Tutoring help too late

Chardy

You don't need teaching qualifications to teach in a private school, nor in an expensive public school either.

Some teachers working in the private sector don’t have QTS but may be older, having come from senior roles in industry or having taught in higher education, and some are pretty good. Having raised their own children, they often get how children operate much better than young NQTs. I’m not saying all ‘unqualified’ teachers are brilliant, but they are often well able to manage classes and handle pastoral issues, and their subject knowledge is good. Partly because they tend to work with smaller classes and sometimes in selective schools, they get decent results in public exams.

Some qualified teachers, especially those with years of experience, are fabulous. Some are not.

In my experience the weakest teachers are those who have gone straight from school to university, acquired a mediocre degree, then done a PGCE. They may be just four years older than some of their pupils, and they have little life experience. They often struggle to manage a class, don’t pick up on learning difficulties or pastoral concerns, and don’t really understand the examination demands of their subject. In time many of them gain enough practical experience to be good at their job, but their first couple of years can be a bit messy. At the other end of their careers, teachers holding out until retirement can be casual about the quality of their teaching and may have a couldn’t-care-less attitude to their job.

Chardy

You don't need teaching qualifications to teach in a private school, nor in an expensive public school either.

No, you don't but it doesn't mean that the teaching is good.

Jane10

Oh well. Best not do anything then. Sigh.

Not at all! The government should have given the money directly to schools, without agencies taking their cut. Schools could have started right away (not next term) with their own bespoke plans, as they were doing (in England anyway) ten years ago when catch-up programmes were introduced.

You don't need teaching qualifications to teach in a private school, nor in an expensive public school either.

Ellianne I hope I have some happy and successful former pupils too. However, I can honestly say I wasn't "pretty brilliant" in my first year of teaching, even though I had a good degree and PGCE. In fact, I'm not sure I was pretty brilliant even after 30 years - definitely not with all pupils. I can certainly say that I wouldn't have done the same kind of job when I first qualified as I do now.

Doing 1-1 tuition is emotionally very rewarding, but it's more demanding than people think and, as others have said, it requires a thorough knowledge of the curriculum and being able to spot difficulties and misunderstandings and being able to respond to them instantly. Catch up work is hard because the teacher needs to know how to help the learner make more rapid progress than normal. I know I couldn't have done that without any training or experience.

Oh well. Best not do anything then. Sigh.

eazybee

It would be interesting to hear the view of your trained
colleagues about your performance.

Was that addressed to me, eazybee?

No worries. I'd prefer to listen to the views of my now very happy and successful pupils regarding my performance.

Guess I’m saying the quality of the teacher is so important

Growstuff Chemi wasn’t quite as bad as Physics where if you said you didn’t understand you were told to sit down as you would in a minute. Never did until a new young enthusiastic teacher from training finally explained and I understood at last! Then had 3 years to catch up in one but I did it.

growstuff

Ellianne They don't have time to "grow into the job". They're being employed to close the gap quickly, not bumble along, making mistakes.

I actually remember some appalling teachers at my own private school. Even now, there are some lesser teachers in private schools. I sometimes pick up their pupils as tutees.

Closing an attainment gap for pupils who were probably already falling behind is specialist work, not for the well-meaning amateur.

Exactly growstuff. If teaching was so easy, more people would do it AND there would be no staff retention issues.

Children, particularly those who are struggling, need experts, not someone straight out of uni with no teacher training.

This is just another Tory quick-fix to give the appearance of doing something. Here's betting the agencies getting contracts have personal links with at least one Tory, or Cummings.

Just read this in that article In November, headteachers will be presented with different types of “catch-up” tutoring services – but only if the school is prepared to meet 25% of the cost of this provision from its own budget
With schools already cutting staff to manage their budgets are any of them going to be able to afford this. It looks to me like a big publicity stunt with no real possibility or content.

Yes, woodmouse I'm sure you are right about 1-1 teaching.

Ha ha, growstuff no!

In my opinion you need the very best tutors to help and support those who are struggling most. They need experience and not just knowledge to be a catalyst to learning. They may not be old hands at teaching but they need to have a grounding in what may work with any given young person and they need creativity to find the right way to work with them.

When pupil premium money came into schools 2012/2013, I had just retired and became a one to one tutor. I received all the training and went into three schools. I had 20 years primary teaching experience (mainly KS2).

The teachers had all identified which areas of numeracy and writing I was to concentrate on for each child. These children were all 6 - 12 months behind their expected level. I had the medium term plans from the teachers so knew what the children were going to cover over the following term. My lessons were aimed at 'doing catch up' but also preparing them for the lessons they were about to have and the skills needed in the classroom.

We had 1/2 termly meeting to check on the children's progress. Success rate was brilliant. What it helped with the most was the children's confidence back in the classroom.

I never took the children out of numeracy or literacy lessons. We would arrange a staggered timetable so the child did not continually miss a topic/PE/art lesson.

For me the success rate started to drop off when schools started to group children for the extra tuition.

I await further news of how schools will organise the tuition, or be told how to organise it !

NotSpaghetti

*25Avalon*, I think you were in my maths class!

I think I was in that class too! You weren't in my chemistry class were you?

Er yes! I've come across a few teachers without teacher training qualifications.

Ellianne They don't have time to "grow into the job". They're being employed to close the gap quickly, not bumble along, making mistakes.

I actually remember some appalling teachers at my own private school. Even now, there are some lesser teachers in private schools. I sometimes pick up their pupils as tutees.

Closing an attainment gap for pupils who were probably already falling behind is specialist work, not for the well-meaning amateur.

It would be interesting to hear the view of your trained
colleagues about your performance.

25Avalon, I think you were in my maths class!

I did 25Avalon before the days of the National Curriculum. I was pretty brilliant at it too!

I remember years ago when a graduate didn’t have to do teacher training at all but could go straight into teaching.

This never seemed right to me although I was tempted. How can a graduate be on a level with 3 years training which includes placements in schools? Teaching is a difficult job and NQT’s are carefully monitored for their first year. It’s not just about teaching but following the National Curriculum and knowing how to guide the children.

Worst teacher I ever had was a brilliant mathematician but couldn’t teach for toffee.

This takes me back to discussions in the past where many graduates without teaching qualifications entered the independent sector. I don't recall their being any lesser teachers. As long as they have subject knowledge and have proved they understand the mechanics of learning, surely their input is better than nothing and will grow on the job?

Furret, as any teacher will tell you, a lesson plan is only a starting point. You need subject knowledge, a thorough understanding of the way a subject is assessed, and experience of the way children think in order to turn a lesson plan into productive teaching.

And who is going to write these lesson plans? How are they going to know what work students have missed?

Furret

If these tutors are given detailed lesson plans I don’t see the problem.

IF!

The details I received about tutoring opportunities didn't include detailed lesson plans.

Tutors still need to have the expertise to identify the gaps in learning and know how to bring the pupils up to speed.

Teaching isn't like assembling an IKEA bookcase.

However, it's a great opportunity for the outsourced tutoring agencies to make money!

If these tutors are given detailed lesson plans I don’t see the problem.