Unqualified teacher employed as mat leave cover - can't be right can it?

[Youcantscaremeihavechildren]

Hi, I've namechanged as I'm pretty sure the powers that be check up on us on social media etc...

I'm on mat leave, due back by Feb but had planned to go back by xmas. They employed mat cover who was capable in my hod role but not confident in my other teaching subject role.
She's decided to go a term before I go back. So they are in a difficult position re cover.

I've just been told that they are employing a parent volunteer who came in to get some experience as a technician last year to cover 6 weeks of teaching. Gcse and a level classes included, plus two other subjects.
I assume they'll just ignore the hod role and leave me to sort out that mess along with the rest of it when I come back.
I'm veering from tears, rage, and feeling like telling them to stick their job up their arse at the moment. Hence I won't go on to discuss it until next week, when.I've calmed down.
I really wanted to be able to enjoy my mat leave, I knew it would be hard work going back, but now I feel like I'm going to be left with so much to sort out. She doesn't even have a levels as far as I know, and whilst lovely and enthusiastic, isn't trained in any way. The kids will walk all over her, the exam classes will suffer, it's not a textbook subject, it's one where the themes and skills are set but the teachers experience is relied upon to plan appropriate tasks.

It's a done deal, I know the head and he's stubborn, he won't budge.

What do I do? I'm so angry, I think the expectation will be for my current mat cover to plan all the tasks for her and then for me to use kit days to support. I was planning on using one in October and one in Nov before going back end of term 2 even though I really, really don't want to go back and want to spend days cuddling my baby and spending time with my daughter

I'd informally told them I was planning on Xmas return but there's nothing in writing, I could easily have called up.and said I'm taking the full year, what the hell would they do then, it would be an even bigger mess!?

I need practical suggestions to help me please, and things to say to the head so he understands why this is so wrong, but also to cover my arse when the results are out and its a mess. Or even just a bit of helpful outrage would be soothing at the moment, I can't discuss it with people at work really as it get back to the poor woman they've landed with this, I can't really believe she's agreed to it but I suspect money will have been an issue so it would be appealing.

just let them get on with it, it isn't your problem, you are on maternity leave.

Take the full year, don't do any KIT days, and try not to think about it.

exactly, just put it out of your mind. It has nothing to do with you. To be honest, you shouldn't even be aware of it, it isn't your business.

It does sound a teeny bit like you don't want to go back to work and have built up the return as something to be dreaded. How many of the exam-level classes will this cover be taking? Looking at the amount of student contact time over the whole academic year, how much of it will this person be responsible for?

In the nicest possible way - let them get on with it! Put it out of your mind!

Is it a case of them not looking for proper cover? Or did they tried all the usual avenues and were thus faced with 'better this than nothing'?

Surely there are other teachers in the school teaching this subject that can support this person ? You do sound a bit over invested .

I'm the head of department and the only other subject teacher does about 5 other subjects too. Plus he's been on competency loads, so whilst he will support, she might be better off without him! I am as over invested as you need to be when it's my department that'll go to shit I guess! But yes, I've had to rein in my control freakery a bit...
I guess I'll just have to do as you all say and let them get on with it. I am worried about results, they'll all be competing coursework which she had no clue about and there really isn't much time to make up for it. I'll be going in partway through projects she'll have begun, so I will bear the brunt of any shortcomings.
Obviously I don't want to go back, if I won a year's salary on a scratchcard tomorrow I'd hand in my resignation! But I've worked hard to get the department and the teaching up to scratch and I guess I'm just pissed off that they seem to think this is a good solution.
I will go in and make clear my concerns about exam groups, make sure the cover knows what needs to happen before January and them leave them to it I guess!
I'm interested though, would any of you that have secondary age dc be happy to find out your y11s teacher had no qualifications in the subject and actually, none post 16? Cause I would be concerned!

And actually the not wanting to go back isore about the workload, being away from my children and simple worry about my ability to function on very little sleep, not the job itself. I love the job, just not the hours I seem to spend on all the other stuff. So I'm just worried about adjusting I think, I know once I'm back in the swing of things I'll be fine, just daunting right now.

You need to email the head expressing your reservations about the appointment, point out the coursework issue, and highlight the undoubted effect it will have on results in June

Then you have a paper trail to back you up come results day.

Then you put it out of your head and enjoy the rest of your maternity leave. It's not your problem till you go back.

I had a shit maternity cover, really terrible. Loads of complaints, the kids hated them and said they learned nothing. On the plus side, the kids were delighted when I returned and keen to work hard to make up for lost time.

Unqualified teacher teaching GCSE and A Level classes?! Do the parents and children know that the teacher isn't qualified?

I assume this adult must have some qualification (just not teaching ones) that makes him at least be able to teach the subject??? You'd hope so.

It doesn't sound good though, on the face of it. And I can understand why, as H of D, it would concern you - especially as you'll be the one who needs to potentially pick up the pieces at the end of the year before exams take place.

Actually, I think it does concern you and I don't think you're being a control freak at all. You are HOD. The buck stops with you in terms of results and if your students' coursework will be compromised which it sounds is the case if the replacement doesn't know anything about it, then you are right to raise it. If ofsted came in and wondered why 2016 GCSEs in your subject were so low, whose responsibility would that be? Do next years results impact on your PRP?

