To think I was put in an unacceptable situation regarding SEN students toileting needs?

Not mainstream.

No.

It's what happens when LA's insist that children who clearly need alternative provision go to mainstream school. Do you really think parents want their children in inappropriate settings?

Agree that you should leave
awful way for them to treat you as a new person, you willl find something better xx

Im amazed that you are being asked to do this alone

Leave this job.
Fast.

What else are they supposed to do? Parents are obliged to send their children to school.

Unfortunately this is what happens when parents send their high needs children to mainstream school.

Not that simple, unfortunately.

You need to request training on toileting/cleaning up and safeguarding procedures surrounding this, as well as how to deal with autistic meltdown, and what to do if you are alone with a child and there is a problem.
Put the request in an email (or if you ask verbally, follow up with an email confirming what was discussed). Then if anything goes wrong, you can show that you have asked for training.

Hmmmmmmm this can go 2 ways either you continue this way , and it leads to a complaint made about you for some reason, as you don't have training. Or you email whoever you should, repeating everything you said here. No PPE? No shadow shift to see what's expected, toileting children without knowing any issues. Unless it's recorded, none of your questions or complaints will be heeded. Not the teachers fault, they will be stretched beyond capacity same as everyone else. You will be doing everyone a favour by pointing out the problems, and saving yourself from becoming the scape goat.

I think they have given you jobs that they can shy away from.
The Sxxx is going to hit the fan very quickly and guess where its going to land !!
I know you want a job but if or should i say when things go wrong they will try and cover them selfs.
I would get out now to be honest and then report the way they work etc ( before any issues occur which can affect your future)

I think they have given you jobs that they can shy away from.
The Sxxx is going to hit the fan very quickly and guess where its going to land !!
I know you want a job but if or should i say when things go wrong they will try and cover them selfs.
I would get out now to be honest and then report the way they work etc ( before any issues occur which can affect your future)

I’d quit. As a parent of a SEN child and a trained teacher myself, if I found out this happened and my child was only cleaned up with toilet paper by one adult I’d be raising hell with the school. What if you were a pedophile?! There is zero coverage for you or these vulnerable children and this is extremely worrying. This is also a shitty ratio for you! My child’s school was maximum 3 children per adult and non trained children were in pull-ups!
They are really risking your physical and emotional wellbeing and they are not protecting the children in their care.
I don’t say this lightly, I’d honestly quit. This sounds a school culture issue and I’d be worried about you being scapegoated. They already are treating you poorly. I’m so sorry.

This child should not be in a mainstream school.

It strikes me that the school has very poor procedures in place for dealing with children’s personal needs, let alone if the children have additional SEN needs.

There should be proper equipment , gloves and aprons for you, plus wipes, plastic bags, appropriate spare clothing etc. There should be a protocol about what you do, where you do it and what happens afterwards,
eg where are soiled items like wipes disposed of, where are soiled clothes put, who contacts parents.

These incidents are not unpredictable. They should have been thought about and procedures put in place, both to make the situation easier for the children and to protect the staff. A school who hasn’t thought these through has a very poorly trained SENDCO .

Extremely unsafe. I wouldn’t return. You are opening yourself to all kinds of risk.

Yes sounds like a way to get cheap labour at less than minimum wage! How is it allowed??

There are a lot of severely disabled children in mainstream schools that really are unsuitable placements for them. And that’s because LAs do all they can
not to give EHCPs and suitable placements.

The children should have an intimate care plan agreed with the parents and I'd be very concerned if that isn't the case as it shows they aren't following things correctly.

My son goes to mainstream school and needs intimate care. He has an intimate care plan with 2 named TA's who do all of his intimate care which was all agreed at a meeting between me and school.

OP, I work in education and this is a basic safeguarding issue. You should not be in the position of providing intimate care to a child without a second adult present. Some people on the thread have mentioned experiences contrary to this from previous jobs, but safeguarding requirements in schools are much tighter than was once the case and what matters is the current requirements, not people saying 'well it was different when I used to work in schools'. . Staff shortage is a reality but your own personal safety at work is also important and changing a child without training and without another adult present is nowadays contrary to basic safeguarding and puts you at risk. Do raise this urgently with your line manager.

For your interest, the NEU (the largest education union in the country) has a summary at this link of what training, support, resources and conditions schools are expected to provide when children need intimate care from school staff. Appropriate training, a second adult, sight of the school's intimate care policy, knowledge of children's individual care plans, and provision of appropriate PPE are all on the list. https://neu.org.uk/advice/classroom/personal-care-pupils

Each year safeguarding training consists of rehashing what staff have already covered with an extra bit that the government has enhanced/added.

This year it was allergies/epi-pens and asthma.
Last year was child on child abuse
Year before was female genital mutilation
Before that radicalisation
This should all be covered, as well as the obvious about looking for signs of abuse

Great you have a DBS

Lots of your learning will only come through learning on the job and experience.

You need to ask your leaders for anything you feel unsure of (in writing) to cover your own back.

To be brutally honest many fully qualified TA's feel exactly as you do now.
It is not for the faint hearted but can be very rewarding to some.

Good luck x

Holy shit thats bad.

For safeguarding you should have another member of staff with you. The ratios are all off

You need to look elsewhere

As a safeguarding lead I am appalled that you are doing this with no guidelines or training.

That is the thing I would focus on.
What are the guidelines around toileting and intimate care? Is it OK for you to be alone with this child, and is it in a bathroom where other kids can walk in. What are the protocols, what are the expectations.
What PPE is provided

I would push back firmly but politely and say you are an apprentice. Not a full TA. You are paid less for a reason, you are not a full TA.
You will NOT be doing intimate care until trained to do so.
You will NOT be doing sole supervision with no other teachers/TAs present, because you are a trainee.

Is your apprenticeship mentor at the school, or at college? I would contact them asap

Also just to add - an EHCP would not name who does intimate care. If you are a sen TA it will be part of your job description.

Apart from hoisting and the logistics of getting a wheelchair user to and from a changing bed, there is no official training for toileting.

But - at a minimum you should be in pairs. Toileting is a two person job. You should be wearing gloves. There should be a toileting kit available including wipes and nappy bags.

If you had been on my team - you would have shadowed an experienced TA who would take the lead.

I do think what was asked of you today was dangerous and a safeguarding risk.

You need to see the risk assessment for this child in your class - because bathrooming should have been planned, well before today.