primary school reception class and SEND support

[user1468863258]

I appologies in advance if I offend anyone as this is not my intent. I merely am trying to educate myself on childens rights and parents expectations in the primary school.
To summarise my question: my dc started primary school and it looks like we have 2 kids with special needs in the class. Of course, I don't have much information about their diagnosis but gathering from what my dc and other kids in the class are saying the 2 kids are getting continuous support throughout the day from TAs while the teacher is left to tend to the rest of the class. I am not familiar with UK primary school system and not entire sure if this is expected/acceptable arrangement. I would expect to have a designated person to help provide any additional support a child needs? Am I being too naive to expect that?
From the little research I have done on this topic it seems that there is a law that requires schools to provide support and physical adjustments as necessary so that your (SEND) child can participate fully in the school. It looks like in the case of my school this support is given at the cost of the rest of the class loosing their two TAs.
Is this soemething we should bring up with the school? Is it common to have no additiona support in the beginning of reception while the kids get adjusted/settled? Any other advise i could get on this topic I would really appreciate.

TAs are supplied to help those with the most difficulties, assuming they’ve had a diagnosis and proven they need the support. The class aren’t automatically give a spare TA to help the rest of the class. Although they do a lot of group work in reception and a good TA will help the others.

Not sure why your asking?

2 TAs in one class is very unusual for a state school - is is possible that one (or 50% of each) is a designated TA for one of the kids with extra needs?
but yes, special needs support is generally diabolic (not the schools fault, but budgets are nonexistent)

A class doesn’t have to have a TA at all, so the two TAs in the room don’t belong automatically to the majority of the class.

There wouldn't be 2 TAs in the class. So 1 of the TAs will be there to help these children, however until there is a statement of special educational needs, which can take some time then the other TA will be there to support. If there children are disrupting the class then it is a good thing that the TAs are taking both these children on a one to one basis and letting the teacher teach the rest if the class. As they are reception there is only a certain amount of learning. Also with coronavirus now an issues SEN TAs usually work with certain children in different classes so mixing from class to class. This is not allowed at the moment as schools are working in bubbles so no mixing staff etc. That will be another reason both TAs have had to step up x

YABU. How do you even know they are class TAs and not people employed as one to one TAs?

If there are 2 TA’s in the class then that’s what they’ve been redeployed to do.

It’s massively unusual to have 2 TA’s in a primary class and there is no requirement to have any.

As everyone else says, the class isn't entitled to a TA. Not every class has one. Those TAs might be assigned to those two children - if they have statemented SEN. Either way it really isn't your business how the teacher has decided to make best use of those TAs.

They might be specifically employed as 1 to 1 SEN TAs.

So your worry is that the rest of the class don't have a TA? They aren't compulsory. Massive budget cuts over last decade means schools can't afford them.

Honestly you should thank your lucky stars that this is your problem. Most teachers are well able to manage a class by themselves and TA s are a bonus. The fact that you resent the kids with SN getting the TA attention reflects incredibly poorly on you but absolutely raise it with the school so they can think equally poorly of you.

The ratio of children to adults in a school class is 1 teacher to 30 children.
Class TAs are a bonus.
Most TAs now are employed specifically with funding earmarked for SEN children.

Your child isn't losing any adult time for having children with SEN in the class. If anything they are gaining extra adults who probably wouldn't be there otherwise - even if most of their attention is on the children with SEN, they will probably still be doing things with other children too.

YABVU - what support the SEND students get in you DC's class is none of your business

As other's have said it is likely these are the pupil's 1:1's rather than class TA's. Having said that my 2 benefitted greatly from a floating teaching assistant whilst we were waiting for diagnosis and support to be put in place and monopolised a great deal of her time at one stage. The advantage to the rest of the class was that if she was supporting them they were not disrupting the learning of the rest of the class. Her role though was to help children with emotional and behavioural difficulties and they moved her about as needed rather than a general class TA supporting learning..

Sometimes the additional funding provided by the LA because a child has SEN will enable a TA to be appointed. As others have said not all classes will have TAs.

DDs class last year had two TAs one specifically to help one child and the other did one to one with DD on occasions but also helped other children if needed.

It would be very unusual for a Reception class with no children who had SEN to have 2 TAs.

It does seem like at least one of the TAs is additional but it would be a shame if the others didn’t benefit from the other TA at all. In my daughter’s reception class, they seem to do a lot of small group work with the teacher while the TA supervises and I know mine has spent a lot of time reading with her TA.

Tbh since you don’t know if these kids have ehcps you don’t really know if they are class TAs or not. If they aren’t then they break the law if they use the 1 to 1 for the class.
Even if one is a class one then sometimes it’s more effective to place them by one child as otherwise it’s possible they could disrupt the whole class.
Tbh this early in reception it’s best to watch and wait and keep your mouth shut if you don’t know specifics

I work as a TA in a primary school and have worked in Reception. I was there to support a particular, named, child who had an EHCP, and the funding for my position came from that child's EHCP provision.

There was also a second TA who was supporting a different child with an EHCP - again, the funding for that TA came from that child's EHCP provision.

My colleague and I did provide support to the rest of the class, as needed, if we were able without it affecting our 1-to-1s, but if there were no SEN children with EHCP and associated funding, there would be no TAs.

Btw also the reasonable adjustments law in schools is so flimsy it’s useless. Getting any help from a council can by nigh on impossible.

My daughter has a EHCP and has had it since Reception. She has a 1.1 TA who is with her all the time, but I am sure helps other children when needed.

My DD is in reception, is profoundly deaf and has an EHCP, with 25 hours of 1:1 TA written in to it. So the school get money from the local authority to fund my daughters TA. I know DDs TA also helps with the rest of the class when needed, but her main “job” is to support DD. It was well worth the blood, sweat, tears, and year+ long battle to get it, as my DD is absolutely flying, loving school, and is doing amazingly!

Well, there’s no straightforward answer to this.
When I was training, there was a child in the class (Reception) whose needs were so high that it basically took me (or the teacher) and the TA to get him to not trash the classroom, scream constantly or attack other children whilst on the carpet. That meant no other children really had extra support. Ideal? No. Necessary? When I left he had been approved for level 1 funding and had a designated 1:1 for some of the time but even that wasn’t enough.
You don’t have to have a TA, even in EYFS. I’m also not sure how you know what the TAs are doing all day, and whether they definitely aren’t helping other children at all at any point.
These children could have EHCPs which entitles them to however much provision has been agreed. Schools have to provide this.

Basically, your child’s class does not have to have a TA and it may be that they wouldn’t have do e anyway had it not been for these children. I wouldn’t assume that the SEN children are taking anything away from your child.

I’ll also say that every 1:1 TA I have worked with, both as a TA and a teacher, also helps other children when they need it. When I was a 1:1 TA for a few hours in the day I helped the others when needed.

You have no idea how those TA's are funded or who they're there to support op. You risk making yourself look stupid if you raise things you have made up in your own head with the school.

Sometimes children start Reception and only then are the school aware of their additional needs. As others have said a class TA is a luxury these days and most TAs are now being made 1:1 support. In the school where I work there is usually a teacher and TA in Reception classes but more often than not the TA is assigned to supporting a child awaiting assessment or simply requiring more support to adjust to a school environment.

At our primary the TAs are in the classroom to provide support for designated children. Anything more than that is a bonus.