Not having a teacher at all!

[eatdrinkandbemerry]

Who do you complain to if you child is only being taught by an HLTA.
Headteacher just says if you don't like it there's plenty more schools!
I'm not impressed at all it's been almost 4 months and surely it's not supposed to be that long.
I have read it's supposed Eve a short term cover not a whole maternity cover.

You are a great advocate for your son. However your original post was about the class being taught by an HLTA and not a teacher?

As well as speaking to the chair, email the DCS at the LA. It is the LA’s responsibility to ensure the provision is provided. You probably do already, but follow up the meeting with the chair of governors with an email so you have a paper trail.

I am sorry he is in this situation OP. Its horrible.

I was annoyed because they took the TA and replaced her with the HLTA.
All the other classes have a qualified teacher and a TA or HLTA so it just seemed unreasonable.
And I stand by my original post it's not the HLTA fault but she's not experienced enough for the new role of whole class teaching without support (she's said to the pupils she's as unhappy as they are that she's got them on her own all the time).

Yes but they took the TA and replaced her with an HLTA as a TA can't cover all day everyday.

That's absolutely not acceptable for the HLTA to say that to small children. That alone is cause for complaint.

The school named in the plan are contractually obliged to provide the provision set out in section F. If they cant meet need, they need to tell SEND OPS. I would be calling an emergency Annual Review and asking the school to call in their Inclusion Partner in to attend and advise. Don't let it go.

I met with the governor and long story short he agreed the HLTA should have a TA for support!
All the other classes have teacher plus Ta.
Unfortunately the TA picked for my sons class isn't prepared to do his OT ( can't blame her she didn't get a job in a school to become a massage therapist) so unfortunately as the LA can't fit in an emergency review until the last school week of the academic year i will homeschool for the remainder of the school year.
Hopefully his last year of primary will be easier for him next year but reading these replies I'm not holding onto much hope.
If a child with an EHCP isn't getting the support he desperately needs then i really feel for his peers who struggle without but i can't see this shocking situation improving for any child or staff member x
Thanks for all the advice I've received.

Hi OP you are in a difficult position here you have my sympathies.
I am sure you have already considered secondary schools very carefully but be aware that similar problems exist in that sector as well.
Mainstream secondaries will really struggle with the EHCP requirements your child needs. And they are experiencing problems with recruitment in the same way that primary schools are.
I don't have any solutions but do look to see if your area has specialist provisions that might be available.

I'm already dreading secondary because I'm friends with others who have children with needs similar to my son and there are just no suitable options for education for them.
Special needs schools say they can't meet educational needs (extremely bright) and can't offer suitable peers.
It's very hard to be optimistic at the moment.

@eatdrinkandbemerry I am truly amazed the head has not explained this to you. Also it’s possible to swap TAs around. Plus I’ve not seen TAs be picky about the work they do. In schools I know, they are a team and interchangeable. At least when it’s vital they are for a short time.

In the school where I was a governor most recently, we would not have met a parent like this. The operational decision on staffing is wholly down to the head. If it was a formal unresolved complaint, that’s different.

Your best hope is that the school do look at deployment of staff. The governors do have responsibility for ensuring the needs of Sen children are met, so they need to evaluate their failures too and do something about it . I might have asked how they intend to do this. Essentially the head isn’t getting staff support and the governors shrug their shoulders. Clearly moving for Y6 is an issue and I assume DC will get his place back in September?

My daughter is Y10 and has no maths, science or French teacher. Y7 daughter has no maths, science, English, computing or food tech teacher. I don't know how they expect our kids to succeed with such poor quality of teaching, but moving schools won't make a difference as there's no teachers there either!

Hi OP, that's just dreadful that the special schools also say they can't cope. It is a general picture in SEND so I'm not surprised.
I absolutely have my fingers crossed for you that one of the schools or provisions can meet you half way. There may be a lot of compromises that you have to make. And I'm sorry about that.
We need so much more funding and focus to help our students of all types. And teacher recruitment and smaller class sizes are top of my wish list.

