and could they teach the class as you were told they would be.

Yes. That’s a fair point about communication and honesty.
Although assuming for some reason (one able to be given or confidential) this TA will continue to be leading the class, the other questions still stand.

@TugboatAnnie

I know unqualified teachers with no degrees so it simply is not possible they are working towards QTS. You need a degree for that. I don’t know why you’re so resistant to believe this, we are not lying. A change of contract within a MAT is often the done thing and no school will openly advertise they employ UQTs

@MissWings I'm sure you're not lying as that is your academy. My original point was there are no national standards for TAs, they are not protected, not qualified and not necessarily paid overtime. I wanted to know where everyone who said it was not 'illegal' to have TAs teach classes got their information from or if it was a case of something being repeated enough times to become valid.

DD is a TA. She has no teaching qualifications or TA qualifications, but she does have a good degree, and good GCSEs and A levels.

Meant to add, it was easy to get a job. They are crying out for TAs where we are.

@TugboatAnnie

Fair enough. For what it’s worth every secondary school in my city is now part of a MAT therefore the teaching world is quite small and you do get to hear about staff in other schools in the trust. There are a lot of unqualified staff, TAs, cover supervisors teaching classes and picking up the slack. Most primaries are also now part of MATs. I know my own son had an instructor for year 6 in his LA run school. Instructor just another term for unqualified. Previous to that year he had been the year 6 TA.

My sister in law was essentially a class teacher for two years while only having HLTA qualifications. The class was “supervised” by a qualified teacher but in practice this meant that the teacher popped their head round the door every so often.

Primary school in the north west, an area struggling for staff.

@atomickitty

And I presume she would have been called the class teacher and referred to as such my the kids and parents? It’s often how they get around it too I find. By implementing a “supervisor”, but in reality it’s nothing at all. Zero supervision.

Yep, referred to as a teacher and told not to tell kids & parents.

She had a lot of experience as a TA and in early education more broadly so the school could have done a lot worse. Still, wouldn’t be impressed to find that my kids’ teacher didn’t have QTS.

Definitely address with the head. The TA may be a qualified teacher. They also may not. I started as a TA with absolutely zero qualifications or experience and was expected to cover lessons within the first year. Horrendous for me and not fair to the children.

This.

My DS had a year at primary school where his teacher was often sick. Hard for the school to manage but the amount of "teaching" done by a TA was ridiculous. It was the school's plan to cover long term sickness. I used to have to explain the hardest maths questions to him as the TA couldn't. Same with VR, she would put the answers on the board but couldn't explain why they were the answers. For any adult not to be able to do year 5 maths is astonishing, but for the teacher to be in that position made me
so bloody angry.

there is a huge competition for TA jobs! Only the best, most experienced, best qualified candidates stand a chance.

I don't know where you live, but they couldn't be further from the truth where I live. Which is a perfectly average and pleasant place.

The school I taught in (which a decade ago would be flooded with applications, though not from ex- teachers) can't get anyone. The last TA that they appointed when I was still there (from a pool of two applications) had literacy issues. Lovely lovely person who was great with problem kids in the end, but couldn't possibly teach. And she'd not have been in the running at all normally.

But yep, absolutely impossible to appoint at the moment, according to the DHead.

I wouldn't want a TA teaching my child unless she had the same qualifications/experience as a teacher.

TAs should be qualified to L3 at least to take a class, with the teacher’s plan.

Are you sure there are no qualified TAs there?