Teaching Assistants and support staff are the backbone of educational settings. They play a critical role in supporting the classroom’s teacher, providing 1-2-1 learning for pupils and assist in additional responsibilities within the classroom and beyond. However, despite the importance of these staff members, many Teaching Assistants do not have qualifications that are required for their role or that can help them progress further. In this article we will discuss how to help develop school support staff using funded training.
The support staff skills gap
While formal qualifications are not required for those looking to become a Teaching Assistant, and many current Teaching Assistants do not have qualifications, training can be very important for not only the Teaching Assistant but their setting as well.
Having formal qualifications allows the Teaching Assistant to have a deeper understanding of the theory of teaching, develop their skills further and deepen their knowledge in additional areas such as Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Social and Emotional Wellbeing. Having additional training particularly in SEND is crucial to tackling the current SEND crisis schools in the UK face.
Additionally, having a qualification can help the teaching assistant progress in their career and allow them to transition from Teaching Assistant to Higher Level Teaching Assistant and even to teacher.
Funded training for teaching assistants
Apprenticeships are funded training programmes that are available for schools to use for upskilling existing Teaching Assistants or for recruiting new staff. These programmes utilise the apprenticeship levy making the training cost significantly lower or at times completely free.
Through an apprenticeship programme learners continue to work within an educational setting benefiting from on the job learning while gaining theoretical knowledge from industry experts.
Using apprenticeships to develop your support staff is a cost-effective way to ensure that your organisation has all the right skills and knowledge to support your pupils.
LMP Education’s Teaching Assistant Development Programme
LMP Education is an award-winning apprenticeship provider that offers a range of apprenticeships for the educational sector. As part of our offering, we provide a Teaching Assistant Development Programme (TADP) which is a personalised suite of CPD courses designed to support TAs to develop their skills and knowledge.
If you are interested in hiring a new teaching assistant or upskilling an existing member of your team through an apprenticeship programme, book a discovery call with the LMP team.
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