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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

One to one teaching at primary level

92 replies

justasking111 · 01/02/2022 13:00

School are unable to get more teaching assistants budget cuts. So they're pushing for more one to one staff to fill the gap. It's causing a bit of a kerfuffle with parents, but is it of benefit to all pupils if this happens??

YANBU it benefits the school no matter how it's achieved

YABU the school shouldn't have to resort to this for extra help

OP posts:
mummyof2boys30 · 01/02/2022 18:10

I wish it was as easy as you make it sound. People worrying about this have clearly never tried to get their child support. 5 years later we have only just been awarded 20 hours 1 to 1 for our child. This was after numerous ed psychologist, paed, speech and ot assessments

lumpofcomfort · 01/02/2022 18:14

I am confused by this. In my primary school in England we can't even really afford 1:1s for the EHCP children we have as the school has to pay part of the cost. The EHCP finding only covers proportion of the cost.

Spikeyball · 01/02/2022 18:23

"YABU the school shouldn't have to resort to this for extra help"

Getting an ehcp for a child is difficult and time consuming and local authorities don't like schools doing it because it costs them money. It is not an easy way to get extra staff.
If a parent is being advised that the school wants to apply for one for their child, they would be foolish to object to this because the school wouldn't be doing this if they didn't think the child needs one.

CristinaYangismySpiritAnimal · 01/02/2022 18:48

I’m sorry, this is utter nonsense. No, a school can’t just say ‘this child needs 1:1 support’ and they magically receive the funding to employ someone. It’s a long, hard process that involves the parents, multiple outside agencies, the school and also costs the school a significant amount of money. They would categorically not claim a child was in need of that support unless they genuinely weren’t. Madness.

Sirzy · 01/02/2022 18:53

I had to threaten to take the local authority to court to get full 1-1 written into his ehcp.

Many areas of the country pretend they aren’t allowed to write it in so they don’t need to provide it.

A child won’t get 1-1 unless really needed

HiJenny35 · 01/02/2022 18:55

This literally isn't true. It's takes so much work and outside involvement to get a child to the point where a 1-2-1 would be considered. No school would be able to "pretend" it was needed to support the class. It doesn't even work like that as the first £6,000 is school funded anyway. No child would be labelled as needing this help if they didn't. However often a child who requires 1-2-1 has their 1-2-1 borrowed to support the rest of the class and it often isn't used as in the child's statement of needs due to the rest of the class needing support which why parents of pupils with additional needs constantly fight an uphill battle.

Headteacher415 · 01/02/2022 19:05

I think the school probably sees it the opposite way round to you.

It is right that schools apply for 1 to 1 provision for those children that need it. Every time they do, they must fund the first £6k themselves, and this ends up coming out of the teaching assistant budget, because legally you need (i) teacher and (ii) 1 to 1 staff in place before you can spend on anything else.

So each time a child is put forward for a 1-to-1, the overall pot for teaching assistants diminishes (and add government cuts on top of that!). The system is rubbish - on a finely balanced budget, if I admit a child needing a 1-to-1 tomorrow, I'll lose the equivalent of 10 hours TA time per week approx. Most probably I'll have to redeploy a classroom TA to the child, as I don't have a spare £6k in the bank to fund the extra.

parrotonmyshoulder · 01/02/2022 19:10

Thank you for your clear explanation, Headteacher415.

HappyDays40 · 01/02/2022 20:09

No it's all kinda of wrong. It's a back door way of getting additional funding but it means that one child's needs are emphasised and embellished. The child then carries the EHCP when they may not need one.
My sons old school started an EHCP and applied for pupil premium despite the fact that he has no additional needs, rhey were trying to make money out of the fact that he is adopted. His new school say he doesn't need any of the help and he is doing fine without it. He was being labelled a challenging child so they could get money.

Sockpile · 01/02/2022 20:14

@HappyDays40 it’s highly usual for a school to apply for an EHCP when not needed - they can be really hard to get when they are needed!
Also many EHCPs don’t come with funding attached and even if they do it doesn’t always cover the provision outlined in section F.

Sockpile · 01/02/2022 20:16

Pupil premium is something entirely different and schools do encourage those that are entitled to let them know so they can get the extra funding.

