TAs does your primary school have them?

We were lucky throughout primary years to have amazing TA's. I'm not sure how teachers would cope without their help with 30 younger years in one class. They are under paid and worth their weight in gold. Three cheers to all the great TA's!

@Squidrings is right. You can't wait for the money to come through for
DCs who need 1:1. My former school was a small village school with a tight budget. In the last couple of years we have had a few dcs joining us who have needed 1:1 from day one for their own safety. There has been no time to wait for funding to come through to recruit extra staff, if indeed it ever comes. This has come from pulling TAs from other classes and has meant dcs with less immediate needs such as dyslexia or speech and language problems haven't been getting the support they need.

This is contrary to the legislation, and is discriminatory.

Not necessarily, schools have to jump through tonnes of hoops to access funding for 1-1. Most children will spend at least the first year of schooling without funding unless their previous provision/nursery was very good. I have had a non verbal austistic girl in my class for a full year with no funding who cannot be left without eyes on her for a second who has taken my general ta as her 1-1. I have been left with 29 other reception children, indoor and outdoor provision to manage myself Once they get funding, the school still has to fund a proportion of the ta wages (the first 6000) plus all recruitment costs. If your school has many children needing 1-1 then that takes up all TA support and a huge chunk of the budget

Our School has TAs in each reception class. Then all TAs throughout the rest of the school are 1-1s except for a team of 5 HLTAs who cover PPA and run interventions for everyone else with SEND without 1-1s. It works well but it is a big primary

Thank you so much. Apparently there are 4 children including my ds4 who have an ehcp at his school.

@elliejjtiny you can find the % of EHCPs schools have here. The most recent data is from 22/23.

5 years ago if you put an advert out for a TA role where I worked you would get over a 100 applications, now 1-2. There needs to be a big look at how much these roles are paid and schools need to be given the funding to pay for them.
Staff were reminded how lucky they were to have jobs that fit around their children and honestly it made the management feel like they could treat them badly. Now there are better options.

I'm looking at job roles post the academic position I'm in now. Given the cost of living I've pretty much entirely discounted returning to being a TA given the low pay. The other big issue is being unable to take term-time holidays- this can make a difference of 1,000s of pounds in prices.

I think quite a few schools are managing their budget by natural wastage, so not replacing wherever possible if someone leaves, or replacing with someone cheaper

Forgot to add that my dc school also have some amazing volunteers, several of whom are ex ta's who retired but came back as volunteers because they missed the children. One lady started as a TA when her youngest started school in the 1980's and she is still there volunteering. Her children all went to the school and so did/do her grandchildren. She is so lovely and always asks what my older dc are doing now whenever I see her.

My dc school has 1 ta for a child with an ehcp and they have been advertising for a new one for a child starting in reception. I don't know how many children have ehcp's. They used to put the number on their website somewhere but I couldn't find it when I looked. My 11 year old has an ehcp without 1 to 1 but he doesn't need one. He has lots of interventions in the nurture room and he sits on a table where the class ta will give extra help to a few of the children in the class. He doesn't need one to one attention. My 10 year old currently is in the middle of an assessment for an ehcp and he needs a lot more help and supervision as he self harms and doesn't do any work if an adult is not sat with him all the time.

TAs are worth their weight in gold. It's a professional role that immensely benefits the running of the school and its vastly underpaid. The idea of them being there to do your photocopying and put up a lovely display hasn't been true since the 90s but wage's haven't changed to reflect this.

I agree with a previous poster though, tighter budgets and the fact that specialist provision is pretty much at capacity in many areas of the country mean TAs are frequently used as 1:1 support or as cheap teachers.

The time taken and the work involved with EHCPs can be off putting too. Our LA SEND provision is in chaos which doesn’t help either

Feel free to ask more. The more people who understand the actual system rather than the unlawful policies and practices LAs and some schools want parents to believe, the better.

Thankyou. I’m sure I’ve been a bit annoying on here but I’m genuinely interested in all this. I’d ask more but I’ll leave you be now.

That wording is often used in section F. It means the EHCP is unenforceable. Using those words means it doesn’t say what you think it does.

For example, ”X would benefit from 1:1”. Many think this means 1:1 should be provided. I’m sure X would benefit from 1:1 but it doesn’t mean it has to be provided. I would benefit from a holiday, doesn’t mean I will get one. It doesn’t say who will provide it, how long for, how frequently, what they will do, where they will provide it… “1:1 would be useful for X”. I’m sure it would. So would £1mil. Doesn’t mean I will get either. Your definition of “as appropriate” or “regular” will be vastly different to that of the LA - what do either really mean? Think of it like an employment contract.

Use of these words negate section F? Or does section F override these points?

I think often because a lot of parents expect schools to know so when schools tell them that the LA doesn't have to cover it, they believe them.

For a multitude of reasons.
Many EHCPs are woolly and vague with wording such as “access to”, “would benefit from”, “regular”, “up to”, “or equivalent”, “opportunities for”, “as appropriate”, “would be useful/helpful”, “such as”, “e.g.”, “etc.”, “as required”, “as advised”, “key adult(s)”… This means they are unenforceable. Parents need to appeal first in order get a watertight detailed, specified and quantified EHCP. But some parents don’t realise the EHCP isn’t worth the paper it is written on until they come to try to enforce it.
Many parents are unaware of SEN law and are misinformed by LAs, schools, SENDIASS…
Many parents have SEN of their own or have English as an additional language or are in carer burnout or…
Many schools are unaware of SEN law and believe the LA’s misinformation.
Some schools prefer trying to get away with using provision to support other pupils.
Some schools think it isn’t worth the hassle because soon enough the pupil will have left.
I could go on.

There is such a need for more special schools.
I really hope the new government will open some but I doubt it.

Yes. I’ve learnt a few things regarding funding tonight. If Ehcps can actually have costs fully covered in all cases then I don’t see why more parents haven’t raised this and schools don’t see this through.

That's because the school essentially bullies the parents until they withdraw.

Wouldn't it be nice if schools instead of breaking the law and therefore meaning parents having to fight them from the get go, worked with parents to ensure funding and provision for SEN DC?

Unless the school is wholly independent, the LA must name the parents’ preferred school unless the LA can prove:
-The setting is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs (“SEN”) of the child or young person; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources.

Requiring 1:1 does not meet the high bar. LAs can, and must unless the LA can prove one of the above, name the school even if the school objects when they are consulted. If the LA refuses, the parents can and should appeal because they don’t have to accept unlawful behaviour. Once the school is named in section I they must admit and can be forced to via judicial review,