Inclusion policies are not working

[somewherbetweenHoneyandTrunchbull]

I am an experienced teacher. And every year budgets are being cut and more and more children are being chucked into mainstream. Non-verbal, extremely sensitive to noisy kids being put into an overcrowded open plan mainstream school. Some have a little speech but couldn't hold a conversation. Many not toilet trained. Many cannot control their emotions and anger. Some where English isn't a first language. Many with social work involvement and living through ongoing trauma at home.
Meanwhile support staff numbers are being cut, year on year.
I had been managing just about. Spinning many plates. Constantly juggling. But then they enrol another two kids with complex needs into my class on 28 individuals. I just can't do it any more. This week I've been bitten, scratched, hit so hard I thought they had cracked a rib. Violent incident forms all filled in but reality means not much will change as I can't get more that 2 20 minute slots of teaching assistant time each week.
I love my job. I love the kids. I love those lightbulb moments. But at the moment I can't do my job of teaching children. I can barely keep them and myself safe in my class. I try. I'm exhausted. I'm worn out working day and night so that I'm super organised so everything can go smoothly but it never does. If it was just one child having a meltdown I probably coolyld cope. I just do t know which firework will go off when. I don't know what is setting them off and once they go, others follow.
I cry most days at how hopeless it feels. I have some really bright and eager children too. They are also being let down by this system. I'm not sure who the current education policies help. It doesn't seem to help anyone except desensitising children to daily bouts of violence and the language.
I'm very broken tonight. I'm so sleepy but won't help x

And you've been told loads of times that if they refuse to send their child they don't then get the support they need to move to an unsuitable environment.

No one for one minute suggests what is happening in schools is ok.

But what's happening is a result of a system that forces parents to send their child into school knowing it's no good for anyone so the child can eventually get a suitable placement.

It's the crap system that's forcing this. I don't know any parent of a child with send who thinks people should just put up with their child hurting them.

(I do know there are parents who say but they have send and it's the schools problem but they aren't the norm and an extreme exception)

It does need to be exposed for sure. But what also needs to be exposed, and what nobody seems to want to discuss, is how a society can actually sustain itself, let alone care for children adequately, when a majority of children are not developing normally. That's what one teacher above said of her reception class and I've heard the same from early years teachers. That may be an outlier, but the trend over time is towards more and more problems each year, and not just an increase in SEN.

The cost to actually care for all those children properly would be astronomical now. At the current rate of deterioration, what will it be in 5 years? In 10? And who's going to either fund it, or actually provide the skilled care needed, when those reception classes reach adulthood?

If these young people get adequate early intervention they can and do go on to be valuable members of society. If they don't they can cost the state. (Benefits and/ or incarceration)

There is an increase currently of children who are developmentally behind due to the pandemic. But a delay doesn't mean you won't catch up.

Erm if a child is on roll then yes, they will get prosecuted. Saying you are keeping them home as a good deed isn't a legal defence. It also doesn't help anyone long term. If you de-register a child to do your good deed you absolve the LA of responsibility. Stop with your martyr act.

Why should any child has been failed by every service around them lose their education to keep the majority happy? Any parent of such a child knows it is a nail in the coffin for getting help by keeping them home. Actually live it, live with the system, watch your disabled child being failed repeatedly and then comment.

@itsgettingweird

Yes, those are the other reasons I referred to. In other words, people are placing other children at risk of violence and intimidation so that their child has a chance at access to suitable education. They're not 'forced' to do that, no. Coerced, sure. But many are simply consciously choosing to put their child's right to an education above other children's rights to safety. I understand that they would prefer if things were otherwise, but they're not. And that's the choice they make in the world as it actually is right now.

And as a parent I would make that choice and stand by it without second thought.

This isn't just a matter of children being developmentally behind, not at all, and it's not just since the pandemic either. I don't think reception year counts as early intervention, and there's no reason to believe that those children are about to get adequate care any year soon either.

Yes, I know! Several parents of SEN have made that abundantly clear. It's good to get all this out in the open, so that other parents know where they stand. There's no resolving these problems until people understand all of the factors contributing to it.

No it's forced. If your child has an ehcp with a school named you are legally required to send them.

@Pollyputhekettleon Violence or aggression in schools to be acceptable in any way, shape or form.

I too think the rights of children to feel safe ought not to be trumped by violence or disruption of the few.

It’s completely unacceptable to have a dangerous child ( or children) in a class.

Maybe if parents or teachers or TA’s sued for personal injury, something would be done to cater for the aggressive children

A unit where they can be safely controlled-without danger to those around them.

Violence is a choice.

I knew this thread would descend into bashing SEN children and attacking their parents. Calling teachers dealing with them 'zoo keepers'. Berating parents for sending their kids to school. Saying utterly dim stuff like 'the SEN kids aren't the ones getting attacked are they'. Explicitly saying SEN kids are a drain on resources. Some PP should feel ashamed of themselves (I know they won't). @MNHQ I really think this thread should be taken down. I know you like to encourage open debate but I think this rhetoric is extremely nasty, ignorant and harmful. It's not helping anyone and its deliberately upsetting.

The OP is not actually just talking about disability at all despite the title of the thread.

Good. As you should.

Violence isn't always a choice.

Just like a 2yo would bite because they can't communicate how they feel a child of 5/6/7 and developmentally 2 and non verbal will do the same.

Should school staff sit back and think that's ok? Absolutely not.

But on the same level it's neither the child or their parents fault.

This won't get solved by just saying keep children at home because there's no school space for them.

It'll be solved when government wake up and realise school staff are leaving because of this situation and those pupils still need an education somewhere that can meet their needs.

