AIBU to have told DS he can ignore teacher on this one?

[OverExpectantParent]

DS is Yr6, has SN and a 1:1TA 6 lessons a week.
After reluctance to go to school, he finally said why. Yr3 teacher is ill and his TA is covering for her. He has been told he will have to go into the Yr3 classroom for his maths lesson today.

I told him he didn't have to, he could ask to do his work in the corridor or stay in his classroom. That I will back him on refusing to go into the Yr 3 classroom, but he must do his work. He's worried the Yr 3's will laugh at him and ask why he's there 🙁
AIBU to have told him that?

And being totally cynical, moving a TA is a lot cheaper than getting an on the day supply.

The child knew about it the day before so it’s a pretty safe bet the school did too!

Why assume that there is no-one else to spare? The school knew about the Y3 class teacher's absence at least the previous day, after all. It seems pretty incompetent not to have more reliable arrangements for staff cover in place. To ask your own question, what would they have done if the TA hadn't been available? Perhaps they could have gone for that option instead of breaking the law?

If the OP's son can do without his TA, why does he have to go to Year 3?

As a teacher- my first thought was logistics . No way would we let a child with SEN who usually has a 1:1 to be left alone to do their work in a corridor .
So , ring the school. Don’t tell your child to sit outside the class!

It wasn't an emergency staffing situation. They knew about this at least the day before. A school that cannot deal with staff absence at several hours' notice without breaking the law is a badly run school.

He doesn’t need to. He can stay in the year 6 class where he is often unsupported. It’s only six hours a week where he has a 1:1.

What difference does that make? If the TA is supporting the student, she's not giving OP's son the 1:1 support he is supposed to have.

The school knew yesterday.

What was stopping the school messaging the parent to advise them of "one off" changes and to confirm time would be made up. No nasty surprises, an opportunity to iron out any concerns and reassure that EHCP obligations will be met.

I suspect they hoped Op's child wouldn't mention it to family.

I’ve voted YABU not because you’re wrong to think that he shouldn’t go into the Y3. Lass, but because you shouldn’t put the onus on him to deal with the issue.
you should phone the school, speak to his teacher and tell them that your DS is not to be sent to another class for any lessons!
Im a SENCo, and feel absolutely passionately that children should not be sent to lower classes just because their learning may be at a lower level.

But she isn't "just there" in that situation. She's keeping an eye on the class, ready to intervene if the student is losing control or a particular pupil or group of pupils needs discipline or help, or just to be kept on task. She may well be expected to report back on the student's competence. She absolutely cannot give her undivided attention to the pupil with SEN she is supposed to be supporting.

You are your son’s advocate here- you’re the one who’s meant to talk to the staff about this. Telling him to ignore instructions and potentially get told off isn’t fair on him.

She hadn't had to disappear at short notice. They knew at least the day before.

And even if she had, it's not an either/or, is it? Why couldn't they go for other possibilities, like condensing classes, getting supply teachers, using a TA who isn't a 1:1 support, the Head or Deputy taking over, etc? If the school hasn't planned properly for this rather familiar eventuality, it's not OP's son's problem.

No, it wasn't. As I keep pointing out, they knew about it at least the day before and the only plan they had was to use OP's son's TA. No need for any "instant summoning", just a need for the school to have proper cover arrangements in place and use them instead of breaking the law.

As has been pointed out, it's never a one-off. Parents of children with SEN will tell you this happens over and over again. So yes, action might well be taken against the head and governors, as well as the LA,if that is the case here.

When a child requires a TA and a TA is not available it is not uncommon for that child to be told to stay home. That is also the reason why some children are put on part time timetables. Those thinking it would be unacceptable to send the yr 3 class home need to think about that one. It happens to children with sen all the time.

We were on the brink of sending whole year groups home 6 months before covid. Due to not enough staff to keep the school open.

It wouldn’t surprise me if those posters condone the illegal exclusion of pupils with SEN either.

They would probably just call it 'collateral damage' 🙄

I see people coming out with the whole 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one'. I disagree, i think society should be judged on how we treat our most vulnerable members and saying it doesnt really matter if a small child is made to feel humiliated is at school when there are other options is not a good way to treat a vulnerable member of society

Yes. Different year groups. The TAs attached to the children on a 1-1 basis wouldn't be there without them. They didn't include them in their plans.

And in reality removing many 1-1 children's TA in this scenario may have stopped a year 3 class going home but left the other child's class without any form of learning when that child then needs the class teacher 1-1 instead.

My DD has had her 1-1 provided by the SENCO and deputt head at different points when it is her 1-1 off.

You have potentially caused an incident. You absolutely should have spoken to the school about the issue first. What you should have done is told your dc that you would contact the teacher as soon as you could but for now he would need to follow instructions.

You are your son’s advocate here- you’re the one who’s meant to talk to the staff about this. Telling him to ignore instructions and potentially get told off isn’t fair on him.
Point taken.

Usually if his TA is away or ill he just stays in his classroom.

She was the only teacher in class. He had to go into the Year 3 class. He was given a test to do and the younger children kept coming over to him to ask what he was doing. There is really no reason why he could not have done it in his own class or they could have postponed the test (he's doing different work to the others anyway). She said in her email that it was an emergency one off. Another mum has suggested it was getting back at DS for complaining to the head and board about another matter concerning DS. Worried now.

That's really humiliating for him. Poor kid.

Another mum has suggested it was getting back at DS for complaining to the head and board about another matter concerning DS. Worried now.
What other Mum?
Are you seriously suggesting that the school are waging a vendetta against your son to punish him?

Yabu to have told your ds - but I'd have done the same

The school absolutely are in the wrong.

If she is his 1:1 via ehcp then she's his 1:1.

If she's teaching the year 3 class then she isn't providing his support but it doesn't matter which class he's in.

You were unreasonable and I think you know that - I agree your DS should have stayed in the year 6 classroom to do his test but you should have made sure of that. The school will then just have to catch up his 1:1 another time.
It sounds like the fault here is the year 6 class teacher who obviously told the TA to make sure she had him. They are obviously exploiting the TA here too expecting her to teach year 3 and look after the DS, set him his maths - and probably all on minimum wage too.
BUT to all the posters complaining about the TA being used for cover, this is almost certainly their only option. They can't take a TA who is fulltime 1:1 with a child with medical or severe behavioural needs because it isn't safe for them not to have that 1:1. The OPs DS just gets 6 hours a week so they legally can, as long as they make it up.
Lots of pps saying well run schools have cover arrangements. Not any more they don't. There are NO supply teachers. It doesn't matter how well run the school is, or whether they give half an hour's notice or 2 days - there just aren't the staff anymore, supply agencies are telling us they have no one. They can't be magicked. This is the reality of education now.