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.

The recruitment crisis for support staff was an issue waiting to happen. The conversation is always about teaching staff wages, their pay increases, never support staff.

You might be interested to read this thread Jubilee www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4651549-teaching-assistants-quitting-schools-for-supermarkets-because-of-joke-wages

My next door MP (as in not my actual one , she who must not be named ) asked this question at Education questions today to a packed house (sarcasm klaxon)

In Education Questions today, I asked the Education Minister, Claire Coutinho about school funding for children with special educational needs and disabilities and Social, Emotional and Mental Health.
Demand for SEND statements, EHCPs
has soared by 480% in the past five years, from 74,209 in 2016 to 430,697 in 2021, according to the LGA. Need for emotional support has sky-rocketed.

The cost to schools, especially in a cost-of-living crisis needs to be recognised if schools are to give the support children need.
The SEND review was delayed three times, taking nearly 1,000 days, yet it still fails to deliver the transformation in support needed.

The Government promised that the National SEND delivery plan’ would be in place by the end of the year but as you will see the Minister is now talking of bringing forward plans in the new year.
Why the delay? What can be more important than ensuring our schools are given the resources they need to support their most vulnerable children – especially after the impact of the pandemic?

It's horrific. I honestly feel I have a full time job in addition to teaching full time. The expectations are crazy.

Demand for SEND statements, EHCPs has soared by 480% in the past five years, from 74,209 in 2016 to 430,697 in 2021

Fucking hell, that's insane. And we certainly haven't seen a big increase in the amount of support staff in that time, quite the opposite.

Noblegiraffe thank you. Don't get me wrong, I think teachers and TAs are getting a really rough deal.

Perhaps I sound old fashioned but I think children should be toilet trained before being able to attend school. If they are not then they shouldn't be there. It's not fair on the staff or the other children. I appreciate there may be a medical reason for a small number of children not being toilet trained but arguably they should be in one of the special schools which don't exist any more. Which is a disgrace.

10 teachers off today. By break time it was 11. And several TAs off.
We can't offer the full hot lunch service because two members of kitchen staff have left and not been replaced, and were advertising a cover job for the 3rd time. Oh, and the exams officer has quit.

Basically the remaining teachers and TAs will need to take on more of the ancillary tasks like admin, cleaning, catering etc. Most of the staff have actually offered to give up their pay rises to protect jobs but seemingly the unions won’t allow this.
Not a chance that this is true. No teacher will be in the kitchen or cleaning. Giving up pay rises would be the least of his concerns if this was actually true.

Something which occurs to me problems in schools: SureStart funding radically cut. Fewer mainstream four year olds would be in nappies, were that still there.

How can teachers clean and cook whilst teaching? Our dinner staff spend half an hour before lunch setting up and half an hour after lunch clearing up. That's not including the time prepping food.

Yep. Definitely the experience in my school. More and more children are in nappies. Some with SEN some without. We toilet train most of them by end of KS1 but do have children going into KS2 in nappies. We do not have the proper facilities to change nappies of older children but we are still expected to do it. Staff are asked if they are prepared to undertake nappy changing duties. Some are willing , some not. Luckily, we do have enough staff who are willing to do it (mainly ks1 staff who are used to it) but if these staff leave then not sure what will happen.

Ignore the troll.

Can I just concur.

Fucking hell, that really is insane. Caseload of LA SEND officers is nuts too - friend works in a dept where someone left so her caseload doubled overnight, with no extra time offered.

I've noticed that, and I've wondering what the fuck they think parents are shelling out thousands of pounds for, if not a better deal than they'd be getting in state schools.

People usually answer that it's about 'networking' or 'sports facilities' but I can't imagine they're not thinking about their kid not being in a mixed ability class of 32 with children with unsupported SEN and a string of supply teachers.

Absolutely agree @noblegiraffe I wish I could send my DS private so he could escape the issues at his school. Teachers are amazing and doing everything they can but he's a lovely, easy to teach, bright lad who I think is just becoming one of the ignored

Why on earth are staff in schools being expected to change nappies?

There are children with medical needs. But it seems that quite a number of parents don't bother toilet training their child and leave it up to schools to do. We have to be inclusive are are not able to insist this is taught before they come. Staff at schools are having to take on roles that should get carried out by parents. Every year this is becoming worse.

This thread is absolutely horrifying

Yes it is. The school system is in a shocking state. Thank you for bringing it to everyone's attention.

The situation is at crisis point

This next year or two could actually break education and the NHS.

What a state we have become

We have an ECT who has left after less than a term, core staff off long term sick, a teacher of a core subject going on ML but are unable to recruit a maternity cover specialist and vacancies for TAs and Cover staff unfilled.

We have also had a massive increase in the number of students with EHCPs but no extra capacity for support. The number of children with mental health issues is at an all time high and there is no support. Teaching staff are on their knees. It’s really sad. I’ve been teaching for over 20 years and I have never known the situation this bad.

That's awful

Unless they have SN

We have had several parents say that they are not going to toilet train their children ( no SEN, no reasons not to) because it's easier if we do it!

Can't you say no, do one

Where is their pride

It's wrong if it's the case that children with no special educational needs are not toilet trained when they start school. It should be a requirement and if they're not toilet trained they cannot attend. There are times when it's important to establish responsibility. Teachers and TAs are not parents. It's the parents responsibility to toilet train. And it's the responsibility of teachers to teach. This is so wrong.

@FriedDuck Oh, do shut up and go away. We had all this shit back in Lockdown and it was nonsense then too.

The worst thing for me isn't the one offs: the stabbing and swearing and abuse and weeks when everyone loses their PPA because so many people are sick.
It's the knowledge that - far from getting better any time soon - it's going to get worse.
There's simply no money and no prospect of any. That means:
fewer resources, people and stuff-wise
so stuff needing to be done with less
so more pressure
with less mental and physical capacity to do it

And there is no end in sight.

I love my job. But this is wearing me down, and I don't know how much more I have to give.

When I went to one school as SENCo and Assistant Head in 2002, I had two teachers, a SRP manager, a part time admin support and 25 TAs.

Now there is a SENCo, no other teachers, no SRP manager and six TAs. There are, on average, 40 EHCPs, as well as all the other high needs students.

There are now