Teaching assistants claim Gwynedd Council plans to drastically reduce support for three and four-year-olds with special needs in the county.

Nursery teaching assistants in Gwynedd say the council’s plans to restructure the ABC service will significantly reduce support for children with special needs.

Five ABC units provide special needs children with a minimum of 10 support hours a week to help them prepare for school.

It is feared that Gwynedd Council wants to cut one teaching assistant from each unit and close the units in the afternoon, sending the teaching assistants into schools.

UNISON says teaching assistants currently can support up to four children in the units each afternoon but as visits to schools often involve only one child per staff member, the number of children supported could be cut from 24 to as few as five for afternoon sessions.

The union says teaching assistants may be made redundant or face significant travel time to schools in the afternoon in a large, rural county – something UNISON argues the council has not been taken into account.

The trade union says time spent travelling is time lost working with children and claims there is a question about how staff would be reimbursed for their travel.

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