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.

Name changed and posting now because it is likely to stay up for a few hours.

I'm going to ignore the single poster making up statistics and completely misrepresenting what SEND means.

Most schools are struggling with cuts. It impacts everyone, in a million ways every day. Lack of staff is the biggest one. But it's resources too - cupboards are getting locked and we're being told we can only use certain resources minimally. Furniture can't be replaced. No new electronic devices. A limit on trip and visitor costs. Our schools are going to be less vibrant places, at a time when children need more support, not less.

My kid has a package work 120k a year. Not in a 'normal' school though so all is well.

And gets 2:1. None of it paid by me.

How did you have such insight into your child's classroom? I mean you say your dc are bright but yet they were struggling in state school so...

It's not crazy or unfair that a child with SEN gets additional support, well not for most people.

My children don't have SEN, they are in state school and are thriving there. In future we may send them private as a more 1-1 education benefits everyone and that's what you get in independent school - smaller class sizes as they aren't hugely underfunded and this will allow my children, as it does yours, the opportunity to thrive. You seem to think everyone shares your bigoted opinions and thankfully they don't. I would pick very carefully which independent school to send my children to as I would not send them to one where views like yours are common, which they aren't at many independent schools where the school are happy to support people with a variety of needs.

the system fails way to many children. The system is broken. That isn’t the fault of the children being supported by it. It isn’t the fault of the parents who fight tooth and nail so their child can access the curriculum.

ds is in year 8 at a mainstream secondary. He is academically able but for various, complex, reasons he needs a high level of support. The best option for this to be provided is mainstream school with full time 1-1 and a package I fought hard to get put in place. That package helps level tne playing field so he can almost access things as his peers can.

for him the local specialist schools wouldn’t have been able to meet his needs in the same way.

it’s a shame that some people are jealous of a child being given support to access education.

At the moment, I am working in a deprived primary school. Labels aside, there is no doubt that many school resources/staff are taken up by the effects of poor parenting.

Mine is also in specialist although not as expensive as yours. the demand for specialist is going up massively, and parents are regularly winning at tribunal expensive independent specialist schools as by that time their child’s needs have increased to the point where that is the only school that can meet needs. Early intervention is often talked about but rarely happens. The lack of TA’s in mainstream is false economy for the country as a whole as ends up costing more later on

@mgmnt its more likely the other way round. A frequent criticism/concern relating to LSA use is that they end up teaching the children with additional needs, so the teacher gets on with the rest of the class.

I don’t think it is anything new or particularly controversial to express re both education and healthcare but I will a little controversially also put forward the view that some schools and some hospital trusts and indeed some councils are like some individuals and don’t always manage the money they do have very well.

I really hate this snobby view about poor parenting and deprived areas. Who says poor people are shit parents? How is that acceptable to say?

I completely agree. I have just left a role in a mainstream primary as an LSA which had a high number of children who had ASD, behavioural problems, communication delays etc. I have only been in the role since the start of September but I am split across five classrooms when each class needs their own LSA. The job is incredibly draining - as soon as any progress is made within a lesson with one child, I am whisked off to another classroom, so none of these children are being adequately supported. The pay is abysmal - around 250 a week, working 8.30am to 4.30pm. I have never felt so burnt out from a role which is virtually impossible to do to a high standard when there just isn’t the support staff available.

I am degree educated and have years of experience working with primary age children, SEN children etc so I know I could do the role well if I wasn’t stretched so thin. But the pressures of the job, combined with the poor pay, mean I can’t even bring myself to finish this half term and I am seeking other temporary employment (even coffee shops etc pay better, so I will do something like this in the meantime before a suitable role comes up.)

I was set on becoming a primary teacher and had already applied for the course but I have withdrawn my application now based on my experience.

Support staff do so much and are so undervalued - often with the most challenging children, and frequently left in charge of the classroom when the teachers have PPA, but payscales just don’t reflect this.

1-1 support in mainstream school (which it is generally a battle to get clearly started to be full time there has to be a very clear need for it) is about providing the child with the support needed to help them achieve their potential and to slightly level the playing field.

it isn’t about giving them an advantage over their peers. It’s making sure they can actually access education.

when all children in a class are getting the support they need it works in the benefit of everyone in that class.

it’s strange how mgmnt sees no problem with parents paying to give children a step up with private education but when children who need support are supported that is wrong.

Ignoring all comments by mgmnt. Totally irrelevant, ignorant and ridiculous.

Meanwhile, a pp mentioned that parents in their school were contributing to an SEN fund. Obviously this isn't ideal, nobody wants to be doing that but I totally would for my son.

@Anneofwindypoplars There are shit parents in all areas, just like there are wonderful parents in all areas. Sadly, the impact of that shit parenting is enormous, yet never addressed (assuming it falls below social work intervention levels).

"Meanwhile, the few kids that actually show signs of intelligence get literally nothing. That is not the sign of a healthy society."

I went to school in the 70's in a class of nearly 40. I went to university. My sister is a doctor. She did that without needing 1:1 tuition.

I worked as an LSA years ago and it was awful. So little money for such a hugely challenging role - with no support with behaviour management from the SLT: