Very Happy here - Avis employé Specialist Teaching Assistant Outcomes First Group

None are obvious so far beyond a little investment in superficial things like a new coat of paint, and a new minibus which isn't being used very much!

Too many compulsory corporate training tasks that take up valuable teaching time and are very generic in nature. Interference with school systems and policies in the name of 'compliance' with group systems Large sums of money spent on wining and dining the big wigs while teaching staff have a very poor pension scheme and are not allowed to have a glass of wine at Christmas, even off school premises. Made to feel bad for not giving positive feedback in a workplace survey even though we are being honest. Lots of fancy mission statement stuff but unrealistic expectation on staff. Money more important than pupils Conflicting messages from above Rubbish IT systems Poor delivery of promised improvements and investment Poor communication

I personally have a good team and generally understanding SLT. My pay is a decent for the market. Wonderful children to work with.

They push for everyone to complete the “Great Place to Work” survey with silly incentives, but address none of the issues raised once their corporate staff give them praise. 4 day working week is the first thing in all their job adverts yet it has not been implemented in many of the settings, mine included. It is a tough job when working with complex cases and is to be expected, I believe my SLT are doing their best with absolutely no resources or budget being given to them. We often get site visits from OFG corporate management who seem to have no perspective of what we’re dealing with and who slate and change everything we’re doing based on their beliefs rather than rationale or best practice. We are supposed to be therapeutic in our approaches, but the company seems to expect our SEN students to fit into a one size fits all box and it’s only therapeutic when not under the gaze of inspections or management. Regulation first is often preached but not practiced. Clinical staff doing their best but neither clinical nor teaching staff have the capacity to implement a lot of the measures suggested. Many staff not qualified to be working with SEN, but due to shortages are being hired regardless. Staff safety not a priority, injuries treated as a given rather than actively looking for a solution as to why these situations occur.