Having a disabled child is a lottery. And I do not enact to live in a society where we just say "ah well tough - keep them at home forever because it's cheaper for society and they don't deserve an education"

Can you imagine how powerful it would be if a senior politician spent just one morning in that environment.

I agree. It's a shame as it started off well.

No parent should feel guilty for doing what they need to do to ensure their children get the support they need. There should never be an expectation of denying them an education. It's an awful view.

Ironically, the best way we figured how to support my challenging child to manage in mainstream was to ensure she attended so we could figure what works to support her. She's now thriving and well Supported and absolutely doesn't cause any issue to anyone else's learning but God forbid when she was being challenging (aged 5 and 6) she was condemned to never stepping foot in school. She'd have been a far bigger "drain on society". No one has the right to an opinion on what parents should or shouldn't do unless they've been in that position themselves. Talking hypothetical is entirely different to reality.

Actually this thread has woken many up to the dire state of education. Something people have been ignoring for years.

For that reason - despite a few unsavoury posts and. poVs I think it needs to stand.

Not least because it exposes those ignorant posters for what they are.

It absolutely shouldn't have descended into bashing parents and kids with disabilities. That was not my attention.
The fault lies with those not ensuring that there is stage support for kids that need, huge classes full of diverse needs.
If I only had one child with additional needs, I would definitely cope. It is having 6 or 7 with no support that has broken me. But it is Saturday and I will try again on Monday. And hope nobody gets hurt next week.

Yes I've asked several teachers or people with stories of teachers quitting on this thread whether or not they sued for their injuries and the damage to their mental health but no one responded. I suspect it's very rare and I think it's a teaching culture issue that ultimately results from it being so female-dominated.

I absolutely agree that if teachers could take some of the compassion they have for their students, apply it to themselves, and assert themselves collectively it would do more to help all children than any amount of petitions or anything else. Sue them every time you get assaulted, go on stress leave, report every single incident to the HSE, go on strike, illegally if necessary. Cause enough trouble and money will magically be found. A male-dominated profession would absolutely not find itself in this position.

We get told that it is our fault some how. If something so serious happened that I needed to sue, I couldn't go through the scrutiny and being told I was awful. My mental health is battered enough as it is.
It is always put down to the school and the staff not dealing with things adequately.

I also agree with @ChillysWaterBottle but I have huge sympathy with the OP and all teachers in her position.

I find the ableism on here so depressing - not least because of the implied judgment that parenting is somehow to blame and/or our children’s exclusion from education is justified. The shitshow in education rn is a policy failure and putting the blame on parents is despicable.

We do log every single violent incident. This is time consuming but very necessary. I would like those making the decisions to spend a day in my class and try to cope. But they won't.

Yes the staff are always to blame

Such a cheek

This sounds very reminiscent of many Secondary Schools too.

In my current school, in recent years the average reading ages of the cohorts has been in decline year on year, and we’re seeing more extreme SEN every year too - and an increase of student numbers with these too.

This Year’s Year 7 are the worst affected year they have ever experienced, and this is quite a high increase from last years’ Year 7’s.

We’re seeing far greater resistance and a lack of boundaries and respect with every passing year too. So many are just completely defiant and defensive, and simply do not listen to a word you say, even if they appear to be listening.

Instructions, forget them, they can’t follow them. The date and do now activity and title will be on the screen, clearly legible. You will verbally instruct the task, but they still won’t have a clue. A do now task is designed to be an independent task designed to recap prior learning or introduce the theme for that day. It’s meant to take a maximum of 10 minutes, and meant to free up the Teacher to do the register, and get books handed out etc. I’m sick and tired (as are my colleagues) of having to use this time to constantly direct students to ensure they’re following the seating plan they should be familiar with, deal with defiance over the seating plan, and to try and get students to do the basics such as write the date and title, never mind actually doing the basic task.

You want students to follow a further instruction in the main part of your practical lesson, say follow the method for cooking something or the method for an experiment, and they simply can’t do it. There will be laminated instructions sheets with words and images, Teacher and a Technician constantly giving the instructions verbally, and everything repeated on the screen - still the vast majority ignore everything they have heard and can see, and what they have just seen in a live demo. They demand your attention and are so impatient and talk over each other. Some pat you and poke you like young children to get your attention. You direct them to to try to self manage their learning as they are supposed to, and point to the instruction sheet, and they don’t even start with the first instruction but read out a random one from the list.

You have to take a considerable amount of effort to get each class quiet so that you speak to the class and actually teach, and it’s fucking draining the life out of me. Most do not care about being sanctioned, so any warning of this, or detention or removal from lesson you give is ignores and escalated to the senior team, and still the students brag about it and repeat offend.

After teaching for over a decade in a variety of different schools, I’m desperate to either leave the profession or qualify and move up to a senior management role, as I’ll then only have to teach a few hours per week, and will have 1 less muppet above me telling me what to do. I’d preferably like to leave the profession though.

I can’t live much more of my life doing 70 hour weeks, having panic attacks and crying several times a week. I just can’t find anything else that pays similarly though, and that is literally the only thing keeping my teaching career going. Fucking sad.

That is way more than a job OP. So much more than you so be expected to do and to take..... One disruptive and violent child is bad enough but having multiple in one class is nigh on impossible for you to teach, for the kids to learn and for you to try keep kids safe from being battered.
It is also grossly unfair to the child with special needs for being put in a setting that doesn't meet their needs and causes them to get frustrated and hurt people.
But I stand by my statement, it is every child's human right to go to school but the right to go to school without being physically assaulted trumps that every time.

The most ridiculous thing is that the Tories bill themselves as the party who’ll look after the economy.

But the children in schools now are the workforce of tomorrow. And they’re being failed. In 20 years, we’ll feel it.