School has gone downhill

[lollypoplout]

Hello, posting here to get school staff's views but I'm a parent. I did used to work as support staff in a (different) school but it was eight years ago.

My child's school has gone rapidly downhill. Not sure what's changed. It was lovely when he started in 2020 despite covid and all of those issues and they were great over lockdown. My son is in year two. It's a really small school. No SL Team, just the HT, five class teachers and some TAs (but only for the couple of children that need them 1-1, and a class one in Reception).

I know budgets are ridiculous, but that's the same everywhere. This doesn't seem to be just a money issue. It just feels toxic there recently. Parents are really unhappy.

Our teacher went off sick early this year and never came back. The class has had ten (I think or eleven) supply teachers since then and we've been promised, even by the teachers themselves when they arrive and come out to meet the children, they'll be there 'all term' or longer many times but then they disappear after a couple of weeks. One or two I could understand, supply teachers can pick and choose. But this many, this many times? School has just told us they're now recruiting for a permanent replacement.

The class has been in chaos. The children are so unsettled. They're all a bit behind with learning. No one has changed book-bands in 2023. Behaviour isn't great, feels like lots of friendship issues. Our year group was 15 (it's mixed year classes) we're down to 11 as parents are pulling them out. 2 of those children had additional needs and the parents left really upset saying the school had made things so difficult for them and their child by not doing what they were supposed to to support them even though they'd got their EHCPs and TAs that they were left with no choice. Those children are both doing well in their new schools. When they left and took their extra funding with them, their TAs went too.

It's not just our class though. It used to be such a happy place, the staff were friendly and approachable. Parents were welcomed in to help with reading, or lend a hand with art or the children's garden. Not anymore, offers are rebuffed and requests have stopped. The PTA was open and welcoming and though really small, they did lots of little events that we all got involved in or contributed to. Not anymore. The HT regularly used to open the gate in the morning and say good morning to everyone. Not anymore. The caretaker unlocks it and walks off.

We've had three 'emergency' closures in addition to the strikes (which parents were actually largely supportive of) since January. One for example was at 2pm when school closes at 3 because of a problem with the heating which meant they had no hot water. But it was for an hour during the last lesson of the day? The weather was warm, They couldn't have carried on? Nope. Come and collect them all now. Another time we all arrived in the morning and lined up only to be told to go home, something else had broken (might've been plumbing that time) and they were forced to close. It's not an ancient building or anything!

Breakfast and after school club is cancelled at least once a week if not more. Run internally. Late notice, like at 7am that day.

Emails to the office frequently go unanswered despite there being a full time office manager who never leaves her desk! Communication has gone to pot, everything's last minute or wrong. We were also asked to email not phone if possible because she can't always answer the phone. Now sure why, she's sat right there. She's absolutely curmudgeonly.

We've now been told we probably won't get end of year reports for the children because the latest supply isn't returning 'due to unforeseen circumstances' and the new one (who IS staying until the end of term, apparently) won't be able to write them as they don't know the children.

As I said it's a small school, we've only got 11 in our year so everyone knows everyone. Most of the TAs also are school mums too, not from our year through, so word gets around from what they tell their parent friends that things aren't great.

My own child specifically is happy, has nice little friends, seems to be doing ok learning wise. Likely not as well as he could be but I'm not overly worried. But now even I'm considering a move.

Do schools like this sometimes just have a bad year and turn it around? Im reluctant to move my son because he is happy but equally I don't want another year like this one. He will have a permanent teacher next year (unless anything changes!) when he moves to the Y3/4 class. There are 4 parents out of the 11 left who are looking at other options. More in other year groups and more have also left!

Parents have complained individually about various things above. It's brushed off, mostly, and when they do the HT either denies the issue if it's something the child has said or leaves the parent feeling like a nuisance. Chair of Governors just seems to repeat the HTs viewpoint whenever an issue has been escalated to him.

At what point also when so many children leave in such a small school does something change, or someone from the local authority notice whats is going on? Does someone step in? No one knows what's changed, but something most definitely has.

School was Ofsted'd in September and retained its 'Good'.

Thoughts? In your professional opinion, would you move your child or try to ride it out, whatever 'it' is?

‘My own child specifically is happy, has nice little friends, seems to be doing ok learning wise.’

All you need to know. Recruitment is horrendous in schools at the moment with, depending upon area, many schools struggling to find staff especially part way through a year and budgets are the same everywhere. Schools can change within a year as staff changes etc. It sounds like something has triggered some changes at the school recently and this has caused the disruption. I would just keep monitoring and see what happens.

The teacher turnover is worrying, why did all the supply teachers leave? Usually that means that the class is wildly out of control.

