This themed collection is designed for teaching assistants on the theme of supporting students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). A themed collection brings together a range of useful resources on a specific topic to support practitioners deepen their knowledge in this area and shape their own professional learning. These collections can also be used to inform collegues’ professional development as well as school policy and practice.
This collection is part of a series to support teaching assistants (TAs) with their professional learning. They are designed to develop knowledge around a range of topics relevant to TAs.
These topics include:
These collections incorporate a range of content types to support professional learning and reflective practice, including:
Whilst much of the content is from the perspective of researchers, school leaders and teachers, it is both useful and relevant to TAs. Moving forward, we would like to expand our knowledge base by including voices and expertise of TAs. We invite you to use this padlet to begin sharing your reflections, experiences and expertise to support other teaching assistants with their professional learning.
TAs have an important role to play in supporting children and adolescents with a diverse range of additional needs. In 2021, the school workforce census revealed that there were approximately 276,000 TAs working alongside teachers in primary, secondary and SEND schools, making up 28% of the state-funded school workforce (DfEDepartment for Education - a ministerial department responsible for children’s services and education in England, 2022). Whilst the proportion of teachers in mainstream schools has remained relatively stable over the last decade, the number of TAs has more than trebled since 2000 (EEF, 2021). This significant increase has been partially driven by the push for greater inclusionAn approach where a school aims to ensure that all children are educated together, with support for those who require it to access the full curriculum and contribute to and participate in all aspects of school life of students with SEND into mainstream schools, with TAs often providing the means by which this is facilitated (EEF, 2021). Most recently, TAs played a crucial role in supporting students with SEND during the pandemic (Webster et al., 2021) and are now taking a leading role in facilitating interventions to help these students catch up with lost learning (Hall & Webster, 2022). Consequently, this unit aims to support teaching assistants to develop their knowledge of a range of needs and provide the tools to effectively support students in different contexts, phases and subject areas.
The content below explores issues and approaches relating to the four broad areas of SEND including:
Moving forward, we hope to build on this knowledge base by drawing on the experience and expertise of TAs supporting students with a range of additional needs. We invite you to use the attached padlet to begin sharing your reflections, experiences and expertise to support other teaching assistants with their professional learning journey.
Department of Education (DfE) (2022) ‘School Workforce in England’ (online) https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england (accessed on 18.10.22)
Education Endowment Fund (EEF) (2021) ‘Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants: Guidance Report’ (online) https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/eef-guidance-reports/teaching-assistants/TA_Guidance_Report_MakingBestUseOfTeachingAssistants-Printable_2021-11-02-162019_wsqd.pdf?v=1666086797 (accessed on 18.10.22)
Hall, S. & Webster, R. (2022) ‘From Covid to the Cost of Living: The Crises Remaking the Role of the Teaching Assistants’ (online) https://pure.port.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/57436644/From_Covid_to_the_Cost_of_Living._The_crises_remaking_the_role_of_teaching_assistants_FINAL_.pdf (accessed on 01.11.22)
Webster, R., Moss, G., Harmey, S. & Bradbury, A. (2021) ‘Unsung Heroes: The role of teaching assistants and classroom assistants in keeping schools functioning during lockdown’ (online) https://maximisingtas.co.uk/assets/unsung-heroesfinal.pdf (accessed on 18.10.22)
Hear about approaches used to support students with a range of additional needs. In particular, we invite you to read the first case study written by practising TATeaching Assistant – an adult that assists the teacher in the classroom, Jo Mead. Hear about her experience supporting a Year 5 student with autism and ADHD and the strategies she adopted to support him, both academically and emotionally.
We acknowledge the majority of case studies are written from the perspective of school leaders and teachers; however, they remain both useful and relevant to TAs. Moving forward, we would like to expand our knowledge base by including the voices and expertise of other practising TAs.
We invite you to make notes on the approaches taken in these case studies to inform your own next steps and consider how you might apply some of these insights in your setting.
You could also consider the following questions:
Read the research and evidence that informs best practice in SEND education. Research summaries are short articles that summarise findings from a single research article. Research reviews are longer articles that critically evaluate the evidence on a larger research theme.
Some of the articles below explore broader approaches to supporting students with SEND, including adopting inclusive pedagogical practices and curating supportive learning environments. Other articles discuss approaches to supporting more specific needs including processing disorders, ADHD and social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH). We invite you to read the research and consider the following questions:
Having engaged with the resources above, reflect on the following questions to develop your knowledge about students with additional needs and how to support them in your school setting.
We invite you to further your learning journey by engaging with the reading list and video content below. The reading list provides a wealth of articles, reports, guidance and resources to further support your professional learning. The video content includes webinars and video interviews with leading experts in the field, providing further insight into best practice when supporting children and young people with SEND.
