230,000 classroom assistants face axe

[mrz]

www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Education/article1268217.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2013_06_01

They seem to think it sounds better than a "budget cut" Starlight

What I don't get is how when schools receive money based on pupil numbers and pupil premium etc. how government can state that they are cutting back on TAs? Our TAs are paid out of school budget, they aren't part of any national agenda. Is this maybe a bit of a non-story?

My DD's nursery teacher AND TA are fantastic though. I can't see the classroom functioning as well as it does without both. The Teacher must spend HOURS each day prepping for the next day, and I know that she includes suspected SEN as I am friends with some of the parents who have been approached and the strategies are out of this world.

So I do know that both teachers and TAs can do right by their children with SEN. Though sadly, I also met a trainee teacher who is doing a placement there who told me that most teachers chose their 'inclusion' essay to be about ESL rather than SEN. Not that it isn't worthy of their study but I am shocked that teachers need to a)choose and b)only have to do ONE essay on the subject of inclusion.

SEN used to be about a day on teacher training courses at one point :( I think at least they do a bit more now. Nowhere near enough.

I'm a level 2 TA. I only qualified last June and got a job in September. I'm supposed to be a 1:1 TA for a y1 with ASD who has a full time statement. As soon as I started I was given the SEN group for phonics and handwriting. I had no SEN training at all! However, I'm committed to my job and researched as much as I could. I also give up 1 day a week of my free time to volunteer in a SEN school. I now have 5 out of 6 of the children in my SEN group reading and writing at at least a 1c level.

I would love to see the class teacher cope with the 3 statemented children plus 4 on IEP's within the class. TBH the teacher is glad to get the SEN children out of her class

The changes to SEN is another story ... scrapping School Action and School Action Plus categories

Yep, let's just leave the children who need help to struggle

Makes no sense to anyone except the clueless government!

Our SEN children stay in the class unless they have a specific programme which needs to be delivered 1-1

So do ours. We don't remove children from the class apart from specific interventions, which are usually ones recommended by an outside agency working with that child. Most interventions can, and do, take place within the classroom.

Bob, if you're supposed to be a 1:1 for a particular child, why do you have groups? Surely any groups required need to be run by someone else whilst you 1;1 support the child to access them.?

Our 1:1s only work with their 1:1 child. Sometimes there may be 2 or 3 other children involved, but only if related to something that child is focusing on and requires group work - and it is then usually directed by the teacher. Our 1:1s are level 1 (sometimes 2) so don't usually work on their own outside the room, and not with groups on their own.

My 1:1 is in the group they gave me. I'm too new to question it. To be honest, my 1:1 is more than capable of being in the classroom and would keep up if I was able to spend my time with him in the class. It's frustrating!

The changes to SEN are scary. If there was ever tensions before between parents of children with SEN and teachers this will make it much worse as schools are expected to fund a large proportion of statements out of their unringfenced SEN devolved money that they had earmarked for a vegetable garden.

Schools will be denying need and blaming the child for lack of progress rather than resources or decent differentiated teaching.

You employ level 1 TAs for 1-1 support

I assumed what I was doing was the norm. Maybe I need to be questioning them them!

Negative budget increase . George Orwell would like that one!

Starlight the guidelines for identifying SEN have changed too.

Yes bob. My ds' 1:1 sat ds at the back of the classroom with her and the disruptive kids so she coukd do a job lot for the teacher.

DS actually needed to be at the front of the class undistracted by bobbing heads with a TA having prepped, prompted behaviour and rewarded him for developing his listening and behaviour skills,

Instead he was at the back silently stimming and being provoked by mischievous children that his TA was also 'looking after'.

I don't think as a TA you can challenge this very easily though.

They are not for statemented children with specific numbers of hours allocated. But yes, as we have several more qualified staff in school too this works well for in class additional support for us due to the way the rest of the system works. But I agree they should be higher levels. Ours are certainly experienced enough to be. I'm not in a position to change that though. But be assured our 1:1s do not plan and teach and so not work alone, and only ever under teacher supervision. They are actually very very good and know their child exceptionally well and have excellent links with the parents involved too.

Having worked as a TA I do think it is easy for TA use to spiral out of control in a school where it's not constantly reviewed, under a consistent strategy and with clear objectives.

God if only 18 years ago they had made a commitment to cutting class sizes to 25 max. With qualified teachers.

starlight When my 1:1 is having carpet time with the rest of the class I sit with my 1:1 and show them cards 'look' 'wait' 'listen' etc so they know what they need to be doing. It's only for handwriting/phonics lessons I take a group alone. But my 1:1 is way ahead of the SEN group I take for those lessons and should be in the classroom.

There is no question that school budgets are coming under severe pressure and what has been a norm in the past, that is employ more TAs is now having to be carefully considered.
Poor TAs will clearly not give good value, good TAs who are properly targeted on improving attainment and are getting good CPD and support across the school can do an important job.
One of the key jobs of the head teacher is to agree the staffing of the school with the governing body. The funding which comes from the DfE goes to schools either directly (if an academy) or via the LA if a community or faith school. None of it is ring fenced to TAs nor is any of it ring fenced for teacher salaries. It is completely up to the school Leadership team how it is spent and the Treasury would have to change the way the funding is delivered to start insisting that it is not spent on TAs. However both the DfE and the Treasury have a big stick to beat schools with indirectly and that is how is pupil attainment improving. If it is said often enough that TAs do not work then it will start to have an effect.
One other thought, 230,000 people going on the dole seems to me rather like the treasury shooting itself in the foot, big time.

I know some TAs who are qualified experienced teachers who have gone back to work as TAs after career breaks, mainly to avoid the craziness which teachers have to put up with from the Gove rnment. Sacking them would be madness.

I've witnessed one or more TAs doing more harm than good, so I have mixed feelings.

same freetrait
I've worked with some remarkable TA's, who deserve to be a lot more highly paid.
I've also worked with some who are poorly educated, regard the children as something of a nuisance, and have no interest in learning.