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

This makes no sense. Reinforcing my decision to go to bed...

Thank you for hearing me. I wasn't wanting to bash parents, certainly not parents of kids with SEN.
Not all of the issues are to do with children with SEN. Inclusion means everyone - including SEN but many other factors.
Any of the issues I could deal with if they were the only need. Unfortunately it is the sheer volume in one class and one me that causes the issues. Along with the entirely unsuitable setting of open plan classrooms.
It all comes together into an entirely unworkable mess.
I understand why some parents may have gone defensive but this wasn't an attack on you or your children. This was a plea to say I am drowning. My colleagues are drowning and the kids are suffering as a result. Every single one of my class. I cannot stretch myself any further.

The interesting thing here about parents with children who have SEN is that they are only advocation for their child. If you could see the state of education you wouldn’t be fighting for mainstream and then fighting for additional support - because that’s what you are doing - you are fighting for your child to go to and underfunded, overworked, average mainstream school where teachers have had enough. They can’t recruit because of ‘reputation’ work hers round about poor management, underfunding, and violent children allowed to stay in classes where 3 hours earlier they had trashed the class and hit several children. Then shock horror when something goes seriously wrong.

Yet this is the teachers fault? The teacher who spent hours planning lessons, organising trips, plays, visitors, to enrich your child’s education. They aren’t in charge of the behaviour policy, they have no say in extra help, they can’t change the funding, they can’t keep 29 kids safe when in is throwing chairs, or cutting hair, or having a ‘you can’t touch me’ attitude.

If the parents don’t care the kids don’t care and that’s a battle I refuse to engage in any longer.

I left, like a lot of my colleagues, we have transferable skills. I now work in an office, where I can pee when I like, take a full lunch hour and drink hot tea, I’m not sworn at, licked or punched, I don’t have to spend 2 hours trying to get a kid i from the playground, or 2 hours freezing for forest school, or 3 hours in a hot swimming pool, I don’t have to face raging parents who didn’t name a coat, or fill in incident reports where Dave hit Sam again because parents teach children to ‘hit’ back - his help them all.

This thread is incredibly eye opening and very depressing. As someone with no particular skin in this game (ie I don’t have a child with SEND and I am not a teacher) but who is very concerned, what is the best way to support teachers and parents in changing this? (Other than not voting Tory).

Thanks for opening our eyes on this. It sounds horrendous.

My eldest ds attends a special school for children with disabilities. I'm very grateful for the provision we have for him.

I know friends in other areas though who are struggling to get into specialist schools for their dcs who have ADHD and there are no places. It's so hard for everyone, teachers and children are being let down by funding and provision

Properly funding both special schools and support in mainstream. Ensuring there are support services- educational and medical- available within a reasonable timescale
Ensuring that, if mainstream is attempted but not successful, there are opportunities to transfer between mainstream and specialist, and vice versa.
Ensuring that specialist schools can cater for a wider range of needs, including highly academic children who cannot cope with the mainstream environment.

But that costs money and there isn't any available.

You really think that middle class parents can't have poor parenting skills? Does thst also mean they can't abuse a child or give birth to a child with send. So financially poor children with speech or toileting problems is automatically attributed to bad parenting but that couldn't possibly be the case from wealthier families?

Hyperbole! Read my earlier posts.

Most of the parents I know are desperately fighting for specialist provision. That’s what I know my daughter rneeds. But there isn’t any available and so The LA keep pushing for mainstreams

The news today are discussing the firearms officers who have handed their weapons back. Soldiers are on standby.

A few posters have pointed out that male dominated professions don't get treated with the same distain and it's so true. I work in healthcare and I am surrounded by colleagues who are inured to delivering poor care. Its heartbreaking. People choose to work in health or education because they want to make a difference, yet they end up burnt out in roles that are impossible to do properly.

Let's be really clear here. Children are being failed. Those with SEN, those from neglected backgrounds and everyone else in the classroom whose education and psychological (and physical ) safety are being affected.

Blame the system. Blame politicians. Blame voters. Blame crap food. Blame pollution. Blame neglectful parents.

But can we please agree that we are not in this state because Teachers haven't filled out some forms correctly?

I definitely don’t blame teachers. I was one! My daughter’s senco went above and beyond to try and help her. Her class teacher didn’t really get SEND, but she was a young teacher completely immersed in the belief in data, SATs etc.

the system is broken. The system needs to change. And blaming teachers doesn’t help that.

This is all so worrying, and reflects our personal experiences. My DD in Yr2 has been knocked over, hit in the head, chased repeatedly with sharp objects, and spat at (in the face) by a boy in her class with SEN. Sadly, this is far from the worst that has happened to children in her class. Others have received head injuries requiring hospital visits, and try to avoid going to school every day because this boy is there. He's only 6 now so I dread to think what type of injuries he could inflict as he gets older. School just say that he has a 1:1 but they can't be with him all the time - break times are the usual times that these incidents happen. DD tells me that the teacher had a discussion with the class about how the boy in question is trying his best, but can't always control himself due to his additional needs. I hate that my 5 year old girl was basically told just to accept violence. How will this affect their view of what they should put up with in relationships etc going forward?

