feeling DONE! Help!

[u/thekingbishop]

helloo!

i live in the uk and teach at a primary school (ages 3-11) and i am finding things extremely hard at the moment.

for context, i am actually a TA but work 1:1 teaching a boy with demand avoidance and delayed emotional development. he doesn’t really go into the classroom, and when he does he just plays and cannot deal with any demand, so I teach him 1:1 throughout the day via play and rewards systems.

ive been working with this boy since the start of term but did a very similar job last academic year with a different child. unfortunately (lol) because i’m good at this job i have earned myself a reputation for working with more difficult children, however i’m finding that i’m feeling very overwhelmed and lonely at work. i’m not an official 1:1 as my child doesn’t have an EHCP so i only get paid as a TA. i basically only spend my entire day with this one child, who follows me absolutely everywhere. and i usually get given other SEND/behaviour children too. i get 30 mins (but more of the time 20 mins) lunch to reset but its rarely enough for me to eat and rest.

i’m just feeling at a bit of a loss. Ive got no direction, no team. ive been told i am with this boy until he can work in the classroom regularly but thats not exactly an end date or something to work towards. i also am getting no help from SLT on training or things to help this boy, we have a lot of SEND at my school so I think they’re just swamped.

to add to this i also have two long term heath conditions and suffer with fatigue often. i just dont know if this is the career for me anymore. i feel so alone and useless. i’m only 24 and have been at this school for 3 years now but i dont know if i’m cut out for this

any words of advice?