DS's TA - class TA - what do you make of this?

[appropriatelyemployed]

DS has settled really well to his new school. He started in Jan.

He is lucky enough to have a TA who is a qualified teacher. The head recruited someone as soon as we applied to have DS admitted.

She is great and DS gets on really well with her. I have built up a good relationship with the school.

The class (Y3/4) does not have a TA. The older class doesn't either (Y5/6) but Y1/2 have a TA in the morning. I've not really thought much about it. The head is very pro teaching rather than TA staff and has additional teaching staff who come in to do extra lessons with the children and cover planning time.

Anyway, I was talking to another mum today (I don't really know anyone yet) and she asked me if DS's TA was the class TA. I explained the situation.

She then told me that there had been a class TA but that she had left at Christmas just before DS joined. She hadn't wanted to leave so it seems she had basically been sacked.

I remembered at the school carol concert there had been a presentation for a TA who had worked at the school for years so everyone seemed really sad to see her go. It seems that this was was the former class TA for DS's class.

What do you make of this? I have faith that DS's TA is supporting him and I have no issue with her helping others too as he doesn't need man marking. I am just a bit surprised to find someone sacked like this because another TA was joining.

I don't want to jump to conclusions and think they were getting rid of a TA as they were intending to use DS's TA as class TA but am I being naiive not to think that?

Maybe she wasn't very good or maybe it would have been odd with 2 qualified teachers and a TA in the class. The head is quite new and there has been a big change of staff (as often happens with a new head)since he joined.

What would you make of it?

I would take it all with a pinch of salt tbh. Just because the previous TA said she didn't want to leave doesn't mean she was sacked (and they can't just sack someone because they want to give the job to another person).

That's true. The gossip network at schools is generally to be steered away from.

The mum was very keen to tell me how the other TA had been forced out.

Just seemed odd.

Why does it matter if she had been forced out and is upset about it she is an adult who can complain.......

The Mum seems like a bit of a stirer best to keep in with so you know what she is upto but beaware.

Thanks. It was a bit odd. As soon as she said it, she started saying 'I shouldn't have said anything, don't tell anyone I told you....'

But she did seem peeved that the class had lost a TA (I assume for the mornings) and DS had his own.

The she started about how her daughter was getting 'average' grades and it shouldn't be just those 'falling behind' who get help as her daughter was capable of much more than 'average'.

Mmmm, perhaps that was it. She thinks DS is getting special attention that her child should be sharing.

I had to point out that DS wasn't 'falling behind' but needed help just to be in school and cope with it.

She was probably just sounding me out for info. Small school, DS can be quite obvious and started a couple of months after his brother cos it took the LA ages to sort out the statement. People are probably gossiping and wondering.

She sounds delightful!

Yes! Thanks for giving me a bit of perspective!

'Don't tell anyone I told you?'

What is she, 12?

There is no way you can trust her account of anything. Her motivation is clearly questionable.

If the other TA had been there years, she was probably old school and not able to move forwards with the times.

There are a few of these in most schools, they make tea and mix paint and make other TA's look stupid in meetings.

I wouldnt worry about it, i have been on both sides and after 18 years of standing in the playground listening to some of the shite that comes out of peoples mouths i now arrive at school at the last minute and stay out of it.

Your ds is very lucky to have a good TA, i hope it continues to work out for you.

Can you have an informal word with the HT and ask if they are intending to replace the TA who left in January as some of the other parents have been asking about this and are a bit confused as to why the class does not have a TA anymore also that you don't want the children to wonder why your child is different and has a TA. We had a similar situation my Dd is 5 and school have recruited a full time TA for her whilst the other one "decided to leave" I was unsure about this too! I have made it quite clear that my dd's TA is HER TA though I had to fight bloody hard to get her so am not happy if the school think it is a salary saving exercise. They are not recruiting a class TA.

Sorry that was supposed to say they ate NOW recruiting class TA. Stupid fat fingers !

ARE NOW! Ffs

Thanks. We have our AR next week and I am flagging up the need for more hours. I wasn't aware there had previously been a TA but one of the things I can now say is that there obviously isn't a class TA so without this TA, there is no one to help DS. I can quietly mention the 'questioning' of other parents in that context. The head is very approachable.

DS has 20 hours but they have employed the TA for much more than that. She is basically full-time.

