Teaching assistant removed

[Mellymiller1]

Hello, my daughter has dyslexia and has a SEN plan. We've just found out that her school have removed all teaching assistants except one who will float around 150 kids!! Previously there was one TA per class! No consultation and no communication. Just wondered if anyone has any experience of this and could offer tips as planning to write to the Governors. Also keen to understand what best practice is if there is any advice on this. Statutory guidance looks like just one teacher per 30 kinds, Many thanks!

Yep you’re not entitled to any teaching assistants. By law there has to be one in reception but that’s it.

To throw a different spin on it, you could move your DC to a better managed school. I’ve been in and out of schools for years, as a teacher and a governor. Some are simply better run than others! No one is saying it is easy, it is dire out there and there is no money for extras. BUT I have seen the difference a decent head, school business manager and a decent governing body can make. Vote with your feet if it really is that bad. Not every school in the area will be like this. I constantly come across people who are unhappy with their DC’s education/the school/a certain teacher but they’re very reluctant to do anything concrete about it.

We had a letter home from school outlining how they were trying to balance the books. Very depressing

Why are parents so surprised at this? This is exactly why teachers have been striking last year - it isn't just about pay. It's about terms and conditions. And loss of a class TA is one of those. I work in a primary school so know how tight the budget is this year more than ever. We've lost a couple of our regular Ed Psychs, they've got out of education altogether, presumably because there isn't the money to fund them. Kids who years ago would have got EHCPs now don't meet the threshold. The LA do everything they can to avoid funding pupils with extra needs. It all has a knock-on effect on the retention of teachers, and more importantly the children.

It's not the school you should be writing to. It is the government.

@Primproperpenny

But it’s becoming the norm now anyway. TAs aren’t replaced when they leave. Some schools are managed better but that doesn’t really mean some can magic up some money for TAs.

I’m sorry to hear this OP!

I’ve also noticed a trend of getting rid of TAs, so it’s not just in the UK (I teach in an international school in Europe). It seems to me more of an educational philosophical decision than one based on evidence and experience.
We desperately needed a TA for a SEN student last year and our school just kept refusing. Every teacher (secondary so 9 different teachers) would write long emails detailing why the student needed 1-1 support in a mainstream classroom and we were all just ignored. The student changed to a different school this year. So frustrating.

Children may ‘need’ 1-1 but unless it is specified in their ehcp they won’t have one
(I am one) we are repeatedly told that any funding a child is awarded is for the ‘provision’ ( books, coloured overlays, sensory equipment) not extra staff

Thanks, small group work rather than 1:1. Thanks for your feedback.

I have no idea what a buzz kill is but thank you for your feedback

Thanks for your feedback, it has come as a surprise because there was no communication about it. I am well aware of the funding shortages but would have expected at least to have had some kind of heads up about it at the start of the school year.

That does sound very frustrating. Thank for sharing your thoughts.

Thank you

Thanks, I didn't realise there had to be one in reception.

Yes

She doesn't have a set number of hours, just small group work which I don't think will be possible this year without a TA

It's a shame schools doesn't have enough budget to support all students.

@Itslosenotloose

No, it's 1 to 30 in a Reception class in a maintained school too. It's only higher than that if it is a nursery class.( see para 3.39 of the statutory framework)

Mind you, you would have to be a lunatic to have a Reception class with only 1 member of staff

Is this written in an EHCP or something agreed between you and the school?

A packet of exercise books has, in the last couple of years, gone up from £18 to over £30. The govt will say it has increased funding to schools but this has been far outpaced by the cost of “living”. We can’t afford things we used to be able to afford anymore.

The school won’t have advertised any changes to parents because they will largely hope that parents don’t notice that provision is dwindling. That sort of thing generates complaints that schools can’t do anything about.

Perhaps the “better managed” schools aren’t tied into extortionate energy contracts like some schools are.

It's not just TAs/LSAs.

It's materials, trips, extracurricular activities...

Please remember all this ^ at the ballot box

Just backing what others have said about cuts to school budgets.

I am working with a primary school where 19 staff have just been made redundant (7 teachers, 11 TA’s, 1 admin).

Governors responsible for finance under their duties must address a deficit budget. It is unlawful for a governing board to set a deficit budget. Those maintained ( not Academy) schools that flag as heading that way have support from LA financial teams to agree a plan. Redundancies are part of that plan.

@noblegiraffe

I did exactly the same " beginning of term" stationery order as last year. Then-£2200, this year £3500. We just can't keep up with rising prices.

I honestly feel like I'm failing my class already this year. I just can't provide what they need on my own but there's no money for any extra support. 2 don't speak English, 8 have Send and 6 still need phonics in y3.

But it's fine. Quality first teaching should cover it, TAs don't make an impact so we don't need them. Thanks Tory voters.

QFT has crept in as a ‘cure all’ for inclusion and basically entails blaming the teacher for not being good enough when inclusion fails!

It's the government and real spending cuts you should be angry with not the school who has no budget to fund the TA with. Teachers got a pay rise but no budget to fund it so it has to come out of existing funding. Unless your DC has EHCP stating 1-1 needed, and that is now so rate, there won't be a TA in every classroom. I agree the teachers need the TA and no doubt it will mean we lose more teachers but hay ho that's how much this government care about kids education. Their kids are mostly at independent schools with better resources.