Hi all,
Just need a space to vent and maybe others have some similar experiences! Taught for a few years now and loved teaching. This year however is another story altogether. Lack of funding, no support staff, just under a third of the class with needs this includes asd, adhd.
Because I have no permanent TA (we share so I have 1 hour support a day) I have to somehow stretch myself to support all these needs and just physically can't, the SLT response is we just have to train ourselves. A normal day could look like this, I'm trying to teach and I have 3 children (asd) all crying at the same time as something has upset them. One is hitting themselves, then other children start copying these behaviours. Another autistic pupil is completely disengaged and will sit on the carpet just talking or singing to himself, as he used to have 1:1 last year but not enough funding to have one this year. All whilst I stand to try and teach the whole class, feeling helpless I can't help them all.
It's just absolutely mental trying to cope with this all. I try my absolute best and have spoken to SENDO who is actively trying to support but it won't happen quickly as there are many other needs across the school. I just feel like it's a crap time to be working in education.
Then on top of this the parents can be so horrible, a parent approached me to say their child thinks I don't like them and we must validate this child's feelings. And I see other teachers being accused of all sorts and I just think to myself this is so undeserved, parents just believe pretty much anything their told by their kids (not saying they shouldn't ofcourse we'd investigate any accusation) but honestly some of them are so absurd. The career I once loved, and a part of me still does, is being ruined by these experiences.
Rant over! Thank you