Forced into 1:1 role

[SuperNerd88]

I have worked as a class TA in a primary school for the last 11 years. I love this job, and last year we had a child join our class who is very challenging, with quite complex behaviours. Someone was employed as her 1:1 TA shortly after she joined us, however this person has found the role particularly demanding and I think would actually prefer a more general TA role.

Because of this, the rest of the TAs within our school have now been told (rather than asked) that they must also share the timetable for this child's 1:1 provision, while she covers our class TA roles. The child in particular does not listen to me at all, and I am finding it so hard whilst also, somewhat selfishly perhaps, feeling quite resentful that I am having to do someone else's job while they are doing mine.

My issue here is, is it fair that the rest of us are now having to share a 1:1 role that we have neither applied for nor chosen to do, when our colleague actively applied for this job? Please offer thoughts as I'm in unsure if I am being unreasonable, but it is greatly affecting my ability to enjoy my work.

Having the same 1-1 can lead to over reliance on that person. DS has had the same 1-1 for the past 4 years which is fantastic until it isn’t. A couple of years back she was worried about going off sick when she really needed to because she knew he wouldn’t cope.

After that it was agreed that he needed to spend some time with other TAs so when someone else had to cover it wasn’t a big issue.

he can also be pretty hard work at times (hence having 1-1) so it also gives his wonderful TA a break!

‘Tell her to do her job’ . Don’t think it really works like that.

The schools I've worked in differentiated between LSAs (1:1 support) and TAs (classroom assistant and small group work).

I don't think it's fair on the child to not have a specific individual who knows their needs and values and knows their care plan. It's not fair on the TAs to fill that role when they may have limited experience or expertise working with SEND or on a 1:1 basis. The school needs to provide an awful lot of information to you and I'd be looking at my job contract to see if it includes 1:1 as part of the role.

yabvu

you need to assist children as needed. Sharing this out is better for staff morale and makes the child in question more resilient too as they are not dependent on just one person. If you have a good attitude you can get training and support to understand this young persons needs, which would help you in future job applications if your school takes the general trendy route of getting rid of classroom assistants and only employing LSAs for 1-1 or interventions

There should be no one to one really. Velcro ta is awful for children. It should be supporting in class with that child to help them access the teacher , which might include minding the other children while the teacher works directly with the Sen child.

That’s a bloody awful existence for the child and for the ta to be excluded like that

I'm in a TA group on Facebook and it seems like very few are actually "general TAs" full time these days

I think overall it's advised to have multiple adults in charge but there are certainly cases where having a singular familiar adult can be beneficial. For example, non verbal or limited speech children who require intimate care would benefit from a singular trusted adult as they can't report if any abuse happens, and they need to learn we don't just show our bits to everybody and trust every adult we meet.

This was certainly the case for my own child when he required intimate care. However this has now moved on to trusting multiple adults so transitions can be easier.

if your school takes the general trendy route of getting rid of classroom assistants and only employing LSAs for 1-1

It's got nothing to do with being 'trendy', it's because the school budget is so lacking that the only support staff that can be hired are ones attached to individual EHCP funding.

What is your basis for believing that? Some students need 1:1 in order to be able to access the curriculum and sometimes it's the only way they feel comfortable communicating. It isn't put into an EHCP for larks. I've seen too many students unable to function in an educational environment because they've had the support they are entitled to taken away.

I’m a teacher. Sadly it’s so common now for TA’s- particularly the best, most experienced and capable ones, to be forced out of classrooms to work 121 with extremely challenging children. The needs schools are getting (as you’ll know) are increasing yearly. It’s such a massive shame for the kids in the classroom and for the TA’s who aren’t being heard and doing the job they love. YANBU for wanting to be in the job you were employed for. Not sure what you do about it though! Some of my TA friends are resigning, looking for new classroom based posts, some on long term sick with stress. (Physical abuse from a young child is causing trauma!!) I suggest you talk to your head and see if your preferences can be met. (I doubt it!) So you’ll need to make a hard choice. YANBU to find it a rubbish scenario though.

Some of my TA friends are resigning, looking for new classroom based posts,

Sadly, this job is virtually extinct now. If you are still managing to work in a classroom role, your job probably won't exist in a couple of years (EY excepted).

Education has changed so drastically. The job of a teacher is also almost unrecognisable from when I trained.

You can’t pick and choose which child you work with as a TA! Why did you become a aTA if you don’t actually want to be one? 🤷‍♀️

This is so pointlessly rude. The TA role used to be assisting in a class, so helping a variety of children/small groups of children, helping out the teacher generally. If you applied to be a TA in a mainstream school you’d expect to work with a range of kids, none with very high support needs.

There’s been a very rapid shift towards children with much higher levels of need being stuck in mainstream schools, and the TA role has shifted so that TAs are often now spending all of their time with individual children who have very high needs and very challenging behavior.

It’s a totally different role to the one the OP (and most TAs) applied for or expected, she’s allowed to raise questions about whether this is really required.

TA’s used to be classroom assistants. They still are in independent schools. The role has changed for many, it’s understandable this causes concern.

I have a family member who took early retirement as she was told she was being assigned to a single child, she lasted a few weeks and it wasn’t for her. She had been a TA for almost 20 years.

I think it's fine to mourn the job it used to be (like most teachers who've been teaching a few decades do!). I don't think there's much you can do about it though.

If you resent doing the role, then it's no wonder the child isn't engaged with you.

It's certainly legal, just a bit crap. I was a 1:1 TA for 3 years and it completely broke me. I have 2 DCs with SEN, so went into it fairly confident, but I was completely unprepared for the violence and lack of support. Child would rip my hair out, bite me, kick me and smash me over the head with a chair. Her parent was adamant child could do what she liked because she was autistic and couldn't help it. The child eventually went to a special school and I left an absolute wreck of a person!

In many schools general class TA is very much a thing of the past. Outside of early years any class TA will usually have an assigned 1-1 child or an assigned target group of children they will work with. Supporting children with 1-1 needs is generally now part of the TA job role.

It is considered good practice to have multiple people who can work with the child so the child does not get dependent on 1 adult. It also helps when their "assigned" 1-1 is not available (sickness/ training/ leave ect.). It also really helps with staff retention. Some children who have 1-1 support are very challenging and recruiting and retaining a 1-1 for them can be extremely difficult. Different schools handle this differently, some have different approaches depending on the child and their needs. Some schools may hire 2 part time 1-1s or the 1-1 swaps with another TA or 1-1 half way through the week or day. Others may spread the 1-1 hours across multiple TAs. I know of one case where a young person had different 2-1s every hour as they had very challenging (often explosive and violent) behavior and very intense medical needs. It was the only way the school could retain staff and provide the 2-1 support the young person needed without resorting to employing agency staff every day.

This year I am a class TA in early years, I am the only class TA in my school but really 90% of my time is spent supporting those with special needs (which I don’t resent for a second)

Absolutely this. I know a lady who started her role as a TA in the early 90s. Her job as a TA back then involved washing up paint pots, tidying the classroom, cutting out, laminating, hearing a few children read, changing reading books, setting out resources for the children. It was very much an assistant role.

Nowadays almost all TA roles come with some kind of targeted small group work, supporting a high needs child 1-1 or supporting a small group of lower needs but still complex children, an element of marking, planning/ delivering interventions, usually need to be able administer first aid, often epi pen/ allergy/ tube feeding/ peg feeding/ diabetic management (helping with monitoring blood sugar, measure or give insulin pens or having knowledge on how the new diabetic pumps work) trained to cover a few of the responsibilities TAs have nowadays.