I assume, if the other one was doing just mornings, then they have put extra hours on so that there is only one person in the class.

Our HT has said to us TAs in the past that she uses her allocated SEN budget to keep us all (1 per class) but if a need arises for that budget to be used for 1-to-1 then we would have to be redistributed/let go. Maybe the same has applied previously in your school. Although teachers who come in to do extra lessons would cost a lot more than a TA! Perhaps they just don't have a very high opinion of TAs.

In DS1s class, they combined 2 classes into 1, yr4 - and it is a class of 35. We were told not to worry as there was a teacher, full time TA (HLTA) and an am and pm TA support. What they failed to mention was that the am and pm TA were 1-1 support for a lad with CP. What they also neglected to factor in was that there are several children en route to statement, several who like my DS need support, but in our LEA highly unlikely to get a statement.
Consequently, those others have had a lack of support and are all noticeably suffering from it. The schools response - there is enough TA time within the class as it is a school resource and the 1-1s are there to be able to help with other aspects of the class.
So I see it from both sides. Yes, 1-1 should be 1-1, but TA support should also be available for the rest of the class - they need to recruit ASAP.

In my DS's case, his TA was his for 15 hours, but they employed her full time, (well, 25 hours) so she was also the class TA from Y3 onwards. Before my DS, juniors had never had their own class TA, they'd had a mixture of 1:1s and one floating TA. From my DS starting juniors, they had a TA in each class, mornings only.

When my DS left, they made his TA redundant, (which came as a shock to her,) and are back to y5 and y4 sharing a TA. I knew she was used as the class TA as she worked with the lower groups and took children out for interventions, but my DS didn't need her permanently, wasn't in the bottom groups, but she was there if he had a strop.

Other parents were actually grateful that their class had a full time TA, as they wouldn't have had otherwise, so slightly different to your case. The children did get a bit sick of her, though. No reflection on her, but 7 years with the same TA...

I think schools have very limited budgets and if they have dead wood it can be very hard to get rid of it. Your DS needing a qualified (appropriately trained!) TA might have been the excuse they needed to lose this other TA. I'm sure your DS's TA will help other children, it's almost impossible not to in a class when DC put up their hands, and your DS, as you say, doesn't need man marking, that's quite an unhealthy way to support. She's there primarily for your DS, though.

I support a DC 15 hours, but I'm in addition to the class TA. I support the group he's working with, generally, with 2 x weekly 1:1 sessions of 1/2 hour each during other groups guided reading, so he never misses whole class lessons. It works well, although he flounders somewhat in the afternoons. Hard not to make him 'reliant' on my prompting, but he gets practise at this in the afternoons!

When my ds was moved to KS2, the school decided that they only needed the CT and that ds's TA could help out. Ds had 25 hours 1:1. In theory, she was primarily there to help ds but really, she was there to help the class teacher. Ds was left to his own devices that year. Eg. there was another boy who suffered from sensory overload so ds and this boy would leave concerts when it got too much for the boy, despite the fact that ds loves music. They explained it away by saying ds said he wanted to leave - ds had limited speech then and would agree with whatever they said.

When ds's behaviour got too challenging (because of their neglect and his confusion etc), and they had to assign his TA to him exclusively, it became obvious that the class could not function without a class TA helping the Class Teacher and another was quickly hired in the middle of the school year.

In my ds's case, the allocation of number and hours of TA needed for the class was determined primarily by the school's budget despite ds's statement. Ds is no longer in the school and his old class still needs a full time TA.

Appropriately, this woman probably resents the fact that your ds has help and probably feels that her dd needs that help too. However, if her dd does need that help then perhaps it is understandable why she is upset, even if it is misdirected.

Thanks for all your comments. They're very helpful.

I will mention it to the head very generally next time we speak - just casually inquire about a lack of class TA and how that fits with statementing hours.

I suppose the thing is as well that this TA is also a teacher so they actually have two teachers in the classroom full-time now.

I am aware that there is an element of jealousy from other Mums about the fact that DD has 1:1 support from a TA at school, which I find really hard to understand! They just don't seem to get it at all! We fought hard at a tribunal to get her the support and therapy she needs - they really have no idea at all! She is in mainstream with 25 hours 1:1.

Personally, I don't tend to get involved in the day to day running of the school, unless it directly affects DD - such as when her TA is off sick and she is left unsupported I have enough on my plate.