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.

Have to add that my experience in a primary school supports this viewpoint (minus the dumb label, which I’d switch for ‘lower ability’). The brighter children just aren’t challenged, because the teacher has to take the lessons at a far slower pace to accommodate the children who are quite behind - when those children actually need one to one support throughout the class times through support staff which are rarely available. It is quite frustrating to see children who had enormous potential to do very well academically do the required tasks within the class and usually not be given additional material as the teachers attention was taken up with the more challenging and lower ability children who need a lot of encouragement and attention. Lessons are frequently interrupted by children with behavioural issues, who also require one to one support, which eats into lesson time and is very distracting for the entire class.

@BakeOffDisasters yes definitely not ideal but what other option is there really.

In my dcs school they definitely stretch the more able ones. There's always an additional challenge.

The difference here though is you seem to think your children deserve better than children who have a diagnosed SEN which is not true. The fact your children weren't getting 1-1 tuition in state school or smaller classes isn't because of children with SEN. It's because of chronic underfunding.

You also continue to make sweeping generalisations about those with SEN. My husband was dyslexic. His state school (many moons ago) could not teach him to read or write. His parents had resources to pay for a private education so they did and he was able to reach his potential. He achieved great GCSEs and A levels, followed by a very academic degree from a Russell Group uni. He now has his own business employing 50+ people. He contributes plenty to society and is one of the top employers in our small town. So implying those with SEN are by default are dumb, just simply isn't true and blaming those with SEN for the failings of your child's state educational experience also isn't true.

In our school learning is differentiated. I wouldn't say it works perfectly but it is vastly better than everyone learning the same.

The problem comes once you start deciding that some kids "deserve" more than others.

Most people don't think like that, it's beneficial for society for all children to access an education. Same for having a NHS or do you think some people don't deserve to have more healthcare support?

This is obviously not got for society (we should really be pushing the kids who are actually likely to be great doctors, scientist, artists, etc)

You are talking out of your arse though as plenty of doctors, scientists, artists have SEN.

You continue to be hugely offensive and don't seem to be open to reasoned debate so I'm going to give up tbh.

I don’t think mgmnt has expressed it brilliantly and people are leaping on the use of the word dumb etc but I do think they and icelatte have a point here - all children do deserve equal treatment but I for one am sick of my children having to sit in a class of 30 plus, learning very little or being left to get on with it whilst the teacher is stuck focussing on the less able or worse the behaviourally challenged or whatever we are to call them. My 2 quiet, hard working DD’s are constantly used to sit by the behaviourally challenged children as are the others like them. I don’t blame the school or the teachers - they are chronically underfunded and the policy of having most children attend mainstream school (with no provision for them to be in a more suitable setting) and more and more behavioural issues to deal with, I am not surprised teachers are leaving in droves. It is a massive failure if all of our children.

A person who talks about window lickers knows nothing about morals.

But not every child with SEN has complex needs & not every child is a dummy. Why are you being so offensive?

One of my oldest family friends is a consultant at a top London hospital. He has dyslexia & no one even knew what it was when he was at school. It does not mean you're stupid at all.

Of course those with SEN should get extra support but I do agree that more able children often don't get challenged enough and are unable to reach their potential.
I have one very bright dc who doesn't enjoy school. She's bored and gets annoyed that she's constantly asked to help other kids when she finishes her work.
The teacher says that if she can explain the work to others then that's part of the exceeding category. Ok, fair enough but it shouldn't happen all the time.

I don't think anyone should sit back and rely on the school if they want their dc to achieve. I can't afford private school but my dcs have access to books, extra work, tutors. And before anyone exclaims in horror, they have plenty of time for fun, arts, sports, socialising, days out and screens.
It all adds to their development and helps them reach their potential in all areas.

And the children who are badly behaved may also have safeguarding needs so of course it means taking up additional resources. It doesn't mean they are stupid or should be ignored.

But that is why it is important that children are given the support they need.

before DS had 1-1 he could be disruptive in class (at times very disruptive) as a result of unmet needs. Now he has 1-1 who know him and his issues he is adequately supported in school so he doesn’t disrupt the learning of others. Him having 1-1 helps everyone in the class.

unless your like other posters who would rather have an out of sight out of mind approach for children who don’t meet the “perfect child” idea!

Anyone who feels their dc aren't getting stretched should speak to teacher/headteacher.

@OnBoardTheHeartOfGold if they are very bright you could look for a bursary at a private school?

I don’t think mgmnt has expressed it brilliantly

you think?! 😆

@mgmnt Great way to derail a thread. What are your thoughts on visually-impaired and hearing-impaired having 1:1 support (which often they don't even get, because for a few random hours of the week they are magically expected to manage)? Are those children dumb? And do you not see that if nothing else, having a child who is struggling allows the teacher to spend time with high ability children. How much are those same children going to learn if a distressed child is tearing up the classroom because they have no support?

Going back to the original question our kids school seem to manage well. They have a teacher plus TA for each reception class, 3
teachers and 2 TAs across Y1/2 and same across Y3/4. They also have trainees in every year and they have a PE apprentice, someone who comes in to do dance lessons, subsidise a local company to run after school sports sessions (£15/term for parents for a 1.5 hour slot one night a week). They get local artists in to do workshops with the kids, have a theatre company in to do a panto, a Santa visit and do beach school and loads of trips which they support for families who are struggling via the pupil premium. Interestingly most of our local schools are in a learning trust and seem to pool resources. None are academies. It appears to work well in helping them manage with the budget. There is also significant fundraising going on and the pta do summer/Christmas fairs, party nights etc that are well attended. Money raised is used for classroom materials, extra activities, new equipment etc. Hoping there is some way they can stay a local authority learning trust and don’t have to be merged into one of the existing academies.

mgmnt I feel sorry for your daughter for having a parent who talks in the way you do. One day she may have a child who needs extra support and you will describe her child as being a dummy etc. If you were my mother I would disown you.

Super - that’s great that your child does. Most who need it don’t which impacts the whole class and I think it’s fine for us all to be frustrated by that. Schools need better funding and teachers themselves cannot manage classes with such varied needs with the funding that they have. Part of the point of this thread and why teachers are leaving in droves - no? No one said out of sight out of mind - you’ve gone there to dramatise my post but I do think it should be ok to say that some children should be in a better supported setting that mainstream school for the good of all children. Children with no obvious additional needs also have a right to a good education.