For how long is cover supervision appropriate?

[applesauce1]

My year group partner is unwell and has been off since Monday and will not be here tomorrow and possibly Friday, too.

A (very competent and excellent) TA is covering and I have been asked to provide cover supervision work for the whole week. I have three big problems with this:

1. I don't think it is appropriate for the class to have absolutely no teacher input all week and just have worksheets. If I were a parent of a child in that class, I would be very unhappy with that situation.
2. I am planning and resourcing 2 completely different weeks of learning for my class and the parallel class. I'm exhausted. Made worse by the fact that I'm pregnant and it's boiling. This is a selfish reason.
3. It's unfair on the TA to have to assume to demanding role of class teacher on a TA salary.

Are there rules or guidelines for how long cover supervision is appropriate?

I don’t know about the cover supervision thing, but do know that if I’m ill off school I’m expected to set my own cover. The only time this hasn’t been the case is when I was signed off with severe anxiety and not really functioning.

Are you a senior leader? If not, you shouldn’t be asked to set work for another class unless they’re giving you extra ppa!

Teachers set cover when ill as a goodwill gesture. It cannot be expected of them.

You shouldn't be planning for someone else's classes unless you have a TLR that requires you to do so. In secondary, we would do this for a teacher off ill for the sake of the classes. Always HoD or 2nd, and not another class teacher.

Absent teachers should be covered by supply. Cover supervisors should be used in emergencies until a supply can be employed. Obviously, a lot of schools ignore this to save money. I seem to remember something about a maximum of three days, but I'm not sure.

A TA is not a teacher or a cover supervisor and shouldn't be covering. I think all of your objections are reasonable.

Absent teachers should be covered by supply. Cover supervisors should be used in emergencies until a supply can be employed. Obviously, a lot of schools ignore this to save money.

I'm a secondary Cover Supervisor, one of 4 in my school. We're all very experienced and good at our jobs. The lessons are set and we deliver them, very rarely is it just worksheets. We are most certainly expected to add to the lessons in many ways.

I'm in Primary. I'd been instructed not to give anything that requires teaching. Today, a qualified teacher is taking the class, so I had to plan something for the class to be taught, but just adapt what I'd already taught to my own class earlier in the week.

@Carrotcakeorchocolatemuffin I'm not SLT and I've not been given any additional time to do this. I've just got through moderation and written my reports, so I was hoping for an easier week this week! No such luck.

I really don't know what would have happened if I'd refused to do this additional work. I don't think anyone has even noticed the hard work I've been putting in because it's all gone so smoothly.

I was a secondary CS for 9 years. IME CS are used for lengthy absenses. In many schools I worked in there was an unofficial guideline of three days. In reality I knew classes going entire half terms with no class teacher. The occasional agency supply maybe, but more than often the in school CS would have to pick up the slack. Dire situation.

I worked in three 'outstanding' schools where this was very common.

I have been asked to provide cover supervision work for the whole week.

This is totally unreasonable. In the school where I am currently working (long term supply), a HLTA might cover the first day. After that, a supply teacher would be employed.

Sharing your plans and resources is fair enough but it is not acceptable to expect you to plan additional lessons for the other class. Get advice from your union on how to approach this.

Unfair on the children, the TA and definitely unfair on you.

Cover manager here (ask me anything! ). Our school, the rule was the absent teacher sets work for a week (unless they are too ill). I cover internally for first week (either me or available teachers) then if absence is longer we got supply in. If they can't set cover, the HOD does.
I say WAS, new management, supply only to be bought in exceptional circumstances (I have to have permission from 2 members of slt). I take it T As role is judged to be commensurate with a CS, so acceptable (in the school's eyes) that they cover.

I take it T As role is judged to be commensurate with a CS, so acceptable (in the school's eyes) that they cover.

I think it varies from school to school doesn't it. In my school TA's are never asked to cover a lesson and I was paid much less and on a lower grade when I was a TA rather than a CS.

It's a shit situation either way. I don't see how a TA should be expected to cover for a week, especially if they haven't had the experience in doing so.

I'm secondary. This year we had:

• a missing English teacher at the start of term (someone had left and no replacement hired) so the first month of the school year the lessons were covered by various other teachers of any subject in our frees. Then an extremely inadequate substitute was found.

• the Head of Drama (and only Drama teacher) off with a broken hip for the first 9 weeks of the school year. All lessons covered by different teachers during our free periods.

• a Maths teacher went on maternity leave and the job was first advertised when her son was 2 weeks old. Ended up with 7 weeks of cover by various other teachers in their free periods, work set by colleagues in the department.

• Head of German (and only German teacher) resigned and left at Christmas. Whole of the spring term the lessons were covered by different teachers in our free periods. Work was set by the Head of French who asked a former colleague for help with that.

• English teacher fell seriously ill and was hospitalised in February. Was able to come back to school at start of June. A cover teacher was employed for 5 weeks despite the prognosis of the original teacher's illness being clear that they'd be off for much longer. Other lessons covered by the rest of the department in their frees and classes merged or a teacher taking 2 classes at the same time (e.g. A Level students working independently and could pop into a neighbouring KS3 class to ask questions)

• Head of History severely injured in a cycling accident at the end of February. Returned to work in mid June. Lessons covered by the other history teachers where possible otherwise by any other teacher in their frees.

• another History teacher broke their collarbone in May and was off for 2.5 weeks then regularly out for physio until the end of term. Lessons also covered by the other history teachers as much as possible or if not then by any other teacher in their free periods.

• French teacher on Mat. leave for first two terms (all pre planned) and was returning to work 3 days a week (also pre arranged). Cover teacher was employed for half of the maternity leave and no one was employed for the other 2 days of the week when the other teacher returned.

So no wonder it felt as if most of my "lessons" this year were not actually teaching my own classes or subject!

I WISH my school had a cover supervisor.

Locked out, are you Independent sector or academy? That’s a load of covers and doesn’t seem a very adequate way of dealing with the absences.

Independent, it's disgusting. For the mat. leaves and the long term sick leaves such as the broken hip, collarbone, and the cycling injury, the school's insurer paid out so the school was literally banking that cash while we did the cover in our frees. I shouldn't even call them frees as it's been so long since I had one.

Then the staff who were sick or on mat. leave ended up feeling terribly guilty and thinking they had to apologise to their colleagues - management was also putting incessant and excessive pressure on them to return to work, and no one else has felt they can take off time for "just 'flu", etc.

Parents were furious, but just dismissed as "moaning". It's been a horrible year. Let's see how results are affected by no Drama or German departments for much of the year as well as only half a History department...no doubt the HoDs will be slammed and their budgets cut.

LockedoutofMN that sounds sore but equally a lot of quite major injuries

Do your staff all do extreme sports!