To think that school budgets are going to fail our children

[BakeOffDisasters]

I'm coming from this as a teacher and parent and I'm so worried about how things are going in some schools due to tightening budgets.

I'm facing a day without an LSA in a year 1 class of 30 today with a lot of challenging needs. Across our ks1, three support staff have now been signed off and there aren't enough LSAs in the school to cover. So that will be one LSA for four classes today. This will mean that children with the highest needs will miss out on the support they so desperately need for behaviour, emotional issues and academic needs. Supply agencies are too expensive for some schools so it turns into a skeleton staff.

My son has SEN and I'm currently in the process of looking for a school for him. From questioning management across schools, the message seems uniform that with the cost of living, budgets are tightening and this has a knock on effect to staffing, specifically support staff. All teaching and support staff are the most valuable resource to children in schools, without them, children will suffer.

I feel so disillusioned with it all right now.

My secondary school has had almost no SEN support for the last 3 years. Classes of 30 at the lower ability end which are essentially unteachable.

Like PP, when someone is off we combine groups of 60+ per teacher. I've had 40+ in a normal classroom when we've just split one class between 3 teachers.

I’ve completed my teacher training just in case my children need me to teach them maths and science in the school holidays. They are all currently at independent school and they’ve come on leaps and bounds, but I can’t afford to keep them there for secondary school.

if it gets so bad we’ll home educate them.

I'm a Headteacher and recently inherited a horrendous deficit budget. Pay rises and utilities have finished it off. This year in going to have to re-structure, which will losing almost all of our TA's. The governors have no clue of the value the TA's add to our school and feel anything more than statutory EHCP support is a bonus.
Children are going to be failed and there is NO-ONE in charge in government!!
Very tough times.

Ignore terrible typing, sorry!

Yep any surplus reserves schools had will go over next 2 years- then the pay rises (deserved but not funded!) will lead to redundancies in support staff because the same amount of money is expected to be stretched further and alongside spiralling energy and supply costs it’s the only way to make required savings. Very depressing and greatest impact on pupils especially well-being support

This sounds so different from the experience at the school we use or are they just good at hiding it? It's a small infant school. We have a TA in each classroom, reception has two. We have an external person who comes into give forest school lessons. There's been no issue recruiting TAs either (for example when one goes on maternity leave). Is this different from the norm or are we just oblivious to the challenges?

Disgusting.

Children with SEN are not "dumb." They need additional support for a whole host of reasons.

A teacher can teach most groups of 30 children effectively, including stretching the children who need it and scaffolding those who are struggling with a concept. This is because most children can be motivated to learn and can learn independently through carefully planned tasks. An extra adult in these classrooms has been shown to have minimal impact on progress.

However, some children need additional support due to SEN and can't be motivated or learn independently. Perhaps they need help to regulate their sensory needs. Perhaps they need indivisualised work. Or perhaps they need support to manage a complex medical condition. This is why other adults are needed in some classrooms.

I sincerely hope that you raise your children to be kinder than you.

Obviously my post was responding to @mgmnt

Have I read your post correctly? Are you really suggesting that if a child has an SEN they aren't clever? Are you living in the 1950s? That is so untrue, shows such a lack of understanding of SEN and is quite frankly hugely offensive.

your post shows your complete lack of understanding of Sen. Yes of course there are kids that having learning needs but lots of high needs kids, particularly If they have asd can be working at much higher levels than age expected. When my son was in ms in had a full time 1-1 ta but it wasn’t for learning it was to assist with his emotional and sensory needs so that he didn’t become overwhelmed within the classroom, academic wise he was scoring highest in the class on tests. He’s now left mainstream and is in an asd school which is specifically for asd children of mainstream academic ability that can’t manage in mainstream.

What a treat you are. It’s quite possible for a child to be ‘high needs’, and also extremely ‘smart’. They may need other adjustments to open the world of learning to them and make education accessible. A child who struggles with certain aspects is not ‘dumb’, their mind is wired differently. You clearly have no clue. Even if a child is not academically inclined, this doesn’t define their ‘worth’ as a person. A ‘smart’ child has the capacity to learn in any environment t and certainly at primary level - they can read, the world of education is open - I didn’t need a teacher to get me through school at primary or secondary.
Private school or not - your own kids will have a challenge to overcome the petty, bigoted, divisionist and frankly attitudes you are purporting here. You clearly aren’t all that ‘smart’ yourself. I hope someone else comes along who hasn’t been up all night and therefore is more articulate than me and can address your horrific post more effectively.

Yes the lack of funding is scary. To compound the problem I know that some schools in London are also suffering from falling pupil numbers.

Our school actually opened up a SEN fund & lots of parents have donated. Maybe that's the way forward for some. I know it's not equal & shouldn't have to be the case but I would pay an annual fee.

"thank fuck my kids aren't in a state school"

I know of kids with EHCPs who are in private ' mainstream' schools and the LA pays their all their fees. I bet you don't like that much do you.

That was to mgmnt · Today 06:25
and it should have read ‘frankly ignorant’. Honestly I’m so upset and troubled by your post, it is horrifying. I could cry that these attitudes are still so prevalent.

Thank you for starting this thread. I am an infant teacher too and I feel exactly the same re the chronic lack of funding and the detrimental impact on the children. We all work as hard as we can but are spread too thinly to be anything more than mediocre at times. All TA support goes on 1-2-1 and the other children get virtually nothing. There’s no one around to do first aid/support with toileting accidents/a child who has thrown up, a child who is upset etc never mind readers or small group support. I am looking to leave teaching asap as are several of my colleagues.

90% of cases - I would love to know where your stats come from.

You do realise you are paying for the smaller classes (I.e. closer to 1-1 education) at the private school you are using which allows children to thrive in independent school? And dare I say it, there will be children with SEN there as well, who will likely do just as well, if not better than your own children

They've already failed our children.

SNP have ruined Education in Scotland.

Gosh, I'm so angry by mgmnt's ignorant post. Absolutely shocking that someone thinks like this in 2022, let alone feels comfortable sharing such bigoted and uneducated opinions In public.

Is that fair? Is it "kind" that the smart kids get literally zero attention while dumb kids like the ones you mention get to take up 90% of the classroom resources they apparently deserve?

l know I shouldn't feed the troll but having SEN doesn't mean you are dumb, I mean you don't seem to have SEN but...

fortunately I suspect that poster's kids are imaginary ones.

It's awful. I'm an ex teacher and I'm parent of two school age- 1 has sen. He no longer gets the support needed. He is suppose to have OT/physio daily, this hasn't been done since previous school year. The school have just said no staff to do it.