If the school is now very unhappy, and parents are pulling their kids out, teachers will be also considering leaving, so you can't assume that next year will be stable I'm afraid.

I'd be looking at other options tbh.

We don't know why all the supply teachers leave. Always things like 'they had committed to stay, but unforeseen circumstances' blah blah. Or nothing! We arrive and instead of the teacher who was apparently staying until the end of term, we've got a new person on the door. The children don't know whether they're coming or going.

No one's been told of massive behavioural issues that would suggest the class is wild. Behaviour isn't great in terms of there's been a lot of bickering/fallings out/mean things with some of the children which probably seem amplified because there's no one consistent to nip it in the bud. Parents have mostly resolved things amongst themselves with the children. We are really lucky that everyone is quite sensible and rational, and as we're so small and have been together for three years now everyone knows each other fairly well. 6/7 year olds bickering and being a bit mean to each other is quite normal otherwise. When I say behaviour isn't great, I don't mean children are being suspended or parents being called in with serious concerns, etc etc etc. There's a lot of low level stuff, children who chat constantly and mess about on the carpet. That sort of thing.

Wow - that’s concerning for sure and I am concerned especially that the headteacher hasn’t really done anything to resolve the issue. It’s not good enough and if I were you, I’d be escalating this further for sure and reporting it to the chair of governors.

In regards to your own child, if they are settled there, I really wouldn’t move them unless there is a repeat next year - if parents are complaining then drastic action will need to be taken - a school cannot run like this!

The Chair of Governors just seems to repeat whatever the HT's response to the complaint is.

I've not complained myself as I've not had a big specific issue with my child. I am just concerned at the overall change in the school. Everything feels off and tense.

Several parents have ended up complaining to the Chair over different things. The two parents of children with additional needs who left just after Easter did as they both said the school could support their children like they were supposed to, they just didn't want to. They felt that they and wanted them gone before the children reached KS2. I'm not overly familiar with EHCPs but I was told they have very set things that school are supposed to do to help, and they just didn't do any of it. They apparently made their lives so difficult by sending the children home constantly because they 'weren't coping' (like several times a week) the ended up moving the children. The children weren't doing anything terrible, they just needed extra support and they had their own TAs anyway.

The Chair pretty much just repeated with the HT had said to the parents.

I am going to go back and read your post fully, because I do think you are right to have concerns, but just as a quick point, a school legally has to close if it has no hot water, there is no discretion or an amount of time they can remain open. So that is out of their control.

Okay, my guess is that behaviour in the class is probably worse than you think it is. This would be normal after the term you describe. Reading between the lines I wonder if one or more of the children with SEN was showing extreme behaviour which supply teachers weren't prepared to deal with - this is just a guess but you wouldn't always know. But by this stage I imagine general behaviour has deteriorated. Generally chattiness and bickering can be very wearing if you can't get anything done.

On top of this, it sounds like the supply are being expected to do all marking/planning/normal duties with no support from the head - there's no reason the head couldn't write something on the reports, especially in a small school where they must know the children at least a bit.

Those factors combined probably mean supply teachers leave if something better is offered. I imagine at least some of them had planned to stay long term. If the school is very rural then the cost of getting to the school may also be a factor.

Realistically it sounds like nothing is going to change except that your child will move up to a class with a permanent teacher next year. And that could make a huge difference. Or it might not, or they might find the students coming up very difficult, and look to leave themselves.

Like others I am hesitant to suggest you move a happy child, but I also think it's worth finding out if other local schools have many spaces. You don't want to get to the point where you feel you have to move and find there is nowhere to go (it's different for students with echps). And the end of y2 is a natural break point where you could move a child.

An additional burden for supply teachers in Y2 would be the preparation and build up to SATs and Y2 moderation, where if a school is chosen (random but entirely possible) the teacher has a moderation visit having to justify and evidence over 50 complex objectives for every child in reading, writing and maths, and be planning to teach and cover gaps in those assessments - not something any supply teacher would realistically want to be doing....

I agree. Also if it's a small school with mixed age classes it's likely to be a year 1/2 class and with that comes the additional pressure of the phonics screening check.

It's just not worth it for supply teachers. Year 2 workload is hellish.

It seems odd given no change in management and Ofsted out of the way, but in a small school I guess that one teacher off puts a lot of pressure on everyone else.

They're losing over 20% of your child's year group; if that's anywhere near the same across the school, it's entirely possible that they're going to have to lose a class next year. Is the new intake smaller than the outgoing year 6? That will also be putting a lot of stress on things, with redundancy a threat. And normally, if a class has had a bad year, you make sure they get a good strong teacher the next - which with mixed year classes means they'll need to move someone strong to the year 1/2 as well as year 3. Sometimes people are quite happy to move year groups, but sometimes not.