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How many children per T.A?

13 replies

LinBadd64 · 23/10/2012 10:14

Not sure if this is in the right place so please feel free to move it if it would be better placed elsewhere.

Does anyone know how many T.A,s should be working within a group of children, some are statemented, school action and additional learning needs children?

Thank you for your help in advance.

OP posts:
StarlightMcKenzie · 23/10/2012 10:16

What is the context?

TBH it could be any number depending on the age of the children, the qualifications of the TA and the actual wording of those children's statements.

LinBadd64 · 23/10/2012 10:28

Would one T.A be sufficient for around 2 S, 2 SA and 3 ALNR in a mainstream class of pupils?

OP posts:
StarlightMcKenzie · 23/10/2012 10:29

It wouldn't be sufficient imo, but it could well be legal, depending on what the 2 statements say.

What's ALNR

LinBadd64 · 23/10/2012 10:36

Thank you StarlightMcKenzie I didn't think one T.A is enough, not sure what they may do if T.A needs to leave group with one of the Statemented children. ANLR - additional learning needs register.

OP posts:
StarlightMcKenzie · 23/10/2012 10:40

Well if you think there is a safety issue then you should probably raise it. If anything happens then there is a paper trail of your raised concern.

zzzzz · 23/10/2012 11:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LinBadd64 · 23/10/2012 11:17

zzzzz just think one T.A to support all in OP is a bit much. Especially if one of the statemented and T.A have to leave the room leaving teacher and the other S, SA, ALNR and mainstream pupils. Could be safety issue.

OP posts:
zzzzz · 23/10/2012 11:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LinBadd64 · 23/10/2012 11:28

zzzzz if statemented child 2 starts having any issues and the T.A support is not around because they have had to leave with statemented child 1 then the learning of the rest of the group is suffering.

OP posts:
zzzzz · 23/10/2012 13:11

This reply has been deleted

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Lougle · 23/10/2012 13:26

I agree with zzzzzz

"2 S, 2 SA and 3 ALNR"

Well...the 2 with a Statement could just require help with toileting and mobility, but be fine cognitively, which means that they would be independent in teaching time.

The two with School Action could have some fine motor weaknesses, so fine in phonics session, but need more help in literacy.

The 3 with 'Additional Learning Needs' also could have any type of additional needs.

It really doesn't give any indication of how much support they need.

In Special School, DD1 is in a class of 10, with 1 teacher and 3 teaching assistants. So that is a ratio of 1:2.5, but all the children have SEN severe enough to make Mainstream education unsuitable.

bochead · 23/10/2012 14:13

This is one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions.

A qualified teacher should be able to teach a class of 30 children without any major special needs alone. A TA in most classes, is not a neccessity. The ONLY exception to this is children with statements in mainstream. This is something I think ALL parents should be given more awareness of, given the current austerity climate or schools risk getting flack from the general public for something completely beyond their control.

A lot depends on what the statements specify. Contrary to popular belief a statement may not actually contain ANY TA time at all - I had a lad on teaching practice like this. At the opposite extreme my mother taught kids in a mainstream school that had 2 TA's per child at all times.

School Action has already been explained, and really is no big deal. Kids hop on and off the school action register at various points in their school careers all the time. It's just to flag up additional in-house support and a child may be placed on this if they seem to be falling behind in one subject, or when recovering from an op etc. Or as described above they just need a writing slope and pencil grip.

School Action Plus is the tricky group to quantify as sadly lots of children with this status SHOULD have a statement really but for various reasons don't. These children require the input of resources external to the school such as SALT, or an EP.

In order to get a statement a child's needs have to vary from the norm quite considerably, but there are MANY more forms of educational support than just the use of a TA.

ALNR could just mean children for whom English isn't their first language but who are now at the stage where they just need the odd specialist or scientific word explained to them, so just need a watchful eye kept rather than full on TA support in the classroom iyswim.

If you genuinely feel your child needs more TA time then the only way to guarantee this legally is via the formal statementing process.

EllenJaneisstillnotmyname · 23/10/2012 18:11

When I supported a DC with a statement it was for 15 hours a week as per the statement. The class had a TA each morning as well. In the afternoons all 30 DC were taught by the teacher alone. Admittedly my charge didn't get a lot of work done without me prompting but it was completely safe. There was another DC having statutory assessment and a couple of others on SA+ and half a dozen on SA. If there really needs to be full time 1:1 for any DC on h & s grounds, then they will soon have that on their statement, violent behaviour is usually the quickest/easiest way to get support, IME.

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