Staffing crisis in schools - teachers/school staff, what's your school like?

[noblegiraffe]

Discussions with fellow teachers about the current crisis in school staffing has raised the issue of whether parents know how bad it is. I guess they won't know if we don't tell them?

My school - struggling to recruit teachers. There are subjects at A-level where students are currently teaching themselves, and with no prospect of a teacher on the horizon. Last year we had similar issues, pupils went into exams not fully prepared, and coursework was a huge problem. At GCSE where we couldn't recruit, there was a teacher in front of the class, but not qualified in that subject and pupils complained about the syllabus not being taught.

TA provision has been cut to the bone. There is only in class support if a child has an EHCP, this support is then spread to other children who need help. Due to backlogs with EHCP applications, and applications routinely being rejected (the assumption is automatic rejection, then appeal) some very needy children get no additional help in class. In addition, we have bigger classes due to leaving teachers not being replaced, so teachers are spread even more thinly.

There are huge concerns about teacher recruitment for next year as the number of trainees on local PGCE courses has collapsed.

And I know my school is in a relatively good position compared to others.

I used to be a teacher. I saw the writing on the wall re Covid. My mental health wasn’t brilliant so l left.

I found out 6 support staff had left last half term.

In my mixed ability y9 class, I expend 90% of my energy on the two students with high needs and no support.

When I'm not teaching from the front, I'm sitting with one or other of them so that everyone else doesn't get shouted at, walloped, sworn at.... the list goes on.

If one is off, I might just get a couple of minutes to try to push the ones with high targets on.

There's one of me and 30 of them and I'm doing my best. It's not good enough though.

The problem with this is that in years to come, there will be even fewer doctors available to give that lifesaving treatment as we expect our medicine applicants to have better than 'adequate' exam results.

I am a TA in primary. This is the worst I have ever known the staffing situation, particularly wrt SEND support. We have no spare staff to cover sickness, the school budget won't cover more than bare minimum cover so everyone is working much harder and longer for no more money and we are still not managing to even stand still. Support staff who leave are not being replaced which means the rest of us are doing even more and then are taking more sick leave because they are so exhausted cannot fight off the multitude of bugs that come to school with our students. And yes, parents do seem to blame schools for the mess education is in, and take out their frustrations on the staff on a regular basis. I love my job, but honestly, the money I earn for the work I do is ridiculous and I am counting down the last few years until I can retire.

Have read the whole thread so can see everything has been said (and bonkers ideas dealt with).

Staffing wise - massive shortage in the sen department, can't recruit at all or recruit but they leave rapidly. I have one class with two EHCP students in (plus others with equal need for support but no EHCP) who I maybe see a ta in every other lesson and often different people every time.

Two really key members of student support staff who were excellent at their jobs, and likely did way more than they should have, left last year and the impact is huge and felt by teachers and students alike.

A member of teaching staff left around Easter last year and is still to be replaced in a non shortage subject area, and obviously the same elsewhere in the school.

We were already in the position of important pastoral roles being done by non teachers with no real relevant training and experience even before the latest troubles and these are very high turnover and the fact that key roles aren't being done properly leads to even more workload and pressure on classroom teachers. I'm not aware of any meaningful catch up taking place either as a teacher or as a a parent at the school - my own son has been let down badly and I have been unable to get the school to address it so ???

I agree with others that said schools should close when they can't meet safety needs and laws and tell parents they can't have their child in school because they do not have the 1:1 they're meant to have etc. Instead though, ime, management just ramps up the pressure on the remaining staff to paper the cracks even when you've warned them you're worried you're going to end up signed off sick because your health is decimated. .

But they are not TA they are learning support assistants they are employed for different roles!

We only use the term LSA (and HLTA) at my school - used to be Ta when I started and then the title changed a little while after. So no difference in job role in all schools.

@PixiesFeet, I can understand your anger but I wish you would stop using the term "schools are choosing."
What would you propose happen if your child's 1:1 resigned and the school just could not recruit? Would you expect the school to divert the general class TA (if there is one) to your child? Or perhaps to use another child's 1:1?

I can't believe that I read that a TA was stabbed through the hand with a pencil by a child. And about children throwing desks and chairs at teachers. No-one should have to put up with that in the workplace. It can't all be about the rights of children. It's not ok at all. No wonder TAs and teachers are leaving. I don't blame them.

I joined this thread because I was thinking about becoming a TA. I'm in my 50s and would love to have retrained to be a teacher recently but I don't have a degree although I have 2 As and a B at A level.
But I've definitely decided against it after reading all I've read. I wanted to give something back after a corporate career, but no thanks.

^^^
Recruitment problem #76!

What would you propose happen if your child's 1:1 resigned and the school just could not recruit? Would you expect the school to divert the general class TA (if there is one) to your child? Or perhaps to use another child's 1:1?

Good questions. We had a 1-1 LSA leave at October half term. We can't replace her. We've had LSA adverts out for months. Candidates are just not strong enough - the behaviour support required is actually quite a specialist skillset. I certainly wouldn't be doing it for £7k a year or whatever beans they are currently earning. We interviewed last week - all of them would be (and I quote) 'eaten alive by x child'. The child is 8.