That's absolutely awful.
It's completely unacceptable that one violent, disregulated child can ruin a school experience for everyone else.

If he can't control himself, he needs a minder- OR putting in a secure place where he can't attack other children.

@Lizzypet It's horrifying that tiny children, tiny little girls, are literally expected to tolerate ongoing physical violence on a daily basis and it's being normalised to them.
If the same physical violence was happening in the home from a parent there would, rightly, be SS involvement.

I'm so sorry. Have any of the parents of the injured children done anything other than complain to the school? Did anyone complain about the teacher's lecture? I would move her from the school as soon as possible. Not all schools and not all classes have the same problems, or to the same degree. I'd move areas if you have to, and if you can at all. Her safety has to be the priority.

@D1nopawus The poster who's having a discussion about teachers and forms is not claiming that 'we are... in this state because Teachers haven't filled out some forms correctly.'

There's more than one reason why the situation is as bad as it is and all of those reasons should be discussed openly. I have no idea if that poster is correct or not, but it should be discussed so we can all find out. It helps no one at all to misrepresent people's views.

... and why exactly should the victim of the violent child move school?

... and that's what's fundamentally wrong in these situations, blame the victim, blame the teacher, complain to the school- I can tell you what school told us in a very similar situation: my DC (4!! at the time) invaded the other childs personal space during circle time. Therefore the other child was excused for scratching my DC'S face & neck. We were also told that the parents of VC has been informed and will keep their child's fingernails short.... Nope I didn't make this last sentence up!

She should move schools so that she's not subjected to any more violence. Isn't that kind of stating the bleeding obvious? Obviously the school is not going to protect her, so her parents should, if they can. The goal here is to protect a small child from violence.

I don't know why you're telling me about your DC's attack and the school's response. That seems pretty much standard going by experiences of parents on this thread.

just a question could a parent seek legal action against a school for failure to protect/keep a minor safe? equally for failure to maintain a teaching environment?
the situation for teachers and students just isn't appropriate judging by this thread and imho a change of government changes nothing what other avenues are there to push for change?

If a teacher or child is injured, physically or in terms of mental health, they could sue the school/LA. Seems to be highly uncommon though, maybe people think it's too much hassle/stress/costs. You could probably also get an injunction to force them to protect the child, expensive though. People seem to generally just tolerate it and I don't know why. If a school treated my DD that way they'd never hear the end of it. Other legal avenues I don't know. I'm pretty sure it should be reported to the HSE, but maybe that already happens. I don't think that would achieve anything anyway.

@Pollyputhekettleon don't you think if it happened often enough eventually they would have to do something more concrete than lip service. because after the initial successful case all subsequent cases would be easier and easier to win eventually forcing them to change the situation.
teachers are in high demand if each teacher put in formal complaints using a lawyer (initially they would get tons of flack) but if everyone who faces these assaults did so change could happen quickly.

Seems to me it would achieve far more for everyone involved than any amount of petitions and complaining. I have no idea why it's not happening, maybe there's good reason but no one's telling me of any.

I've asked several teachers here why they didn't do it and only one responded I think. She said it would be too stressful and that it was victim blaming. It's funny, if you were injured in a road traffic accident, couldn't work etc, and someone suggested you should call your friendly local ambulance-chasing lawyer, you'd consider it pretty obvious advice really. I don't think it would occur to anyone to consider that victim-blaming! There's a lot of deeply weird stuff going on around this topic.

That's what I was getting at when I referred to health staff as being inured to crap care. People are literally dying because basic things are being missed, and yet when patients or their families complain, staff say they did their best but can't (for example) care for 28 patients between 3 members of staff.

Is education the same? No one is doubting that teachers or nurses are working desperately hard whilst things get worse around them, but at some level, coping as best as we can, is kicking the can down the road. I don't know the answer btw. I'm just observing that there's a sort of institutional Stockholm syndrome.

A kind of Stockholm Syndrome could certainly be part of it.

as a (retired) nurse i would say part is guilt. management guilts you into feeling that somehow you have not set your priorities accurately or followed some policy that certainly does not cover every situation.

To be perfectly honest many people, with or without disabilities, can be prone to flinch, flail, jump, or experience another flight or fight response, if another person unexpectedly gets in their face. Or if another person remains uncomfortably close for a long period. Four year olds are especially prone to this as they’re still developing self control, just like four year olds can be prone to get in another person’s space without realising it’s a problem. Keeping fingernails short is a pretty reasonable way to minimise unintentional harm in such a scenario.