schools using resource hours for mainstream subjects due to the cutbacks

andee

Hi,

I am a newly qualified secondary school teacher and interested in getting into the whole area of resource teaching. However, I have heard that a lot of resource hours are now being used to teach mainstream classes in secondary schools due to the cutbacks.

Is this true?

andee

Hi, i am a newly qualified secondary school history teacher. i am interested in getting into the whole area of resource teaching either in secondary or primary.

if i went the primary route, is it true i have to qualify as a primary teacher first?

byhookorbycrook

Primary or secondary?Resource teaching can also take place in a mainstream setting , in-class support rather than withdrawal.

andee

secondary. i heard resource hours were being used to teach mainstream classes with no resource students in those classes? because schools are down on mainstream teaching hours due to the cut backs and using a lot of resource hours to fill the deficit of mainstream teaching hours

Toto Wolfcastle

Threads merged. Please keep your questions about this subject in this thread. Thanks.

andee

apologies, i put them in two different threads because I thought they were two seperate questions.

byhookorbycrook

Resource hours must benefit the child who has been granted them, so schools cannot use resource hours for a class where there are no resource students. Primary resource teachers are fully qualified primary teachers.

andee

thanks, maybe it is just happening in that school or maybe the person who told me got it wrong

i was hoping my secondary teaching qualification would suffice to teach resource in primary schools especially if i did a resource course. Not sure if I can face another h.dip!

evolving_doors

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Resource hours must benefit the child who has been granted them, so schools cannot use resource hours for a class where there are no resource students. Primary resource teachers are fully qualified primary teachers.

Hmm...just supposing a student is allocated 3 hours resource but can only take up 2 of those hours(perhaps due to timetable restrictions), what happens that 1 hour ? Does it get returned back to the dept?

implausible

Armelodie wrote: »

Hmm...just supposing a student is allocated 3 hours resource but can only take up 2 of those hours(perhaps due to timetable restrictions), what happens that 1 hour ? Does it get returned back to the dept?

That hour would get used up in class e.g. team teaching.

evolving_doors

deemark wrote: »

That hour would get used up in class e.g. team teaching.

What if a teacher can't be found to do team teaching, what happens the hour? Does it go back to the department then? Basically my question is,, what is the required procedure for hours not used?

andee

Hi,

I asked my source again there. He said it's definitely happening in his school.

said some team teaching happening but definitely not all resource hours being used correctly for resource whether in small groups, individually or team teaching, that not being used correctly this way being used to supplement the timetable cos of teaching hours shortage due to the cutbacks!

he said there s no way their current teacher allocation would cover all mainstream classes in the school without using resource hours to help out.

rainbowtrout

Yes it is happening. Have seen it myself.

As well as resources hours allocated to specific students, schools get a general resource allocation which the school can use whatever way they see fit, e.g. give students resource that don't qualify for it officially but would benefit from it. In some instances it tends to be used to prop up the main timetable.

andee

thanks rainbowtrout

it looks like it might be pointless my pursuing a resource qualification then if the hours are not being given to it.

might see about adding religion as a subject

i really need to make myself more employable. have a real interest in resource but wouldnt be able to commit to qualifying in it if there are no hours in it to get a job

rainbowtrout

Not necessarily. There are plenty of schools who use the hours properly for the students that need them.

Resource qualification or otherwise, teaching jobs are hard to come by at the moment.

andee

thanks rainbowtrout, good to hear that (especially for the children concerned).

is there any subject that you would recommend there might be a better demand for? bar irish or maths

had thought of maths because of all the unqualified maths teachers about but then heard that the govenment are going to provide courses to qualify those teachers in maths. In addition I would have been only average at maths myself at school and never had a particular love of it

uriah

andee wrote: »

thanks, maybe it is just happening in that school or maybe the person who told me got it wrong

i was hoping my secondary teaching qualification would suffice to teach resource in primary schools especially if i did a resource course. Not sure if I can face another h.dip!

