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Andrew Baisley |
‘Replace these school bouncers’
Teacher in call for pool of experienced supply teachers after doormen claims
A MATHS teacher who claimed nightclub bouncers have been hired by some schools to cover lessons for absent staff has called on local authorities to set up pools of experienced supply teachers.
While he would not name names, Andrew Baisley, who works at Haverstock School in Chalk Farm, stressed he was not referring to his own school during a speech at the National Union of Teachers (NUT) conference in Cardiff on Saturday.
He said he knew of schools recruiting classroom supervisors to cover lessons who had previously worked as doormen and that he had seen adverts for jobs at other schools appealing for people who had worked in the prison service and the military.
Mr Baisley sparked a national debate when he told the conference that they were being hired because they were “stern and loud”.
His comments have thrown the spotlight on the government’s five-year-old but hardly publicised policy of allowing people from all walks of life to take jobs supervising classrooms on a temporary basis. Typically, they follow a lesson plan set out by established staff and are expected to make sure pupils are not disruptive.
But the issue has been a bugbear for unions as those drawn to the positions are not always experienced in schools.
Mr Baisley, who was mobbed by the media after his speech, told the New Journal: “Supervisors are used at some schools in Camden, but nothing like this has
happened here.
“The trouble with the system is that you get people who hand out worksheets at the start of lessons, but pupils can’t go to them and ask them for help in the work. This isn’t great for the classroom because you get children feeling like they have kept their part of the bargain by turning up to school, but get nothing back in return.”
Mr Baisley said the current alternative to bringing in supervisors is hiring supply staff from expensive employment agencies, which had left some schools feeling ripped off by high
commission rates.
He added that an estimated 30 per cent of schools currently using supervisors in London would increase until it was close to 100 per cent when changes to rules over supply teachers are introduced in September. Schools will be prevented from letting teachers cover each other – the old system where a PE teacher might, for example, step in and take a maths lesson at short notice.
“This is good for teachers as it can be stressful for them to have to take a lesson unexpectedly at the last minute but it will lead to greater use of supervisors,” said Mr Baisley.
“What the union would like to see is a pool of supply teachers – which is what we had until the 1980s – who can go around schools in the area and fill in to cover staff sickness.
“The schools would pay a fee at the start of the term to the council, which would only need to administer the service. That way we would get experience back in the classroom and it wouldn’t just be about controlling student discipline. It would also save on spending money with agencies.”
A Camden Council spokeswoman said: “Each school’s individual governing body is responsible for employing its staff members. Schools can employ what are known as cover supervisors to cover lessons when teachers are away.
“These supervisors are given appropriate training.” |
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