If the OT is detailed, specified and quantified in F it must be provided. It isn’t optional. Send the LA, who is ultimately responsible for ensuring it is received, IPSEA’s model letter. Then escalate all the way to JR if necessary. I wouldn’t EHE for the rest of the term. If DS can’t attend school because he isn’t receiving the provision in F the LA should be making alternative arrangements.

I wonder if we have any of the posters on this thread who, back in the Covid days and since, used to tell teachers to "quit if you don't like it."

It will no doubt be worse next year. A local primary is making a third of their TAs redundant because they can't afford them any more. SEN children including 1 to 1s with EHCPs will have to be grouped together making for some very tricky classes. My friend who teaches there is dreading the added workload for teachers and the knock on effect for all the children.

I don't think parents have any idea how short of money schools are. Heating costs alone have become extortionate but schools budgets haven't risen to deal with all the increased costs.

Money isn’t everything. Expertise matters too. I have seen successful small groups of sen dc. Not ideal sometimes but far from hopeless with an experienced TA. I do understand it’s not meeting the EHCP but the school has extra money for this. It can possibly use pp money too a bit more creatively.

Regarding special schools, ones specialising in dyslexia should expect bright DC. Those with DC with all round difficulties won’t be expecting DC with a high IQ. So not all special schools are the same. Are there schools with suitable SEN provision that are mainstream but have any sort of reputation at all?

Just to put some of this into context: several schools near me have had Ofsted inspections very recently. The staff views were reported. I was pleased to read the quotes from the teachers were 100% positive. It was heartening. I hope you find next year is better OP.

SEN children including 1 to 1s with EHCPs will have to be grouped together making for some very tricky classes.

If you mean grouped together so DC with 1:1 detailed, specified and quantified in F of an EHCP don’t actually receiving 1:1 then those parents should pursue enforcement action if that happens. EHCPs are a legal document and the provision isn’t optional. Lack of funding or resources is not a lawful excuse.

EHCPs are a legal document and the provision isn’t optional. Lack of funding or resources is not a lawful excuse

Schools know this. We don't want to be in this position. But there simply are not the staff available.

@MrsHamlet that is why I said parents should take enforcement action. LAs and/or schools often cite funding or lack of staff as a reason why the provision detailed, specified and quantified in F can’t be provided, but that isn’t a lawful excuse. EHCPs can be fully funded, but LAs won’t do this unless forced. 1:1s must be funded at a rate that can actually mean the provision is received, but again the LA won’t fund at a higher rate, potentially a substantially higher rate, unless forced to. LAs often only start taking parents seriously when they see parents know the law and will advocate and enforce their DC’s rights.

@Headfirstintothewild funding is only part of the issue though. We actually have a number of students who do have fully funded support - but there aren't always the staff out there to provide it. It's not an appealing role.

@MrsHamlet I said funding or lack of staff. Ultimately the LA is responsible and a higher wage, potentially a substantially higher wage e.g. in line with the teaching MPS. attracts more applicants. As I posted, lack of funding or staff is not a lawful excuse for failure to comply with s.42 CAFA 2014.

I have supported countless parents to enforce their DC’s EHCP where lack of funding &/or resources/staff has been cited as the reason and enforced my own DC’s EHCP. I have yet to meet a case where it is an actual barrier when LAs are faced with enforcement action. In every case I have been involved in, with the right funding, potentially substantially more, and effort (see LAs only taking parents seriously when they see they will pursue enforcement action) an appropriate appointment can and has been made.

Positive staff comments to Ofsted aren't a reliable indicator. No-one wants to be in school downgraded to RI so people don't say what they really want to, as it comes back through even worse workload and stress post Ofsted.

Absolutely agree. No staff are going to tell Ofsted what things are really like as they don’t want to work for a school in a category. I would take every one of those staff comments with a large keg of salt!

I had a colleague, many years ago, who moved to head of department post at another school. He arrived for the start of the school year to discover that the outgoing HoD had spent the entire budget and left them with no exercise books or chalk.