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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Support in school

36 replies

NeedAdvice12345 · 24/12/2018 08:45

My dd6 has asd, adhd and stress. She was giving a school one to one support assistant at the start of the school year. We have been informed that this will be changing again next term. This will be her 5th support assistant this school year. Is this the usual as my dd can’t deal with change and this just seems excessive. I have approached the school to say I am unhappy about all the change but they have said as long as she has 1-2-1 that’s the only requirement they need to meet.
Does anyone have any advice as I don’t want to upset my dd anymore and haven’t told her it’s changing after Xmas.

OP posts:
Jackshouse · 24/12/2018 08:47

It’s a incredible low paid job as it will be school hours and term time only. I suspect they are using supply teaching assistants.

You might be better posting on the SEN board for advice.

DeepanKrispanEven · 24/12/2018 08:50

Does she have an EHCP? If so, you need it to specify that the 1:1 should be dedicated to her and should be consistent. If necessary, call for an early review with a view to getting this written in and consider taking it to tribunal.

If she doesn't have an EHCP, apply for one now.

Original poster
NeedAdvice12345 · 24/12/2018 08:52

Yes she has an EHCP but it only says 1-2-1 doesn’t say it can’t be changed. Will look at getting that done in the new year. The school has a new headteacher and she says she doesn’t want the children getting attached to the staff that is why she is changing it so often, but this doesn’t work for my dd.

OP posts:
peppaminttea · 24/12/2018 08:58

Definitely get it written into the EHCP. My son (ASD) has it written into his EHCP that he has the same 121 everyday, throughout the day, except for illness or the person leaving employment at the school (or words to that effect). This came about through tribunal.

JennyBlueWren · 24/12/2018 09:18

Why is the 1-2-1 being changed? Has the staff member left? If so it can't be helped. Have they asked to work with other children? Sometimes only working with one child all the time can be very intensive and stressful. Are your child's needs physical and the 1-2-1 might be pregnant or medically unfit to support?

I'm surprised that they always have the same adult. In our school full time 1-2-1 support will involve a rotation of 3 assistants to relieve the intensity, provide consistency in case of absence, cover staff breaks and to help child develop wider relationships.

GreenTulips · 24/12/2018 09:21

Some kids also start treating the staff as personal assistants and can get upset if they help other children

She needs a rotation - school have other children and someone staff maybe better suited than others

FamilyOfAliens · 24/12/2018 09:21

We often have to move our LSAs around to meet the needs of all the children in the school.

It would be lovely for a child to have the same person, but it’s just not always possible.

And I found when I was an LSA that I needed a change from time to time too.

Original poster
NeedAdvice12345 · 24/12/2018 09:27

Thanks everyone if that’s the norm then that’s okay. It’s just that 5 in 4 months seems excessive. Dd struggles with change and doesn’t easily settle with people she doesn’t know. Last year she had the same support the whole year and it worked great. This year she has constantly had change and hasn’t settled in school.

OP posts:
Amanduh · 24/12/2018 09:46

Has been the same in most schools i’ve worked in. Noone wants the job full time, none of the agency staff last, schools have no choice.

santakiss · 24/12/2018 10:44

I work in LA SEN team. We would never write into EHCP that the 1:1 cannot be changed. Staff changes happen all the time.

Original poster
NeedAdvice12345 · 24/12/2018 14:15

The staff that she has had at her permanent members of the staff. The headteacher doesn’t want the children to get to attached to one member of staff. I know the support assistant she had for the 3 weeks before Christmas is sad to be moving from dd as the two of them were starting to bond. I will speak to LEA in the new year and see if we can update the EHCP to try and have some consistency.

OP posts:
Soontobe60 · 24/12/2018 14:21

My LA wouldn't write this into an EHCP. It's detrimental to a child's to have the same person supporting them day in day out. When they get to secondary school, they may well have different staff in each lesson, never mind in one day or week. Your DD may well find this change difficult, but that's actually a really good reason to expose her to it. She can be supported by other regulatbadults, i.e. Class teacher, Senco etc in getting used to over support staff.

Soontobe60 · 24/12/2018 14:23

Other, not over!

