Pupils' right to one-to-one catch-up tuition ended

[telsa]

Oh great. First they come for the students......and then the little ones.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11718968

The Government isn't getting rid of it, its just giving headteachers and schools the freedom to spend money on other things rather than forcing them to spend their budget on 1 to 1 tuition.

I often wonder if some problems are caused by how everything is done on age rather than ability.
wouldn't it be better to mix ages up for some lessons, so the children needing extar help could get it and the ones who might be ready to read alone(using reading just as an example) could

'I have seen how kids, particularly summer-born boys REALLY struggle - it's not their (or their parents') fault that they are 11 months younger than some of the children in their class, and without intervention, these kids really can fall through the cracks. If your parents work, there is precious little time to do the 'reading recovery' which is needed, and which I have seen make MASSIVE amounts of difference - it helps them when they need the help, which then enables them to access the rest of the curriculum.'

That's interesting Lily because despite the fact that my ds is 11 months yuonger than most in his class and me working in a f/t demanding job and his father being abroad 80% of the time i find thevtime to read to and with him every night.

My kid. my responsibility.
Not 'the government's'

moondog, I have an August born as well (and am one). They are fine (as was I). But just because SOME children are fine doesn't mean all are, and I would like to think that if my child was struggling they would get some help.

Someone who is struggling really needs more than their parent doing a bit of reading every night. Not to mention that if they are behind the rest of their class (for whatever reason - age, illness, dyslexia etc), sitting in the class doing inappropriate work is a total waste of time. Much better that they are given some intensive help at school.

If we're ill we go to the doctor. If we're really sick we go into hospital. If we need teaching we go to school. I would like to think that school is not 'one size fits all' education but can adapt to help all children, not just write them off because 'their parents should have done it.'

At my children's school there are a significant number of children whose parents CANNOT READ. For whatever reason, they are totally illiterate. Are you saying their children have no right to an education because their parents' education failed? Others for whom their parents SPEAK NO ENGLISH. How are their parents supposed to help them read?

totally disagree with Moondog - childrens futures are All our responsibility - and those who struggle for whatever reason deserve extra help.

My ds is getting help to learn to touch type as he is often in too much pain to be able to hold a pen and will not be able to do his exams writing by hand. There is no way a child like him would be getting a statement simply because he is disabled and in chronic pain- that doesn't happen in our LEA.

Yes, daftpunk, maybe I should teach him at home- but have you tried teaching a new skill to a child who is exhausted after having been in pain all day? And besides, not all parents have the skills needed.

Fyi, dp, it's not that something has suddenly happened to make people like him need help: it is that we no longer accept that they should be unemployable- not least because the taxpayers don't want to be saddled with their longterm support. I think we all have the right to demand that somebody like ds should be self-supporting and make a contribution to society. But then he needs the help to do so.

huddspur Fri 12-Nov-10 15:03:33
"I don't understand the certain distrust of teachers and headteachers on this thread. Surely they know where to allocate resources to help children better than LEA and DoE bureaucrats."

As others have said, some HTs are fine, others are not. Dd's HT no doubt knew that there were ways of helping her, but he had no interest in helping a chronically ill child who pulled down the school's attendance records: he made it quite clear that he was hoping that we would give up and take dd out of his school. He suggested a special school- I can't imagine that he didn't know that all local special schools cater for children with learning difficulties whereas dd was g&t. Of course he knew, but he was prepared to suggest anything that would get us out from under his feet.

It is totally that my DD needs this extra help in order to become self-supporting and make a contribution to society. I do not accept that she should be unemployable because she has failed to be educated to a basic level of literacy and numeracy, whatever her difficulties.

I haven't read whole thread because DaftPunk's comments really upset & angered me (although I probably shouldn't care, she's know for writing this kind of thing).

In any case, the cuts for children/adolescent services are across the board, happening everywhere it seems these days. It's shameful & appalling & frightening that these services for children- with all their inevitable problems & shortcomings- are being slashed out in such an unthinking way.

Those who say in such an easy way 'we can't afford it' should perhaps think how other societies, those who don't provide a good safety net & good quality services for disadvantaged children, one of the best things in the UK if you ask me- manage. The picture ain't pretty. In many countries if a child happens to have autism or other special needs, very simply they'll remain undiagnosed far too long, because of the stigma attached, will probably get very little or no help at all from specialists in pre-school age, and will then end up with a too-late diagnosis at school age, only to let them exist in class with no teaching assistant, becoming the laughing stock.

I've seen the fantastic care children with SN can get in the UK (compared to other countries that I'm aware of) & I'm appalled that a lot of this good work will now be thrown away. What we can't afford is leaving those children without the help they need & crave for, that's what we can't afford.

I agree with Huddspur, let the headteachers and teachers run the school. Why should they be forced to fund 1:1 if they think there are other things that would be more beneficial to their pupils learning that could be funded instead. There is far too many top-down instructions and iniatives.

Regarding summerborn children I have a print out here I'm using for a course I'm on with SATS results for 2004. A greater % of summer born children score below L2 at KS1(13% August compared to 6% Sept) This pattern continues in KS2 (10% Aug, 7% Sept below level 4). Although the gap is closing the same pattern is still apparent at KS3 (Sept 7%, Aug 10% below level 5) and identical to the gap at KS2. The pattern indicates that if children haven't caught up by Y6 they aren't going to...intervention is vital.

TBH I quite liked that some of the little shits were taken to one side for a couple of hours to give the other 27 children the chance to learn in peace and quiet. If they can't/won't send them to special schools then at least a couple of hours respite for the teacher and children was better than nothing.

hello kellyegg

mamatomany: 'the little shits'?! Nice...

mamatomany is probably a TES escapee

Really? Sounds like she definitely isn't a teacher to me.

No they weren't very nice. The one that pushed my 4 year old down a flight of concrete stairs was a particular little shit that springs to mind, whatever they tried to do with him it didn't work on a daily basis.

cory and Loudass thanks for your posts
it has taught me that it isn't as clear cut as I first thought,.

am so shocked and disappointed at some of the crap spouted on this thread..I expect it from DP, but the rest of you????
Really??? you think this kind of intervention only goes to little shits, with unsupportive parents, who never read and it's a relief to get them out of class????
really?
So it wouldn't go to my ds2 who is nearly 10, who has dyscalculia?

The one with an IQ above 130 but can't count?
Who, despite spending god knows how may hours trying to help, probably will never achieve his potential..
and all along I should have known, the vast majority of you reckon he shouldn't have any help...
I could cry.

Ingles2 there are many people who do think that children need help it's just that most of them are not on this thread. I know it's incredibly upsetting but most of us who do work in schools (or not) can see beyond surface behaviour whatever the issue and understand that all human beings need help at sometime in their lives (sorry not very well put) - I absolutely understand your upset and anger.

I would not call any student a "little shit" but this is not about naught children or even children who may be negelcted but those children who need extra help.

Ingles2 it is posts like yours who teach people like me that it isn't all black and white.

It would be extremely unprofessional for a teacher to call any student a little shit, but since I'm not that is my unqualified opinion of certain ex classmates my children were required to spend their days with.
I appreciate their parents may disagree, or not.