Teaching Assistant

Activities for developing skills

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:19:57 +0100

Each article includes some pointers for identifying children who may have difficulties in the specific area. The list of activities then follows. Suggestions for using games, group activities, stories and songs are all included. They will be particularly useful to SENCOs.

CPD: what's on offer for your TAs

scameron — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:10:24 +0100

The funding available from local authorities for the induction and CPD of teaching assistants and other support staff has been severely depleted by the spending cuts of the last year. There is also a question mark over the future of higher level teaching assistant (HLTA) status. This means that individual schools are being forced to take on more responsibility for the training and career development of this important sector of the workforce.

Why spending on teaching assistants could raise attainment

scameron — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:17:02 +0100

If the financial squeeze on schools tightens in the coming years, many governing bodies will find themselves scrutinising the staffing budgets that typically swallow up as much as 80% of their funds.

As they try to determine the most efficient way to spend on staff, governors and heads will be fascinated by the findings of a new report from the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) which concluded that spending extra money on staffing only leads to an improvement in pupils’ attainment if it is spent on teaching assistants.

A quick roundup of the main political parties’ school manifesto points

scameron — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:58:34 +0100

With the 2010 general election looming, if you want to know more about what the main political parties want to do with education should they get the chance, this information sheet excavates the relevant sections of their manifestos for an at-a-glance guide.

Differentiation: support (2)

scameron — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:51:01 +0100

In part 2 of our mini-series on differentiation we’re looking this week at different types of support. Often, this is interpreted as ‘teaching assistant support’ – an extra adult in the classroom to provide additional help and encouragement to pupils who need it; but in fact, support can take a variety of different forms.

Don’t take students' comments personally

scameron — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:31:00 +0100

From time to time situations develop or comments are made which seem to touch a nerve. However, an emotional response is not your best course of action. Many pupils who are described as ‘difficult’ or ‘challenging’ spend a great deal of time working out the best buttons to press to promote the emotional response, and some pupils may just hit on it at random. The danger is not necessarily the challenging pupil, but how you manage your response.

Working cooperatively: educational professionals in the classroom

scameron — Tue, 19 May 2009 09:59:41 +0100

A confusing wave of acronyms has now entered the classroom. Pupils are presented with an array of professionals in the school environment on a daily basis. Teaching assistants (TAs), learning support assistants (LSAs), specialist teaching assistants (STAs), behaviour support assistants (BSAs) and higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs) are just a few of the ‘extra’ adults now working with individual pupils or as general support in today’s classrooms.

A day in the life of a learning support assistant (LSA)

scameron — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:02:40 +0100

My role
I work as a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) with students aged 13 to 16 years, at Gosforth High School in Newcastle upon Tyne. The school is a specialist language college, with 1,700 students in total, and is federated with a local middle school.

CPD in the classroom - the Teachers Learning Academy (TLA)

scameron — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:05:39 +0000

That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life, but in a new way.
Doris Lessing

Sara Morgan, Head of Professional Learning at the GTCE gives us the lowdown on the TLA.

Improve behaviour with better personal time management

scameron — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:19:51 +0000

If you have tried any behaviour tracking or screening of the teaching and learning environments, you will no doubt have noticed a range of issues which need attention. Your behaviour tracking information should have helped you to identify not just who is regularly involved, but also when and where. Lesson changes, first thing in the morning and straight after lunch-break, are often key times for difficulties to arise.

Equal CPD opportunities for teaching assistants

scameron — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:35:26 +0000

If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer; but if he spends his whole day as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed an industrious and enterprising citizen. As if a town had no interest in its forests but to cut them down!
Henry David Thoreau

Self-harm at primary schools: what you can do

scameron — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:21:36 +0000

Depending on the size and demographics of your school, you may encounter very few or several pupils who engage in deliberate self-harm (DSH) as a coping strategy and, less frequently, children who become so desperate that they consider or even attempt to take their own lives when life appears intolerable to them. Generally the role of schools needs to be considered within the comprehensive child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).

Facilitating reading for additional support needs

scameron — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:24:37 +0000

Secondary-school pupil ‘Susan’ is in her third year and has a visual impairment. She can use a low vision aid but prefers to read books printed in 24-point text. Staff in the local authority Transcription Unit create accessible versions of textbooks and other learning materials, either by scanning the original into the computer and then editing it, or by typing the text into the word processor directly.

