The parents of children attending The Fulham Bilingual are very concerned that the GS and CP classes do not have a full-time Teaching Assistant on English days. We feel the quality of their education is at risk without the adequate teaching support.

We would like immediate action by Holy Cross to recruit further Teaching Assistants so each class has a dedicated full-time Teaching Assistant.

Currently the GS and CP classes at The Fulham Bilingual (60 pupils in each Year Group) do not have a full time Teaching Assistant

Our children are in a unique environment, where they are learning a combined bilingual programme and for many children English is not their first language. These children require extra support. This is not available to them with the current staffing shortages.

With CP sitting national tests in the summer term, the teacher has a very limited time in which to get the 60 pupils the required SATs level. (Less than 20 weeks of teaching to cover the curriculum of a 39 week academic year)

The absence of a dedicated class Teaching Assistant is restricting the time the teacher has to give any 1-1 time with the children. In particular reading; the opportunity is limited with the GS children and there is no 1-1 reading opportunities for the CP children

The teachers are under a huge amount of pressure to deliver the learning objectives and give individual children guidance when they are working alone in the class

The current teachers are doing a fantastic job but we are concerned that morale is very low amongst the staff and that retention and recruitment of staff is an issue due to the challenging environment

We believe the children’s social and emotional needs are not being met with the current teacher to child ratio

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We need a temporary Teaching Assistant to be appointment with immediate effect to help support the teachers.

We need the school to provide us with a detailed action plan and timescales as to how and when they will recruit a Teaching Assistant, so that both the GS and CP classes have their own dedicated Teaching Assistant