One To One Support

[Guest]

Hi all

Not sure if I have put this in the right discussion forum.

Would like to ask whether any of you currently or previously have been involved in one to one (SEN) support in schools?

 

If so what are the good points about your job? Do they outweigh the negatives?

 

Hope you can help

[Lucie]

I think ''one to one'' varies tremendously depending on the child that you are supporting and their needs. I also think that the experience differs based on the school that you are working in and the support amongst other staff and the general morale on the whole.

 

Sorry, not much help I suppose

 

Lucie

[Guest LornaW]

There are times when a child will need lots of one to one support becasue of their physical needs and if this is so it is really important that the adult likes the child as it will be a very close relationship. This will as Lucie has already said depend on settings, school circumstances and will vary!

 

However often chldren who need one to one can also benefit at times by that person just standing back every now and again to get some feeling of independence and freedom. then there are those children who have so much one to one that they become too reliant on the support and can never manage on thier own.

 

If you are wondering about it how about visiting a special school and vounteer for a couple of days to get a feel for it. I have seen it work so very well both in a special school where the children have severe physical difficulties but the adults supported them so well they also had a wonderful sense of self! I have also seen it work amazingly in a pack away pre school so I think it is all down to a wish to support and to like the child then there should be no negatives!

 

Lorna

Edited March 22, 2011 by LornaW

[klc106]

I have done one-to-one work with children with varying needs such as autism and severe epilepsy. I have to say I think it is fantastic

and it provides a good source of support and continuity for the child and provides the practitioner with great sense of self worth. I also think that parents often need the support of one-to-one workers to know that their child is being cared for and having their needs met in the best possible way. I do not have anything negative to say about one to one work.

[Guest]

Thank you

I have previously worked in special schools and have done one to one support in a pre school setting, I have enjoyed both, and was wondering whether the same level of enjoyment applied to those of you who work within the classroom - what is it likehaving to follow the lead of the teacher? Do you have any autonomy at all? I am not suggesting that you should be autonomous it is only a query at this stage? I had heard of some schools where the 'one to one' assistant often finds themselves doing other duties around the school and very little one to one support - would you say this was common?

[Guest]

In my school we have 5 children with statements (2 in my class-reception) all of whom have 1-1 support for some of the week. The TAs for each of these children work with these children in a variety of ways 1-1 withdrawal for targeted work. Supporting within a group and supporting within the whole class all depending on needs. It's a tricky one because yes they are there for that particular child but they are not going to ignore the other children on a table if they need help. In my experience if the child has a statement and has 1-1 then that TA support is pretty much sacred and is not borrowed so it is not the norm for 1-1 TAs to be working all over the place. what I would say though is that the 2 TAs I have who support individual children make use of every spare minute they have and do things for the whole class when they see it needing doing (without being asked) eg sharpening pencils/photocopying/laminating etc if their child is occupied or working with someone else. I worked at a school where there was a child who had very severe epilepsy and so had a TA for her 1-1 all through the day who was trained to deal with her fits should she have one. Academically though, she was bright and had no issues with her learning so for the most part the TA was used to support the other children in the class so really it depends on what the 1-1 support is for.