It might worry you, but it doesn't concern you because you are on maternity leave and not being paid. You are only allowed to do 10 KIT days for a reason - if you work more than that you are deemed to have returned to work. If you are going to make it your problem while on maternity leave, you might as well go back early and then it won't be a problem at all.

Make sure you have a paper trail highlighting your concerns and emphasising the impact on results. You can refer back to this if necessary, referring to it as 'a decision that was made while I was on maternity leave'.

As a parent I'd be going nuts if I discovered this. I don't think you are over invested at all - schools owe it to their students to provide properly qualified teachers. Is this even legal?

I would raise it with the LEA and agree with pp that a paper trail outlining your concerns is the best method of protecting yourself from irate parents come results day.

Thanks beaucoup and noble, I will do the email so it's clear where I stand and then I'll let them get on with creating a mess.

The head has form for this, we have had several unqualified teachers over the years. As far as he is concerned, anyone can teach any subject, as long as they have a passing interest...

The current mat leave cover has been kicking up a fuss about it, and has said she would like me to meet with the head about it with her. I've said no, I'm just going to let them know of my return date and my.concerns and tell them what needs to be done by January regarding exam groups, they can get on with it. I spent far too much of my.last mat leave doing hod tasks from home (classed as kit days so I got paid) because they employed someone unsuitable then. I'm not doing it again.

Interestingly enough when I popped in a while back the kids were all asking when I was back, apparently they can't stand the new teacher. I really feel for the unqualified teacher, they're going to walk all over her.

The parents will find out soon enough as she has a child in yr 10. There may well be a backlash but he won't care.

What are the odds of winning the lottery again?

And sorry, m4. I would do an analysis of the results so it would go straight on there that they'd had 6 weeks of essentially a cover supervisor at then end of a major period of coursework, and that I'd had to play catchup.
I've no idea if it's legal, it probably is, we're an academy.

Yes, it is legal and there is an unqualified teachers pay scale too.

The advice is that they should only be employed when it is for their specific skills and training - so you more often see them in subjects such as sport and music, for example. They've been allowed for many years and the rules have varied on and off. Academies have even more freedom to employ unqualified teachers than state maintained non-academy schools.

It would be lovely if there was a pool of qualified, competent teachers ready and waiting to take on 6 weeks of cover at short notice, but often, there isn't. I have been in the position of trying to find long term cover, and there being nobody suitable to do it. All you can do is enjoy the rest of your leave, document the position when you return and go from there.

Thanks. It seems the head of ks4 isn't too pleased.so fingers crossed they'll try.and get those lessons.moved to another teacher, which will ease.the pressure on her a little.
I'm just annoyed they didn't give the current cover a contract to cover my entire leave. They basically wanted.to save money by doing.as short a contract as possible but it's backfired as now.she's off as soon.as possible.
The unqualified teacher thing I know about, but it's the fact she probably doesn't even have a levels or any qualifications in the subjects apart from interest...
She's.lovely though and will want to do her very best, I know that. I'm going to tell them that I'll do two days at the end.of term and.she.still needs.to be.there so we can handover properly and I can prepare for what needs to happen from January.

I'm just daunted by how much more hard work it's.going to.be now, miserable about going back currently. Still just over 3 months to go so I'll enjoy it whilst.I can...

It might be legal in England but not up here in Scotland.

Classes cannot even be covered for sickness by anyone who is not a qualified GTCS registered teacher.

And if a staff member is off on more than 4-5 days absence they must get in a subject specialist supply teacher.

I'm always appalled when I read about non-subject specialists teaching certificate classes in England but to have someone who isn't even a qualified teacher?? What madness is this?!

And just to add - sports and peripatetic music teachers etc. are also qualified teachers up here.
If a sports specialist came to provide coaching and they were not a qualified teacher they would need a teacher present in class.

Mind you, private schools have gotten away with this to some extent up here but now the government wants all teachers in independents to be GTCS registered too - which can't happen unless they are appropriately qualified teachers.

Where do they get them from? Maths, physics and computing teachers (not ICT!) are like hens' teeth for permanent jobs, let alone short term supply. Can one always be found after 4 days in Scotland?

No, they can't always be found but they will cover as best they can in-house if they can't get supply.
With some subjects, like the Sciences, any science teacher is trained to teach all three subjects at S1/S2 (your year 7/8 I think?) so if a physics teacher is off then any science teacher would cover their younger sets and other physicists would be sent in to cover certificate classes as much as possible up to their minimum non-contact time.
Business Studies teachers up here are generally also qualified to teach IT and quite a few other subjects often have dual-qualified teachers like Modern Languages etc.

But under no circumstances would a non-teacher be even covering a class. That's just not even contemplated. They have to be a qualified teacher to supervise a class.

I should add that we had a situation where there were too many teachers and not enough jobs up here so there were lots of supply teachers.

This is now changing due to the McCormick Review when supply teacher's pay was cut but we get a lot of retired teachers "keeping their hand in" on supply and they are often very experienced and great to work with.

Well, we cover in house too, but there is a limit, and generally KS4 classes are blocked, so we rotate the specialists around the classes. Leaves one class with no specialist though... The trouble comes when the department is very small. The OP says her and one other? Who is probably teaching to capacity anyway... It sounds a great idea in theory, that you must be a qualified subject specialist, but in practice, in some subjects, it's not possible.