We have children arrive with no EHCP, or any IEP paperwork from other schools, we have children arrive in year 3 or 4 having never been in school, new arrivals to the country, often with trauma - they are just meant to be absorbed by the school. Some of these children are in nappies, or can't toilet themselves, or speak not one work of English, or have undiagnosed SEND, are in desperate need of counselling... but they are just put into our classes.

These classes will already have a level of support need - SEND.
They will already also have children who are pupil premium and somehow are meant to get additional support.
They will already also have children who have been recognised as not having made the appropriate level of progress last year.
They will also already have children who could make 'it' (age related stuff) if they had just a little bit of support in one or two subjects every day.
They will already have children with speech and language issues, but no actual appointments with a SALT - somehow teachers and LSAs are meant to find time to do SALT work with children. We are not qualified for this.

So you know. It's hard going. State education is in a mess and I have no idea why it's not all over the media in the same way that the NHS and court services issues are. No idea.

I concur wholeheartedly. This is the daily reality in my primary school and it is by no means unusual and by no means the worst.

It's the same in my school.

It's a mixture of refreshing and horrific that so many are in the same boat.

My teaching colleague (primary) has one class TA but about 5 children with SEND who don't have EHCPs. So her TA is having to jump between these kids. Two of them have to access a completely different curriculum, so the TA is taken up with that. That leaves the class teacher with the rest. Did I mention as well it's two year groups and the vast majority are way behind expectations? Not to mention the high level of staff sickness going on so her TA is having to cover lunchtime duties and has to be taken out of class to have her own lunch break.

She's pulling her hair out as she's working very long hours and feels like she's neglecting her own two children. Our headteacher also has this weird idea that children still need to be 'catching up' and making 'accelerated progress'.
Yea right.

RuleWithAWoodenFoot

I'm not being critical or saying the awful problems in school don't exist, because it sounds horrendous, but is there actually a member of staff in your school - not a senior leader, surely - who, in a meeting or professional context, used the words: ' eaten alive by X child'? Isn't that an embarrassingly unprofessional and informal way to describe - openly - a child who is experiencing problems? Very defamatory to the child.

But on another note, what has actually changed, regarding TA recruitment and why, do you think people aren't snapping up those roles, as they used to? I was under the impression that the school holidays and early finish ( plus option to work part-time) made the role very, very desirable for those with young children. Something has changed in recent years, obviously. Some TAs used to work in the school attended by their own children, when my son was at primary school, which was always very convenient for pick-,ups and drop-offs. . Is it to do with Covid and not wanting to be mixing with large numbers of other human beings - if another wave of the illness comes along?

I'm surprised there are so many vacancies, as these are fairly often jobs with contracts. I'm aware of some special schools where the staff are all bank and on zero hours. That's probably true of many types of job, so a job where you had more rights would sound quite attractive. Is retention and recruitment more difficult in less populated rural areas? But the difficulty you describe of children arriving from other countries with no English sounds more typical of populations in large cities.

Why are there vacancies?
Because once you've been stabbed through the hand by a child, when someone asks you about the job they've seen advertised, you might tell that story.
Or you might take the job, realise that it's impossible to do it in the hours you're paid for, and leave.
Or you might have been a TA for years but you might get sick of being spread too thin, and leave.
Or you might realise that it pays peanuts and you can get more at Aldi.

Something has changed in recent years, obviously

As described and detailed for hundreds of posts on this thread. How can you still not understand?

I just want to highlight what a parent said up-thread about having been called out of work to manage her SEND child so often, she has received a final warning.

This is not unusual.

Having a child with significant SEND or health issues pushes families into poverty.

It's been known to be the case for a long time but, with the cut-backs in all kinds of support, I can only imagine this situation is escalating.

And not to trivialise the impact on this for each family it affects, it also means that you inevitably get an impact on schools. You end up with an uneven distribution of the impact of lack of resources in schools.

With families of SEND children pushed into poverty, you end up with schools with far higher proportions of SEND children - and inadequate resourcing. And they are all too often in areas that are also economically insecure.

It's like a double blow.

And it's an insult to everyone.

SEND should be resourced, from birth, through school, and beyond.

It's not.

It's not the fault of schools, or failing, individual teachers.

It's a choice.

It doesn't have to be this way.

People should be angry.

And, believe me, when it comes to school, the impact falls on all children.

Because, with the best will in the world, when you have a class with 1 child with an EHCP and 3 who clearly need one, but don't have one - there is an impact.

For a start, it often means there is at least one child with 'manageable' issues (but issues which impact their well-being and learning) who is going completely unnoticed.

And there will be behaviour issues - and I would suggest that leads directly to low-level anxiety and 'low-level' behaviour issues in the rest of the class.

It's not fair.

And you can't rely on schools to go public about this. There's too much at stake for them to do so.

Parents - all parents - need to demand better of the government. Because that is where responsibility lies.

