1:1 TA - how would I know if s/he is also used for other children?

[chocjunkie]

DD will start school next Sept and we are looking at a number of options (MS, SS, Resourced unit).

Met somebody on the weekend at a party who happens to work as 1:1 TA for a child with SN. according to statement, she is only there for this boy.

she told me that she gets used a lot to work with the other children, sometimes not even spending an entire morning with the boy. the parents are unaware of this, school is covering it up. she said this happens a lot and seems to happen even more since the cuts started biting.

so I basically wondered, if we would go down the MS route with 1:1 TA, how could I make sure that TA is not used by school fir other children? DD would not be able to tell me (s&l severly delayed).

i dont think you can monitor this at all, speaking as an ex TA (who had to give up to care for own child with ASD). I had my hours timetabled to specific children but if there was an emergency with an unstatemented child then i would be called away. I spent 10 years in the same school and dependant on how much the statemented did actually "need" depended on how often i would be put with other children. Eg: I worked with a lad with ADHD who was very very needy and i did spend 20 hours a week 1:1 with him and another TA covered the other hours so he was never alone as he was a danger to himself (lovely lovely lad by the way). On the other hand I had a girl with Aspergers who once working in the class i could float in the classroom and help other kids and keep checking up on her, she needed more support at social breaks. It is a hard job! You have to do as the SENCO tells you, they are pushed because of staff shortages. When I first started as a TA in 1999 there were 43 of us in the secondary school, fast forward to 2009 (when i left) and our team had been cut to 10 and thats in a secondary school of 2,000 pupils. My own 7 year old son is now in a SS and im so pleased i dont have to continue the fight with mainstream, his class is tiny, 8 children, 4 staff, he gets all the support he needs and the staff are much more approachable

I'm also a TA for a statemented child. Unless your DD needs constant supervision to keep them safe it's very unlikely that a TA will spend every second of their time with her. My job has been more to be there whenever the DC needs me, (in case of problems both socially and academically) and to try to enable greater independence as well as taking him for individual interventions and small group work.

For some DC it is better to swoop in when needed but fade away to enable them to mix socially and learn independence. During that fade away I certainly help other children. That also helps the DC to stand out less. Again it depends on the level of need. The DC I support at the moment has needed less actual 1:1 as he has matured, but that has been due to the successful support he received when he was younger.

It is true, however, that if a DC is generally well behaved and not disruptive, they could get less attention than perhaps they need. The unstatemented child I supported in another school in Reception was pretty challenging and I spent every moment with him or very near him, while the unstatemented child in the parallel class with more obvious SN (in my opinion) but very passive, received very little support.

My own DS has a statement of 15 + 5 hours and his TA in primary was timetabled to work with other DC. I 'knew' this unofficially but because it was working for him I didn't kick up a fuss. Again, he had lots of 1:1 initially but this reduced as he matured. In secondary he is back to having 20 hours 1:1 (or maybe 1:2) and it's working for him.

I think that there is not necessarily a problem with some time being spent with other children as long as it is not done to the statemented child's detriment. In fact it can be helpful of several fronts:

• independence

-inclusion -helps school see the intervention positively (sadly many don't see statements as a help but rather as a burden)

This is always dependent on (a) the needs of the child being properly met and (b) the ability of the TA to know when to intervene and when to fade away. Not all TAs are capable of such flexibility.

thank you brandy and ellen.

DD is very quite, shy, withdrawn. behaves very well at nursery. no challenging, agressive or disruptive behaviours. but due to her s & l delay (and possibly asd) will need a lot support to learn. in that light, your post, ellen, makes worrying reading.

the lady I spoke to told me also that the schools attitude was often that they did not expect children with (more severe) difficulties to make a lot of progress anyways and therefore felt that the TA would be wasted on such a child. hence using her for the NT children

Too true, AT. And even when you think you have it sussed you can still get it wrong, sometimes.

Chocjunkie, that isn't the attitude at the school I work at currently. And even in the previous school, neither DC had statements. The DC with obvious SN had parents in denial and the school were struggling to get outside agencies in.

You need to discuss this frankly with the school SENCo to try to get a feel for their ethos. I do not allow myself to be 'used' for other children unless I feel it is appropriate for the DC I support, I always work with his group unless he is in the teacher's group for example. It can vary from teacher to teacher but I feel the SENCo is in agreement that any time I spend with other children mustn't be to the detriment of the child I support.

Oh my god chockie that is , so they just give up on children then! My dd 4.5 has just started foundation, and has a TA that works with her constantly 1:1 as she is quite challenging any cannot work independently at this stage. My dd has 15+10 hours on her statement.

dd is making progress though which is good

and comes home from her MS school happy and smiling which is the main thing.

hi there,
my ds is adhd and does not have a statement,he got diagnosed 2 weeks ago,
he has been sat next to 2 children who have a statement with 1-1,
the teacher told me at the parent meeting last week that they use the other childrens ta with mine to....
and sometimes they call a ta from another class if he needs it,she said its not often though,around 3/4 times a week for half hr-an hr,to take him out of class,just to calm him,
and the ta in the class stays near him to remind him to stay calm,not shout answers etc,
im guessing the other parents dont know about this,
im going to see if i can get my ds some 1-1,but i expect that if i do they wouldnt be with him all the time,and to be honest i wouldnt want them to be as i feel he needs to learn by himself too,i hope im making sense :)

yep, piglet. I hope this attitude is rather the exception.

glad your DD is making good progress :)

I hope that it is choc what bad attitude, sounds like something that would happen about 30-40 years ago, not now