MinisterforCheekyFuckery · 24/12/2018 14:33

I work in a secondary school. We had a student who was supported on a 1:1 for the whole school day (including social times) and always had the same TA with her until, unfortunately, her TA was in a car accident and had to go off on long term sick leave very suddenly. The poor girl was distraught. Her behaviour deteriorated significantly as a result and impacted on other students. We learned our lesson and now all students requiring a 1:1 will work with a number of staff members to prevent them becoming too dependent on one individual. This also benefits the staff as it can be very draining working with the same child all day everyday, no matter how lovely they are.

FamilyOfAliens · 24/12/2018 14:34

I’m not sure the LEA will be able to write anything into the EHCP to guarantee consistency.

As op have said, the job is poorly paid, with no possibility of career progression unless you want to be an HLTA (ie teach) or train to be an actual teacher. People often leave as their own children get older and they don’t need the school holidays any more. Or they leave to do something less stressful.

I’m not sure how you get round that.

Sockwomble · 24/12/2018 14:45

Having 2 or 3 different support staff on a regular basis is more usual than having one for 3 or 4 weeks then changing to another one ( difficulties with recruiting staff aside).
You can ask for consistency of staffing to be written into the Ehcp. It is written into my son's.

Noodledoodledoo · 24/12/2018 14:49

Why not propose to the head that having 3/4 TA's who work with her regularly may help her settle. Obviously the head is not keen on the same 1-2-1, but this might be a suitable option. Your daughter will get used to them all so not disruptive to her.

DobbinsVeil · 24/12/2018 14:53

I know you're not happy with the arrangements, but how is your DD coping? The crux really is, are the school meeting her needs as set out in the EHCP.

DobbinsVeil · 24/12/2018 14:56

Whoops posted to soon.

If the frequent changes are causing her increased anxiety, I'd put that in writing. If it escalated to the point she was unable to engage in the school day/attend school I'd try the Head once more before approaching the LA about an emergency review

posthistoricmonsters · 24/12/2018 14:58

I used to work for an Aspergers Resource Base within a secondary school.

We would be rota'd in to be with particular children for particular lessons.

I mostly worked with one or two students but would have the odd lesson per week with another student. So it mixed it up a bit as not every lesson was with the same TA for the kids.

We also had to look at the needs and the behaviours of different pupils and try to match the staff to them in some circumstances.

It seemed to work.

I'm not familiar with how it works before secondary. But if two or three staff members could be put on rotation, consistently, it would begin to work out for the children in most cases. It can be very detrimental to work with one person only.

But it's also hard to say what's best here, because kids are all different.

Original poster
NeedAdvice12345 · 24/12/2018 15:08

I wouldn’t mind if it was the same staff on rota but it isn’t. Dd isn’t coping at all she is pulling her hair out, having regular meltdowns and hasn’t been in class at all since October. That is why having a support assistant she has a good relationship with is so important as she spends her whole school day with them.
She really struggles with trust she was adopted by us at 3 but before that had 6 different families. I just feel since September she has deteriorated so much. She has her first CAMHS appointment in January so hoping that they can help.

OP posts:
ManicUnicorn · 24/12/2018 15:22

It's very poorly paid, non permenant job and in my experience there is usually a high turnover of 1:1's fir that reason. They aren't supposed to use supply 1:1's because their turnover is usually even higher, what is supposed to happen is that an LSA from another part of the school is brought in to cover until a replacement is found.

Sockwomble · 24/12/2018 15:31

The school doesn't sound supportive generally and if I was in your shoes I wouldn't be happy either. I would arrange a meeting with the school about the concerns you have ( I would also include your dd never being in the classroom as that shouldn't be happening long term) and if you get no joy pursue it more formally through a ehcp review.

Original poster
NeedAdvice12345 · 24/12/2018 15:32

It definitely isn’t staff turnover as none of the support staff have left this year. It’s just the new headteacher doesn’t want staff and children getting attached, which i do understand.

OP posts:
BoneyBackJefferson · 24/12/2018 15:33

1:1 is high stress and high burn out. Especially if its the same 1:1 all the time.