No TA in year 1

[Azanrain]

Would you be concerned if your year 1 dc did not have a TA in their class? There is a full time class teacher but no teaching assistant. It’s a class of 30 in a state school. Is this normal? The email said they will have the class teacher and a TA for forest school and a different TA will take children out 2 mornings per week to run interventions but there isn’t going to be a class TA. I am concerned that my shy DD will be lost in the crowd and not get very much one-to-one attention. They had a really good TA last year and my DD had a great relationship with her and she was wonderful. She read one-to-one with the children and even did things like getting DD into her ballet clothes after PE because we had such a rush to get from school to ballet. Am I worrying unnecessarily or will the dc miss out by not having a TA? Should I speak to the school about my concerns?

You can certainly speak to them but most likely the reason there is no class TA is because of budget restraints. Therefore they are unlikely to be able to make any changes.

Also in many schools as children get older there isn't a dedicated class TA, maybe one across two classes.

A year 1 class would often have a TA for part but not all of the day due to budget constraints. I would fully expect the lack of a TA is because the school can't afford one ...

It's not a requirement for a class to have a teacher and a teaching assistant. There will need to be a sound educational reason to fund one, and it won't just be so the children will get a little bit more attention.

TAs are invaluable and yes, with class sizes what they are, children who have only the class teacher and no additional support do miss out. If the school could afford one they'd almost certainly have one. I guess you can voice your concerns but they can't magic up more funding. This is just one of the results of cutting public funding to the bone for the past decade +. Cheers Tories 👍

In Ireland classes don’t have TA’s at all.

There’s absolutely no money. None. Budgets are screwed. Whole class TAs got binned ages ago in the schools I’ve worked in.

Not great but schools have had to make cuts to fund teachers (needed) pay rise which the govt refused to fund plus even with the capped energy bills their bills will have doubled from a year ago. Expect more TAs to not be replaced when they’ve left.

A year 1 class will undoubtedly miss out from only having one adult regularly in their classroom. At least they are still trying to run interventions, but it’s not enough really. All children need some 1-1 time, whatever their ability level, and the teacher deserves some support.

You can talk to the school about it but they will probably agree with you and be unable to do anything because they can’t magic up enough money to pay more TAs the pittance they earn.

They are funded either by a child’s needs or several childs needs, these are usually SEN TAs, class TA and herbal support are funded by the school.
The money has dried up.

They aren’t going to get one because your child is shy.

None of my children have TAs in their rooms, their teachers would probably appreciate one but the children are doing fine so I wouldn't worry about it

Can anyone tell me how long TAs have been a thing? When were they introduced, does anyone know?

A lot of public schools don't have them anymore as they simply can't afford them. My school is lucky in that it has one for every classroom, but if someone was to leave they wouldn't necessarily be replaced, we have been told the budget is reduced by £40k this year...

Always a big shame but becoming more usual these days. When I started teaching 10 years ago I had a TA in my Y1 class full-time. I'm currently a SAHM but do ad hoc supply at my old school and there hasn't been a TA in most classes for years.

Definitely budgets too. The longer teachers are at a school, they become more experienced and therefore tend to cost more and money will be delegated to teachers (amongst other things of course) over a class TA.

A huge shame there isn't more funding because TAs are invaluable.

As above. The changing into her ballet clothes was a dangerous precedent in my opinion, very kind of her but where does that end if lots of parents wanted it.
Back to your point. I’d see how things go before going in, give the teacher a chance first.

Not sure but a very long time. We had TAs at our state primary in the early 1990s.

I suddenly feel very lucky that there is a class TA and a SEND TA (who although has her named child, is still an extra pair of eyes/hands/trusted adult in the classroom) in my sons Y1 class.

Whilst I agree they’re not absolutely necessary, they must free up so much teacher time by dealing with some of the practical issues and their own teaching/assisting of the children.

Thank you @RoutineLow.

I've taught year 1 with no class TA for the past 4 years.

There is no money.

TAs were definitely employed in the 80s in my LA. I also had the budget for SEN TAs before it was devolved to schools: I worked for a LA. I think some schools had assistants when classes were routinely well over 30. Back in the 60s, I was in a y6 class of 40 with no assistant. Some DC went out for one to one reading help with a SEN teacher. Very far removed from what any child gets today.

Apparently teacher aides were introduced in the 1960s and they became known as Teaching Assistants on the 2000s

I was in school in the 60s and 70s and I never saw a teachers aide. It was one teacher, 30 students, and that was that.

Where am I it’s more unusual to have a PSA (what we call them in Scotland). They’re usually one-to-ones for specific children, whether that’s officially what they’re hired for or not

I was in school in the 60s and 70s and I never saw a teachers aide. It was one teacher, 30 students, and that was that.

They didn't have inclusion as a policy back then.

This is a direct impact of the government's systematic and long-term underfunding of schools, OP. Unacceptable, but there's no point in taking it up with the school. Try your MP.

I started teaching in the mid 90s - there were no TAs in my classes then. I had a volunteer mum in my class in 98 - where I was teaching, this was very much around the start of the "Mums Army" who soon after became TAs. I didn't have a full time TA until 2001.

That sounds normal. My children never really had a class TA - it was only SEN or those with EHCP that got any help. It's a luxury I would say.

Having taught year one, yes very concerned.

I imagine there is a very dire level of no money to get to that point. Your only solution is to move school to one that had more reserves and/or was lucky wi to staff sickness over covid so is a bit less broke.