And lastly, to be clear:

Inclusion, without adequate resources, is no inclusion at all.

I'd actually say it amounts to discrimination.

It's no surprise a thread about underfunding in schools has talked about SEND.

That's where a lot of the impact falls.

Because actual, real, inclusion requires resourcing. Which costs money.

Why do we call what amounts to invisible discrimination 'inclusion'?

Four years ago some of the schools in our Trust went through restructuring that meant THE MAJORITY of support and middle management salaries were reduced. All perfectly legal, amazingly.

Now that legacy grace period has ended, surprisingly most of the long term staff that know the kids, the area, the school inside out are leaving as they are being paid less for a job - post covid - they are expected to do more for. They're going on to office jobs in other sectors or retiring early. And due to the salary expectations they aren't being replaced because its not an attractive package - nobody is applying for the jobs.

Teaching is suffering too. Loads of cover, often long term, very often non-specialist. It IS damaging children's futures, as big gaps are showing in exam prep for y11s. Huge.

Funny that they recently advertised for a new head in our next nearest Trust school, salary nearly 10x what they now pay a TA, or attendance officer, and about 9x more than a head of year (sorry, we can't call them that any more, as despite the job being EXACTLY THE SAME the salary for learning manager is half of HOY). Funny that...

@Diverseopinions

I work in a primary in a small, rural town. We have a huge number of students for whom English is a additional language. Many arrive with little or no English, some with traumatic histories and undiagnosed SEND. The majority generally settle in and progress quickly but supporting them still takes time and resources.

We are struggling to recruit both TAs and teachers. We used to receive huge numbers of applications, especially for TA positions, as the work was rewarding and the hours attractive to parents with school age children.

Now we are lucky to get one application. It is, as PP said, because the pay is dire and the job is increasingly thankless. Would you want to work in a minimum wage job where you knew you'd be kicked and punched and verbally abused every day? And where you'd be told it was your fault when this happened, despite the fact that nobody else could stop the behaviour either? Where there was no meaningful consequence for the person who attacked you, and no resources to help prevent it happening again?

That's the reality in my school, and countless others across the country. The government has created a system which is failing our children.

Diverse , TAs are actually expected to be more killed (for no more pay) than they would have been, say , 10 years ago. This means the job lacks appeal to those who just want a term time job with relatively few demands , within school hours. It has become a harder job.

Add to that that supermarkets increasingly offer very flexible working hours, including shifts within the school day and time off during school holiday times (when they can then employ local teens on temporary contracts) at more pay per hour and you have potential TAs choosing shifts in Waitrose over TA posts.

Any support staff we have recruited recently who just do the job because it suits the school run have lasted a matter of weeks.

It is, as PP said, because the pay is dire and the job is increasingly thankless. Would you want to work in a minimum wage job where you knew you'd be kicked and punched and verbally abused every day?

In addition to this there's also a rise in children with more complex medical needs. It can be a huge responsibility to be a 1-1, and the pay just doesn't reflect that.

Skilled ! Skilled !! Not more killed!!!

MNHQ - can we please have an edit funtion!!?

Plus the atmosphere in schools is awful in many cases. Staff are exhausted and disillusioned, management continues to pile on pressure for continuous improvement and aiming for outstanding without reading the room. That's not pleasant to work in for anyone - let alone the lowest paid.

At my school there's also the fact that having more non teaching/non qualified pastoral roles available that pay slightly more than TA posts means that good TAs were often going for those roles and then needing to be replaced. Add to that that those 'good TAs' then frequently burn out very quickly and leave education completely because they are not trained and conditioned to cope with the level of disclosures and horrific background stories they are subjected to and not used to the awful feeling of powerlessness in the face of them in a broken society which doesn't help these kids.

Lots of false economy decisions have been made that have brutal human costs and add even more workload to teachers and take out opportunities for progression for teachers and for the use of their particular skill set ie. some teachers have no desire to head a department or become a headteacher and would have traditionally have been excellent heads of year or key stage who could simultaneously manage pastoral and academic issues in their year group. If those jobs are (theoretically) being done by ex TAs on 15k those routes don't exist for teachers anymore plus most of the work those skilled heads of year did is not being done - it's not the non teaching employees fault they just literally aren't qualified or trained to be able to do the role effectively and instead do their role by simply forwarding all problems to classroom teachers in endless emails.

There's another issue at play, too.

And it's about how education is viewed.

On the one hand, education is clearly a public good.

A lot of the workers go into this sector, impelled by ideals - about care, about public service.

And they meet a situation that's in the process of transition - a workplace implicitly or explicitly managed by the trappings of a business ethos: with expected outcomes and targets, etc.

And the suspicion grows that this actually hides the fact that people are really just being asked to do more with less and for less.

You can call it gaslighting, or you can call it crisis.

But it's stressful.

And, increasingly, it's the people who are being brought in to try and impose the 'more for less' ethos that get paid decent wages, while everyone actually delivering the public good - education - is seeing their living standards fall.

And seeing resources not materialising.

It's pretty weird.