Education employment law: statutory leave and pay entitlements

scameron — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:02:10 +0000

One of the defining features of the last 11 years of New Labour government has been its apparent commitment to, and promotion of, measures designed to encourage a work-life balance and to facilitate what is termed a family friendly working environment.

‘Good’ employers, therefore, have taken the view that the remuneration and benefits package should in some way exceed the statutory minimum requirements in terms of leave and pay.

Your positive moments in behaviour management

scameron — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:19:52 +0000

“At our school I have many positive experiences every day, every week so it was hard to pick one. I am in charge of Behaviour and Attendance so lots of pupils come to me when in trouble of some sort and if I ask to see a pupil for any reason they always assume they are in trouble!!! Sometimes I just want their help! I was asked to go on a Year 6 residential trip in June for 5 days to keep an eye on one of our special needs pupils. I am their Year Leader too.

Sound control in the classroom

scameron — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:40:55 +0000

Excessive noise in the teaching and learning environment can not only indicate off-task behaviour and be terribly distracting, but it can also cause tempers to fray and confrontation to escalate.

Voice control and managing behaviour

scameron — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:35:22 +0000

Some readers will remember the frustration of a having a sore throat and perhaps even a loss of voice during the first half term of their teaching career; other readers will be experiencing the problem right now! Teachers should try to remember that when managing the behaviour of the pupils in your teaching groups, non-verbal skills are important.

Implementing positive psychology

scameron — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:37:07 +0000

The classroom is a microcosm of the school. It needs to be a positive, challenging, safe place where mistakes are regarded as normal, laughter is frequent, and people focus naturally on strengths in themselves and others.

Strengths
Strengths are capacities to think, feel and behave in certain ways. They represent what is best about us. When we use our strengths, we are energised, sparkle and soar. We achieve the highest goals of which we are capable:

Behaviour, manners and society: what schools can do

scameron — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:50:29 +0000

It is one of the core purposes of education to support social standards for the benefit of society at large. Although this poses some real difficulties in a plural society, I believe – optimist that I am – that there is still much that schools can achieve in this area.

CPD through teacher enquiry and research

scameron — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:22:38 +0000

Why should teachers use and engage in research activity? With all the workforce pressures on teachers, is such involvement an indulgence they can ill afford? In fact, there is an increasing body of literature and school practice which indicates quite the contrary. Rather than being an effete activity which diverts energies from the school’s core business, school-based enquiry and research are now being seen to make an important contribution to self-evaluation, improvement and the professional learning of staff.

The value of multi-agency working

scameron — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:21:39 +0000

One Friday night…

Starting lessons on a positive note

scameron — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:03:50 +0100

Picture the scene:

It is first thing in the morning (or straight after the lunch break). You have had a dozen things to sort out, messages to deal with, and it is now the start of the lesson. As you approach your room you can hear the pupils already in the room and they are most certainly not ‘on task’.

Revisit your behaviour strategies

scameron — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:04:43 +0100

We are now several weeks into the new school year. Without wishing to depress too many readers, it is true to say that holiday destinations and the summer break are now just a fading memory. Most of the pupils who made the transition into a new school in September have now ‘found their feet’ and their feelings of trepidation have, in many cases, turned into familiarity. The pupils and staff who did not change schools were nevertheless faced with all the challenges brought by the new term, but they have also settled into the routine of school life.

Managing challenging behaviour with CPD

scameron — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:21:00 +0100

If there’s one aspect of school life most likely to challenge us, it has to be behaviour management. The very fact that great teaching is all about relationships means there is no magic formula for transforming poor behaviour. Every school is different and every dynamic between pupil and adult is unique. While it would be great to advocate personalised, one-to-one coaching for staff and schools facing behaviour management issues, the reality of budgets is such that this isn’t going to happen.