You must be a qualified primary teacher to teach in a primary school .

This is even more important for someone teaching children who have been allocated resource teaching hours.

ed06

sorry to open an old thread. can principals supplement mainstream perm teachers with resource hours if there subject interest has been cut or there is a drop in student numbers. surely by using resource hours for the likes of art/business/english mainstream teaching the resource students who are entitled to the hours are missing out. especially if there is no practice of team teaching in these subject

doc_17

Yes. But teachers who get resource hours are well able to help these kids. It's probably literacy and numeracy they need the help with. I've had resource hours before and have no qualification in it. I'd say they did fine out of it.

bdoo

Certainly there is no problem with this. It is commonplace in most schools. as doc said the teachers are perfectly capable of providing the support.

Literacy does not have to be doing English and numeracy does not need to be maths. There are several cross curricular links which can be explored.

ed06

as a resource teacher i am aware of the varying needs of each individual student. and that resource does not always entail literacy and numeracy however, surely the school could not use 30-40 hours of the resource allocation to supplement mainstream teachers to teach classes with 15-20 students in there specific subject area. e.g 22 hours resource for the guidance teacher or 10 for the art teacher to teach there art classes

bdoo

I know where you are coming from ed06

This is the cutbacks in practice. School managers are trying to balance provision of a guidance service with the provision of subject options and the provision of resource.

If a child is in a foundation or lower ordinary maths class for example it could be argued that without resource allocation there would not be so many splits for that subject. In this way the resource benefits more than just the kids with allocation.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong but each school has to decide what it does to keep the school ticking over.

TheDriver

its fair game, if a child has resource hours then generally they might be grouped into 2-4 students to allow better spread hence its not then mainstream. however we would never use resource for pure mainstream, the inspectors would eat us.
PWT will always have to have full timetables before CID before contract before PT etc etc. So if resource is needed to fill their timetables then unfortunately so be it.

happywithlife

ok i have a question that i think kinda ties in with this and i'd love an answer to it ..
a post was advertised recently in my subject area ..
it was 11hrs subject + 11 resource
(two posts)
or
22hrs in just the subject area ...

more or less the wording of the ad - i can't figure out why if there is 22 hrs going in a subject why wouldn't any potential jobseeker want the full hours? why split it into 11 hrs plus 11 resource? and if there are potentially the full 22 hours what happens to the other 11 if someone opted for option a and took 11 hours in the subject area and 11 hours resource...

am i totally dense and missing something? or have i taken the ad up all wrong?

doc_17

Mate they are just trying to give themselves options.

solerina

In my school all students who are allocated resource hours get them (and even some not allocated hours but who need them are given resource classes, where possible)...What normally happens is the principal gets the permanent teachers to do the resource classes as part of their timetable and gives hours to non permament teachers with the remaining hours (which means people get jobs as a result)

evolving_doors

Just an update on the provision or allocation of resource hours

PDF Link here Circular 01/12

.. Typically it had to be hours tied to the student ..(with hours not taken up or left over, magically disappeared into somewhere or other)...

I think the recent cut in hours alloction has made the schools reconsider how they 'use' or 'misuse' the hours.. i.e. not to be depending on resource hours to prop up other regular teaching hours as the surplus is being trimmed...

For the first time, these 'leftover' hours (that were tied to that particular pupil) have been instructed to be divided amongst new/late applications within the school year.

"In the meantime, where a pupil meets the criteria for resource teaching hours, schools should support these pupils from the existing quantum of resource teaching hours"

I think internationally it;s accepted that requiring someone to have a medical condition to qualify for 'special education' leeds to a defecit model and labelling. It'll probably move to a more global model whereby it'll be left up to schools to decide rather than an Ed. Psych..

My point is resource hours as we know them will probably be phased out.. and 1 resource teacher/co-ordinator will have the post of responsibility to 'empower ' regular teachers.

On the upside, if you get a qualification in Spec ed / psych screening you'll probably be in line for a job 'promotion'