What We Do – Does It Make A Difference? Session 1 – TA Training Toolkit

Session Objectives

Objectives Be clear about the purpose and expectations of the role Understand what makes a difference and what doesn’t Begin to identify ways to become more effective Ensure that we know what is expected of us at our school

Me and My School

The Role … It’s All About Support .. … for the TA in carrying out the responsibilities and functions of the role … by the TA for pupils, teacher and school .. Helping with classroom resources and records … helping with the care and support of pupils … providing support for learning activities … providing support for colleagues

Your School… Expectation of Dress Confidentiality Guidance Are You Familiar With All of These ? Confidentiality Guidance Key Policies e.g. Safeguarding Internet & E-safety Code First Aid Procedures

Are You Familiar With All of These Your School… The Pay Policy Are You Familiar With All of These Policies ? Staff Absence Policy Grievance Procedures Risk Assessments Health & Safety

Your School… Your Line Manager SENCO Are You Familiar With All of These People ? SENCO Designated Safeguarding Officer Assessment Coordinator Premises Officer / Site Manager

Your School… The Number of Children In Your School How Many SEN Children There Are ? Could You State With Confidence … What %ge of Pupils Have English as an Additional Language ? How Many Children On The CP Register ? Key Areas For Improvement In the School Currently

Your School… Supporting Children To Achieve Compliance Protecting Children & Yourself Impact Why Is Knowing All These Things Important To My Role ? Knowing Where To Turn For Advice Ensures Improvement OFSTED Expectations Being Seen As Part of the Team Efficiency

What the Research Shows Us…

What We Know There is very little research on Teaching Assistants The most useful was produced by the Sutton Trust in 2011 It looked at lots of evidence from around the world It identified those methods or approaches that had impact and those that didn’t

Method / Approach / Aspect The Sutton Trust The trust identified 34 aspects of school life and assessed what the cost was to provide it and what impact it had on learning …. £ Homework +1 Cost £ = Low £££££ = High Method / Approach / Aspect Impact (In Months) + = positive - = negative

Early Years Intervention The Sutton Trust The top three activities that have impact in primary schools … Individual Feedback +8 ££ Early Years Intervention +6 £££££ One to One Tuition +5 ££££

The Sutton Trust Setting / Streaming Physical Environment Uniform The bottom three activities that have impact in primary schools … Setting / Streaming -1 £ Physical Environment -1 ££ Uniform £

The Sutton Trust Teaching Assistants What did it say about teaching assistants ? Teaching Assistants +1 ££££

The Sutton Trust What else did it say about teaching assistants ? 4 1 TA Duties Differ From School To School 1 General Duties Have Limited Effect 2 No Difference Between Progress In Classes With No TA 4 Individual Support Shows Moderate Benefits 3 Some Children Can Perform Worse With TA Support 5 Often The Lower Ability That Get TA Support – This Means No Teacher Input 6 Can Impact Positively On Pupil Attitude & Teacher Morale 8 Important That TA’s Supplement Teacher Input and NOT Substitute It 7

What Does This Mean For Us ? Consider these questions …. Does the research seem to ring true in your school ? Does their view on Teaching Assistants make sense ? What evidence do you have to support or challenge this view ? Are we supporting learning or managing tasks ? How we measure the impact you are having in school ?

So, What Next …

Next Steps… In this session we have : Looked at how we fit into our school Reviewed what information will make us employees with impact Identified what the research tells us about the effect of teaching assistants Began to relate the research to our own situation

Next Steps… How Effective Are You ? Improving Impact Non-Negotiables Our next three sessions will look at … How Effective Are You ? 1 Improving Impact 2 Non-Negotiables 3

Session End

Session 2 : How Effective Are You ? TA Toolkit Session 2 : How Effective Are You ?

Objectives Identify what effective practice is Review our job expectations Identify your strengths and weaknesses

Throughout this, and subsequent sessions, you will need to use and refer to two items:

Part A :Looking At Job Expectations

The next activity can be recorded in the workbook …

Looking at the sample (or your actual) job descriptions please : Highlight the areas of support for the pupils you believe you undertake regularly Highlight the areas of support for the teacher you believe you undertake regularly

Now, using the areas you have highlighted identify the areas of activity you REGULARLY undertake Areas Of Activity You Have Highlighted As Regular Examples Of What You Do Are There Any Opportunities for Further Improvement ? Now, using the areas you have highlighted identify the areas of activity you RARELY undertake Areas Of Activity You Never Or Rarely Undertake Reasons For Not Doing So Is This A Possibility ? If Not, Why Not ?

Looking at the sample (or your actual) job descriptions please : Highlight the areas of support for the curriculum you believe you undertake regularly Highlight the areas of support for the school you believe you undertake regularly

Now, using the areas you have highlighted identify the areas of activity you REGULARLY undertake Areas Of Activity You Have Highlighted As Regular Examples Of What You Do Are There Any Opportunities for Further Improvement ? Now, using the areas you have highlighted identify the areas of activity you RARELY undertake Areas Of Activity You Never Or Rarely Undertake Reasons For Not Doing So Is This A Possibility ? If Not, Why Not ?

last activity identify Now, reflecting on the last activity identify up to four areas you could improve on and three areas you excel in …

Part B : Being Effective

Therefore, to be effective… What is ‘effective’ … Successful or achieving the results you want … (Oxford English Dictionary) Therefore, to be effective… You need to know what the outcomes and expectations are …

We have defined ‘effective’ under eight themes… Personal & Professional Knowledge 1 Commitment & Motivation 2 Planning & Personal Organisation 3 Pupil Progress Focus 5 Problem Solving & Decision Making 8 Relationships With Colleagues 4 Teamworking 7 Communication 6

through the eight areas of effective practice. Identify Now, individually work through the eight areas of effective practice. Identify areas where you are more effective and areas Where you are less effective. You can also identify and record areas where you have some impact but could be more effective with more support and or training.

identified from the eight areas to three key strengths you believe Finally, narrow down the aspects you have identified from the eight areas to three key strengths you believe you have. Then identify three targets for improvement – but only select those that will have the biggest impact.

