1 TA for Reception and Y1. What's the fairest way of allocating support?

[atwirlandadietcoke]

I am the Y1 teacher and I am on my knees. I spoke to the HT and she agreed and told me to sort it out with R for the last term.

Option 1- TA in R in the mornings and Y1 in the afternoons
Option 2- R Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Y1 Tuesday, Thursday
Option 3- Group based support- e.g. mini nurture group to start the morning, fine motor support, gross motor, reading group, taking children from both classes as required.

The Reception teacher is pissed off and says none of the above suit. I'm planning on going to HT to say I prefer Option 3, and try and set that up. Does anyone else have any other ideas?

I don't see how a reception teacher could possibly manage without a TA for whole days so that option is definitely out IMO

Ask the yR teacher what their 'pinch points' are, when they think they most need a TA and go from there? That way she is coming up with the solution not just pushing back?

She is not happy and says she needs someone all of the time. I have taught Reception and I know how hard it is, but mine are not that much older and I've not had any TA time at all (in fact this year or the year before). I'm really on my knees here.

I'm not even asking for a 50/50 split, I know she needs the most time.

I think if she is saying she needs someone all of the time, and you are saying you need some support, there's no compromise available. So go with the option you prefer the most BUT I would also say to the head that you think what is really needed is more TAs (I know funding, etc, but that's not your problem as such).

If a full time TA is needed in YR, but you also need some support (which I totally think is reasonable, by the way), then the answer is to employ a separate part time TA to support you either in the mornings or a few days a week. I know that's very easy for me to say, but not easy to do, but if you keep struggling on because the YR teacher needs the support more, then the current situation will continue to be seen as okay.

If the reception teacher raises it with you, then I think you point out that you both need TA support, and suggest that you raise it with the head together that another TA is really needed.

Are you a one form entry school? How many TAs are there in the school?

Are there any general TAs elsewhere in the school or only 1:1s with specific children?

Yes, we're one form entry. We used to have 7 TAs and we'd all have one each, but we're down to four through resignations and budget cuts. The other 3 are all 1-1 and can't be taken away.

I know that's very easy for me to say, but not easy to do, but if you keep struggling on because the YR teacher needs the support more, then the current situation will continue to be seen as okay.

Yes. It's just got to the point where I can't struggle on any more. I'm so disappointed and frustrated that the YR teacher just can't see this. The grim fact is that next year will be the same.

Are there any times of day Reception is winding down and doesn't require so many adults? Ours finish a little earlier for lunch for example and spend longer in the afternoon having a story. Even having someone for half an hour at 11.30 or whatever would make a huge difference to you I'm sure, especially if it were replicated in the afternoon so you knew they could pick up some jobs with individual children who need it. It's ridiculous for a Y1 class to have no TA support ever I think.

It's up to the head to sort this out and make the decision about where the TA is allocated. Go back to them and ask them to talk to the reception teacher and then come up with the timetable. Not great to share though for either of you!

What about parent volunteers in reception in the afternoons to free up the TA for year 1. I realise that there is a lot that volunteers can’t do but they could supervise groups doing free play, art work or read with small groups. Disclaimer, I’m not a teacher myself but volunteered in my dc’s primary school including lunchtime supervision mopping up spilt drinks for the infants.

The trouble with asking for parent volunteers can be that in many schools, my own included, they can't work within their own child's class. Once parents find out that they will be somewhere else, they tend to drop out!

That’s a shame. I was always able to help with my dc’c classes but I can understand the reasoning behind not allowing that.

It's certainly not the case everywhere that you can't volunteer in your child's class. We only have 2 or 3 classes depending on the school roll at the time so it's inevitable if we have volunteers. It's ridiculous though that we are in a situation where volunteers are the answer to a problem like the OP's. Schools should be properly staffed! Even for things like readers - why is hearing children read not part of what schools hire people to do? (Yes I know the answer is budgets).

As I understand it’s a legal requirement to have a full time TA in EYFS in reception. So if that’s true they are breaking some rules there.