TAs does your primary school have them?

[dhlihdhb]

Apparently our primary school has decided they wont have any TAs next year other than those with a one to one. Is that the norm? Have to say am pretty disappointed but not sure how widespread that is.

DD's school only has full time TAs ( 1 per class) in reception. Other years get one part time TA for the year ( 3 classes).

Has there been a big increase in 121s?Not seen that in the big school I work in that has high level of SEN. More EHCPs but they often don’t come with a 121.

We have 2 TAs per class and have just recruited more.

My children’s school (Academy) has one per class excluding the 1-2-1’s, I don’t know of any that have left in the last few years. The school I teach at (LA) has one for every two classes and they have either been there forever or leave within the year. We only use supply for 1-2-1’s. We can’t fill TA vacancies. Their workload is getting bigger and their pay is pitiful so it’s not surprising. It’s really sad.

There’s one in every class at GDs school ….as well as the one to ones….the HLTAs run interventions every term…..they last 3 weeks and are Monday to Friday drop off at 8am…..my GD has really improved with her phonics after attending these….it’s like having a free tutor session every day

Ok so quite mixed theb. We are in London if that helps. My impression was they are doing it to save money, not that they can't get staff. Am most annoyed with the fact they haven't communicated that to the parents properly.

My local authority pay my child's 1:1. That's how ehcps work. If schools are willingly giving out 1:1 and spending out of pocket by choice I'd eat my hat ( I don't have a hat btw). SEN budgets a LA level problem. I don't deny that sqeezes everything but schools aren't choosing this and neither can a parent just ask.

If my son had some early intervention as a toddler or before 5 maybe he wouldn't have needed his 60k per year special school but I'm sure that few thousand they saved delivering no speech therapy has helped offset their millions of debt ( paying for expensive education long intervention which is all too late to get back in mainstream as your now so far behind).

Austerity measures and lack of forward thinking created that.

How do people find that classrooms function without a TA? We've had one till now Yr1 and it was absolutely invaluable. In fact, not sure how a teacher would manage without a TA in KS1.

Our school only has 1:1s now in theory and a class TA in KS1 classes.

It’s funding mainly that has caused this, but also the academy chain doesn’t believe we need them. None of the people making that decision have taught in decades. It’s a Church of England chain.

The funding for the child might pay the support staff who are present in their lessons, but the teacher is ultimately responsible and usually best placed to work with children with learning needs.

If they choose to direct the TA to support the rest of the class in various ways, this is entirely appropriate.

That depends on wording. If an EHCP specifies 25 hours of 1-1 support from a teaching assistant then that 25 hours has to be provided.

a school is acting illegally if they don’t provide what is outlined in section F. Sadly section F is often so poorly written it doesn’t properly quantify anything with wording like “high levels of support”

Don't worry, the SEN children's 1-1 will be used to support the entire classroom, ask me how I know!

Our authority fudges it as 'ACCESS TO' 1-2-1 support...

So a single staff member will be the '1-2-1' for 2, 3 or even 4 children. Sometimes across more than one classroom...

It's all about the bottom line 🫰

From a teacher's point of view, cutting TAs is disastrous. With 32 in a class, it's impossible to help all children of all abilities. The amount of learners with SEND is increasing all the time, and TAs are a godsend either to help work with these children, or to help with the majority of the class whilst the teacher focuses on the children who have learning difficulties. TAs are also so helpful in to reduce the sheer volume of administrative tasks teachers have to do - cutting, sticking, laminating, displays, photocopying etc, and cutting TAs outs all of that back onto the shoulders of already very overworked teachers. The system is creaking at the knees.

We’ve had good numbers at ours in the last few years but budgets have been dramatically cut for next year so the number of ‘TA hours’ has been cut to an absolute bare minimum from September sadly.

I think the decrease in TAs in some schools is due to the move to the national funding formula. Years ago, schools were funded by local authorities to very different levels. Some schools were well funded and could afford TAs in every class. Other local authorities funded poorly and TAs in every class were not the norm in those areas. The national funding formula is meant to even out funding across the country. But realistically what it is doing is bringing all schools down to the level of the poorly funded ones.

The teacher will manage but it will be stressful for them and they will have a lot of work to do alone. When my school had more TA’s the teachers were able to plan little trips out, would organise more enrichment visitors and would be less reliant on pre planned schemes of work. A lot of extras are gone now, as well as interventions for phonics/reading, maths or nurture groups for children who need help with communication or social skills. There is no TA to listen to children read and make sure they’re on the right level and that they regularly get new and appropriate books. Schools are more reliant than ever on parents doing reading and times tables practice at home because they can’t provide the extra support so when parents can’t or won’t do this, the achievement gap between children with and without engaged parents gets even wider.

1 to 1 support doesn't mean a set adult being attached to a child. It might mean taking them for a sensory break. It might mean a creating conditions to be independent and being on hand to intervene where required. It might mean the child working with the subject expert and benefiting from their explanations and immediate feedback while others are supervised.

It's not illegal, but best practice for a trained teacher to direct a TA in their lesson as they see fit.

If the EHCP specifies a certain amount of hours 1-1 then that’s what needs to be provided. They may briefly help a child sat next to them but overall they should be focused on that child and delivering what is stated in their plan. It is rare than a child has full time 1-1 allocated but if they do it’s because they need that!

We seem to have TAs in Reception and KS1 and then they become much rarer when you get into KS2. There are 31 kids in my daughter’s class and I don’t think there is a TA - I don’t know how the teacher does it, she deserves a medal!

The 'certain number of hours' or entitlement are still being provided in my example, as I'm talking about more focus on the child with SEND from the teacher. This is often better than a 'helper' sitting by their side to tick a box.

Many TAs are highly knowledgeable and might be qualified in various ways, but the child's teacher is accountable and the one who is most likely (hopefully) to have been trained in evidence based pedagogy, to a high level in their subject and also in additional needs.

I'm not talking about trying to get away without providing what is stipulated, but that rigid ideas about what support actually looks like don't always help actual access to the curriculum for the neediest.

We’ve got at least one TA per class for now. I can’t imagine how teachers manage in infants without one. My children absolutely adore their TAs and they play such an important role. Our school is also basically skint though and can’t afford stationery so has been very reliant on parental donations of time (for jobs like painting etc as no budget for maintenance) and money to keep on paying for the TAs.

We have a lot of part-time or job share TAs so suspect a lot of them are doing for the love/a little bit of money rather than because they need a salary.

If 1:1 TA/HLTA/LSA is detailed, specified and quantified in F, then it must be provided. And can be enforced including via judicial review if necessary. It is in addition to input from the teacher. Not instead of. Schools using the 1:1 to support others in the class leave themselves and the LA open to legal action.

Ultimately, LAs are responsible for ensuring SEP detailed, specified and quantified in F is provided, including ensuring there is sufficient funding. EHCPs can be fully funded, but LAs won’t do this unless forced.

Depending on the wording in F it can mean a set adult providing the 1:1.

Parents may have or appeal to ensure F is detailed, specified and quantified rather than vague and woolly.

My dc primary school has 13 TA's. 1 form entry and a bulge class in year 4. There is one 1-2-1 TA for a child in reception, 3 TA's in the nurture room working with individual children and small groups. The rest are in the classrooms working with the whole class. I think that is a lot more than average but I know the head teacher prioritised TA's and uses quite a bit of the pupil premium money on making sure there are a lot of them.