Training and managing SENCO TAs + Help Sheet 14

scameron — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:10:45 +0100

Training

This can be a good time to put together a training programme for TAs if you haven’t already done so. You, and they, have settled into the new term, begun to get to know individual pupils and their learning needs as well as topics being covered in lessons. By now, some training needs may be emerging and you can use a questionnaire to help TAs identify areas where they are less confident:

Developing independent enquirers: how to structure enquiry

scameron — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:00:29 +0100

If students are to become increasingly independent in, and empowered by, their enquiry work, you will need to make the way knowledge is constructed – the process of enquiry – the focus of classroom activity and dialogue. This may be unfamiliar territory for some students, constrained as many have been by a National Curriculum and testing regime that has seemed to promote a ‘banking’ view of knowledge in which knowledge is ‘deposited’ in students’ minds. Many have learned to passively consume what they are taught – the products of o

Engaging Parents Toolkit

scameron — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:19:31 +0100

Written by Julie McGrane

Getting you started on building relationships with parents

The Engaging Parents Toolkit is designed to help you start conversations with the parents of your students and your staff to make a difference to pupil attainment. The toolkit comes in 5 sections which are specifically designed to help you engage with parents in a way that will have a positive impact on students. The sections cover areas such as:

Recruiting SENCO teaching assistants

scameron — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:35:53 +0100

Support for SENCOs

The role of ICT in CPD

scameron — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:33:03 +0100

Continuing professional development (CPD) among teachers is seen as something of a buzzword between education professionals, but what is it and are we doing it? Becta established that CPD refers to the process by which teachers acquire and develop the skills and knowledge to become effective in the classroom (Becta, 2004). Teachers are aware that developing their own knowledge, understanding and practice helps in both their learning and their teaching. Therefore, it is common sense that CPD leads to better teachers.

Supporting students with complex needs

scameron — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:04:16 +0100

St Nicholas School in Canterbury caters for students with profound, severe and complex needs. The therapy team at the school has grown over the last 10 years but our accommodation has not! This has provided an opportunity for joint working. So often we have found ourselves puzzling about how best to support a child only to discover another member of the team just inches away wondering about their role with the same child. Clearly, the way forward was to work together as closely in thought and deed as we were in physical proximity!

Improving speaking and listening skills at KS2

scameron — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:33:49 +0100

Language is an integral part of learning, and plays a key role in classroom teaching and learning – children’s confidence and proficiency as talkers and listeners are paramount. Yet in schools, speaking and listening is the Cinderella of English, fighting for the recognition and limelight that her two big sisters, reading and writing, have had for some time.

Positive psychology in the classroom

scameron — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:17:54 +0100

Positive psychology brings scientific tools to the study of what makes people flourish, and the impact upon them of experiencing positive emotions. Good teachers have always known that cheerful children learn more effectively; now there are scientific studies that show this to be true.

Dealing with personal comments in the classroom

scameron — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:23:19 +0100

Introduction

Even though the new school year is only a few weeks old, there will have undoubtedly been numerous incidents of personal comments being offered around the classroom. Some of these comments will hopefully have been used in a positive fashion: rewarding effort, achievement and appropriate behaviour.

Preventing grooming: teaching children about problematic adult behaviour

scameron — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:23:36 +0100

What is grooming?
‘Grooming’ is the term used to describe behaviours employed by the sex offender to target and prepare children for sexual abuse. One of the problems for professionals and parents is that the signs that a person is grooming a child are very discreet and difficult to recognise.

The Home Office has defined grooming as: ‘A course of conduct enacted by a suspected paedophile which would give a reasonable person cause for concern that any meeting with a child arising from the conduct would be for unlawful purposes.’

Internet safety for young people

scameron — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:14:43 +0100

A new report examines and challenges present concerns about children and young people’s use of the internet and the education programmes promoted by many organisations as part of prevention strategies.

Self-harm at primary schools: what you should know

scameron — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:16:33 +0100

In the past two to three decades there has been a disturbing increase in suicidal behaviour among children and adolescents. This type of behaviour includes non-fatal behaviours such as attempted suicide or deliberate self-harm (DSH) and completed suicide.

Such behaviours by children and young people may be frightening and even incomprehensible to their peers, and inevitably evoke powerful emotional responses in adults, who can find it disturbing that a young person finds their life so unbearable that they wish to end it or put it at risk.

Legal aspects of The Children’s Plan

scameron — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:53:00 +0100

The Children’s Plan was announced by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in December 2007. The plan is described as a long-term vision designed to improve schools and change the way parents and families are supported in the upbringing of their children. Ceri-Sian Williams of Browne Jacobson considers the impact this will have on schools.

What is the Children’s Plan?

How to plan classroom seating layouts

scameron — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:28:28 +0100

Taking time to produce a well thought out classroom seating plan can have positive effects all through the school year. Seating plans to encourage group learning experiences and tips to accomodate new ways of learning are explored in this free downloadable resource. Written by John Beresford

How to recognise excellence