Is it common to have an art teacher in primary school?

[tinytown]

State funded primary school not private, and not in a particularly affluent area so quite under funded.

Just wondering if it would be viewed as unusual to have one of the teachers (with no formal art qualifications) teaching art across the school for the year?

No, not unusual. As far as I can tell primary school teachers are jacks of all trades!

as a secondary teacher ( I teach RE) it’s really easy to spot the year 7 pupils who come from the feeder school that has a specialist RE teacher compared to the ones who don’t.

think about it - in a 1 form entry primary school that’s only 7 teachers - you can’t hope to have a PE / Art / science / English / maths / languages etc etc specialist. There simply aren’t enough of them and the primary model doesn’t work like that.

It may be that the teacher is employed as PPA cover, and then teaches Art in all classes during the teachers’ PPA time (a half day per week).

It’s not an uncommon model to have a specific subject taught during PPA - languages, RE - rather than doing a different subject in each class. Art is a bit less common, though I had it for a couple of years when the PPA teacher happened to be a secondary Art teacher in a previous life.

I thought it was quite common for a teacher with a specialism or interest to often teach those subjects across the year groups - esp music, art, PE, etc. They don’t need a formal qualification.

I suspect the art lesson is when the usual teacher has their ppa time, so they chose to do it as a separate subject insted of trying to pick up the normal teachers lessons, and risk either overlapping or leaving gaps.

Games is another common PPA option - cheap for the school too, as PE coaches are often paid on non-teacher rates

It's not unusual, but it's usually really just a way to accommodate a teacher going part time, rather than them having any specific skills in that area. They're a "specialist" because it's what they focus on, but they weren't necessarily a specialist in that area previously.

Often it's a teacher who was full time at the school who wants to go part time (usually after maternity leave) but there's no one to job share with.

My automatic assumption would be PPA cover too. I'd guess this person covers all classes and has a particular interest/talent in art so is therefore used to teach to their strengths.

Depending on the skillset of the cover teacher, the most common subjects to be left for ppa cover (in my experience) are PE, RE, PSHE or music but I have known art and iCT too, especially if these are the subject specialisms of the person covering.

Not unusual to have a teacher who only teaches one specialist subject such as art or PE in a primary school, they usually teach across the school and cover the main class teacher’s PPA/ non-contact time.

Teacher is full time at the school and previously taught a class but this year is only teaching art across the school

Not unusual, they are probably covering PPA time.
Schools often have a PPA teacher or HLTA who does something specific across all classes like computing, French or art.
Or they have a minimum wage 'sports coach' instead of teachers doing PE lessons.

But presumably if they are teaching the class art in place of their usual class teacher this would form part of their ppa time?

PPA cover isn't always HLTAs (or regular TAs, as is often the case these days with budgets stretched to the max). Qualified teachers do sometimes provide cover too as a way of reducing hours but keeping their hand in. It's often a luxury these days to have a qualified teacher covering PPA but it has been known.

No. I have a science degree and so am deemed the resident specialist. I teach science across the school.
If they can afford to use her in this way then I think it’s a fabulous use of their staffing resources.
I would presume she covering class teachers PPA. As I do, and our P.E specialist.

We've a "spare" teacher who does all the PE. He could just as easily have chosen art or any other subject I guess, he covers all the PPE etc.

Not uncommon at all. Most primary teachers don’t have a subject specific degree. A primary degree teaches all subjects , at quite a basic level and a pgce is for those with pretty much any degree. For context I am a primary teacher , I teach all subjects . My degree was in childhood end education studies - no subjects were included ( core or non core , so no teaching of English , maths etc ) then I did a PGCE - we had a few lessons on non core subjects like PE , Art etc and I mean like 2/3 lectures or lessons and these weren’t teaching us the subject but ideas on HOW to teach it ( lesson ideas etc ) . For Maths , English and Science we did do more ( 1-2 lectures per week for half of the year ) and then a lot of recommended reading / resources . This did teach us the content as well as ideas on how to teach it. We then had skills tests for all 3 core subjects and had to pass them - but it was basic. We were expected to study independently, but I can tell you with the intensity of a PGCE it’s impossible. It’s something you learn along the way because it’s more about being able to teach it rather than knowing it . No teacher knows everything , I’m a supply teacher and regulary have to google things but I know how to teach it and break it down, the subjects at primary and probably early secondary are very easy to grasp as an adult and it’s about providing the means to absorb the information etc.

Degree level art is not the same as primary / early secondary art. In fact , the national curriculum guidance isn’t even an a4 page . I don’t think your child will be affected by the teacher not having a degree in art.

However, I do think for core subjects higher up and heading closer to GCSE ( to be honest all secondary ) teachers should be completely secure in their subject knowledge so therefore have a higher qualification like a degree . No way could I teach it confidently for pupils heading towards GCSEs.

Come clean OP: what’s your issue?

Sometimes a primary teacher may have a specialism as well as a generic primary teaching qualification because they already had a degree in that subject before starting teaching, or because they have taken an elective in that subject as part of their degree, or because (like me) they took a further specialist qualification after gaining their teaching diploma. Or maybe they just like the subject and are good at it, so willing to share their expertise. When I was a primary teacher, I used to teach drama to several classes in exchange for another subject.

It always astonishes me how much parents know about the teachers qualifications. Or even that their teacher is qualified, I worked as an unqualified teacher for years and no parents or students were aware, school couldn't recruit so I stepped in from a support role.

It's fairly common for teachers at secondary to teach outside of their specialism if they have an A level or similar in the subject, it's not ideal but needs must when recruitment is so challenging.
PE teachers are often used to cover biology, environmental scientists straddle geography and science etc. Primary will be the same, the teacher may well be the only one with an art A Level or are particularly talented or whatever other reason the Principal decided it was a good idea. What is the issue exactly?

I worked at a school where they had an art/DT teacher who covered PPA and occasionally covered other lessons too. Not necessarily common but not unusual.

I am a Primary teacher (Post Graduate PGCE Primary qualification). My degree is BA (Hons) Arts-based (Illustration and design) and I did Art 'A' Level and an Art Foundation year.
Am I 'unqualified' to teach Art at Primary level? There will be many Primary teachers with a similar background to me. I would love to teach Art across the school. PPA is covered by TAs though in my school.