Secondary school teachers and hopefully any cover supervisors, your input, if you please!

[MaureenMLove]

You may or may not know, but I took on a job as CS in a local comp in April. I was amongst 8 of the first CS's that this school has employed, so its a bit like the blind leadiing the blind at times! The school was placed in special measures at Christmas and one of the main reasons was that the teaching was no effective. This, of course, led too teachers leaving and loads of supplies being drafted in and the behaviour amongst other things, just spiralled out of control.

One of the recommendations was, to employ CS's, which is where I come in! I have been told that we can call the shots, a fair amount, in that, if we think our role isn't working, we can make changes. ATM, we are working in just the English dept, whhich I think is working. It seems to me, that if I have a good knowledge of just one dept, i can be a lot more affective, than working in all departments and not knowing very much about each.

so far, I haven't been called upon to actually cover a whole lesson, because the teacher is absent, but I am doing starters with the teacher in the room.

What I want to know is, is this how your CS's work? Are you happy for non-teaching staff to take over in your classroom and do you think I'm better off in one dept, than spreading myself too thinly over the whole school?

One more thing! The school is that bad, that only 2 of the 8 employed CS's are still there! I think the ball may be in my court, somewhat!

At the school I taught at in Cornwall, the CSs did cover, but we left the lessons for them, with a starter, main, and plenary, plus resources. Ours were excellent and did above and beyond, and were shit hot at discipline as well. One of them scared the shit out of me too.

The point of CSs for us was to cut the supply bill, and it worked. They did cover in all departments, not just one.

I was happy to have them in my classroom because they didn't nick my board markers, and one of them used to tidy my desk for me as well. Bonus!

Ours go all round the school.

I think that there is a benefit in keeping you in a set department. You know the areas of study better, which is a huge benefit for you.

The kids (in time) will see you as part of the department and therefore 'real' and not 'just' a CS who can me messed about with imunity (not my views, you understand but it is how kids think)

Regarding being happy with CS taking over my class, with some I'm delighted, with others not.....just the same as with a qualified teacher, if I'm honest

I'm watching this with interest as I have got wind that our school is looking to employ CS some time soon (at the mo they rely on supply & us lowly paid TAs)

Thanks for your input. I'm hoping to catch up with my line manager tomorrow and sound her out for September. They've got another 6 to interview on Friday and a couple of them are TA's, so they are already familar with the kids etc and in my mind, would be a good choice for the job. I will be asking if can stay in English, I think. Great for DD too. She's yr 7 elsewhere and it hasn't always been her strongest subject, so I will be able to support her more effectively!

We have been left to classes ourselves and like you say, they are begining to get familar with us, so are little problem.

The teacher I am working with is very happy for me to be there! He had a diffcult class today ( yr 7 emotional/social problems) and he was very grateful that I was there, because he hasn't been allocated a TA, so I could give certain students the extra support they needed. Infact, he looked quite fed up this morning, when I told him I'd got cover in drama!

We are based in two departments, but can be used right across the school. In reality about 50% of my cover is in my own departments.

The lessons I find most difficult are the ones where I have little interest/knowledge in the subject or the curriculum, and if I don't know the department well.

In some schools CS are attached to a particular year group, which has its advantages as you get to know the students very well. But obviously you might end up following the same class round school all day sometimes, and it must be a nightmare when they reach yr9! You also wouldn't develop the same level of subject knowledge.

Another advantage of being closely linked to departments is they do learn to value you, and be very supportive and protective of you, which is important in a school too.

I attend weekly departmental meetings after school, and also have allocated time for supporting my departments through various admin responsibilities, organising trips, doing displays, running clubs, etc.

Thanks Roisin! That sound exactly like my job description! We've just been allocated Humanties too, which is in the same building as English. Makes sense to use us within the same building too, so the kids will get used to seeing us!

Its going really well and I'm glad I made the move. The kids aren't nearly as scarey as they were back in April!

Message withdrawn

Well, actually until today, I'd only done English, which is lovely. Not sure how I'll manage with RE. Religion and me aren't exactly compatable!

RE should be taught as an academic subject - please don't judge it until you've seen the lessons, or had a look at the Locally Agreed Syllabus for your area. It's about teaching not preaching. There should be no proselytising whatsoever, and all views (apart from satanism and rude ones should be welcomed in the classroom.

RE works to two attainment targets. AT1 is learning ABOUT religion (the nuts and bolts if you like) and AT2 is learning FROM religion (the more philosophical side). Each target should be hit in each lesson.

Go to RE lessons with an open mind. The TAs who supported my students used to enjoy the lessons as we covered a wide range of subjects, and they learned too, and also had a lot to contribute when we did ethic and moral issues. You may find you quite enjoy it!