A quick question

[Sooze2]

Just a quickie, if both class TA's (1:1's) are off sick should the school put a replacement in a class of 37 childen?

[chris54]

The short answer is yes, but of course the school will not have spare staff just in case some one is off sick, and will need to redeploy their staff as necessary. They are able to call on agency or bank staff if needed and if available, but they would do little more than mind the children and be at a considerable cost to the school.

 

It is always a problem when staff go off sick, At my place of work there is a list up on the wall asking for volunteers who will be able to work at short notice to cover staff sickness (swine flu) so far there is one name on it.

[Karen A]

Hi.

The LA rather than the school are responsible for the provision documented in the Statements of any children in the class with Statements.So it would be worth contacting them if your child has TA support documented.

If there are no children in the class with Statements which specify TA support then there is no obligation for TAs to be in class at all.The only exception is in cases where the number of children of a particular age requires that there is more than one adult.This is usually only the case in reception where there are several under 5s in a large class.

I checked this issue with ACE last year when my son's TA was in effect the class TA so am pretty certain of the facts.

With delegated funding the HT can spend the money how they wish in order to support the IEPs of children with SEN.So if the HT could show that no extra adults were needed but computers would meet the requirement of the IEPS of children at SA and SAplus there is nothing to prevent them having no extra adults at all.

Karen.

[Sooze2]

There are 2 statemented children in the class - both have 1:1 and both have allocated TA's but neither were there yesterday. One of the children is my son, the other boy had a teacher with him for part of the day and when one TA is not there the other boy has the available TA - both boys have the same diagnoses but very very different and my boy also has ADHD to contend with on top. It wouldn't worry me if this was isolated but one day last week his TA was in another school doing dancing with some of his schools freinds and so he had no support. They have only just decided where he gets help in class but some of the lessons where they say he gets help I know he doesn't. I am not informed, my son tells me at the end of the day.

 

Last week he spent a whole lesson unsuported copying from the white board, I would love to see what he acheived as he has writing and concentration difficulties so very little I assume. Yesterday he said he wrote down 2 answers to questions on the board in the whole maths lesson.

 

Any information I get results from me discussing things with the PSA, after every conversation with PSA I end up getting dirty looks from the SENCO in the playground (I'm not imagining it!). The PSA is the only person who gets things done and the only person who will give me information. I have a meeting with the CHAMS OT on Friday to go over the statement and see where she thinks he needs support, what interventions should have been put in place etc - she asked me if Autism Outreach have returned my call (one last week, one the week before) but I said no. No one seems to want to talk to me and the OT said she has exactly the same problem with DS's school - every time she asks for info or tries to give them info she is met with a brick wall and they won't communicate with her.

 

I will see what the OT says of Friday then will phone the LEA, if they are responsible for the overseeing of support then I will have to go directly to them.

 

 

[Karen A]

There are 2 statemented children in the class - both have 1:1 and both have allocated TA's but neither were there yesterday. One of the children is my son, the other boy had a teacher with him for part of the day and when one TA is not there the other boy has the available TA - both boys have the same diagnoses but very very different and my boy also has ADHD to contend with on top. It wouldn't worry me if this was isolated but one day last week his TA was in another school doing dancing with some of his schools freinds and so he had no support. They have only just decided where he gets help in class but some of the lessons where they say he gets help I know he doesn't. I am not informed, my son tells me at the end of the day.

 

Last week he spent a whole lesson unsuported copying from the white board, I would love to see what he acheived as he has writing and concentration difficulties so very little I assume. Yesterday he said he wrote down 2 answers to questions on the board in the whole maths lesson.

 

Any information I get results from me discussing things with the PSA, after every conversation with PSA I end up getting dirty looks from the SENCO in the playground (I'm not imagining it!). The PSA is the only person who gets things done and the only person who will give me information. I have a meeting with the CHAMS OT on Friday to go over the statement and see where she thinks he needs support, what interventions should have been put in place etc - she asked me if Autism Outreach have returned my call (one last week, one the week before) but I said no. No one seems to want to talk to me and the OT said she has exactly the same problem with DS's school - every time she asks for info or tries to give them info she is met with a brick wall and they won't communicate with her.

 

I will see what the OT says of Friday then will phone the LEA, if they are responsible for the overseeing of support then I will have to go directly to them.

 

Hi.The LEA are responsible it is what the COP says in all cases in England and Wales.

Do write and document your concerns.Phone conversations are easily forgotten.

Please do chase this up and do not give anyone the benefit of your generosity.

I am sounding rather cynical having spent three years whilst my son was at his previous school discovering every cunning scheme available for using LSAs.Even the teachers thought that Ben's TA was supporting another child.

 

http://www.ipsea.org.uk/sevenfixes.htm#NonImplementation

There is a draft letter on this link that might be useful.You could always add a note to say that you are aware that cover is not being provided for staff sickness and you believe the LEA should ensure this is provided.It may be sorted out much more quickly if the LEA contact the school.They may well not be aware of the issue.This course of action will also demonstrate to the school that you are aware of the issues.

Karen.

Edited October 9, 2009 by Karen A

[Kazzen161]

In most schools, if a child's 1:1 TA was ill, they would redeploy a (non 1:1) TA from another class to cover. The statemented children should have priority in these situations.

[Karen A]

In most schools, if a child's 1:1 TA was ill, they would redeploy a (non 1:1) TA from another class to cover. The statemented children should have priority in these situations.

 

Ah but that is in most schools.Some schools do not have TAs other than those funded to work 1:1.

I think in that case a TA is redeployed from the child who has 1:1 who has parents who might not notice.

 

[av16]

I am a senco at 2 different schools, in one if a 1:1 TA is off then the class TA will take over, which obviously has an effect on the whole class. In my other school we use agency TAs for SEN provision and so any 1:1 TAs off are always covered. This is due to different size of school and consequently different budgets plus possibly a different way of thinking?