School situation

[mrsla1]

My DS who has ASD started Reception this year at a mainstream school. He's coped with it better than we thought, he has had an amazing 1:1 since September and has thrived under her care. They have a really special bond and DS adores her. Previously he has had issues forming connections with others so the fact that he clicked with her straight away was amazing. He's come on leaps and bounds and as I said, is doing really well.

However, just been told that his current 1:1 is being moved to another class in a couple of weeks and DS is going to have somebody completely new.

I'm gutted and naturally, I am worried about how he is going to manage with the change. Apparently they have known for weeks she was moving but only just communicated to us.

AIBU or does this usually happen in schools? I know of course there are other SN children to consider and DS isn't the only one, but I thought they would do all they could to avoid disruption and change. Maybe I'm worrying for nothing but it's just disappointing

There certainly wouldn't be four weeks of shadowing in the school I work in...they couldn't spare the body. They'd LOVE to of course but reality bites and there just isn't the staff.
I think four weeks of shadowing is brilliant compared.

School funding has only got worse under this government.

That means they want someone to work with pupils with special needs, not that they must be special needs trained.

It might not be anything to do with someone leaving. It’s possible the funding has only just been finalised for your child or the recruitment process has taken a long time, so this current teacher has just been providing interim support.

The school is an academy so I would have thought the pay would be better as isn't it correct they aren't funding by the local authority?

@howshouldibehave The advertisement does say you have to have experienced with children who have ASD in particular. Shouldn't the school have been more transparent if that was true regarding the situation with funding / the possibility that the 1:1 would be changing?

Funding is low whatever school type you are in. It is naive to think academies are rolling in money.

Special schools, obviously have a higher per-pupil base amount and a lot more staffing though.

This is very common at the school I work at. It’s disheartening for staff members too.
Im sure the new 1:1 will be fine. See how it goes after Christmas. I’m sure the school think she will be a good fit.

Yes, I suppose we will have to give her a chance. I just hope it works out well

Just because a job spec asks for specifications, if nobody applies with them, they still need someone to do the job.

As long as your child is getting their support, it’s down to the school to decide who provides it. They have informed you there will be a change.

I was trained in all sorts of special needs and it takes some patients and determination to win over children with special needs.

Some new staff haven’t a clue and think you can demand X Y Z and the child complies nicely.

I left because we were treated appallingly - example being hit kicked and punched and yet no one would ask if you were ok.

Expectation to deal with life threatening conditions with no extra support or training - if you needed to know you were expected to research and find out

’mums’ from the play ground applying because they think you sit on your bum and read with kids all day - then horrified you have to plan lessons and deliver them to groups.

I’ve since left - and I do work from home and sit on my bum all day - and get paid more for it.

It's a shame they couldn't provide some continuity for the first few years at least - but they have to do whatever they need to meet everyone's needs. Sounds as though communication could have been better.

DS had the same TA for several years, and she was so lovely. We were sad when she was assigned elsewhere, and never had anyone else as good - but DS was OK with them all. Then at the end of Yr 5 we heard anecdotally in the playground that his then TA was being assigned to someone else. I asked her and she said she couldn't comment. I was furious and emailed the Headteacher who did apologise and admit we shouldn't have found out like that - but even so.....

Turned out he'd decided that DS should have no 1:1 support in Year 6 in preparation for not having it at secondary school. Without any discussion with us! In fact it all worked OK and DS is now Year 11 and fine - but it always annoyed me at primary how little thought was given to the need for early comms and discussion for ND kids. My DS was reasonably OK with changes to his life, but many aren't and they should take it into consideration.

I hope your DS gets someone else lovely, and everything continues to go well.

Yes it's quite common plus high staff turnover unfortunately. Our school has a policy of each child has two 1:1 who share the role so if there are changes it's usually only one at a time.

Tbh every year is a new hill, I've found how well my son settles largely depends on his teacher and support staff for that year. Reception and y1 were good yr 2 and 3 awful and year 4 (touch wood ) has been good so far. It's shows me when it's not working it's not his fault. He can with the right support thrive in mainstream.

Now, I'm in FULL agreement with you there.

The school is an academy so I would have thought the pay would be better as isn't it correct they aren't funding by the local authority?

Ha Ha Ha
We all wish.
Quite the opposite however.

The Government pushing schools into becoming academies has worsened conditions for most school staff. There was a post on my local FB group only this evening asking for advice as the person's school (Academy) has decided they are going to stop paying into the Teacher Pension scheme.

So many schools are just so strapped for cash. So many have had to get rid of most of their TAs, other than those specifically mentioned in EHCPs. This, of course has a knock on affect on all the dc, including those who do have EHCPs.

Yes sadly this is my experience too, my DS had a lovely 1:1 for two years (very lucky). For the remaining year that he was in mainstream he had about 8 1:1's, at one point we didn't even know who his 1:1 would be that day until we arrived at school.

He now attends a SEN school and they don't have any 1:1's.

This is very rarely the case. Academy school get roughly the same as LEA schools, sometimes less depending on how the academy operates.
I assume your DS has an EHCP? I would just keep an eye on provision and ensuring it’s being actioned as all to other, even though a legal requirement, there just isn’t the money to find the hours given :(

Have you spoken to the school and asked the reason for the move?

Off hand I'm guessing curent assistant may have had a regular class but covered while they recruited your sons assistant. Now she's going back to her usual role.

I may have outdated info but ehc - the hours for assistants ate funded by LEA not the school. Schools usually cannot recruit until the child has started school and ehc hours confirmed

1 to 1s rarely have any training at all.

Its not required. Generally speaking if a child has such severe needs that the required specially trained staff its for medical reasons (tube feeding/positioning etc) or the child is probably better suited to specialist schooling.

We have had to advertise twice recently for a 1:1 TA, the first time we had no applicants, the second just one with no experience- this is for a 25 hour a week, fits into school hours with a lovely child, no behavioural or medical issues. The previous time, we had three to interview, the " best " one had experience as a dog trainer but that was the closest she came to education experience!