Original poster
justasking111 · 01/02/2022 20:27

@HappyDays40

No it's all kinda of wrong. It's a back door way of getting additional funding but it means that one child's needs are emphasised and embellished. The child then carries the EHCP when they may not need one. My sons old school started an EHCP and applied for pupil premium despite the fact that he has no additional needs, rhey were trying to make money out of the fact that he is adopted. His new school say he doesn't need any of the help and he is doing fine without it. He was being labelled a challenging child so they could get money.
That's shocking, for all of you. I'd be spitting at that labelling
OP posts:
PurpleDaisies · 01/02/2022 20:30

@HappyDays40

No it's all kinda of wrong. It's a back door way of getting additional funding but it means that one child's needs are emphasised and embellished. The child then carries the EHCP when they may not need one. My sons old school started an EHCP and applied for pupil premium despite the fact that he has no additional needs, rhey were trying to make money out of the fact that he is adopted. His new school say he doesn't need any of the help and he is doing fine without it. He was being labelled a challenging child so they could get money.
All children who are adopted or who are in LA care qualify for pupil premium funding. Also forces children.
1AngelicFruitCake · 01/02/2022 20:32

I’m finding your question quite hard to follow.

Are you asking
‘Why can’t school get funding for classes to have TAs but at the same time have individual children with a 1:1 adult support?’

spanieleyes · 01/02/2022 20:34

@HappyDays40
An EHCP and pupil premium are not linked. The pupil,premium can be used for a wide variety of purposes. We use ours to support those in receipt by funding school trips, including residentials, paying for music lessons, providing uniform, paying for breakfast or after school clubs etc. Children who are LAC or,post LAC receive additional funding, we buy our children a laptop for when they move on to primary etc.

spanieleyes · 01/02/2022 20:34

On FROM primary, not TO primary!

Soontobe60 · 01/02/2022 20:37

@RussianSpy101

How have people never heard of 1-1s?

Children with EHCPS usually have a 1-1.

No they don’t. Some do, some don’t. Some don’t even have funding for adult support. There’s a whole range of support via an EHCP.
Soontobe60 · 01/02/2022 20:39

@justasking111

Another thought do the school need to provide evidence to get a 121 or are they taken at their word??
No evidence required, the Senco just rings up the LA and the money is transferred over. 😩😩😩
NameChangesforNoman · 01/02/2022 20:42

My experience Is the the EHCP process is so woefully slow/ difficult that classroom TAs end up cutting classroom hours in order to also provide 1-1 for the kids who simply can’t function (so subsequently the whole class suffers)

AFS1 · 01/02/2022 20:46

I don’t know the ins and outs of funding, but in answer to your question, a child in my son’s class has 1-2-1 teaching support and it’s been of benefit to the class as a whole. Her priority and focus is absolutely the child she is employed to be with, but she’s been a real figure of continuity and stability for the class. Each year, she’s been a familiar face in the classroom and is such a reassuring presence.

ldontWanna · 01/02/2022 20:57

@HappyDays40

No it's all kinda of wrong. It's a back door way of getting additional funding but it means that one child's needs are emphasised and embellished. The child then carries the EHCP when they may not need one. My sons old school started an EHCP and applied for pupil premium despite the fact that he has no additional needs, rhey were trying to make money out of the fact that he is adopted. His new school say he doesn't need any of the help and he is doing fine without it. He was being labelled a challenging child so they could get money.
Pupil premium has nothing to do with SEN . A lot of children qualify for it, including all LAC or previously LAC . Parents do have to apply for it and provide evidence.

Anyone can apply for an EHCP (including parents themselves) but without evidence and very often a diagnosis , it's extremely unlikely they'd even get one, much less with funding attached. We have a very high rate of children with SEN , only a handful got an EHCP (and it took a lot of work and fighting from the SENCO and parents) and out of those only 2 got funding.

Whatever your school was doing was a waste of time and money.

Eightiesfan · 01/02/2022 21:00

The money for 1:1 should only be used for that. Schools do not randomly have extra money for 1:1 they get it specifically to support children on educational plans. If they are using this money to pay for class TAs then they are taking that support away or drastically reducing it. Not even sure this would be legal, but if I had a SEN child who needed 1:1, I would definitely be speaking to the school to make sure my child’s extra funding was being used for my child and not being redirected.

ForPingsSake · 01/02/2022 21:02

I worked as a 1:1 for years. Whichever class I was in was not allocated a TA. I was expected to support the whole class even though my 1:1 had very high needs! I think it happens far more than people realise.

cakewench · 01/02/2022 21:26

Just to address the original question: yes, if there’s a child who qualifies for a 1:1, it can benefit the entire class by virtue of having that child’s needs being met, therefore freeing the teacher to be able to teach the rest of the class.

So while you might not think it’s a benefit, because that 1:1 is not actively teaching your child, that isn’t the whole story.

PurpleDaisies · 01/02/2022 21:29

Just to address the original question: yes, if there’s a child who qualifies for a 1:1, it can benefit the entire class by virtue of having that child’s needs being met, therefore freeing the teacher to be able to teach the rest of the class.

The teacher should still be teaching the child with the 1:1. So many times I’ve seen the children with the greatest, most complicated needs being totally forgotten about and effectively exclusively taught by TAs, often in corridors.