What makes a good TA?

[daiawnti]

If you could name 3 skills/qualities you would want a TA/LSA to have what would they be and why?

Organised
Able to work using their own initiative
Communication skills

This'll be interesting! Is this from a teacher's perspective or just anyone's???

As a parent:

Likes children
Is able to communicate well with children
Compliments the style and strengths of the class teacher

Anyones, am doing a spot of research which will help my decide what I am going to write about for an assignment.

ability to communicate (adults and children)
able to use initiative
knowledge/experience/professionalism (not sure what to call it)

Likes children

Confidentiality respected

Qualified and skillful

Likes children
Shows respect for their class teacher
Has a bit of nous

From a teacher's point of view:

1. isn't lazy. Nothing worse that a TA who sits there drawing on whiteboards/ falling asleep. Have seen both from the same bloke! Also, if I ask for a display to be put up and I even draw a picture of how I want it to look, then bluetaking things in the spaces which don't require finding a ladder/ not cutting things out properly really annoys me!

2. doesn't undermine the teacher. If I have a rule or a sanction, it's not up to a TA to overrule me. Nor should they bellow at kids when I have a very calm classroom atmosphere.

3. has patience. Sometimes, the kids just WILL NOT GET IT. They're not trying to wind us up, and they're not being lazy- if a whole group are confused, they're not at fault. Either the work is inappropriate or the explanation was poor.

From a TA's point of view:

1. I, as the teacher, should be more organised and not ask them to photocopy at 8:53

2. I should make sure they always have a list of things I need doing, so if there's spare time (like during Big Write, which is independent work) they can be getting on with stuff.

3. I should hold my tongue about the awful cutting out skills!

Thanks for the responses so far they were very interesting. The two I had on the top of my list were:
Communication-adults and children
Good behaviour management strategies (that links with my job).

I have a list of about 25 things and want to narrow it down.

Jan010 I am a terrible cutter outer, but it is a skill I am improving!

As a teacher display comes pretty low on my list as I like to do my own [control freak smile] so your cutting out doesn't matter to me daiawnti

But even if it's laminating letters etc.

My TA (who has just left to go back to Oz... nothing I said, honest!) once trimmed some numbers, but cut half of them off. He then laminated them and started to cut them out.

When I mentioned that half the numbers were missing, he just looked at me blankly. Thankfully, I have a laminater at home....

• laminator

A ta is a teaching assistant not a teacher's assistant so skills that reflect that.

Good communication skills, to both adults and children

ability to work from own initiative

Has understanding ofvrelevant policies and applies it properly

wants to do the job rather than just wanting to have a school hours job!

Oh I see that is not so good, bet you were kind of glad that your TA went back to OZ?

The third thing on my list is inclusion (again links with my job) as in my school it is very clear that it is up to the LSA to ensure the child they are working with is included. What is it like in your school? Who is responsible for inclusion on a day to day level?

the class teacher

mrz am i right in thinking you are SENCO? have you ever come across cases where the teacher has not wanted to include/left all the inception of a child with SEN to the LSA?

I have only briefly worked with one teacher with that attitude. His idea of "inclusion" was to send SEN children out of his room but it is my job as SENCO to ensure the needs of children are met

If you mean an assistant that works directly for 1 child as opposed to a general classroom resource then I would say the following.

Understands child's specific areas of weakness
Participates fully in IEP writing and reporting and is responsible for delivery
Knows when to step in but also knows when to step back

Thanks for that MRZ, I work with a teacher who whilst having many qualities inclusion is not one of them.

Have you spoken to the SENCO?

Not yet, am just recording things and trying to work things out with teacher first then go from there.

I think a good sense of humour
be friendly and approachable and someone the students would feel comfortable to ask for help
Have some initiative and be helpful

This is more from a secondary level.

I think that the same stands for primary alemci.

I think if the TA is employed to work with SEN children, then they shouldn't be doing any admin. Our TAs are paid for through the SEN budget, so we can ask them to complete admin tasks before and after school, but they must be with the children during lesson time.

I think some TAs help the SEN children too much- they're meant to help the child access the curriculum, not be the child's thinking system. It's irritating when you see TAs (or parents with homework) doing the work for the child.

Inclusion is the teacher's responsibility- they must ensure all children's individual needs are being met, and all children are making appropriate progress. Hopefully this is in collaboration with the SENCO, but some SENCOs (like my own) are not particularly proactive, so I have to take matters into my own hands.

I would like a TA who is aware of APP grids and knows the child's levels and next steps, who knows the child's strengths and weaknesses, knows how to spot when the child isn't coping well and who is tolerant and patient.

Having done my C+G level 2 NVQ TA course (in a volountary (?sp) capacity with the aim of securing this permanent job), I hope I proved already that I have all the qualities required of a Teaching Assistant!!

Sense of Humour,able to think on feet, and try not to find jobs like laminating demeaning!! (Oh,how I hate laminating!) And tuning in to the way your teacher thinks and works are all a must.