To think there should be more adults in reception class??

[TellerTuesday4EVA]

I'm really not sure on this one so wondering if I can ask how many adults there are/were in your child's reception classroom?

DD has just started reception, she's the oldest having just turned 5 but on the whole it's a very 'young' year group with the majority being summer born so not turning 5 until Easter onwards.

There's 29 in the class (boys heavily outnumbering girls). The classroom is large, very much free play approach with an outdoor area that's accessible all day but gated from the main playground. Luckily the toilets are within the classroom so they don't have to leave for that but I just feel they could do with another adult, even if just a student or similar.

Currently there's one teacher & one Teaching assistant

I'm not sure if I'm being unreasonable because I'm comparing to my nephews class, he's in year one a another local school but there's 1 teacher & 4 TA's admittedly 3 of the TA's are each designated to a particular child with SEN but there's still extra sets of eyes & hands around the classroom.

How does that compare to your child's class?

My son's reception class has 1 teacher and 3 TAs but two of those are for children with SEN - he is one of them. His TA does facilitate him playing with other children so in a way it is a slight advantage to the rest of the class. In theory if he had a meltdown she would work with him in their unit.

That's normal, when we where at school there where no TA's. So 1 teacher for a class of 30 children, I think it's a lot better now they have TA's to. One to one's don't count as they are concentrating on just one child.
You could if you have some time volunteer in your child's class and see just how hard they do work at school. I enjoyed doing that.

This is typical and why they really encourage children to be independent when they join in terms of going to the toilet and being able to dress themselves.
In due course parent helpers may assist with activities but that ratio is normal.

1 teacher 3 ta

Sorry 2 ta

My child did not start school in this country, but there was one teacher, no TA to 20 kids (4.5 to just turned 6).

1 teacher, 1 TA is normal, although this year I get to share my TA with the other class in my year group as most TAs are needed to support elsewhere. So usually it's 28 kids and me all day!

One teacher one TA is the norm but legally they only need one teacher for up to 30 children.

Nursery classes legally must have one teacher and one qualified TA for up to 26 children. They need another TA if more than 26.

If you took the SEN children out of your nephews class then his class too would be one teacher one TA.

If your childs ckass had an SEN one to one there would be one teacher 2 TA

The one to one ta funds come out of a totally different pot.

1 teacher per 30 is what my school have for yr1-yr6 (no TAs). Reception have 1 teacher and 1 TA.

On the contrary Raven, I would happily go in & volunteer if I could be of use.

I'm not sure tbh Ursula, I'm not necessarily worried I just think it seems like an awful lot of children for 2 adults, especially with the outdoor space being used all day.

I can see from the replies that this is the norm so that settles my curiosity. I can also see that those teachers & TAs deserve every bit of downtime & alcohol they can lay their hands on!!!

This is true @Naught and I said the same when discussing with my SIL but nephews class is a lot smaller - they only have 18 children in his class. If you take out the 3 with 1:1's that's 15 kids with one teacher & one TA so almost half compared to DD's class.

Then its your nephews school thats unusal
As has been pointed out the funding ratio is 1 teacher one ta to 30 kids. I wouldnt actally be suprisedthe class TA (the one not assigned to an SEN) was shared across EYF and KS1 in your nephews school or was only part time.

I usee to be a student TA in a little villiage school and this was certianly the case the class TA was with Reception till 11, ks1 till 12, finished at 12 30 after lunch, unless they were teaching recorders to year 3 on a wednesday.

When I taught reception I had the class by myself most of the time and one TA shared between me and three other classes. I’m old though and we didn’t have infant class size regulation so one particularly amazing year I had 35 children and no TA!

My sister's is 1 teacher and 2 TAs. About 20 students.

We have two class intake. One teacher, one TA. Not sure what the final number is as they are still part time at the moment and two haven't appeared ( presume chosen other school/ moved) and two unexpected ones have arrived. I think we will have twenty four and other Reception 26. PPA time will be covered by HLTA and TA in each class. We are both qualified Nursery Nurses.

I am sure they would love some voluntary help one day a week or for trips out.

I am a higher level TA and work in a reception class. We are lucky to have 1 teacher 1 Higher level TA and 1 classroom assistant.
It’s exhausting, I don’t know how most schools manage with only 2 staff.
Someone mentioned fundraising, but certainly our school isn’t allowed to use PTA or fundraising money towards staff salaries. I’ve worked for many years in nurseries, and year 1 but nothing is as hard work as reception. You’ve got free play inside and out, as well as teaching them to read and write. You have to follow an increasingly strict curriculum and create learning journals for every child which requires endless observations and photographic evidence.....hard to manage with only two people when you’re also dealing with toilet issues, scraped knees and trouble shooting conflicts 😬🙃....all for very little money....but I love it

Lucky to have a TA! My kids had a teacher !

When DD was in reception there was one teacher and 3 TAs. Normally only two of the tas in class at any one time. About 26 kids.n

The legal limit is 1 teacher with 30 children. Most Reception classes have a TA assigned because of the logistics-it's impossible to change a wet child and teach a class at the same time! But there isn't specific funding for the TA, it has to come out of the school budget. it's just a question of priorities!

Most of those four TAs will be assigned through an EHCP.

Our school in yr rec, 1 and 2 have had a ta and a teacher but they have a very high lvl of Sen including my son.

I agree - normal, but less than ideal.

My DD has just started a mixed eyfs class (nursery and reception). They have 2 teachers and at least 2 TAs for 40 or so children. Seems to work well...

When my Ds was in YR, there were 5 kids, a teacher and a full time TA! This was five years ago, in a tiny rural school.