Session End - Thank You -

TA Toolkit Session 3 : How else could you support ? What are the non-negotiables in your school ?

Objectives Identify new ways in which TA’s could work within the school, classroom or with individual pupils Identify barriers to becoming more effective Agree what should we expect of each other professionally

Session 3 : Part A

If the school is to be effective then it must always : Review it’s own performance Identify areas of strength to build on Identify areas of weakness to address Ensure that all it’s elements (such as staffing, resources, time) are being used to the greatest effect

In Our School … We Spend £XXXX On TA’s Each Year If Not, How Do We Know That The Investment Is Worth It ? Can We Quantify What Impact TA’s Have In This School ? In Our School … This Equates To XXX% Of Our Budget How Are You Contributing To These Areas ? Our Schools Key Areas Of Improvement This Year Are …

Differently May Not Have A That You Are Valued ? That The Activities You Provide Are Motivating ? That What You Do Makes A Difference ? How Do You Know… That Working Differently May Not Have A Bigger Impact ? That Children Enjoy Their Time With You? That Your Partnerships Are Effective?

We have identified five work areas that we believe you could possibly Target Groups Liaison We have identified five work areas that we believe you could possibly develop your role in. Whole Class Role These areas are …. Managing A Group Finally …

Work your way through Section 3 of the Prompt Cards and record your thoughts in the Workbook.

barriers to making this Now – share your thoughts with the rest of the group. How can you be sure that this will have value and impact on standards ? What are the barriers to making this happen ?

Session 3 : Part B

differently or changing what you do completely. To move on, we also 1 2 Often the things that make a real difference aren’t major. It’s not always about doing more, but often about doing something differently or changing what you do completely. To move on, we also need to be clear about expectations – what we can expect from ourselves and what we can expect from our School (incl. teachers).

this is related to three In small groups, identify what you believe should be non-negotiable in your school. Remember that this is related to three themes : The school Teachers TAs

What will be the impact of these non- negotiables ? How will you know they are effective ? What are the potential barriers to making them work ? How will you share these and get others to ‘buy in’ to them ?

Session End - Thank You -

TA Toolkit Session 4 : Review and Next Steps

Objectives Review the process so far and what we have learnt Plan to address weaknesses and improve impact Build on strengths Action plan for individual improvement

Part A : Review

We have ….. Reviewed what our school needs us to know … 1 Identified what research tells us about effective methods of supporting for achievement 2 Looked at our schools expectations of us 3 Been critically honest about our own strengths and weaknesses 4 Looked at opportunities for improving both value and effectiveness 5 Identified the non-negotiables we believe are essential to having impact, value and effectiveness in our role 6

Part B : Bringing It All Together

In this part of the session, we want to : Look at the work we undertook with teachers and senior staff Review their views and perceptions Challenge and accept their views of our own performance

We asked the teachers in the school to review what (a) they thought were the strengths and weaknesses in the school and (b) what they thought TAs thought …

Take a look at the views given … Consider and discuss … Are their views accurate ? Do they have any merit ? What issues / views would you like to challenge them on ?

We asked the teachers to review your performance under the eight themes we used. They evaluated each aspect under ‘more effective’ and ‘less effective’.

These are personal views only – they only represent one persons view Consider : Do you think this is an accurate reflection of your strengths and weaknesses ? Does it match your own assessments ? If not – why not ?

Finally, we asked each teacher to identify no more than 5 things that should be celebrated about you and 5 things that they would like to see from you …

How do the areas for celebrating make you feel ? What would the barriers be to not achieving the areas in ‘would like to see you’ ?

Part C : Final Steps

Finally … We need to bring all the areas of review together into a cohesive plan This will need to identify : Areas for improvement What skills you have that could be shared with / taught to other TA’s How any targets will need to be accomplished What support you would need to achieve these goals

Observations should be included in our plan : Why ? External view on our performance – different perspective – can identify real strengths and give a view on effectiveness and impact What ? Watch us in an area we regularly undertake e.g. small group, interventions etc When ? At least once per year – BUT suggest at least once per term to get value from it Who ? Could be line manager OR peer or colleague OR teacher you work with daily

You will need to agree on a code of conduct for the observations. You may find the Illuminate Learning document a useful starting point. Although drawing up your own will create a sense of ownership and responsibility.

What Support Will you Need ? What Will Your Objectives For Improvement Be ? What Strengths Do You Have That Will Be Helpful To Colleagues ? What Training and Development Needs Do You Have ? What Support Will you Need ? How Will These Be Achieved ? Next Step Is To Draw Up Your Personal Action Plan What is the Timescale For Achieving Each Target ? What Other Opportunities Do You Think Would Be Helpful To You ? What Focus Should There Be For the Observations(s) ? When Will The Observations Be ?

the chance to consider all the areas we have Now that you have had the chance to consider all the areas we have reviewed it is now time for you to draw up the action plan.

When drawing up the plan remember it must be … Time Related Achieveable Specific S M A R T Measurable Realistic

Finally …. Who will monitor the plan ? Who will agree that it is appropriate ? How is the training and development plan to be implemented ? Will you review this during the year ? How will the impact be measured ?

Session End - Thank You -