Support staff currently make up more than half of the school workforce, and their number continues to grow, according to a new report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
Yet exit rates for these staff are at their highest level since this data began in 2011-12, with “not feeling valued” cited as the most common reason for leaving.
The NFER findings also echo recent government research, which raised concerns about the retention of support staff, including teaching assistants.
There are various factors causing support staff to leave, including dissatisfaction over pay, a lack of progression and challenging pupil behaviour.
So, how can we better look after our TAs?
I’m entering my ninth year of leading a team of TAs in an additionally resourced secondary provision for autistic students and students with physical disabilities.
This experience has shown me just how difficult – and how joyful – the TA role can be. But it’s also taught me how to ensure that TAs feel confident and valued.
Here are some key points for school leaders to consider.
1. TAs may not have a background in education
I have worked with TAs since 1999. It was around this time that the teaching assistant role changed – they became less likely to be the person who put up displays and more often worked in learning support.
Special educational needs and disabilities provision continues to be the area a TA is most likely to work in across the education sector.
However, unlike most teachers, a TA can start work in school without any background in education at all. There is no training or professional qualification expectation other than English and maths GCSE.
This means that for a TA, who may not have been in a school since their own school days, the culture of school can come as a bit of a shock or even feel intimidating. Often these members of staff are thrown in at the deep end, supporting some of the most challenging pupils, with nothing to go on other than a deep sense of their own humanity.
For a leader, understanding a TA’s perspective, as well as realising that they won’t necessarily understand yours, is essential. Their perspective will influence the expectations they have of the school as a workplace, and of you as their line manager.
Ensuring that training for TAs is available on Inset days is an ideal way to address any culture shock they may be experiencing.
You might need to take note of their hours of work when planning sessions.
In terms of what training should cover, communication and scaffolding strategies are great topics to start with, as is behaviour analysis and bespoke training particular to individual children, such as strategies for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), using specialist software and making specialist resources; for example, those written in braille.
Free online training is available through organisations such as pdnet and Whole School SEND.
While training can be costly, both in terms of protecting funding and making time for it, it’s worth remembering that recruitment also costs time and money if TAs choose to leave.
2. People become TAs for various reasons
A TA job is often part-time, term-time only, with a relatively low wage. Recognising why someone might have chosen this path is essential to understanding how to support this important part of the school workforce.
There are many reasons why people become TAs, from having caring responsibilities at home to more personal motivations for seeking a role, which – as they see it – comes with less pressure and responsibility than a job like teaching.
Remembering this is key, as it means that a TA might be less likely to stay on after school if they have to get back home by a particular time, and more likely to need support if, for instance, they have taken on the role as a way of managing work-life balance.
I think of the TA team in three distinct groups.
Firstly, there are those fresh out of education, who are still finding their direction. They need encouragement, particularly because the latest young entrants to the workforce are likely to be those who had their later education so disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Next are those for whom the role is temporary while their children are young. They may have other professional expertise, but don’t necessarily know how schools work. This group needs time to get to grips with the difference between what they thought the role might be and what it actually is.
Finally, there are those who have, over the years, become part of the furniture. They know who and where everything is, and they don’t necessarily like change. This group needs to know that being asked to do things differently is not a sign that anything was wrong before, but that education and inclusion changes. We still need this group. In fact, we can’t do without them.
You may also find that you are working with TAs who started out as teachers. Some of them may be taking a step back because of personal issues, while some may be returning to the classroom after retirement. Don’t take advantage of these colleagues. They may have the skills and experience, but they aren’t paid to do a teacher’s job.
For all of these groups, spending a regular hour with their line manager in a one-to-one – giving them space to talk through their issues, successes and challenges and ensuring that they are heard – is a powerful way to make sure that we all understand each other.
This means that communication in the moment can be even better, and outcomes for children will be more successful as a result.
3. Their unique perspective adds value
TAs have a different perspective from teachers. They largely work with individuals and small groups of pupils who have different needs from the whole class.
Supporting TAs to take into account the aims of the teacher and empowering them to advocate for the children they are supporting is an essential part of line management, and informal, regular check-ins can be a useful way to approach this, too.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that TAs often work closely with the most challenging of children and can experience high levels of pressure at work. A debrief is an effective tool for checking in after an event, looking at what happened leading up to it and after it, and thinking about what could be done differently in the future.
Equally, giving space for TAs to process their feelings and having systems that mean they can swap out of the classroom if needed are important when the challenge is high.
Most crucial is having the capacity to ensure close team-working – as well as having a shared sense of humour and fun – so that whatever the challenges a day brings, no one feels alone.
Nancy Gedge is a SENSS (Special Educational Needs Support Service) resource base coordinator and Sendco at Oxfordshire County Council
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