Effective support: working with others A Twilight Training Session by Gareth D Morewood, Director of Curriculum Suppor

1. Effective support: working with others A Twilight Training Session by Gareth D Morewood, Director of Curriculum Support Wednesday 14th March 2012

2. What is going to happen? • Provide the national context and clarify some misconceptions • Discuss what effective support at Priestnall looks like • Develop some further guidance in ensuring we all work as effectively as possible whilst aiming for the best outcomes for our students

3. Does Every Child StillMatter? • Being Healthy • Staying Safe • Enjoying and Achieving • Making a Positive Contribution • Economic Wellbeing

4. New Teachers’ Standards – Sept 2012 • Fulfil wider professional responsibilities • Make a positive contribution to the wider life and ethos of the school • Develop effective professional relationships with colleagues, knowing how and when to draw on advice and specialist support • Deploy support staff effectively • Take responsibility for improving teaching through appropriate professional development, responding to advice and feedback from colleagues • Communicate effectively with parents with regard to pupils’ achievements and wellbeing

5. ‘One of the major barriers to achievement for pupils with SEND is being rendered dependent on adults to help them learn. Many pupils with cognitive and learning difficulties lack self-confidence. This results in an over-reliance on an adult to support them with their work.’ National Standards 2005: Maximising progress: ensuring the attainment of pupils with SEN

6. What do OFSTED say ... Ofsted 2004 – ‘Support by Teaching Assistants can be vital, but the organisation of it can mean that students have insufficient opportunity to develop their skill, understanding and independence’ Ofsted 2006 – ‘Teaching Assistants provided valuable support and many were taking difficult roles’ ...however they recognised that pupils in mainstream schools, where Teaching Assistant support was the main type of SEN support, were less likely to make good academic progress than those who had access to specialist teaching.

7. Ofsted 2010 – Barriers to learning which were observed by inspectors included lack of careful preparation and poor deployment of adults to support children and young people. Where additional adult support was provided in the classroom for individuals, this was sometimes a barrier to including them successfully and enabling them to participate. • In too many examples seen during the review, when a child or young person was supported closely by an adult, the adult focused on the completion of the task rather than on the actual learning. Adults intervened too quickly, so preventing children and young people from having time to think or to learn from their mistakes.

8. Research ... • Howes (2003) found that Teaching Assistants’ support in class increased the amount of time students spent on task but did not necessarily result in an increased rate of learning. • Blatchford, Bassett et al (2009) – ‘The more support students received, the less progress they made, even after controlling for other factors that might be expected to explain the relationship such as students’ prior attainment, SEN status and income deprivation’.

9. So what is effective adult support? • aimed at increasing students’ inclusion in the learning of the peer group (and should not result in isolating them further) • common practice within the class where the teacher and TAs commonly work with a small group of students as part of lesson design • discreet so that students are not overwhelmed or embarrassed • selective – used at particular times for specific purposes within the lesson • linked to learning and withdrawn for some of the time • focused on maximising students’ independence through engaging them and building confidence • planned wherever possible – the teacher and additional adult will at least have shared planning or discussed the lesson and their roles beforehand.

10. Effective support continued... • informed – delivered by adults who understand the students’ individual needs • knowledgeable about students’ targets, the learning objectives and learning outcomes expected, and how to help the students achieve them • skilled – trained adults who have a good understanding of the subject and teaching and learning strategies employed • alert to the class teacher’s agreed ‘ground rules’ (for example, for talk in the classroom, dispensing sanctions etc…) • able to contribute towards the assessment for learning of particular students through observation and feedback to the teacher and student themselves • not about encouraging a dependency culture (as in ‘I’m waiting for my helper’)

11. Reducing dependency and increasing independence ... • Differentiate the learning objectives, if appropriate • Brief the Teaching Assistant on what students are to learn, as well as the tasks they have to complete • Modify/adjust aspects of the lesson to promote independence rather than using support from the Teaching Assistant • Find opportunities for students to work with other adults or peers • Ask the Teaching Assistant to model a task, answer students’ questions, then move away to allow them to work independently • Model ways of encouraging students to be more independent

12. Different roles & responsibilities ... • Ensuring access to learning • Pre-tutoring • Helping to manage behaviour • Observing/recording • Supporting a group • Preparing differentiated/modified resources • Using ICT • Supervising work and groups • Re-capping on teaching points • Working in home language

13. Clear expectations & ground rules... • It is helpful to establish ground rules about how staff will work together in lessons • Sorting issues out at an early stage prevents confusion in the long run • What are your ground rules?

14. Let us consider existing guidance... • Look at the existing TA Guide ... • How can we improve the guidance for staff in light of the new evidence? • How should Priestnall’s support look; for our students and our learning & teaching? • Any subject specific information required?

15. Finally Your Personal Action Plan What are you going to do tomorrow/next week?

16. Learning doesn’t always have to be the ‘same’...

17. Gareth D Morewood Director of Curriculum Support Priestnall School Stockport gareth.morewood@priestnall.stockport.sch.uk